All Square At Bathgate

Motherwell 1 Rangers 1

Rangers Under 19’s were held to  a 1-1 draw by Motherwell at Creamery Park , Bathgate this morning. Billy Kirkwood’s side held a half-time lead after controlling the first-half but the second half saw a reversal of that with the Fir Park side in the ascendancy and a share of the points was probably fair.

Rangers were first to threaten after seven minutes when Kamil Wiktorski robbed Steven Hetherington but his effort was just to high and cleared the crossbar. A slack Motherwell free-kick on the halfway line after sixteen minutes allowed Barrie McKay to break  forward and again the shot was just too high.

Midway through the half Kyle McAusland got his head to a Robbie Crawford corner from the right but yet again it cleared the crossbar. A Rangers goal was only delayed and it came  after twenty-six minutes. Lewis McLeod won the ball on the halfway line and sent McKay down the right, when he played the ball across the box Robbie Crawford had timed his run perfectly to net from around ten yards,

Rangers continued to be in control and two minutes before the break a long-range McKay shot had keeper Willie Muir saving low to his left.

Half-Time:-Motherwell 0 Rangers 1

Ten minutes after the break Motherwell has their first real effort on goal when former Ranger Steven Hetherington’s effort from around 25 yards was saved by Alan Smith low to his left. Rangers replied when McKay switched play with a cross field pass from left to right to Callum Gallagher and Muir held his shot at the near post.

Two minutes later a run from midfield took Hetherington past three Rangers players, his pass inside Ewan McNeil set up a great chance for Keiran McGachie who knocked the ball past Smith with McAusland getting back to clear. On the hour a neat back-heel from Lee Erwin sent up another chance for McGachie this time Smith tipping the ball over.

On 71 minutes Motherwell were back on level terms, when Ewan McNeil and Adel Gafaiti both went for a long ball they only succeeded in taking each other out and allowedn Motherwell to break into the left side of the penalty area, when the ball was played across goal Keiran McGachie had a simple task to net at the far post. The home side had a chance to claim all three points in the final minute, following a corner on the right Ewan Murray’s overhead kick sent the ball back across goal but Erwin could only knock the ball over from close range.

Full-Time:- Motherwell 1 Rangers 1

Motherwell:- Willie Muir; Darren Brownlie, Euan Murray, Adam Cummins, Zane Francis-Angol; Josh Watt (Craig Moore 85mins), Hermann Mboa Mekongo (Adam Ashgar 71mins), Steven Hetherington, Keiran Mac Donald; Keiran McGachie, Lee Erwin

Not Used :- Ross Stewart (GK), Michael Lynch, Jack Leitch

Rangers:- Alan Smith; Ewan McNeil (Josh Robinson 71mins), Kyle McAusland, Adel Gafaiti, Kim Skogsrud; Lewis McLeod, Kamil Wiktorski, Robbie Crawford, Tom Skogsrud ( Fraser Aird 69 mins); Barrie McKay ( Nicolaj Kolhert 58mins), Callum Gallagher

Not Used:- Blair Currie (GK), Jack Werndly, Darren Ramsay, Marc Dyer