Rangers eased into the fifth round of the Scottish Cup with a comfortable win over Elgin City at Ibrox.
Dean Shiels slotted the home side in front from a tight angle two minutes before the interval.
Kevin Kyle added a header from a corner on 68 minutes and substitute Kal Naismith completed the scoring with a cool finish late in the game.
Elgin created two good second-half chances but were denied by goal-line clearances on both occasions.
The home fans were on their feet in the first few minutes when Kyle found the net with a low shot, following an impressive surge from Barrie McKay.
But the big striker's celebrations were cut short since it was ruled that he had set off from an offside position.
Elgin responded with midfielder Mark Nicolson driving into the penalty area and his drilled strike was gathered at the near post by Rangers keeper Neil Alexander.
Another positive run from McKay unsettled the visitors but Kyle could not connect with the teenager's dangerous pass across the face of goal.
Elgin top scorer Craig Gunn raced in behind the home defence but took the ball wide with his first touch and could only scuff a tame, angled shot at Alexander.
Shiels sent two shots wide before finding his range with a smart, dipping effort from 20 yards that John Gibson had to push away on the stretch.
A long-range strike from Ian Black then had Gibson scrambling to tip the ball round his post before Kyle shot wide after a good break from left-back Lee Wallace.
Rangers made the breakthrough on 43 minutes when Kyle nodded a long ball down to Shiels and the Northern Ireland international eased away from Sean Crighton in the penalty box to slip a shot beyond Gibson from a tight angle that squeezed in off the far post.
The second half started at pedestrian pace and did not liven up until the 65th minute when Andrew Little found Shiels unmarked in the penalty box and Gibson had to race from his line to make a good block.
Wallace then flashed a powerful shot over the crossbar before Kyle found the net with a simple front-post header from McKay's corner kick.
Elgin came close to an immediate reply when Crighton threw himself at a Daniel Moore corner only to see his header kept out by the feet of Alexander.
Rangers substitute David Templeton, on for his first appearance since injury struck in early September, tried his luck with a shot from distance that was just too high, while a deflected McKay strike thumped against the post.
Alexander fumbled a floating free-kick to present Elgin with a great chance but when the ball was laid off to Stuart Leslie his shot from near the penalty spot was blocked by Darren Cole a yard in front of the exposed goal.
Naismith wrapped up the victory just moments after coming off the bench, gathering a defence-splitting pass from Cole to stride into the penalty box and find the net with a composed, low finish.
Courtesy of BBC SPORTS
Courtesy of BBC SPORTS
LINEUP, BOOKINGS (2) & SUBSTITUTIONS (6)
Rangers
- 01 Alexander
- 02 Argiriou
- 03 Christopher Hegarty
- 05 Wallace
- 04 MacLeod
- 08 Black (Cole - 59' )
- 06 McCulloch Booked
- 07 Little (Templeton - 73' )
- 09 Kyle (Naismith - 83' )
- 10 Shiels
- 11 McKay
Substitutes
- 16 Gallacher
- 17 Cole
- 14 Templeton
- 12 Sandaza
- 15 Naismith
Elgin City
- 01 Gibson
- 02 Niven
- 04 Crighton
- 05 Duff
- 10 Nicolson (Wyness - 77' )
- 08 O'Donoghue (Harkins - 73' )
- 03 Beveridge
- 06 Cameron
- 07 Gunn (Millar - 89' )
- 09 Leslie Booked
- 11 Moore
Substitutes
- 21 Black
- 12 Harkins
- 15 McMullan
- 14 Wyness
- 16 Millar
Ref: Norris
Att: 23,195
