What do Kris Boyd, Nacho Novo and James McCarthy have in common? None of them has any intention of pulling on a Scotland shirt. So, why was it only young McCarthy who had to suffer an afternoon of abuse that managed to drown out a howling gale at New Douglas Park on Saturday?

The oddest trio since The Thompson Twins each contributed to an occasion stained by the background noise that had its roots not in the Eighties, but the 1800s. The Rangers supporters yet again defied their own manager, Walter Smith, who has urged those who persist in The Famine Song to stop ignoring their club’s pleas to end the anti-Irish chanting.

Just days earlier, Smith had admitted his embarrassment in a newspaper interview by stating: “The truth is, there is still an aspect of sectarianism among a certain number of supporters.” No sooner had the words left his lips than the other words were being belted out by the mouths of the travelling support.

It has been that way all season – at Ibrox, too, since the issue arose. Almost as a mark of defiance. On Saturday, though, it took on a far more hostile tone, McCarthy having his every touch jeered because he recently refused to reverse his decision to play for Ireland, not Scotland.

The teenage Glaswegian also had to put up with graphic visual demonstrations from the Rangers fans occupying two stands about what they thought of him, while his name was added to The Famine Song. No doubt some players view that sort of “stick” as proof that they are doing a good job if the opposition fans are wound up, but most Rangers fans would not recognise McCarthy in the street and some even mistook him for James McArthur, his midfield colleague, because they booed the Scotland Under21 player when his name was read out.

In an ugly atmosphere, the Hamilton fans – meek as church mice all season – actually stood up in support of McCarthy and chanted his name. The rancour spilled over into the main stand, where police spent most of the afternoon removing Rangers fans who had gone undercover, but who fell into dispute with the local season-ticket holders once Boyd cancelled out the lead provided by Hamilton’s Brian Easton.

Boyd scored either side of the interval to steer Rangers away from a potential upset. The claims that this was the striker’s way of “sticking up two fingers” to George Burley ignores one crucial fact: it was Boyd who severed his connection with Scotland, not the other way about. Is Boyd jeered by the Rangers support for this “unpatriotic” act? Not likely. At least McCarthy, whose touch and energy underlined why Giovanni Trapattoni is likely to give him his full debut for Ireland this month, has stuck with the country that first offered him the chance to play international football and capped him at four age levels.

Boyd’s reworking of the “Scottish till I die” mantra into “Scottish till I’m dropped” has taken on a peculiar oddity because of the supposed desire of Novo to play for Scotland. However, the difference between Novo and his colleague is that the Spaniard has shown a far thicker skin when it comes to being marginalised.

Despite everything he has done for Rangers in recent seasons, Novo is continually left on the bench. He was there again on Saturday, offered only a cameo role, but made the most of it by racing away after a blunder by Martin Canning to score a clinical goal that sealed his side’s comeback.

Burley, though, is unlikely to be pursuing McNacho now that he is free to take up British citizenship after living in Scotland for seven years for one simple reason – the player does not have a UK passport.

Boyd showed his customary ruthlessness in converting a 41st-minute penalty after Trent McLenahan pushed Kenny Miller, but even he was too sheepish to celebrate putting Rangers in front with a header in the 49th minute when television showed the striker clearly offside before he met Steven Davis’s cross.

“I have not liked hogging the headlines in the past few weeks but at least Nacho has taken the pressure off me now,” Boyd said. “I don’t have a point to prove to anyone except myself. As long as I keep going about it the way I did here, I’ll do all right. I knew when I made the Scotland decision I had to start again at club level.”

Poor Hamilton did not deserve a fifth successive defeat, or to slide to the bottom of the table, after the perfomance they put in. Billy Reid’s team adapted to the capricious wind far better than the visiting team, by keeping their passing game short, and a fine header from Easton, the left back, another of their home-grown youngsters, illustrated the club’s ethos.

Reid had enough courage to give debuts to two more teenagers, James Gibson and Lucas Akins, against a team who were conquering Europe six months ago. “That is what Hamilton Academical is all about,” the manager said. “There is no panic setting in. We will continue to play in the right manner. Some of the younger players are developing so well.”

Next up? Rangers again, in the Cooperative Insurance Cup tomorrow. “A nice easy game at Ibrox to get back to winning ways,” Reid joked. “Seriously, if we can’t enjoy that as a club, we should not be here.”

Hamilton (4-4-1-1): T Cerny 7 T McLenahan 6 M Canning 5 C Swailes 6 B Easton 7 A Neil 8 J McArthur 6 S Mensing 7 J Gibson 6 J McCarthy 7 L Akins 6 Substitutes R Offiong (for Mensing, 83), M Corcoran (for Gibson, 63 4), D Graham (for Akins, 63). Not used S Murdoch, D Elebert, C Casement, S Ettien.

Rangers (4-4-2): A McGregor 7 K Broadfoot 6 M Bougherra 6 D Weir 8 S Papac 7 S Davis 8 P Mendes 6 K Thomson 7 D Beasley 5 K Boyd 7 K Miller 7 Substitutes N Novo (for Beasley, 70min), K Lafferty (for Miller, 83). Not used N Alexander, C Dailly, R Loy, J McMillan, J-C Darcheville.