Boyd may have found himself out of favour in recent weeks but the club's top goalscorer led the way in a six-goal rout at Ibrox.

It was also a productive evening for Lee McCulloch, who helped himself to a double, while Alan Hutton was also on the scoresheet to book a fifth-round meeting with fellow Clydesdale Bank Premier League side Hibernian.

The new Ibrox pitch looked more patchwork than the Rangers line-up, which surprisingly included several first-team regulars, as well as the obligatory sprinkling of fringe players.

McCulloch, free of injury and suspension, started as did £9million Spurs target Hutton.

The fourth-round tie also provided rare outings for goalkeeper Graeme Smith, Kirk Broadfoot and Alan Gow, who, in particular, did his chances no harm with a skilful and penetrative performance.

There was also a place on the bench for 16-year-old youth prospect John Fleck, the nephew of former Rangers and Scotland forward Robert Fleck, who has been tipped for a bright future in the game.

Rangers had the ball in the back of the net in the opening minutes when McCulloch nodded home a Broadfoot cross, but the effort was disallowed for a foul on defender Carl Thywissen.

McCulloch then rose above everyone to connect with Charlie Adam's curling corner but this time the header was off target.

The blustery conditions were proving disruptive for Rangers early on but a team once dubbed the worst in Britain after five consecutive finishes at the bottom of the Scottish Third Division, were never likely to prove too great an obstacle.

The breakthrough came after 24 minutes when Adam's chipped pass was collected by McCulloch, who controlled the ball on his right foot before transferring to his left for a composed finish.

Goalkeeper Michael Brown then did well to block Boyd's angled drive from McCulloch's pass but was soon left fishing the ball out of the back of the net twice in two minutes.

Hutton exchanged a one-two with Gow before dashing onto the return ball and slotting past the goalkeeper, who could have done better after getting a touch on the ball.

Then, with 29 minutes on the clock, Jean-Claude Darcheville's ball down the right flank was cut back by Gow into the path of Boyd for a simple finish.

Darcheville then claimed to have the ball over the line, which was refuted by referee Crawford Allan, before slicing through the Shire defence and setting up Boyd to fire home his second of the night on the stroke of half time.

There was little respite for East Stirling after the restart as Rangers clocked up their fifth, which proved to be a peach of a goal.

McCulloch drove in from the left, weaving past several white shirts before lashing into the top corner of the net from the edge of the box.

Darcheville, yet to play a full 90 minutes since his summer switch to Rangers, made way for the introduction of Thomas Buffel, who had an immediate impact when he was fouled in the box.

McCulloch and Boyd were both keen to claim a hat-trick by taking the penalty but Boyd won the argument and the gleefully rifled home from 12 yards.

With no way back for the visitors, Rangers were able to make a little bit of history by throwing Fleck into the action, the youngest player to pull on the light-blue jersey since Derek Ferguson in 1983.

Boyd, his job done for the night and with the man-of-the-match award in the bag, then made way for Steven Naismith with his point made.

However, there was concern for Rangers when McCulloch, troubled with injury problems recently, pulled up towards the end although he was able to carry on for the remainder of the match.