RANGERS faced Queen’s Park in their final pre-season friendly this afternoon with Gers running out 3-2 winners at the Rangers Training Centre.
It was a mix of first and Academy team players in this afternoon’s squad as the Light Blues completed their pre-season preparations ahead of next weekend’s league campaign opener at Livingston.
Rangers lined up with a defensive backline of Leon King, James Sands, Ben Davies, and Adam Devine with Robby McCrorie behind them in goals.
Scott Arfield was joined in midfield by Steven Davis and Ryan Jack, while Malik Tillman and Scott Wright supported Fashion Jr up front.
The attacking front three did well to create early pressure on the visitors, with Wright having the first opportunity on goal after great build-up play from Arfield in the midfield, but his effort was safely collected by Jacques Heraghty.
It wasn’t all one-way traffic though as Queen’s Park began to apply some pressure in the Rangers box, but the defending backline were on hand to clear the danger.
On the 20-minute mark, the visiting side had their first real threat of the game after Scott Williamson’s strike thundered off the crossbar and McCrorie was on hand to block the deflection and clear the remaining threat. This seemed to embolden Owen Coyle’s side as they looked to maintain pressure in the Rangers final third.
The Spiders’ attacking line sent two fine efforts towards the back of the net, but McCrorie pulled off a great double save to keep the scoreline level. Soon after, that man Williamson managed to break past the Gers backline to collect a lovely through ball.
The striker took a first touch before sending the ball past McCrorie and into the back of the net to give his side the lead.
The Gers looked to quickly rectify this and had a few opportunities to find the equaliser before the end of the first half, but Heraghty made some important saves to keep his side with the one-goal advantage.
As the squad headed into the second half, Nikola Katic came on to replace Davies, but Coyle’s side continued to create high pressure towards McCrorie on goal and Williamson managed to secure his second of the afternoon and double the visitors’ lead.
The Gers began to pick up pace in the Queen’s Park half to quickly close the deficit and were able to do so after a close-range own goal past Heraghty. Both sides continued to battle it out across the pitch with the Gers on the hunt to find the equaliser.
In the last fifteen minutes of the match, Rangers were awarded a penalty after youngster, Zak Lovelace, was brought down in the box.
Steven Davis stood up to take the shot, but Heraghty saved his effort. Rangers continued to create pressure on the visiting backline and managed to level matters after Lovelace netted a close-range effort.
The young Ger managed to collect the ball in a congested Queen’s Park box and found a pocket of space to slide his effort past Heraghty. Shortly after this, the youngster was on hand again to deliver a powerful third goal for the Gers to take the lead.
Mateusz Zukowski was a driving force down the right flank and managed to pick out an on-running Lovelace on the edge of the visitors’ box.
The Light Blue managed to send a fast-paced ball from the front post past the keeper to end the match in a 3-2 victory.
RANGERS: McCrorie, Jack, Davis, Sands (Zukowski, 65), Wright (McCann, 65), Davies (Katic, 46), Sakala, Arfield, King, Devine, Tillman (Lovelace, 65).
SUBS: K. Wright, Kelly, Middleton, Fraser, McCausland.QUEEN’S PARK: Heraghty, Naismith, Thomson, Reid, McQuaid, Trialist, Moore, Gillies, Bruce, Williamson, Nicol.
SUBS: McKenna, Fairlie, Ferguson, Connolly, Lickrish, Ross, Howe, Smith, Russell, McCormick.
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SEASON 22/23 AWAY KIT: Our new away kit, featuring a red diagonal print and the classic Rangers scroll crest in blue, is now available. Available in a number of size options in-store and online. More than Ready.
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