Boyd seals Cup double

The striker set the ball rolling with the opener before DaMarcus Beasley put his injury hell firmly behind him with a goal of his own.

Queens then hit back through Steve Tosh and captain Jim Thomson but Boyd had the final say to ensure the silverware would be heading back to Ibrox.

The breakthrough came after 32 minutes. Tosh gave away a free-kick for a foul on Beasley 25 yards out and Barry Ferguson played the ball short to Boyd to lash into the top right corner of the net.

Queen of the South then failed in their attempts to win a penalty after claiming Steven Whittaker had barged Sean O'Connor off the ball but those pleas fell on deaf ears.

Rangers doubled their advantage instead three minutes before the break when Carlos Cuellar's header was missed by Thomson and Ryan McCann and broke kindly to Beasley to slide home from eight yards.

Just when Rangers must have thought their names were on the trophy, Gordon Chisholm's men pulled a goal back four minutes after the restart. O'Connor skipped past Cuellar before cutting back into the path of Tosh to bundle home from the edge of the six-yard box and provide hope of a dramatic fightback.

That proved to be the case when the battling Dumfries club hauled themselves level with 53 minutes gone. A Papac foul on McCann proved costly when Robert Harris punted the resultant free-kick into the box and skipper Thomson was on hand to direct a header past Neil Alexander.

Rangers could have restored their lead when Jean-Claude Darcheville released Beasley and he laid off a pass to the feet of Ferguson but the skipper fired straight into the keeper's arms.

It was left to Boyd to come to the rescue and he rose above everyone else in the box to meet Beasley's corner and send a header looping over the Queens goalkeeper after 71 minutes.