Rangers displayed commendable resilience as they ground out a 3-1 win away at Hamilton Academical.
Boyd double helps Rangers to victory
Rangers displayed commendable resilience as they ground out a 3-1 win away at Hamilton Academical.
The Gers had gone almost three weeks since their last SPL outing, and showed signs of rustiness early on.
They were almost made to pay the price for their slow start after 24 minutes, but Simon Mensing crashed a close-range header off the face of the crossbar.
However, two minutes later the hosts did force a breakthrough as Alex Neil's free-kick was bundled home at the back post by Brian Easton.
Rangers, though, then proceeded to strike either side of the interval to turn the game on its head.
Penalty
First, three minutes before the break, Trent McClenahan hauled down Kenny Miller in the box and Kris Boyd made no mistake from the spot.
Then, five minutes into the second half, Boyd was on hand again to plant a firm header past a stranded Tomas Cerny.
Hamilton were now running out of ideas and Nacho Novo completed the scoring with 10 minutes left on the clock as he profited from some hesitant defending to burst clear and calmly stroke the ball home.
The victory ensures Walter Smith's men keep pace with Celtic at the top, while Hamilton are in real trouble after suffering five straight defeats.
