20’s Edged Out At Accies

Hamilton Accies 1 Rangers 0

A goalkeeping error and missed second half chances proved costly for Rangers Development League side at New Douglas Park tonight. With the quality of chances missed after the break the least they should have expected was a share of the spoils.

The first half was a scrappy affair with Rangers in particular giving possession away too cheaply with slack passing. Just before the quarter-hour mark a free-kick routine from the home side created a shooting chance for Ronan Hughes from around twenty-five yards that was deflected wide of Robbie McCrorie’s right hand post. Ten minutes before the break the home side were gifted the opener, from Steven Boyd’s corner from the left Robbie McCrorie miscued his punch and the ball dropped at the feet of Ross Cunningham a couple of yards from the goal line and he had the simple task of knocking the ball into the net.

A couple of minutes later Rico Quitongo and Gramoz Kurtaj combined on the left before moving the ball inside to Ross Cunningham on the left hand angle of the box and he forced a save from Robbie McCrorie low to his left. The home side’s next chance soon followed with Jack Breslin breaking down the right, he played the ball across the eighteen yard line to Steven Boyd on the left hand angle of the box and he cut inside before shooting straight at Robbie McCrorie.

Half-Time:- Hamilton Accies 1 Rangers 0

Three minutes after the break a poor Robbie McCrorie clearance went straight to Gramoz Kurtaj who played in Ryan Tierney with the Rangers keeper redeeming himself by making the save low to his right.Almost immediately from David Bates long pass down the right Liam Burt cut into the box passed a defender with Darren Jamieson coming from his line to make the save. Four minutes later Liam Burt chased the ball down the right and cut in past Danny O’Halloran but he could only find the side netting with his shot.

Rangers passed up a great chance to draw level on sixty-four minutes, Zak Rudden’s pass sent Ryan Hardie through the inside right channel but Darren Jamieson diverted his shot wide of his left hand post with his legs. Within two minutes David Bates got on the end of Ross Lyon’s free-kick from the left hand angle of the box with Darren Jamieson diving to his left to turn the header wide.

The home side threatened to extend their lead as the game entered the final twenty-five minutes, Gramoz Kurtaj sending Marc Kelly into the right side of the penalty area with Robbie McCrorie saving at the striker’s feet and Aidan Wilson completing the clearance. Ryan Hardie was again sent clean through on seventy-five minutes, this time on a Liam Burt pass but he shot wide of the keeper’s left hand post.

Six minutes later when a long ball bounced inside the Accies box,  Ryan Hardie dispossessed Jamie Boyd but his shot came back off the crossbar. Within a minute a long ball into the right side of the box was collected by Ryan Hardie who turned the Trialist defender before shooting but Darren Jamieson saved at his near post at the expense of a corner.

Rangers hand one final opportunity in injury time, Amin Abaradan played the ball forward to Liam Burt, when he was challenged inside the box the ball came back to Amin Abaradan who side-stepped a defender but his effort was straight and Darren Jamieson saved comfortably

Full-Time:- Hamilton Accies 0 Rangers 1

Hamilton Accies:- Darren Jamieson; Jack Breslin, Trialist No.4, Danny O’Halloran, Rico Quitongo; Ronan Hughes; Ross Cunningham, Steven Boyd (Jamie Boyd 67 mins), Gramoz Kurtaj; Ryan Tierney, Marc Kelly.

Not Used:- Ross Connelly (Gk), Adam Douglas, Dylan Henry, Steffan Connelly.

Rangers:- Robbie McCrorie; Jordan Houston, David Bates, Aidan Wilson, Myles Beerman; Jack Thomson; Jamie Barjonas, Josh Windass (Ryan Hardie HT); Liam Burt, Zak Rudden (Amin Abaradan 87 mins), Ross Lyon (Jordan Gibson 74 mins)

Not Used:- Kieran Wright (Gk), Kyle Bradley, Serge Atakayi, Max Ashmore.