Hibernian FC 4 : 0 Glasgow Rangers - McDowall's Rangers thrashed

Posted Saturday, December 27, 2014 by PA

Kenny McDowall's first match in charge of Rangers ended in fresh humiliation for the Ibrox men as Hibernian dished out a 4-0 thrashing at Easter Road.

With former boss Ally McCoist put on garden leave, McDowall was given command for the rest of the season.

But his reign got off to the worst possible start as David Gray, Jason Cummings, Scott Robertson and Liam Craig all netted in Hibs' biggest win over Gers since a 5-0 drubbing back in January 1912.

The defeat moves Alan Stubbs' side to within four points of second-placed Rangers in the Scottish Championship table. But with Hearts playing Livingston later on Saturday, the League One champions are now in danger of dropping a massive 15 points behind the leaders.

The drive through to Leith would have been filled with painful memories for the Rangers supporters. Although this was the first meeting of the clubs in the capital since December 2011, the Ramsdens Cup final brought the Ibrox side east last April only for Raith Rovers to pull off a shock 1-0 triumph.

There was little cheer for the Light Blues the last time the sides met in October as Cummings scored twice in Hibs' stunning 3-1 Ibrox win.

And the misery continued to pile up on the Light Blues during a shambolic opening period in Edinburgh.

First Gray put the hosts ahead after just seven minutes.

Skipper Craig swung a ball in from the left but saw Lee McCulloch's headed clearance fall right at the feet of former Manchester United youngster Gray. He could barely believe the time he was afforded as he took a touch before rifling a stunning finish into the top left-hand corner of the Rangers net.

And McDowell's men were still wobbling as they conceded again four minutes later.

Scott Allan - a Rangers target during the summer - hung a high ball up towards the back post. Keeper Steve Simonsen came for it but stopped as he wrongly assumed it was floating out. When it dropped for Craig on the byline the Englishman was horribly out of place as Craig clipped the ball back across goal for Cummings to tap home.

Ian Black had already had two run-ins with Allan before the ex-Hearts man was finally booked by Bobby Madden for scything down the former Dundee United man after 21 minutes.

He lasted just 13 minutes longer before being hooked by McDowall to the delight of the home support, presumably to save him the indignation of being sent-off. He gestured to the Hibs faithful to keep up the noise but they did not need a second invitation. Kyle Hutton was his replacement as he made his first appearance since the opening day of the Championship campaign.

In the meantime, Danny Handling had stung Simonsen's hand from 25 yards out while Miller headed wide just before the break.

The away end was a little roomier after the interval as dozens of Rangers fans headed for the exits. McDowall tried to change things up for those who remained by replacing Fraser Aird with Kris Boyd.

Rangers certainly upped the tempo. Nicky Law saw a shot blocked by Liam Fontaine while Boyd fluffed at a rebound.

But the flood of away fans leaving the ground became a torrent after 62 minutes as Hibs scored their third. Richard Foster slipped as he tried to intercept Allan's pass and that allowed Robertson time to slot beyond the diving Simonsen.

Fontaine hacked another Law shot off his goal line as Rangers battled on. They should have been four down though as Handling fired wide after collecting a fine cut back from Lewis Stevenson.

But the final nail in the coffin was driven home by Craig with 20 minutes left. Again Allan was the architect as he clipped the ball over the head of Foster. The skipper had time for a touch but did not need it as he swept a first-time effort into the bottom corner.