Queen of the South 2-3 Rangers: Boyd clinches Scottish Cup for Rangers

KRIS Boyd was the Hampden hero again as Rangers ended a rollercoaster season on a high note by claiming the Scottish Cup.

The striker set the ball rolling with the opener against Queen of the South, before DaMarcus Beasley put his injury hell firmly behind him with a goal of his own.

Brave Queens hit back through Steve Tosh and captain Jim Thomson but Boyd had the final say when he grabbed the winner to ensure the silverware would be heading back to Ibrox.

Boyd also played a crucial role in the CIS Insurance Cup triumph back in March, twice hauling Rangers back into the game before netting the decisive penalty in a shoot-out against Dundee United, and his double today allowed him to take his tally to 25 for the season.

Rangers finally appeared to have run out of legs in the last 10 days of the season, losing the UEFA Cup final to Zenit St Petersburg and then the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title to Celtic on Thursday night.

In contrast, this was Queens' first game since finishing fourth in the Irn-Bru First Division 28 days ago – and a whopping 42 days since their dramatic 4-3 win over Aberdeen in the semi-finals.

Rangers manager Walter Smith needed one final push from his players in their 68th, and final, game of what had been an exhausting campaign and they obliged to salvage a cup double from what has truly been a remarkable season.

Smith made four changes from the side who lost to Aberdeen midweek and the most notable of those was the inclusion of Beasley, the USA international making his first start since sustaining knee ligament damage in a Champions League game back in November.

Sasa Papac was also named in the starting XI after recovering from a thigh strain, as were Boyd and Lee McCulloch. Christian Dailly and Steven Davis were named among the substitutes, while Daniel Cousin and Charlie Adam were both dropped from the squad altogether for the clash at Hampden.

Queens looked the more dangerous team going forward early on, with Stephen Dobbie and Sean O'Connor causing problems for the SPL runners-up. Tosh also tried his luck but his long-ranger was comfortably held by Neil Alexander in the Rangers goal.

At the other end, a long, low shot from Kevin Thomson flashed wide of Jamie MacDonald's left-hand post before Rangers really began to impose themselves on the match.

Boyd released Beasley into the box and he looked set to leave the net bulging only to rifle into the side-netting instead.

The roles were then reversed when Boyd met a Beasley cross eight yards out only to nod just over when it looked so much easier to score.

The breakthrough came after 32 minutes. Tosh gave away a free-kick for a foul on Beasley 25 yards out and Barry Ferguson played the ball short to Boyd to lash into the top right corner of the net.

Queen of the South then failed in their attempts to win a penalty after claiming Steven Whittaker had barged O'Connor off the ball but those pleas fell on deaf ears.

Rangers doubled their advantage instead three minutes before the break when Carlos Cuellar's header was missed by Thomson and Ryan McCann and broke kindly to Beasley to slide home from eight yards.

Just when Rangers must have thought their names were on the trophy, Gordon Chisholm's men pulled a goal back four minutes after the restart.

O'Connor skipped past Cuellar before cutting back into the path of Tosh to bundle home from the edge of the six-yard box and provide hope of a dramatic fightback.

That proved to be the case when the battling Dumfries club hauled themselves level with 53 minutes gone.

A Papac foul on McCann proved costly when Robert Harris punted the resultant free-kick into the box and skipper Thomson was on hand to direct a header past Alexander.

Rangers could have restored their lead when Jean-Claude Darcheville released Beasley and he laid off a pass to the feet of Ferguson but the skipper fired straight into the keeper's arms.

It was left to Boyd to come to the rescue and he rose above everyone else in the box to meet Beasley's corner and send a header looping over the Queens goalkeeper after 71 minutes.

The striker could have then added to his tally for the day but, this time, his header was held by MacDonald after Thomson had delivered a teasing ball from the right.

In the end, Boyd's brace proved to be just enough to allow Rangers to finish the season with a cup double.