Goals from Zak Lovelace, Josh McPake and James Graham delivered a positive outcome for the young Gers in the second match of their double-header, which was played in front of an expectant crowd in Bangor.
David McCallum made five changes to his side from the victory over Crusaders on Saturday afternoon, with Mason Munn, Leyton Grant, Mackenzie Strachan, McPake and Thompson Ishaka coming into the starting lineup.
It took a little over five minutes for the Light Blues to fashion their first opportunity of the contest. A neat piece of interplay between Ross McCausland and Grant allowed Ishaka to spin and fire towards goal; Robbie Fraser was then quick to pounce on the loose ball, advancing into the penalty area before he was thwarted inside the six-yard box as he pulled the trigger.
Josh McPake was looking particularly lively in the early exchanges, finding Ishaka with a clever lay-off inside the penalty area, although the young attacker could only steer his effort into the grateful arms of the Bangor goalkeeper.
The clock ticked toward the 20th minute mark when Zak Lovelace went agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock. Spinning on the edge of the area, the England Under-17 international set his sights on the far post and wasn’t far away from finding the target.
However, he wasn’t to be kept at bay for long as he opened the scoring at Clandeboye Park just moments later. McPake picked his head up on the left-hand side, spotting the run of the forward before releasing a terrific searching pass. Lovelace strode onto the ball with purpose, bringing it under control and providing a deadly finish beyond the goalkeeper.
The home side offered their first threat just shy of the half-hour mark. A direct ball in-behind the Rangers defence allowed Arthurs to advance towards goal, although he was stifled terrifically by the backtracking Kristian Webster who cleared the ball to safety.
A second goal of the evening almost arrived for Rangers with four minutes remaining of the first half. McPake pounced on a moment of hesitation on the halfway line from the hosts, racing through on goal with only the goalkeeper to beat. However, the attacker was denied by a sprawling save from Taylor to keep the scoreline intact.
There was a moment of concern just minutes into the second half when McPake collided with the advertising hoardings after contact from a Bangor defender.
However, the 21-year-old sprung to his feet minutes later after receiving off-field attention, immediately picking up possession and doubling Rangers’ advantage with a ferocious strike into the near top corner.
McCallum continued to ring the changes as the second half grew legs, using his full complement of substitutes by the 64th minute as he looked to add more minutes into the legs of the players ahead of the start of the competitive campaign.
A third goal of the evening almost arrived for the young Gers after a sublime pirouette from Paul Nsio allowed him to wriggle free in midfield and feed Ishaka inside the penalty area. The angle was particularly tight for the forward, although he was unfortunate that his dinked effort did not dip under the crossbar.
The icing was put on the cake for the Light Blues in the latter exchanges. Substitute James Graham picked up possession on the left before darting inside and firing an unstoppable strike into the bottom corner.
The B Team will now shift their attention to the start of their Best v Best games programme with a trip to Leicester City’s training campus to face the first-team of OH Leuven on Saturday at noon.
BANGOR: Taylor, Beattie, R. Neale, Trialist A, Arthur, Henderson, Hughes, Arthurs, O’Kane, A. Neale, Trialist B
RANGERS B: Munn (Pazikas, 45), Grant (Hutton, 64), Webster, Allan, Fraser (Newton, 64), Strachan, Lyall (Nsio, 25), McCausland (Graham, 58), McPake (Pasnik, 58), Ishaka (Stevens, 64), Lovelace (Young, 58)
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