Second-placed Rangers have closed the gap to Hearts at the top of the Scottish Championship to just four points after a 3-0 win over Cowdenbeath at Central Park.

Rangers took an early lead when Kris Boyd fed Nicky Law, who shot beyond Robbie Thomson in the Cowdenbeath goal after just three minutes.

Sean Higgins came close to levelling the tie on the half-hour mark when his shot beat Steve Simonsen in the Rangers goal, only to cannon back off the woodwork.

Minutes after the restart Darren McGregor's long-range effort was spectacularly tipped over the bar by Thomson as Rangers began the second half strongly.

Ally McCoist's side extended their lead on 56 minutes when Cowdenbeath defender Kyle Miller headed off the underside of the bar and into his own net.

Miller's 20-yard free kick was comfortably saved by Simonsen as the home side desperately tried to find a way back into the game, but Rangers made sure of the points with a David Templeton strike five minutes from time.