RANGERS Under-19s were beaten narrowly by League One outfit Queen of the South at Palmerston Park this afternoon in KDM Evolution Trophy league phase action.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for the young side who were the superior side in the contest but lacked a clinical edge in the first half.
Cormac Christie was on the scoresheet for the Light Blues as he cancelled out Benjamin Luissint’s opener, before Freddie O’Donoghue delivered the decisive blow to secure all three points for the home side.
With several Under-19 regulars involved in international duty, Smith was forced to make five changes to his side for the trip down the M74.
Among the reshuffle was a first start at this level for 15-year-old Kyle Glasgow who has impressed at Under-17 level this campaign.
However, it was the hosts, themselves enjoying a strong start to the season in League One, who fashioned the first opportunity when Cole Burke’s pull-back was intelligently dummied to allow Benjamin Luissint to stride onto the ball and force a fantastic stop from Greig Thackray who tipped the midfielder’s effort onto the inside of the post.
It was a warning sign from the Dumfries outfit, although the young Gers slowly grew into the opening exchanges through the lively Glasgow on the right-hand side.
He had an effort saved on the quarter of an hour mark following a decent opportunity for Cameron Fernie when the midfielder was teed up by Alex Smith but could only steer his effort from the edge of the penalty area over the crossbar.
Chris Eadie then went close in quick succession as Rangers sought the opener.
The forward latched onto a neat fizzed pass from Callum Burnside and had only Lawton Green in the Queen of the South goal to beat but for a smart stop by the hosts’ goalkeeper.
Less than 60 seconds later, Paul Nsio turned architect as he lifted the ball over the top for Eadie who smartly worked a half yard of space and, again, forced Lawton into an impressive save at his near post.
It was one-way traffic at Palmerston Park as Glasgow was unfortunate not to break the deadlock soon after when he shimmied dangerously inside, although his curling effort sailed inches wide of the far post.
Burnside added to the Rangers momentum moments later when he stole possession high up the pitch and drove into space, but Green was down well in time to thwart the Northern Irishman’s low, driven strike.
A heroic block from Niall Rogerson spared the Doonhamers’ blushes four minutes prior to the interval when Burnside was teed up at close-range by Nsio following a smart breakaway.
Indeed, all that was missing for the young side was the rewards for their excellent first-half play.
But they suffered a setback just three minutes after the restart when, despite being on the back foot for much of the opening 45 minutes, the home side took the lead.
A delivery from the left-hand side was floated in by Kai Kennedy and prompted a mix-up between Thackray and Connor Campbell, allowing the ball to fall kindly to Luissint who accepted the gift and stroked home into an empty net.
Still, the setback didn’t discourage Smith’s young side as they continued to attack with endeavour and quality, going close through Burnside before a dangerous delivery across the face of goal from Lyle Wark unfortunately evaded all of those in a Rangers jersey.
Smith then turned to his substitutes bench just beyond the hour-mark as Ashton Scally and Cormac Christie replaced Wark and Nsio respectively.
Within two minutes, the change paid dividends as forward Christie, now playing alongside Eadie up top, peeled intelligently into space to receive a pass from Burnside before slamming home an unerring finish off the near post and in.
Parity was short-lived, however, as the hosts reclaimed the advantage with 20 minutes remaining when Freddie O’Donoghue slammed beyond Thackray after the hosts pinched possession high up the pitch.
Opportunity knocked for Alex Smith in the closing stages, but the teenager fired over as the young Gers were left to lament a positive display which ended in a cruel defeat.
QUEEN OF THE SOUTH: Green, Hewitt, Charters, Lyon (Hunter, 88), Hannah, Luissint, Kennedy (Gray, 82), Johnstone (Stott, 45), Rogerson, Ross (O’Donoghue, 45), Burke (Smith, 68)
Subs not used: Stewart, Douglas, Guthrie
RANGERS UNDER-19s: Thackray, Wyllie (Young, 80), Kerr, Campbell, Wark (Scally, 63), Fernie, Nsio (Christie, 63), Smith, Glasgow, Burnside, Eadie (Rankin, 72)
Subs not used: S. Reid, Hynd, J. Reid, Owen, Caldwell
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