Raith Rovers 0 : 4 Glasgow Rangers - Rangers fire four past Raith

Posted Saturday, September 13, 2014 by PA

Rangers gained a measure of revenge for last season's mortifying Ramsdens Cup final defeat to Raith as they beat Rovers 4-0 at Stark's Park.

The win - secured thanks to first-half goals from Nicky Clark, Ian Black and Nicky Law, plus Lee McCulloch's second-half penalty - moved the Glasgow giants back to the top of the Scottish Championship table for the night at least.

Hearts will retain the lead if they beat Dumbarton on Saturday but the victory at least provided Rangers manager Ally McCoist with a few hours of solace.

The last time Light Blues visited Kirkcaldy in 1997, a star-studded line-up that included Brian Laudrup, Paul Gascoigne and Jorg Albertz romped to a 6-0 win, with McCoist among the scorers.

But no-one needed to point out to McCoist the stark reality of just how far his club have fallen since the heady days of their nine-in-a-row title success.

In the latest twist in the club's off-field saga, the travelling Rangers support woke on Friday to find their board had settled out of court with former director Imran Ahmad who had claimed B#500,000 for an unpaid bonus.

And there was more breaking news as the fans arrived at Stark's Park, as it was confirmed the cash-strapped Glasgow outfit had fallen B#900,000 short of the B£4million target they had set after launching an emergency share issue.

Whether that sum raised will be enough to keep the lights on at Ibrox for much longer is still to be revealed but at least McCoist's side kept their side of the bargain up as they cruised to victory over Rovers.

First Clark out-jumped Ross Perry to glance home Fraser Aird's 16th-minute cross, while Black doubled their lead seven minutes before the break as his strike beat Ross Laidlaw with the aid of a massive deflection off Paul Watson.

And the points were made certain 60 seconds later when Law swept home the third, with McCulloch's spot-kick completing a comfortable win with 22 minutes remaining.