Three second half goals from Rangers saw the Ibrox side pick up the points this afternoon in Govan where first place played third in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League. John Hughes side travelled to Glasgow with high hopes but were left disappointed after a poor second half showing cancelled out an excellent opening 45 minutes.

There were more than a few surprised expressions when the Hibernian team line was revealed with John Hughes making three changes from the side that had fought back to draw with Aberdeen. Out went Wotherspoon, McBride, Nish and Riordan to be replaced by Zemmama, Hanlon, Benjelloun and Gow - the former Rangers player making his first start for his new club against his former employers, while Benji was making a rare appearance from the kick off. Hibernian in their all white away kit got the action underway with the opening exchanges tense and compact. The first real chance of the game came following a mistake from Bamba on 8 minutes, with the Hibernian defence opening up in front of him Miller struck for goal but was just too high with his effort.

Hibernian carved out a good opportunity not long after when Benjelloun switched the play out to the right where he found fellow Moroccan Zemmama with a neat pass. The winger took on and got beyond Papac before picking out Murray arriving late into the penalty area however the defender's header lacked the power to test McGregor and allowed Weir to head clear. On 17 minutes Hibernian had another great chance to open the scoring when Zemmama once more got the better of Papac before spotting Stokes unmarked in the middle and picking him out with a pin-point cross, the striker took it first time but didn't catch the ball properly and Rangers were able to clear downfield.

A Sol Bamba clearance that pole-axed team-mate Rankin saw referee Conroy immediately stopping play to allow the Hibernian man to receive treatment. The decision frustrated the home support due to Rangers breaking down the right flank, but given it was a head knock the official made the only decision he could. Former Hibernian captain Kevin Thomson then cynically took down Zemmama as Hibernian broke away on the counter attack just after the half hour mark, and that earned the Rangers player the first yellow card of the afternoon. Thomson was perhaps fortunate not to see a red card for his tackle which was certainly high and dangerous.

Persistence from Benjelloun resulted in Hibernian robbing Weir of possession just yards from the home penalty area and Miller raced away, the Irishman skipped through a couple of challenges but found his road blocked by Thomson who marshalled the ball back to McGregor. Rangers certainly were not having it all their own way and the football Hibernian were playing was at times electric. Bougherra had to produce a fantastic last gasp challenge on Zemmama to stop the winger from pulling the trigger after he got away from Papac and bore down on goal as Hibernian put the Rangers defence under pressure yet again.

From the resulting corner taken by Zemmama, Hanlon powered a downward header towards goal that had the beating of goalkeeper McGregor but Papac was on hand to clear from the line to prevent the visitors taking the lead. Hogg picked up a yellow card seconds later when he took down Miller after the Rangers striker had gone beyond him on the left flank. As the half time break approached Rangers were fortunate not to be reduced to ten men when Boyd caught Zemmama with an elbow after the Moroccan had beaten all ends up at the touchline. Referee Conroy took advice from his assistant and was content only to book the Rangers striker.

Half Time: Rangers 0 Hibernian 0

Before Rangers restarted the match Walter Smith made a half time change when he replaced the ineffective Beasley with Lafferty - and the substitute wasted no time at all in getting involved as he tested Graeme Smith with a shot from just outside the penalty area.

Rangers had started the second period brighter than they had been in the first and they were rewarded almost immediately. The home side opened the scoring on 49 minutes when former Hibernian fullback Steven Whittaker played a one-two with Lafferty on the edge of the penalty area before curling an exquisite left foot effort beyond Smith and into the far corner of the net.

The relief around Ibrox was immediate but Hibernian tried to respond quickly by winning a corner kick from which Rankin let fly from about 25-yards from goal, the midfielder's rasping shot just off target on this occasion. Shortly after a promising break from Hibernian saw Stokes race clear into the penalty area, but the through ball was too wide for him to have a strike at goal and from his cut back Gow volleyed high into the air and McGregor gathered comfortably. Whittaker was the latest player to have his name taken by referee Conroy after the full back cynically took out Benjelloun after the Moroccan had slipped the ball beyond him and was racing towards the bye-line.

On 67 minutes Hibernian made their first change when Riordan replaced Gow and seconds later a Zemmama drive was spilled by goalkeeper McGregor, the ball finishing behind the goalkeeper who gathered at the second attempt - before it could be forced over the goal-line by a Hibernian player. Rangers were then awarded a penalty kick when Miller went down following a challenge from Bamba - Kris Boyd stepped forward and drilled the ball low into the bottom left hand corner of the net. That was the final action of the match for the goal scorer as he was replaced by Novo before the restart.

Seconds after his introduction Novo had a great chance to make the points secure when a long ball forward from Whittaker put the little striker clean through on goal but he made a hash of his shot and Smith gathered comfortably. A terrible mistake from Bamba almost proved fatal when the big defender tried to dummy a cross from Miller and the ball struck Novo and went inches wide with Smith beaten. Nish replaced Zemmama for the final quarter of an hour but the change did little to stem the flow of pressure from a now confident home side. Goalkeeper Smith was forced to tip a lobbed shot from Whittaker over his crossbar as Rangers came forward in waves of attacks.

The final change of the afternoon saw McBride replace Rankin but he had only been on the field for seconds when the game was killed off as a contest and he was hurt in the process. The Hibernian midfielder caught his studs in the turf and lost possession, Novo gathered and slipped the ball to Kenny Miller who coolly slotted the ball beyond Smith to complete the victory for the Govan men.

A disappointing second half from Hibernian with Rangers running out deserved winners in the end. John Hughes men now have the chance to put today's defeat behind them quickly when they face St Johnstone in Perth on Wednesday.

Rangers: McGregor, Weir, Papac, McCulloch, Davis, Thomson, Boyd, Whittaker, Miller, Beasley, Bougherra. Subs: Alexander, Edu, Novo, Lafferty, Little, Wilson, Wylde.

Hibernian: Smith, Hogg, Murray, Zemmama, Rankin, Stokes, Benjelloun, Hanlon, Bamba, Gow, Miller. Subs: Stack, Cregg, Nish, Riordan, Stevenson, McBride, Wotherspoon.

Report: Richard Payne