Rangers ground out victory against a tenacious Cowdenbeath side at Ibrox this afternoon courtesy of three goals in the dying stages of the match.
The scoreline was tied at 1-1 with six minutes remaining, before Darren McGregor found the net and super-sub Haris Vuckic came off the bench to notch a late brace.
The Gers looked dangerous in the early stages, coming close in the 12th minute when Lee McCulloch got his head to Nicky Law's corner and forced a finger-tip save from visiting goalkeeper Robbie Thomson.
Rangers continued on the front foot and came even closer in the 20th minute as Law gained possession on the edge of the area, cut inside the box and crashed an effort against the upright.
Stuart McCall's side threatened again five minutes before the interval as David Templeton threaded a pass through to Dean Shiels, but the Northern Irishman was thwarted by the onrushing Thomson.
Cowdenbeath mustered only one shot at the Rangers goal in the first period, but their defence held tight and the deadlock remained intact at the break.
The hosts' patience paid off early in the second period as Lee Wallace's cross was tipped towards the back post by Thomson, allowing Nicky Clark to pounce and scramble the ball home.
McCall's men pushed hard for a second and almost got one in the 70th minute when Templeton floated an inviting cross towards the head of Clark, but the midfielder nodded narrowly wide.
Cowdenbeath hit back against the run of play in the 76th minute following a sloppy clearance by Bilel Mohsni.
He conceded possession to Lewis Toshney, who put Kudus Oyenuga through on goal, allowing the striker to place the ball beyond Cammy Bell between the Rangers sticks and level the match.
Rangers looked destined for yet another draw, but McGregor made sure that wasn't the case when he smashed home their second from the edge of the box with six minutes remaining.
They made sure of the points in the closing stages thanks to a double from Newcastle United loanee Vuckic, who scored twice in three minutes to make the scoreline more reflective of Rangers' dominance.
The result sees Rangers close in on second place in the Scottish Championship, moving level on points with Hibernian with a game in hand.
Mark Langshaw
