Rangers strolled through to the semi-finals of the League Cup with a 2-0 win over Hamilton Accies at Ibrox this evening, the margin of victory not even beginning to reflect the home side's overwhelming superiority.
Manager Walter Smith made three changes from New Douglas Park with Maurice Edu, Kyle Lafferty and Jean-Claude Darcheville replacing Kevin Thomson, DaMarcus Beasley and Kenny Miller whilst the visitors had two with David Elebert and David Graham replacing the ineligible Martin Canning and the suspended Simon Mensing.
Prior to kick-off the club marked the death of Ibrox legend Ian McColl with a minute's applause - to the disgust of most right-thinking people who rightly believe that the only way to mark such a loss is with the traditional one-minute silence.
On a bitterly cold night, there was a healthy contingent of visiting fans, unlike Saturday when there were huge gaps in the Lanarkshire club's support.
Rangers were on top from the opening minutes - Kris Boyd's 25-yard free-kick in four minutes being inches wide of the target.
It took another twenty minutes for the opening goal - Boyd netting at the second attempt after Darcheville had cut in from the left, his cutback being played on by Sasa Papac.
Steve Davis should have made it two in 39 minutes when he shot over after Boyd had laid off a Darcheville cross, then three minutes later from a Davis corner Madjid Bougherra's header was held by goalkeeper Tomas Cerny.
Hamilton had scarcely crossed the halfway line during the opening half - the only mystery being why Rangers held just the one-goal advantage.
The restart offered more of the same - with Boyd firing over from Darcheville's reverse pass in 47 minutes.
Three minutes later it was 2-0 when Lafferty headed home from a Davis cross after the Ulsterman had moved onto a Kirk Broadfoot pass.
The game was so one-sided that it would surely have been stopped were it a boxing match, although Graham did manage to test Allan McGregor in 63 minutes with an angled shot. The Ibrox goalkeeper had done well to stay alert given his total inactivity up till that point.
Sixty seconds later Boyd cut in from the right only to see his drive beaten out by Cerny, then Edu saw a 25-yard drive just wide of the target.
Nacho Novo replaced Darcheville in 72 minutes, then three minutes later Lafferty's volley from a Davis corner flashed over the bar.
Novo himself tested Cerny with a low 25-yard shot that the goalkeeper held, then four minutes the little Spaniard's cross found Boyd whose volley was deflected wide.
Rangers toyed with the opposition in the closing stages - so much so that Referee Eddie Smith's final whistle sounded right on the ninety-minute mark.
Afterwards Walter Smith contented himself with the comment that :
"I was pleased with the win, but we could have been sharper."
RANGERS McGregor; Broadfoot, Weir, Bougherra, Papac; Davis, Mendes, Edu, Lafferty; Boyd, Darcheville (Novo 72)
UNUSED SUBS Alexander, Ferguson, Miller, Whittaker
HAMILTON ACCIES Cerny; McClenahan, Elebert, Swailes (Corcoran 74), Easton; Graham, McCarthy (Ettien 68), McArthur, Neil, Gibson; Akins (Offiong 58)
UNUSED SUBS Murdoch, Casement
REFEREE Eddie Smith