Rangers 6-0 Hamilton Academical

Joe Garner grabbed a second-half hat-trick as Rangers reached the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals with a 6-0 thumping of Hamilton at Ibrox.Rangers' biggest win of the season came on the back of substitute Garner's treble and efforts from Martyn Waghorn, Jon Toral and Clint Hill.With the Light Blues board expected to announce a new boss next week in time for Sunday's Old Firm showdown with Celtic at Parkhead, caretaker boss 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 goalkeeper Wes Foderingham appeared to handle the ball outside his box as Rakish Bingham chased him down.Referee John Beaton waved play on and the relieved Rangers players eventually sorted themselves out.Veteran frontman Kenny Miller thought he had found the net after 32 minutes with a thunderous volley, but Hamilton keeper Remi Matthews got a finger tip to the strike to push it onto 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 the Spaniard 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 as he found the corner.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 - only allowed to play while Rangers wait for an appeal hearing following his sending-off against St Johnstone on Wednesday - 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 to the near post 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 making a meal of defending McKay's set-pieces and were undone again five minutes later, with Hill this time left free to head high into Matthews' net.And some more suicidal defending allowed Garner to claim the match ball as he fired home twice in the closing four minutes.ends