Hardie double spurs Rangers
Rangers' teenage striker Ryan Hardie marked his first ever Light Blues start with a brace as Stuart McCall's side clinched a 3-1 win over Dumbarton.
The 18-year-old had made just four substitute appearances before facing the Sons at the Dumbarton Stadium, but his double put Rangers in command after they fell behind to Mark Wilson' second-minute opener.
The former Celtic full-back's last goal was also against Rangers - he netted the Hoops' winner in a controversial Scottish Cup quarter-final replay at Parkhead in March 2011.
A touchline bust-up between then Celtic boss Neil Lennon and Gers assistant Ally McCoist sparked a summit on sectarianism but there was no further drama this time as Haris Vuckic fired home a spectacular third and Rangers eased to victory.
McCall promised his students from the Murray Park youth ranks they would be given their chance to impress when he took over last month.
And he stayed good to his word as Hardie - who has notched more than 30 times for the club's under-20s side - and winger Tom Walsh came in to replace Kenny Miller and Dean Shiels following Wednesday's 1-1 slip-up at Livingston.
But Nicky Clark's horror miss after less than a minute was not the start the Ibrox boss was looking for, especially when Wilson showed the Gers striker how it should have been done 60 seconds later.
Darren McGregor should have cleared Mark Gilhaney's cross but got caught underneath the ball and could only head it straight to the ex-Hoops defender.
The 30-year-old averages just a goal a season but showed no hesitancy as he flashed a left-footed strike past Cammy Bell to give the Sons a shock lead.
Lee McCulloch thought he had the visitors level, only for home keeper Danny Rogers to produce a stunning reaction stop to keep out the skipper's volley.
But Hardie did find the net after 10 minutes as he capped his full debut with a dream goal.
Sons defender Andy Graham could not live with the teenager's pace as he latched on to Vuckic's through ball and raced in on goal. Rogers got a hand to the youngster's low shot but Hardie stayed alert and followed in to force the ball over the line before Stuart Findlay could block.
Rogers did better with McGregor's powerful strike, but Rangers suffered another scare when Dylan Easton danced past McCulloch before lashing just wide of Bell's goal.
Tom Walsh and Nicky Law fired over as McCall's team looked for the lead, but there was no breakthrough by the interval.
But they only had to wait three minutes into the second period for Hardie to strike again.
McGregor took a high ball and hooked it wide to Wallace, whose cross flew towards the youngster at an awkward height. But, with his back to goal, he sent the ball over his own shoulder with a flick of his toe and watched it bounce past Rogers' dive into the bottom corner.
Now in front, Rangers went for Dumbarton's throat and got their reward as Vuckic collected Law's short pass before whipping an unstoppable 25-yard shot into the top-left corner.
The Sons, though, came up with a couple of reminders that they should not be discounted yet as Scott Taggert fired just over before on-loan Celtic defender Findlay leapt unmarked to head straight at Bell.
Hardie, though, was looking to make his impressive start even more special and nearly grabbed himself a hat-trick as his attempted lob sailed just over Rogers' crossbar.
But he was denied his treble when McCall afforded the frontman a standing ovation as he was replaced by Calum Gallacher with five minutes left.
Rangers were not satisfied yet, though, and nearly had a fourth when Law shook the bar from the edge of the box, while Clark was not far away with an ambitious 40-yard volley.
Source: PA
