Ayr United 0
Rangers 2
League (League One)
Ayr UnitedAyr United |
0 - 20 - 2 |
RangersRangers |
 |
League (League One) |
 |
| Goalscorers | |
| None. |
Nicky Law (46) Jon Daly (59) |
| Team Managers | |
|
Mark Roberts |
Unknown. |
| Starting Eleven | |
|
David Hutton Gordon Pope Adam Hunter Alan Lithgow Brian Gilmour Michael Donald Alan Forrest Scott McLaughlin Robbie Crawford Craig Malcolm Kevin Kyle |
1 (G) C Bell 2 (D) R Foster 3 (D) E Cribari 4 (D) F Aird 5 (D) L Wallace 6 (D) S Faure 8 (M) I Black 10 (M) D Shiels (70) 11 (M) N Law 7 (F) D Templeton (76) 9 (F) J Daly |
| Bench | |
|
William Muir Jackson Longridge Martyn Campbell Michael Wardrope Anthony Marenghi Michael McGowan Mark Shankland |
16 (G) S Simonsen 17 (D) S Smith 19 (D) C Halkett 12 (M) R Crawford 15 (M) A Peralta (76) 18 (M) C Telfer 14 (F) A Little (70) |
| Substitutions | |
|
Mark Shankland for Robbie Crawford (63) Michael McGowan for Kevin Kyle (75) |
None. |
| Cautions | |
|
Adam Hunter Alan Lithgow Brian Gilmour Craig Malcolm Michael McGowan |
None. |
| Red Cards | |
| None. | None. |
| Match Officials | |
|
John McKendrik (Referee) |
Match Report
Rangers claimed their ninth successive win in all competitions after surviving a stern examination at Ayr United.
Kevin Kyle, Craig Malcolm and Michael Donald all came close as Ayr pressed in the first half.
But Fraser Aird's cross was diverted into the net by Nicky Law to give Ally McCoist's side the lead just after the break.
And Jon Daly headed home Lee Wallace's delivery to seal all three points for the visitors.
The win keeps Rangers 23 points clear at the top of the division with 12 matches to play.
However, it was the Honest Men who looked the more likely side in the first half with former Ibrox striker Kyle testing goalkeeper Cammy Bell early on.
Bell also denied Malcolm and Donald as Ayr sought to punish any uncertainty in a reshuffled Rangers defence.
The visitors responded and Aird fired against the crossbar before setting up the opening goal in the early moments of the second period.
Ayr did not clear their lines, allowing Aird to send in a cross for Law to bundle home.
And, after Malcolm went close with another effort for the hosts, Daly beat David Hutton to Wallace's cross for Rangers' second.
Hutton then blocked Andy Little's attempt as McCoist's men finished strongly.
Match report written by BBC
Squad Statistics (as at February 15th, 2014)
| 2013-14 | All Time | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Nat |  |
 |
|
|
|
| David Hutton (GK) | 28 |
|
30 | - | 30 | - |
| Gordon Pope | 24 |
|
28 | 1 | 28 | 1 |
| Brian Gilmour | 26 |
|
14 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| Alan Lithgow | 25 |
|
29 | 1 | 29 | 1 |
| Adam Hunter | 28 |
|
25 | 1 | 31 | 1 |
| Michael Donald | 25 |
|
30 | 5 | 30 | 5 |
| Robbie Crawford | 19 |
|
18 | - | 26 | - |
| Scott McLaughlin | 29 |
|
30 | 1 | 31 | 1 |
| Alan Forrest | 17 |
|
21 | 3 | 21 | 3 |
| Kevin Kyle | 32 |
|
21 | 4 | 21 | 4 |
| Craig Malcolm | 27 |
|
27 | 4 | 27 | 4 |
| Michael McGowan (sub) | 28 |
|
17 | 2 | 22 | 2 |
| Mark Shankland (sub) | 18 |
|
8 | 1 | 15 | 2 |
League Table (as at February 15th, 2014)
| Pld | W | D | L | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Rangers | 25 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 73 |
| 2. | Dunfermline Athletic | 25 | 16 | 2 | 7 | 50 |
| 3. | Stranraer | 25 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 39 |
| 4. | Ayr United | 25 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 36 |
| 5. | Forfar Athletic | 25 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 32 |
| 6. | Brechin City | 25 | 9 | 4 | 12 | 31 |
| 7. | Stenhousemuir | 25 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 29 |
| 8. | East Fife | 25 | 7 | 3 | 15 | 24 |
| 9. | Airdrieonians | 25 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 21 |
| 10. | Arbroath | 25 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 18 |