Rangers dump Elgin out
Kevin Kyle claimed his first Ibrox goal as Rangers dumped Elgin City from the William Hill Scottish Cup with a comfortable 3-0 win.
Dean Shiels and Kal Naismith were also on the scoresheet to help ensure safe passage into the fifth round of the competition.
Both clubs would have welcomed the opportunity simply to play this match after last week's Irn-Bru Third Division encounter was postponed when it emerged Elgin had sold too many tickets for the visit of Ally McCoist's men.
Rangers named an unchanged side from their last game, a win over East Stirling, for this clash in front of a crowd of 23,195. David Templeton and Francisco Sandaza were both on the bench after lengthy spells on the sidelines through injury, while fit-again youngster Darren Cole was also among the substitutes for the first time this season.
The match was less than two minutes old when Rangers had the ball in the back of the net through Kyle, but he was denied the opener by the offside flag and the decision looked like it may have been harsh on the striker. At the other end, Neil Alexander was called into action to block an angled drive from Craig Gunn.
The home side still looked the more likely to find the back of the net and Shiels stung the palms of goalkeeper John Gibson with a powerful shot. Shiels finally had the net bulging two minutes before the break with a shot from a tight angle that fell across the goalkeeper and nestled in the far bottom corner.
Elgin were not too far away shortly after the re-start when Stuart Leslie rifled into the side netting after collecting a teasing ball across the face of goal.
Kyle then squandered the chance to double Rangers' lead when he met a Barrie McKay cross only to see his header flash wide of the upright. Ian Black had required treatment for a knock earlier in the game and, clearly still struggling, was replaced by Cole on the hour-mark.
Gibson was picking the ball out of the net after 69 minutes when Kyle rose above everyone in the box to connect with a McKay corner and nod past his grasp.
McKay was denied by the woodwork when his deflected effort crashed off the post, before substitute Naismith put the gloss on the win when he slotted past Gibson with 85 minutes on the clock, seconds after replacing Kyle.
Source : http://www.football.co.uk/rangers/rangers_dump_elgin_out_rss3624400.shtml