Cove Rangers have been eliminated from the Scottish Cup as they miss the chance to face Celtic due to a 4-0 defeat by Rangers in the third round.
The Light Blues netted four times in the first half through Jermain Defoe, Kemar Roofe and Nathan Patterson before a bitter blow arrived, key player Jamie Masson substituted in the second 45 with a worrying knee injury. Rangers move on to face Celtic in the last 16 of the competition.
Paul Hartley’s side had found out their potential route to Hampden prior to kick-off but the Rangers match was always likely to prove too much for his League One title challengers. League leaders Falkirk had been beaten 3-0 by Celtic 24 hours previous.
And on the other side of Glasgow, Cove conceded more than the Bairns in one half. First it was Defoe, who slammed a lovely 25 yard-shot into the net after 23 minutes. The floodgates had opened and the Celtic task secured for the home team.
Then Roofe hit two goals in two minutes on the half-hour mark as Patterson pounced upon a defensive mistake to put Rangers 4-0 at the interval. Perhaps the worst blow for Cove was the loss of Masson as the game came to a close, going down under no contact clutching his knee. He was stretchered off, a concern for Hartley ahead of the League One run-in.
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