Joe Garner’s hat-trick eases Rangers past Hamilton into semi-finals

Joe Garner scored a second-half hat-trick as Rangers reached the Scottish Cup semi-finals with a 6-0 thumping of Hamilton. Rangers’ biggest win of the season came on the back of the substitute Garner’s treble and efforts from Martyn Waghorn, Jon Toral and Clint Hill.

With the Rangers board expected to announce a new manager in time for next Sunday’s Old Firm showdown with Celtic at Celtic Park, caretaker manager Graeme Murty was in charge for what appeared to be the fifth and final time. His record of three wins and two defeats may not be enough to make him a serious contender for the job on a full-time basis. But the former Reading player deserves credit for stepping into the breach after Mark Warburton’s shock exit and providing a degree of calm leadership, with his leaving gift a place in Sunday’s draw for the last four.

There was a lacklustre opening from the hosts, with their sloppy passing allowed Hamilton to apply some early pressure. The visitors were even denied what would have been a crucial call after 13 minutes when the goalkeeper Wes Foderingham appeared to handle the ball outside his area as Rakish Bingham chased him down. The referee John Beaton waved play on and the relieved Rangers players eventually cleared their lines.

Kenny Miller thought he had found the net after 32 minutes with a thunderous volley, but the Hamilton keeper Remi Matthews got a finger tip to the strike to push it on to the bar. That save only delayed Rangers from taking the lead, though, as within seconds they won a penalty when Grant Gillespie tripped the heels of Toral as he set himself to pull the trigger. Beaton took a moment to consider his options before pointing to the spot and Waghorn duly sent Matthews the wrong way.

Miller failed to reappear after the interval but his replacement, Garner, proved himself an able deputy as he netted within three minutes of making his entrance. Barrie McKay’s corner was headed down by Rob Kiernan – and Garner made sure from point-blank range. But the former Preston frontman was lucky his afternoon did not end almost as quickly as it began after he smashed into Dougie Imrie on halfway, with Beaton dishing out merely a yellow.

Hamilton should have claimed a lifeline with 17 minutes left when Scott McMann’s cross found Bingham, but the striker’s volley drifted wide. Matthews continued to defy the hosts almost on his own as he pushed a Toral header over. But the on-loan Arsenal man was not to be denied and from the resulting McKay corner in the 77th minute, he brought the ball down before ramming through a forest of legs to find the net.

Hamilton were shambolic defending McKay’s set pieces and were undone again five minutes later, with Hill unmarked to head high into Matthews’ net. More suicidal defending allowed Garner to claim the match ball as he fired home twice in the closing four minutes.

The Hamilton manager, Martin Canning, bemoaned Beaton’s display. “It’s one of those days when nothing has gone for us. The penalty is very soft, if a penalty at all. I thought the tackle from Garner on Imrie was a red while I’ve heard the goalie is a yard outside the box when he grabs the ball.

“However, that doesn’t excuse our defending. We lost three from set pieces, with another set-piece leading to the penalty and one where we pass straight to the striker to run through on our goal.”