Spartans lose out in Lowland League opener

Posted on Wednesday, July 21st, 2021

Two second half goals saw Dougie Samuel’s Spartans lose out in the sunshine to Rangers B as the Ainslie Park side kicked-off their 2021-22 Lowland League campaign.

Spartans headed into the game against the Gers Youth side on the back of a 5-1 victory over English Vanarama outfit Chelmsford whilst the west coast visitors opened their league account with a 2-0 win at home against Bo’ness.

In front of a crowd of 454 inside the North Edinburgh arena, it was Rangers who had the lion’s share of possession in the opening stages and forced Blair Carswell into turning an Arron Lyall effort away to safety.

Jamie Dishington was inches away when his header went narrowly wide as the game edged towards the break then Rangers saw Tony Weston enter the Referee’s jotter for a foul on the advancing Mikey Allan.

Half Time: Spartans 0-0 Rangers B

The fans had barely time to finish licking their lips from their half time Bains of Stenhouse pie, when the visitors opened the scoring. Just two minutes after the restart, Cole McKinnon’s effort gave Carswell no chance, much to the delight of the healthy numbered visiting support.

Rangers then doubled their advantage midway through the second half when Robbie Ure rounded Carswell and slotted home despite very strong calls for an offside flag from the Spartans players, which collectively fell on deaf ears.

Spartans rallied as they looked to halve the deficit and a decent save by Jay Hogarth denied Alan Brown who produced a fine turn and shot on the edge of the box.

The gaffer made two changes in the latter stages, Dan Baur replaced Scott Maxwell, whilst Ian McFarland came on for Alan Brown.

FT: Spartans 0-2 Rangers B