It was a hard-fought match played in bitterly cold conditions, with the Gers drawing a rare blank in the context of this season.
David McCallum named an unchanged lineup for the visit of the Lanarkshire outfit, with Bailey Rice and Johnly Yfeko returning to the substitutes bench after their absence at the weekend.
The Gers started brightly on the evening, although it was the visitors who fashioned the first meaningful opportunity of the contest as the harsh winter chill hung in the air. Jamie Docherty burst into the penalty area from a driving run, only to be halted by an expertly timed sliding challenge from Connor Allan.
The home side responded with a chance of their own two minutes later, with Robbie Ure unfortunate not to bring Kevin Ciubotaru’s whipped delivery under control after gaining separation from his marker.
Zak Lovelace then worked Curtis Lyle in the East Kilbride goal, curling an effort from distance after neat play involving Charlie Lindsay and Ciubotaru.
The Light Blues were being tested defensively as Allan was once again forced to take evasive action, intercepting Neil McLaughlin’s square pass across goal as the visiting forward looked to tee up Robert McHugh.
However, the pressure was ramped up from the hosts midway through the first half. Zak Lovelace had two bites at the cherry to break the deadlock, but he was met by resistance from the East Kilbride defence, and then goalkeeper, from 14 yards out before Ross McCausland swept wide.
The Englishman was then involved in a dangerous combination on the edge of the penalty area with Arron Lyall, with the latter steering his finish off target after breaking through the visitors’ rearguard.
Lewis Budinauckas was forced into a smart stop at his near post from Cameron Elliott as the East Kilbride forward unleashed a powerful effort at the Gers goal on 35 minutes.
The combinations in the final third for the Light Blues were proving effective, with Lyall sent through on goal, this time from a lovely McCausland pass, before drawing a save from Lyle.
Rangers emerged for the interval with a renewed sense of intent, with McCausland lifting an effort over the crossbar from range.
Ciubotaru showed his quality from crossing situations just shy of the hour mark, delivering a delicious cross into Ure who was unfortunate not to make contact from point-blank range.
McCallum turned to his substitutes bench with an hour gone as Rice and Lewis MacKinnon replaced Greig Allen and Lindsay.
Rangers were awarded a penalty with 19 minutes remaining as Lovelace was fouled by the East Kilbride goalkeeper after latching onto a pinpoint McCausland through pass. However, the home side spurned the chance to open the scoring as Lyall’s spot-kick was denied by the visiting goalkeeper who guessed the right way.
The hosts immediately set about rectifying the disappointment, with Ure going agonisingly close with his left foot after working half a yard of space with a neat stepover inside the penalty area.
The away side came within a whisker of opening the scoring shortly after, with Luke Kenny’s header cannoning off Budinauckas’ far post from a corner.
McCausland had an effort blocked by Kenny five minutes from time, receiving behind East Kilbride’s defensive line via a Mackenzie Strachan pass before firing towards goal.
East Kilbride threatened with the game in its dying embers as Budinauckas was forced into a smart stop from a floated free-kick by the visitors.
The referee brought the game to its conclusion minutes later, with the focus now shifting to Saturday afternoon’s clash with Cumbernauld Colts for McCallum’s side.
RANGERS: Budinauckas, K. Ewen, Allen (MacKinnon, 60), Allan, Ciubotaru, Strachan, Lindsay (Rice, 60), Lyall, McCausland, Lovelace, Ure
Subs not used: Pazikas, Yfeko, Pasnik, Graham, Young
EAST KILBRIDE: Lyle, McDonald, Munro (Taylor, 49), Kenny, Bronsky (Page, 63), Morgan, Hughes, McLaughlin, Elliott, McHugh, Docherty (Hughes, 79)
Subs not used: Victoria, McGuire, McLaren, Sauermann
REFEREE: Calum Haswell
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