Rangers came from behind to defeat Hamilton Accies 3-1 at New Douglas Park this afternoon on a day of wild and tempestuous weather in Lanarkshire.
At the end of a week when Kris Boyd has been in the headlines over his fallout with Scotland Manager George Burley, the striker got back to doing what he does best with two goals to secure a victory in the Ibrox men's first League visit to the ground.
Manager Walter Smith made two changes from Love Street with DaMarcus Beasley and Boyd replacing Charlie Adam and Jean-Claude Darcheville.
The driving rain and gale-force wind was sweeping across the exposed ground as the lunch-time kick-off got under way with the ground well under capacity at just 4,613 spectators with huge gaps amongst the home support in particular due no doubt to a combination of television coverage, the weather and the early kick-off.
Rangers had the wind at their backs in the first-half but struggled desperately to make any impact in the opening stages, and it was Accies who were first to threaten with Alex Neil's inswinging corner being miss-judged by Allan McGregor - Simon Mensing's header crashing back off the crossbar in 25 minutes.
The lesson went unheeded however for two minutes later another Neil inswinger - this time from a free-kick - again found the goalkeeper wanting as Brian Easton headed the ball home at the far post.
The home side had adapted so much better to the conditions which were reminiscent of Rangers' visit to Falkirk two years ago - Jamie McArthur testing McGregor on the half-hour with an eighteen-yard shot that the 'Gers 'keeper held.
The Ibrox men finally got their act together as the interval approached - Steve Davis seeing his effort from a Kevin Thomson free-kick drift just wide of the target in 39 minutes.
Four minutes later the scores were level when Boyd netted from the penalty spot after Kenny Miller had been barged in the back by Trent McClenahan as he was about to head a Davis cross into the net. There could be no doubt about the award, but questions must surely be raised about why Referee Dougie McDonald did not produce a red card for the defender as he had clearly denied a goalscoring opportunity.
The spot-kick would prove to be a turning-point in the game, for four minutes after the restart Boyd made it 2-1 when he bulleted a header from a Davis cross into the roof of the net.
Rangers, as so often in the past, were playing much better into the wind, and Boyd was denied a hat-trick in 73 minutes when his curling effort from the edge of the box was touched wide by Tomas Cerny following a Broadfoot - Davis move down the right.
Nacho Novo replaced the ineffective Beasley immediately thereafter, and sixty seconds later Boyd spurned an opportunity to add a third goal when he headed wide from a Thomson corner.
It was all Rangers now - Boyd turning creator in 75 minutes when he laid the ball into the path of Davis who stabbed his effort wide of the post.
It was only a matter of time however - and Novo it was who sealed the win in 79 minutes when he dispossessed Martin Canning in the middle of the park before racing away to stroke the ball home.
Afterwards Walter Smith summed up the win:
"It was a good win in difficult conditions. It was always going to be hard for us, with the game being more like a cup-tie for Accies. We struggled in the first-half but were much better in the second."
HAMILTON ACCIES Cerny; McClenahan, Canning, Swailes, Easton; Mensing (Offiong 82), McArthur, Neil, Gibson (Corcoran 67); McCarthy, Akins (Graham 67)
UNUSED SUBS Murdoch, Ettien, Elebert, Casement
RANGERS McGregor; Broadfoot, Weir, Bougherra, Papac; Davis, Mendes, Thomson, Beasley (Novo 73); Boyd, Miller (Lafferty 82)
UNUSED SUBS Darcheville, Alexander, Dailly, Loy, McMillan
REFEREE Dougie McDonald