SPFL Trust Trophy: Spartans 0-3 Rangers B

Posted on Wednesday, August 2nd, 2023

The Spartans finished their pre-season prep ahead of Saturday’s SPFL 2 debut with a 0-3 defeat to Rangers B in the opening round of the SPFL Trust Trophy.

With one eye on the visit of Clyde to Ainslie Park for the league opener, Spartans gaffer Douglas Samuel rung the changes from last week’s outing at Firhill with no fewer than six of Saturday’s starting XI sitting out.

There was a debut for on loan keeper Jacques Heraghty who joined from Queen’s Park last week whilst Academy Graduate Mikey Allan became the latest Spartans player to notched up the milestone of a century of appearances for the first team.

Spartans opened the game with intent, spending much of the early stages inside the Rangers half however despite this impressive start, they were unable to trouble the visitors.

Decent work at the back by Danny Denholm saw him get stuck in with his ball winning qualities.  He looked to send Sam Jones on the counter only for the spring footed Gers defender to leap and nod back to where it came from.

Just after the half hour mark, the best opportunity of the game thus far saw Bradley Whyte burst into the box and his power drive was well saved by Kieran Wright.

Alex Lowry’s free-kick was enough to separate the sides in the same round of the competition last season and the young Ibrox kid almost pulled off a carbon copy, only for the crossbar to come to Heraghty’s rescue.

Moments later however, the defensive wall was breached and an unstoppable drive by Robbie Fraser from inside the box gave the tourists the lead.

HT: The Spartans 0-1 Rangers B

Spartans made a pair of swaps as the players returned from the sheds, Rhys Armstrong and James Craigen coming on in place of Bradley Whyte and Gavin Morrison.

The half was only two minutes old when the offside trap was broken, despite loud remonstrations to the contrary from the home defence and the Glasgow outfit were two ahead courtesy of Thompson Ishaka.

Cammy Russell looked as if he was in for an opportunity to halve the deficit, only to the flagged offside.  The decision was met with fury from the home technical area, causing Referee Hardie to halt play for a word to be had.

Then, in the 56^th minute, a challenge on the edge of the box saw a Rangers man fall to the ground and a penalty was awarded. It was another decision met with confusion however amidst the mayhem, Alex Lowry stepped up and slotted home his third spot kick in two games to extend the lead.

A brace of changes followed, Alan Brown coming on for his 298^th appearance along with Jamie Dishington with Mikey Allan and Cammy Russell withdrawn.

Spartans looked for a consolation effort for their troubles and Under 20s striker Given Ndlovu came on with a quarter of an hour left on the clock.  The young playmaker had some lovely touches in the middle of the park which caused some level of manhandling to halt his progress.

FT: The Spartans 0-3 Rangers B

Malt and Hops Man of the Match: Ayrton Sonkur

A big thanks to match sponsor Hart Lifts for their continued support.

Attendance: 273