Under 20’s Draw Again

Rangers 2 St.Johnstone 2

A spirited final ten minutes almost produced an unlikely win in a game where Rangers were generally second best for the previous eighty minutes. It was an experienced Rangers lineup compared to their last fixture, but arguably the three best players on the night were the three substitutes.

Rangers fell behind in the opening minute, Chris Kane’s shot from the right side of the penalty area broke kindly for Dwayne Coultress who out muscled Kris Gibson to prod the ball past Steve Simonsen. Rangers were struggling to take the game to their opponents while St.Johnstone enjoying the bulk of possession were not converting that into chances.

There was almost half an hour gone when Dwayne Coultress exchanged passes with Chris Kane before shooting just wide of Steve Simonsen’s right hand post. Against the run of play eight minutes before the break Rangers equalised with a superb goal from their first serious attack. Ryan Sinnamon cut in from the left and teed up Robbie Crawford who gave keeper Mark Hurst no chance with his shot from the left hand angle of the box.

Half-Time:- Rangers 1 St.Johnstone 1

Just over ten minutes into the second period Dylan Easton tested Steve Simonsen from the left hand angle of the box with the Rangers keeper saving low to his right. The Rangers keeper didn’t have his finest moment just after the hour, Keiran Stewart switched play from the right to find Dylan Easton on the left side of the box, a good first touch setup the chance for a shot on goal that appeared to squirm through Steve Simonsen’s legs before crossing the line.

As the final fifteen minutes approached Rangers exerted a bit of pressure on the Saints defence and Tom Walsh was unlucky when his shot from the left side of the penalty area was deflected wide of the right hand post. The visitors went straight to the other end and when Steve Simonsen elected to punch Liam Caddis’s right-wing cross the ball went straight to Kieran Stewart but the Rangers keeper reacted to blocked the midfielder’s shot with his legs.

With nine minutes remaining Rangers equalised from the spot, a free-kick from halfway close to the right touchline was sent towards the penalty area where Fraser Aird’s touch found Andy Murdoch breaking into the box and he was clearly pulled back by a Saints defender and the referee pointed to the spot, Fraser Aird stepped up to send Mark Hurst the wrong way from twelve yards. As the clock ticked past the eighty-fifth minute Kyle Hutton sent in a cross from the left that was cleared to the edge of the box from where Robbie Crawford’s effort was deflected wide of the right hand post.

As the final whistle neared there was action at both ends, Ryan Sinnamon played the ball up to Callum Gallagher and a good turn took him clear inside the box, but his shot was weak and Mark Hurst saved comfortably. Andy Murdoch then broke from his own half before passing to Callum Gallagher on the right, from the return pass Mark Hurst stretched to tip Andy Murdoch’s shot over.

The final chance came at the other end, Dwayne Coultress free-kick from midway inside Rangers half, wide of the right found Keiran Stewart at the back post with Steve Simmonsen managing to keep his close range header out.

Full-Time:- Rangers 2 St.Johnstone 2

Rangers:- Steve Simonsen; Craig Halkett, Kris Gibson, Luca Gasparotto, Ryan Sinnamon; Barry McKay (Andy Murdoch 51mins), Kyle Hutton, Charlie Telfer (Tom Walsh 61mins), Fraser Aird; Robbie Crawford; Dean Shiels (Callum Gallagher 64mins).

Not Used:- Liam Kelly (Gk), Dylan Dykes, Darren Ramsay, Danny Stoney.

St.Johnstone:- Mark Hurst; Scott Gray, Sannel Jahil, Fraser Wright, Andrew Steeves; Liam Caddis, Keiran Stewart, Scott Brown, Dylan Easton; Dwayne Coultress; Chris Kane.

Not Used:- Kenny Giles (Gk), Scott Stevenson, Scott Taylor-McKenzie, Bradley Fortnam-Tomlinson, Robbie Norrie, Alex Gilchrist, Alex Kitchen.