Rangers 4-0 Dunfermline Athletic
- Published
Dean Shiels scored a hat-trick as Rangers cruised into the Scottish Cup quarter-finals with a comfortable victory over Dunfermline at Ibrox.
Shiels' shot on the spin gave the hosts an early lead and his second came on the rebound after Jon Daly's header had been blocked by goalkeeper Ryan Scully.
David Templeton fired the Ibrox side's third before half-time.
And a third from Shiels at the start of the second period completed the scoring for Ally McCoist's side.
Rangers will find out who they will face in the last eight when the draw is made on Sunday.
Their place in round six was rarely in doubt from the moment Shiels pounced on sloppiness in the Pars defence to open his account.
Ryan Williamson initially cut out Templeton's back-heel pass towards Lee Wallace but did not clear his lines, allowing Shiels to capitalise.
Shiels continued to be a thorn in Dunfermline's side and went down as he attempted to round Scully but referee Bobby Madden was unmoved by the penalty appeal.
Scully then blocked a powerful drive by Templeton and impressed again moments later when he parried Daly's header but Shiels was on hand to bury the rebound on that occasion.
Dunfermline desperately needed something to stem the flow of attacks towards their goal and Ryan Wallace stung the palms of Cammy Bell with a fierce drive.
Shiels was forced to wait for his treble when Scully beat away his latest strike but Templeton soon added to the home tally with a low drive into the keeper's left-hand corner.
Pars boss Jim Jefferies sought a change in fortunes with a couple of half-time changes but no sooner were Ryan Thomson and Faissal El Bakhtaoui on the park that the Pars were further behind.
It was another rebound goal for Shiels, this time following up after Wallace had been denied.
Ian Black was prominent in the second half as the home side continued to press, the midfielder firing narrowly over and then striking the bar with thunderous effort.
Templeton also continued to be a nuisance to the Pars back-line, testing Scully twice from inside the box.
The game ended with a couple of flashpoints as Templeton was booked following an altercation with Alex Whittle and Rangers defender Bilel Mohsni was fortunate to escape punishment after appearing to kick out at an opponent as he made a clearance.
- Published7 February 2014