RANGERS B team defeated Alloa Athletic in the SPFL Trust Trophy this evening after a five-goal thriller at Recreation Park.
A hattrick from Juan Alegria sees the B team progress through to the next stage of the competition where they will face Cove Rangers.
It was a dreary night at the Recreation Park which only reflected the emotions of everyone involved at Rangers Football Club and Scottish football following the death of Walter Smith yesterday.
In light of his passing, both teams held a minute’s silence for Walter before the game to pay their respects to the former Rangers and Scotland manager.
During his two managerial spells at the club, he won ten Scottish titles, five Scottish Cups, six League Cups and reached one UEFA Cup final.
B Team boss, David McCallum, made three changes for this evening’s fixture with Lewis Budinauckas starting in goals and Cole McKinnon moving into the defence to replace Greig Allen. That meant it was a back four of Adam Devine, Robbie Fraser, Cole McKinnon and Lewis MacKinnon. Charlie McCann, Alex Lowry and Stephen Kelly were in the midfield, with Juan Alegria, Charlie Lindsay and Ross McCausland upfront for the young Gers.
The intensity was high from the referee’s first whistle with both teams fighting their way into each other’s half. The first notable sight on goal came in the fifth minute after Alan Trouten received a threatening through ball from Conor Sammon into the Rangers box. Trouten managed to find a small pocket of space to weave his way past the backline, but Lewis Budinaukas ran out to safely collect the ball.
Shortly after, Alloa opened the scoring in the seventh minute after Mouhamed Niang picked the ball up in the congested Rangers box and flicked it over the head of Adam Devine and put his shot past Budinauckas.
Charlie Lindsay nearly found the equaliser for the Light Blues after picking the ball up on the edge of the box. The youngster managed to dance around a number of home shirts to take a shot, but the ball was blocked by a defender.
The young Gers were awarded a free-kick after Juan Alegria was brought down in the Alloa final third. Alex Lowry stood up to take the kick, but his shot went over the crossbar.
McCallum’s side began to settle and pick up their momentum following this, creating more chances, and driving further into the Alloa half, but the backline held strong.
Ross McCausland nearly found the first for the Gers, he drove down into the middle of the final third and struck the ball low across the floor, but David Hutton managed to collect it.
Rangers were awarded another free-kick in a threatening position just on the edge of the Alloa box after McCausland was brought down. Lowry stood up to take the shot but struck the wall and went out for a corner. Lowry delivered the ball into the box to meet the head of Alegria who managed to see the back of the net and find the equalising goal.
Only a few minutes later, Alegria got his second goal to put the Gers in the lead. McCausland made an excellent run into the Alloa final third and switched to Devine driving down the right-wing. The defender cut the ball low into the box to meet Alegria at the back post who struck the ball into the back of the net.
Alloa found their second and equalising goal in the 39th minute after Trouten picked the ball up within a congested box and managed to slot the ball past Budinauckas.
Just before half time, Lowry saw an opening for the third goal for the Light Blues. He picked the ball up just outside the box and weaved between the backline, he took a powerful strike, but the ball rattled off of the crossbar.
In the early minutes of the second half, Trouten saw the opening for the leading goal. The striker was picked out by Mark Lamont, but his strike was put over the crossbar.
Alegria almost found his hattrick after Devine drove down the right-wing and delivered a dangerous ball into the box, but Alegria was just unable to connect with the cross.
In the 57th minute, the Light Blues saw another dangerous sight on goal. Lowry danced around numerous Alloa shirts and crossed the ball into the box to meet the head of Alegria.
His hattrick was coming and came in the 62nd minute. After some congesting and saved shots made, the ball fell to the youngster’s feet, and he tapped it in to get his third of the evening.
The youngsters kept their composure to stay in the lead for the remainder of the game, holding possession and continuing to drive into the Alloa final third. The home side had a few opportunities on goal, but Budinauckas and the backline did well to defend and deny Ferguson’s side the equalising goal.
The home side nearly secured the matching goal in the final minutes of the game, Ben Armour drove down into the Rangers box weaving past multiple blue shirts towards the front post. However, Devine made a wonder tackle to intercept the ball to deny Alloa their third.
RANGERS: Budinauckas, Devine, Fraser, McKinnon, MacKinnon, McCann, Lowry (Richie-Hosler, 81), Kelly, Alegria (Ure, 72), Lindsay (Miller, 90), McCausland (Weston, 90).
UNUSED SUBS: Cervantes, Ewen, Harkness, Allan, Lyall.
ALLOA ATHLETIC: Hutton, Graham, Armstrong, Leighton, Church, King, Niang (Scougall, 60), Lamont (Howie, 60), Trouten, O’Donnell, Sammon.
UNUSED SUBS: Burt, Williamson, Armour, Taggart, Mendy,
REFEREE: Calum Scott
ASSISTANT REFEREE: Andy Milne and George King.