Queen of the South 2 - 3 Rangers: It's a Hampden double for Rangers and Boyd

Striker replicates previous visit to national stadium as Smith's side claim Scottish Cup

QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 2
Tosh 49; Thomson 53

RANGERS 3
Boyd 33, 71; Beasley 43

AS THE final whistle sounded on Rangers' Scottish Cup triumph, the victorious players exchanged firm, unfussy, handshakes and some hurried, self-conscious, hugs. It took a full two minutes for their supporters to pipe up with a chant of "There's not a team like the Glasgow Rangers". As Walter Smith's men completed a rare cup double, there was no pretence from them or their followers that consolation for the loss of UEFA Cup and the league inside the previous ten days could be obtained at Hampden yesterday.

Never mind that in a single full season under Smith, the Ibrox club have now won as many trophies as in the previous three seasons put together. Really, the final was all about ensuring that humiliation was not added to heartache. For the opening 15 minutes of the second period, Queens made that prospect seem frighteningly real. Two goals inside four minutes from Steve Tosh and Jim Thomson cancelled out first half strikes from Kris Boyd and DaMarcus Beasley, and suddenly Rangers were wobbling.

The First Division side cast off the inhibitions that had threatened to make them comfortable opponents for a delicate Rangers. And but for Scott Dobbie catching the ball under his feet in the box after Queens had sliced open a path down the right it could have proved a real test of the Ibrox side's mettle. But with 19 minutes remaining, Queens' defensive frailties returned to haunt them as Boyd rose above Robert Harris to head in a Beasley corner and win the cup for Rangers. At the end of a 68-game season, the Ibrox side had it in them to be winners and two-goal Boyd was the man who gave them that edge, just as he had as a substitute in the CIS Cup final victory over Dundee United in March.

Cue the inevitable chuntering over why Scotland's best finisher and a man who has netted 25 times this season wasn't used more often. But Boyd is made for occasions such as yesterday's, when the opposition might be dogged but would certainly never be described as deft enough to put the shackles on so prime a predator.

A frantic opening was hardly to be expected from two teams who had good reason to feel their way into the encounter. In Rangers' case, this was required to loosen up limbs wearied by exertion and disappointment after a season of undelivered promise. For their part, Queen of the South needed time to get their joints going again after a four-week lay-off. The slow-burning nature of the events on the field was in keeping with the understandably subdued atmosphere among the Rangers support.

In talking up the prospects of an upset that would have been the greatest across 123 Scottish Cup finals, some seemed to lose sight of the remarkable position Rangers had manoeuvred themselves into only a fortnight ago. They may not have been good enough to hold off Zenit St Petersburg in the UEFA Cup final and Celtic in the championship, but these two teams aside, their title-race ending defeat at Pittodrie on Thursday made Aberdeen the only other side to beat them since Werder Bremen three months ago.

The First Division team's tentative approach early on suggested they felt the weight of history pushing down on them. They were compact, and largely successful in locking down space. But they weren't the up-and-at-'em Queens that won so many admirers with their goal bonanza of a 4-3 win over Aberdeen in the semi. They jousted without taking any hits for the first 20 minutes, but then their mindset seemed negative.

Smith's rejigging of his side from the other night initially seemed to offer Rangers the means to focus in on the fragile Queens' defence. Lee McCulloch offered dig – too much when he chopped down Robert Harris horribly to earn a fourth-minute booking – and Beasley, making his first start since November, gave Rangers options in wide areas they had been sadly lacking. And then there was Boyd. It was a near certainty what he would bring to the occasion, and he did not disappoint when opening the scoring in the 33th minute – a full 10 minutes after Beasley should have claimed that honour but didn't when he criminally curled a shot off target from 18 yards after being played in by Boyd.

The Scotland forward showed him how it should be done when, from a free-kick 25 yards out, Barry Ferguson rolled the ball into his path and the striker fair hammered it. A rising effort that took off like a jet plane, it seemed to leave a slipstream on zooming into the top corner.

Queens appear at their most potent when backed into a corner by bigger beasts. Minutes after they went behind, Tosh steamed in on Neil Alexander before Sean O'Connor claimed for a penalty for a nudge by Steven Whittaker. It was one of the rare occasions they took the game to Rangers in the opening period. But then the tie seemed to be taken from them when, two minutes from the break, Jim Thomson and Ryan McCann collided as they sought to intercept a Carlos Cuellar header sent across the box. Their clatter allowed the ball to Beasley, whose shot wasn't powerfully struck and seemed to trundle through keeper Jamie MacDonald.

Queens were a team transformed following the interval. In exhilarating fashion they staged the most unlikely comeback. Sean O'Connor did superbly well to tear past Cuellar in the 49th minute and whip over a cross that Tosh forced in with his hip, without knowing an awful lot about it. Then Thomson made amends for his earlier error by leaping above the Rangers defence and placing a header out of reach of Alexander. Within 20 minutes, however, the Scottish Cup was out of reach of the Dumfries side. They had contributed much to an entertaining final, but not enough to give Rangers more grief than their humungous efforts this season would have deserved.

MAN OF THE MATCH
He may be looking more rotund than he ought to be but when there is a round thing to be stuck in the goal of a certain calibre of opponents, Kris Boyd becomes a lean, mean match-winning goal machine. His cup final double double was the key to Rangers claiming honours this season.

QUICK FACT
Rangers have now lifted the Scottish Cup on 32 occasions and Queens have now have a cup final experience to savour after 89 years in existence.

TALKING POINT
Inevitably, it will be why doesn't Boyd play every week, in part because yesterday's game was mercifully controversy free and played in a great spirit.