18’s Wear Down Dons

Rangers 4 Aberdeen 2

Rangers Under 18’s eventually wore down a young Aberdeen side who played around seventy five minutes with ten men, at The Rangers Training Centre this afternoon. Aberdeen have allowed several of their Under 18 squad to go out on loan recently and consequently nine of the fifteen players used today were Under 16.

The young Aberdeen side started brightly and on the third minute a wind assisted cross from the left forced Alfie Halliwell to tip over. Three minutes later they took the lead, from a left hand corner Blaine McClure miscued his attempted clearance at the near post and the ball looped to the back post where Fraser Mackie headed into the net.

On fourteen minutes Aberdeen were reduced to ten men, keeper Rodrigo Vitols bringing down Chris Eadie thirty yards from goal as the striker raced clear. The referee didn’t really have any other option even if it felt a bit harsh, Dylan Ross was sacrificed to be replaced by substitute keeper Rueben Smillie.

A couple of minutes later the keeper was in action, keeping out Chris Eadie’s close range back heel after Kieron Willox teed him up from the right hand byline. On twenty minutes Calum Adamson shot from the edge of the box but it was deflected high over.

Seven minutes later Zander Hutton’s cross from the right broke to Callum Burnside inside the box but his powerful shot was straight at Reuben Smillie. On the half hour Kieron Willox tried his luck from fully thirty yards with his effort going just wide of the keeper’s left hand post.

Six minutes before the break Callum Burnside headed over from Cammy Scott’s left wing cross. Rangers then came close twice in the closing minutes of the half. Blaine McClure’s corner from the right broke to Callum Burnside on the left side of the box and Reuben Smillie was forced to tip over. Callum Burnside then looked sure to score from Zander Hutton’s superb cross from the right but his diving header was just wide of the far post.

Half-Time:- Rangers 0 Aberdeen 1

The sides were level three minutes after the break, Calum Adamson broke into the right side of the box where he saw a defender block his shot a couple of yards out but Chris Eadie was on hand to knock the ball into the net. Nine minutes later Leyton Grant broke forward before passing to Archie Stevens on the right, he cut into the penalty area before laying the ball back to Kieron Willox who shot over.

In their first real attack of the second half Aberdeen regained the lead, a slip from Connor Campbell allowed Fraser Mackie to break into the right side of the box where he squared the ball  for Joe Teasdale to shoot past Alfie Halliwell. Rangers weren’t behind for long and when Lewis Stewart took on a defender inside the left side of the box the ball broke kindly allowing him to poke past the keeper.

Rangers took the lead for the first time in the match on seventy minutes, Archie Stevens played a one-two with Zander Hutton to break into the right side of the penalty area and shoot past Reuben Smillie. Ten minutes later Zander Hutton passed to Calum Adamson inside the box and continued his run to meet the midfielder’s back heel return but his shot was just wide of the far post.

Rangers were searching for a fourth goal to make the game safe and in the next attack Calum Adamson’s shot from inside the right side of the box was touched wide of the far post by Reuben Smillie. That fourth goal came with eight minutes remaining, Calum Adamson was provider with a flick over the defence where Lewis Stewart controlled the ball on his chest before shooting past the keeper.

The final effort came on ninety minutes through Archie Stevens breaking into the right side of the penalty area with a defender deflecting his effort wide.

Full-Time:- Rangers 4 Aberdeen 2

Rangers:- Alfie Halliwell; Zander Hutton (Arran Kerr 83 Mins), Leyton Grant, Connor Campbell, Cammy Scott; Blaine McClure (Lyle Wark 58 Mins); Calum Adamson (Cammy Bell 83 Mins), Callum Burnside (Grant Leitch 73 Mins); Archie Stevens, Chris Eadie, Kieron Willox (Lewis Stewart 62 Mins).

Not Used:- Greig Thackray (Gk), Jack Wylie.

Aberdeen:- Rodrigo Vitols; Kai Watson, Lewis Carroll, Tim Akindileni; Ellis Clark; Olly Green (Jack Searle 67 Mins), Cooper Masson, Dylan Ross (Reuben Smillie 14 Mins),: Cammy Wilson; (Zak To 83 Mins) Fraser Mackie, Joe Teasdale. (Tristan Stephen 73 Mins)