After falling behind to an Isabella Briede opener in the second half, captain Nicola Docherty came up with the vital equaliser with a superbly executed left-foot volley to send the tie to extra time.
Eilidh Austin then stepped up to provide the crucial moment and complete the comeback to fire the Gers into Saturday’s final against Ajax at Petershill. A result that means Rangers’ European journey continues, having now guaranteed a Europa Cup qualifier regardless of this weekend’s outcome.
Leanne Crichton named her first competitive lineup of the season and handed out four debuts to her summer arrivals. Kirsty Smith, Mijke Roelfsema, Gry Boe Thrysøe and Hannah Blake were all introduced to the Rangers faithful from the off for the first time.
Rangers started lively in what prior to kick-off looked likely to be a tough test on paper. After some positive play in the opening stages, the hosts of the mini-tournament went close to an early goal. On her debut, Gry Boe Thrysøe fed fellow debutant Kirsty Smith, who found Calliste Brookshire in space; her clever pass round the corner acknowledged the run of Laura Berry, but she was closed out at the angle in search of getting a shot away.
The Czech side responded with a promising piece of play of their own. Having worked the ball from right to left, winger Isabella Briede fired a dangerous-looking cross-come-shot into the area, which had Jenna Fife scrambling, but it sailed over the crossbar.
Crichton’s team then went close to finding the opener with Brookshire again involved. The Greece international used her pace to good effect to get to the touchline and fire a cross in for Katie Wilkinson to latch onto, but last season’s top goalscorer sent the effort the wrong side of Barbora Votikova’s near post.
Despite the Gers edging the opening 22 minutes of the contest, the game was yet to find its breakthrough. Brookshire was proving a livewire for the Light Blues down the left, but Slavia were still a threat down their respective right. The home side required a last-ditch tackle from Eilidh Austin to stop Roksolana Kravchuk’s dangerous-looking cross.
10 minutes until the interval and it was the Czech visitors who had started to grow into the game. Maria Mikolajova had a volley straight at Fife before Rangers almost played into their opponents' hands as Austin was caught in possession inside her own box having tried to play out, but the goalkeeper made a smart stop to keep the game goalless.
Slavia came out of the traps quickly after the restart as they looked to build on their own half to find an opener. Diana Bartovicova had a deflected effort over the top and striker Klara Cvrckova went close thereafter as her overhead effort landed on the roof of the net.
That positive start to the second period paid dividends as Slavia found the breakthrough on 57 minutes. After a positive run from Roksolana Kravchuk, the winger drilled a low ball across the box which was tapped in by fellow winger Isabella Briede at the back post as the Czech side struck first.
The Light Blues looked to respond but were struggling to offer the real intent in the final third they showed in the opening stages of the contest. Berry was starting to get more involved down the flank, but the Gers couldn’t get star striker Wilkinson in the desired positions to make an impact and try to find an equaliser.
Crichton introduced two more of her summer signings as Bailley Collins and loan arrival Eva Hendle were introduced into proceedings. Brookshire, now on the right side, cut onto her left foot; her ball worked out for the number 14 on the far side with her shot blocked, before Wilkinson fired over off balance.
Time was ticking to find the crucial leveller for Rangers as the game reached the final 10 minutes of normal time. Greek winger Brookshire was almost the provider as her dangerous in-swinging delivery nearly found Wilkinson and Berry, but was just overhit for both.
Moments later, from a second phase of a corner, Brookshire’s delivery was met by Katie Wilkinson at the back post, which was knocked down and finished superbly by captain Nicola Docherty to level up the match in style with a left-footed volley inside the area.
Rangers thought they had flipped the match on its head on the counter-attack. Hendle was put in over the top by Wilkinson and shrugged off the challenge of Vesela and played in Berry. At the angle she tried to find the far corner, but Voitkova made the stop to deny her.
The game headed for extra time and it was a cagey beginning to the final half-hour of the contest. The Gers were forced to turn to their thin substitutes bench once again as Brookshire had to be replaced by Lily Boyce in another reshuffle of the pack.
However, after a clever piece of play that involved Hendle on the left side initially, Rangers turned the match on its head. Wilkinson was found in the middle of the pitch and picked out the advancing Austin well advanced; she composed herself superbly to dispatch the ball into the far corner to give the Gers the lead on the night.
The Czech’s battled to level up the match in the closing stages, with Eva Hendle dismissed for a second bookable offence following a coming together in the opposing penalty area. Leanne Crichton’s side battled to get over the line as they secured a vital win to set up Saturday’s final against Ajax at Petershill.
RANGERS: Fife, Docherty (Connolly-Jackson, 108), Thrysøe, Berry, Blake (Hendle, 68), Roelfsema, Austin, Smith (Collins 68), Cruft, Brookshire (Boyce, 97), Wilkinson (Black, 115)
SUBS: Rarity, Ohba, Miller
SK SLAVIA PRAHA: Votikova, Briede, Cvrckova (Szewieczkova, 105), Vesela, Jelinkova, Bendova (Polcarova, 115), Mikolajova, Bartovicova, Krejcirkova (Kroupova, 85), Kravchuk (Zufankova, 72), Dubcova (Svitkova, 72)
SUBS: Jilkova, Sobotkova, Jaen, Pennock, Vavrlova, Korsun
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