HAMILTON 1 - 3 RANGERS
Stewart Fisher at New Douglas Park

KRIS Boyd and Nacho Novo may never form a Scotland strike partnership together, but visitors to New Douglas Park yesterday received a timely reminder of exactly what George Burley is missing out on. After a fortnight's worth of trial by media in the wake of his decision to abandon playing for Scotland, Boyd answered his critics in the fashion he knows best, his two goals cancelling out Brian Easton's first half opener before the Spaniard - or should that be soon-to-be former Spaniard - came off the bench to slot in a clinching third.

No-one is more relieved than Boyd that his team-mate should have stolen some of the headlines away by indicating he could be prepared to change his international allegiance to Scotland.

"I don't feel I have a point to prove, other than to myself," the 25-year-old said. "As long as I keep going about it the way I did today then I will be all right. People can say what they want but it is up to me. I have not liked it the critcism, but you've got to get on with it. Anyway, wee Nacho has taken the pressure off me now."

Boyd's omission from his club's last two ties had masked the fact that his involvement this season constitutes the closest he has had to a regular run in the Ibrox first team since the arrival of Walter Smith, and there was an indication last night that situation is set to continue.

"He is probably in the best physical shape since I've been here," Smith said of Boyd. "There was a determination about him to do well this season, and it is not just recent happenings that have made him do that. He has had a couple of goals today and hopefully we can continue to create them. We have tried to improve on that to keep him playing in the majority of matches. He has already played the majority of matches for us."

The game's main talking point - players opting not to play for the country of their birth - was not limited to Boyd and Novo. The Rangers fans' determination to jeer James McCarthy's recent non-reversal of his decision to play for the Republic of Ireland was clear from the moment when they erroneously booed when the name of his teammate James McArthur was read out beforehand, and things deteriorated to the point where McCarthy's name was being appended to the so-called "Famine Song".

The torrential rain in the hours leading up to the game was so severe that it was a surprise to see how well the newly-laid Douglas Park pitch held up. But the gusting wind was another matter. The strength of it made judging short passes difficult let alone high balls, and saw attempted through passes to Kenny Miller bound out of play. Hamilton had the opposite problem - goalkeeper Tomas Cerny was lucky if any of his kick-outs reached halfway.

Set pieces and crosses became the game's holy grail. Kevin Thomson whipped one wind-assisted effort across goal from an angle, then Kirk Broadfoot was unable to steer an effort back across goal from the far post.

Simon Mensing's aerial prowess and some determined tackling from McCarthy allowed Hamilton far enough up the park to create some dead ball danger of their own. If Rangers thought they had escaped when Mensing's header struck the bar after Alex Neil's corner had held up for what seemed like an eternity, their relief was short-lived. Two minutes later, a deep free-kick from Neil found Brian Easton, who bulleted a header back across goal which Madjid Bougherra was unable to prevent from crossing the line.

But it was somehow inevitable Boyd would be the centre of attention. So it proved when Trent McClenahan's tug on Miller gave him a chance from the spot. Boyd's personal mission to prove the Scotland manager wrong was off and running as he found the net.

In his seventh start of the season it was his fifth goal - and third from the penalty spot - and soon he had half a dozen. Playing into the wind seemed to suit Rangers and a move involving Broadfoot and Steve Davis ended with Boyd nodding in from a suspiciously offside position. He could easily have ended the game with four goals.

But the clincher went to a Rangers striker who is apparently available for Scotland selection. Novo robbed Martin Canning and hared through on goal, slotting his finish underneath Cerny. Hamilton have now had five straight league defeats and arrive at Ibrox on Tuesday still without a win against Rangers since 1987.

"Its another wee easy game for us," manager Billy Reid joked.