Rangers 2 Accies 0: Co-operative Insurance Cup, Round 4

Accies were knocked out of the Co-operative Insurance Cup on Tuesday when they were defeated by Rangers at Ibrox. Accies found it very hard going and it was the 64th minute before they managed to get a shot on target. By that time, they were trailing to goals by Kris Boyd and Kyle Lafferty and the home side were well in control. Accies defender Chris Swailes sustained a nasty head cut in the first half that needed 10 stitches but he battled on bravely until late in the second half.

Rangers 2 Hamilton Accies 0

Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow

Tuesday, 28th October 2008

Co-operative Insurance Cup, Round 4

Accies were knocked out of the Co-operative Insurance Cup on Tuesday when they were comprehensively beaten by a Rangers side that was simply out of their league. Billy Reid had to make two changes to the team that had competed so well against Rangers at the weekend, with David Graham and David Elebert coming in for the unavailable Simon Mensing and Martin Canning.

The home side settled into their possession game very early on and the only surprise was that it took them until the 25th minute to score, with Kris Boyd scoring at the second attempt after his first shot had been cleared off the line by Brian Easton. It was really one way traffic in the first half, with Accies managing just one cross into the penalty area and Lucas Akins being caught offside at one point. Other than that, it was pretty much a steady stream of traffic towards Tomas Cerny's goal. However, the defence did their job well with Cerny not having an awful lot to do. There was a nasty incident in an otherwise amicable match when Chris Swailes suffered a clash of heads with Jean Claude Darcheville. Swailes was able to continue after treatment but it was revealed later that he had 10 stitches put into the wound at the break.

There was to be no respite for Accies after the break and Rangers extended their lead after 50 minutes when Kyle Lafferty rose highest in the area to head a fine Steven Davis cross past Cerny. If the game hadn't been effectively ended by the first goal, it was certainly over as a contest now. Rangers did their best to get in some shooting practice as the game wore on but the Accies goal survived a few close scrapes. Billy Reid withdrew Lucas Akins just before the hour to give Richard Offiong a game and he did well with his pace causing some consternation in the Ibrox rearguard. However, Allan McGregor never looked likely to concede a goal and he made routine saves from a shot by David Graham and a header by Offiong.

Accies did come into the game a little bit as the match wore on but an upset was just not going to happen with Pedro Mendes and Steven Davis stroking the ball around and generally taking command. As the match petered out, Stephen Ettien came on for the tiring James McCarthy and Mark Corcoran replaced Chris Swailes. McCarthy was applauded heartily by the Accies fans, although not everyone in the stadium appreciated his efforts.

So there wasn't much for the Accies support to enjoy in this game. The defence and midfield worked hard but really they had no answer to Rangers' superiority. The only happy man will be the Accies' treasurer. All roads now lead to Fir Park and that vital match against Motherwell at the weekend.

Rangers: McGregor, Broadfoot, Bougherra, Weir, Papac, Davis, Mendes, Edu, Lafferty, Darcheville (Novo 73), Boyd. Subs Not Used: Alexander, Ferguson, Miller, Whittaker.

Goals: Boyd 25, Lafferty 50.

Hamilton: Cerny, McClenahan, Swailes (Corcoran 75), Elebert, Easton, Graham, McArthur, Neil, McCarthy (Ettien 69), Gibson, Akins (Offiong 59). Subs Not Used: Murdoch, Casement.

Att: 32,083

Ref: E Smith

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