Young 17’s Side Beat Motherwell

Rangers 2 Motherwell 0

As I head to Berlin for a short break tomorrow, tonight’s 17’s game was my last youth game of the season. With quite a few regulars missing for one reason or another it was a young Rangers side that recorded a comfortable win over Motherwell.

Rangers had an early chance when Andy Dallas broke into the box and he was denied by the Motherwell keeper who made a fine save. On the quarter hour mark Sam Jamieson sent a ball over the top of the Motherwell defence and Mati Zata was in a race with the advancing keeper, he got there first to lob the keeper and was unlucky to see his effort comeback off the crossbar.

A couple of minutes later Sam Jamieson tried his luck from fully thirty yards that forced the keeper to dive to his right to turn the ball wide. Rangers took the lead midway through the half, Sam Jamieson broke into the right side of the penalty area and the keeper knocked his effort up in the air, Mati Zata was brave to get there before keeper and defenders and nod the ball into the net.

Motherwell threatened for the first time a few minutes later, the ball was passed inside from the right and the shot from the edge of the box bounced of Lewis Muir’s left hand post. A minute later and another shot took a significant deflection and Lewis Muir did very well to change direction and save low to his left.

Rangers were soon back on the attack and when Carlo Pignatiello played the ball into the left side of the penalty area the keeper was brave to save at the feet of Mati Zata. Seven minutes before the break Matthew Shieils glanced a header from a free-kick midway inside the visitor’s half that the Motherwell keeper saved.

On the stroke of half-time Motherwell threatened from the edge of the box and with the ball seeming to move in the air Lewis Muir did well to hold on.

Half-Time:- Rangers 1 Motherwell 0

The visitors threatened in the opening minute of the second half with an attack into the right side of the penalty area with Lewis Muir blocking the shot with his legs. A few minutes later Lewis Mayo had a great chance from Carlo Pignatiello’s cross from the left but he headed narrowly over.

With nine minutes remaining two of Rangers Under 15’s substitutes combined to create and score Rangers second, Dapo Mebude headed to the byline on the right and from his cross and despite the attentions of keeper and a defender Zac Butterworth forced the ball home from close range. A couple of minutes later they combined again, this time Zac Butterworth’s pass allowing Dapo Mebude to break into the left side of the penalty area only to be denied by the advancing keeper who blocked with his legs.

Full-Time:- Rangers 2 Motherwell 0

Rangers:- Lewis Muir; Michael Hewitt, Jordan Houston, Lewis Mayo (Jay Mack 59 mins), Scott Gray; Cammy Palmer (Zac Butterworth 75 mins); Mati Zata, Carlo Pignatiello; Andy Dallas, Matthew Shiels (Dapo Mebude 65 mins), Sam Jamieson.