THEY sent them home happy.

The third game of the Mark Warburton era brought another three goals and the first three points as Rangers got their Ladbrokes Championship title bid off and running last night.

A Lee Wallace double and a late Dean Shiels strike clinched the 3-1 win for Rangers over St Mirren on an evening that saw Warburton and his new arrivals make the most of their chance to impress a capacity crowd.

It was sell-out Friday at Ibrox as 49,216 fans ventured out for the first league game of the season – and the Light Blue legions were the ones celebrating.

Warburton has been enthusiastic about the atmosphere at Ibrox so far this term, the matches against Burnley and Peterhead giving the former Brentford boss a taster of what he hoped would come on a regular basis in the months ahead.

He has urged his players to send the fans home happy from every game this season, the message the last thing his side see as they make their way from the home dressing room.

It was job done once again last night, the deserved win giving the Gers fans plenty to cheer about as their side earned a third straight win this season.

The Ibrox roar greeted Warburton and his players as they strode out the tunnel before the stadium fell silent to remember a Gers legend, a banner in the Sandy Jardine stand paying tribute to Sammy Cox, who passed away last week.

It was the only time the noise level dropped as both sets of fans spurred on their side in an entertaining encounter as the Championship season started in style.

Rangers were on the front foot from the off and it took them just four minutes to break the deadlock as Ibrox erupted once again.

A Barrie McKay corner was met by Danny Wilson and, when the ball dropped in the penalty area, Wallace was quick to react as he rifled it into the roof of Mark Ridgers’ net.

It was the perfect start for Rangers and they would enjoy plenty of possession in a dominant spell, but they struggled to create further chances to extend their lead, a McKay shot that was fired over from inside the area one of the few times Ridgers had to be on alert.

The determination to play out from the back and build attacks throughout the side has been one of the big differences from last season in the opening weeks of the Warburton era.

But there were times once again when it almost cost Rangers, St Mirren unable to capitalise when the Light Blues played themselves into trouble deep inside their own half.

It took another intervention from Wallace to help Rangers extend their advantage as the Gers captain burst forward from left-back and added the finishing touch to a neat move as McKay and Jason Holt combined.

The pass from the former Hearts midfielder was precise, and Wallace’s finish clinical, as he slid the ball through Ridgers’ legs after 25 minutes.

It should have been the goal to ease any Rangers’ fears and set them well on their way to an opening evening win, but St Mirren soon gave the band of Buddies fans something to cheer as they pulled a goal back.

It was another fine attacking move, Scott Agnew feeding Paul McMullan before the on-loan Celtic kid split the Rangers defence with a slide rule pass.

Cameron Howieson did the rest as he made no mistake and beat Wes Foderingham to give the Saints hope that they could yet cause an Ibrox upset.

Those ambitions should have been quashed before the break, but chances came and went for Warburton’s side.

Their momentum was briefly interrupted by a pitch invader as a spectator ran on to the park from the home end unchallenged and was allowed to stumble around the pitch, Rob Kiernan and Nicky Law both attempting to usher him away to no avail.

He was finally escorted off the premises by stewards and police officers, the Ibrox crowd showing their displeasure at the embarrassing behaviour as he was dragged out of the stadium.

When the action finally got underway again, Rangers picked up where they left off, but the third goal continued to elude them, Martyn Waghorn firing just over from distance and Holt seeing a shot saved at the near post by Ridgers.

The final chance of the half fell to Tom Walsh, and Wallace was again at the heart of it as he drove forward and combined well with Waghorn, but Walsh couldn’t complete a free-flowing move, his shot from the edge of the area whistling just over the bar.

It was at the same end in front of the fans in the Broomloan Stand where St Mirren had a chance to pull themselves level, but former Rangers striker Steven Thompson ballooned his penalty high over the bar after James Tavernier had fouled the tricky McMullan.

It was a major let-off for Rangers, but they couldn’t capitalise as Halliday saw a powerful effort saved and promising situations fizzled out with no end product, substitute Nicky Clark denied by Ridgers before Halliday and Tavernier came close with free-kicks and Waghorn curled an effort just over the bar.

With just two minutes remaining, however, Rangers could finally breathe easy as Shiels bundled the ball over the line with his right knee at the second attempt from a David Templeton cross.

It was the cue for Ibrox to roar once again. Warburton will hope it will do so on many more occasions this season.