Sheils and Black put Rangers into cup quarter-finals

And the away triumph kept alive their chances of playing Old Firm rivals Celtic for the first time in over two years.

The Ibrox club will be in the last eight draw tonight along with their city adversaries - if the Hoops can overcome Hearts at Parkhead.

Falkirk took the lead early on at Westfield through former Rangers player Rory Loy to raise the home supporters' hopes of an upset.

But an Owain Tudur Jones own goal shortly after that restored parity as the visitors took control of the tie.

Second-half strikes from Dean Shiels and Ian Black ensured the Gers progressed in the national knock-out cup competition.

In his starting line-up Ally McCoist made two changes to the side that slumped to a 1-1 league draw with Alloa Athletic at the Indodrill Stadium on Saturday.

Nicky Clark (shoulder) and Lewis Macleod (ankle) were ruled out due to the injuries they sustained against the Wasps at the weekend.

Shiels was handed his first start of the season and took over from Clark up front just off lone frontman Kris Boyd. Left back Lee Wallace, who had been unavailable three days earlier due to a calf strain, returned to the side.

Stevie Smith stayed in the team, moving forward into the left side of midfield to take the place of Macleod.

Fraser Aird, who came off the field after suffering a blow to his face against Alloa, also returned to the side after making a recovery.

David Templeton had to settle for a place on the bench despite the forward coming on as a sub against Alloa and netting the equaliser.

Just two minutes into this tie Rangers had a penalty claim dismissed by referee Alan Muir when Shiels went down after a challenge by David McCracken.

The home team took the lead shortly after that with a goal that, once again, keeper Steve Simsonsen won't enjoy seeing a replay of.

He failed to hold a Blair Alston shot he should have dealt with comfortably and Loy netted the rebound.

Simsonsen could have blamed the slippery artificial surface or the wet weather for Falkirk taking the lead.

However, the experienced English goalie - in the side due to an injury to first-choice shot-stopper Cammy Bell - should have done far better.

Peter Houston's side only held the lead for a couple of minutes before Rangers got back on level terms.

Smith burst down the left wing and whipped a dangerous cross into the six yard box where Boyd was lurking.

Tudur Jones attempted to clear the danger but he only succeeded in diverting the ball past Jamie MacDonald.

Shiels had a chance to put his side in front in 10 minutes after Boyd had unselfishly squared the ball to him.

The Northern Ireland internationalist's lack of game time showed, however, and his attempt went straight at keeper MacDonald.

RANGERS stepped up their efforts to get themselves in front and Black tried his luck from long range, only to see his effort whistle just wide of the Falkirk goal.

But Falkirk gave as good as they got and the visitors' defence needed to have their wits about them to keep the game level. Wallace was booked for a tackle on former team-mate Loy and Black was also spoken to by the ref as tensions rose and a few hefty challenges were put in.

The combative central midfielder was himself the victim of a bad challenge at the start of the second half, with Loy picking up a yellow card for the incident.

The former Rangers kid created a scoring chance for his second-tier team in the 51st minute after some poor play by Bilel Mohsni.

The occasionally careless centre half surrendered possession needlessly and Loy supplied Bairns midfielder Alston in the penalty area.

But the Light Blues were spared faces as red as the jerseys they were wearing when his shot was well saved by Simsonsen, atoning for his earlier lapse.

McCoist needed to do something to inject a spark into his team's play and he made a positive substitution.

He removed Canadian Aird, who had been completely anonymous on the right flank, and brought on Templeton in 56 minutes.

The switch pepped up the Gers and they took the lead nine minutes later after Nicky Law sent Shiels clean through on the home goal with a neat headed flick-on.

The pacy forward displayed great composure as he fired into the roof of the net to the delight of the travelling fans in the crowd of 5,259.

FALKIRK have struggled in the Championship so far in the 2014/15 campaign but this performance suggested they can climb the table.

They pushed hard for an equaliser and Simsonsen did well again to block a Will Vaulks downward header after a Sibbald free-kick.

Boyd - who failed to get on the scoresheet for the fifth game running - made way for Jon Daly shortly after that near thing.

The big Irishman, who has recently returned to action, was unlucky not to head home a Smith cross two minutes from the end of the match.

He was denied his first goal of the season by the brilliance of MacDonald, who palmed the ball clear acrobatically.

Ryan Hardie, a 17-year-old attacker who had not even featured in the senior squad before last night, came on for his debut four minutes from the end, replacing Shields.

And the talented teenager was involved in the final goal. He fed Templeton, who laid the ball off for Black to rifle home a long range-shot.