Rangers get off the mark in convincing style

Rangers got off the mark against Rossvale on Saturday when in gusty condiitions, the home side adapted better and ended up convincing winners.

There were several changes to the side that lost to Dunipace the previous week and they had a much greater urgency about their play that brought them the win.

Rossvale won the toss and elected to play with the strong breeze behind them for the first half. They pushed forward in the early play but the rearranged Rangers’ defensive line-up was keeping them at bay and few shots were getting through to trouble Duke. A 40-yard free-kick from McDermott was Rossvale’s best attempt, Duke tipping it over for a corner.

By the quarter hour mark Rangers were getting the measure of the visitors and by keeping the ball low they were getting in a few decent shots on goal. Kevin McBride put in a fine 30-yard effort, then Micheal Duffy came close with another long range shot.

It was all Rangers now and they had quite a few near things, but half-time came with the scoresheet still blank, probably a fair reflection on the first half’s play.

A free-kick on the edge of the box in the opening minutes of the second half gave Rangers a good opportunity but it was sent over the bar. With the wind now in their favour they were dominating play but it took almost 20 minutes before they opened the scoring. A rather soft penalty award when Barclay was brought down was converted by Paul Doyle. For his reaction to the award Donaldson of Rossvale was shown a red card.

Rangers were now playing with much more confidence and from a corner kick Joe Barclay headed in a second from a position close to the near post.

A few minutes later Rossvale were thrown a lifeline when Liam McVey could only help a shot into his own net.

Both sides made changes with Rangers bringing on Wilson for McPeake. Rossvale were going for broke and for a spell had Rangers pinned back in their own half.

A very good run by Barclay and a fine cross to Duffy saw the latter net a third goal for Rangers with about ten minutes remaining.

Another change by Rangers, they brought on Prentice for Duffy and within seconds he was shown a yellow card for a tackle from behind. A minute later he had a very fine effort hit the base of the post, then well into added time he set up Barclay for what looked like a good fourth goal, but the linesman had signalled for offside.

A fine end to a very entertaining match and Rangers fans went home much happier than the previous week.

KILSYTH: Duke, Doyle, Mcvey, Janik, Heffron, McPeake, Duffy, K. McBride, P. McBride, Coulter and Barclay. Subs: Reid, Crawley, Wilson, Prentice and Hogg.

ROSSVALE: Bowskill, Howsan, Gamba, Donaldson, McQuarrie, D. Walker, Misanjo, Hepburn, Team, Ardalbwe and McDermott. Subs: O’Donnell, A. Walker, McKenna, Scanlon and Brown.