ON a night when fans were urged to wear capes in support of a local children’s charity Capes4Heroes it was supersubs Darren McGregor and Ian Black who scored the goals as Rangers won 2-1 at Sacramento Republic’s Bonney Field. The home side stunned the League One champions when they opened the scoring in first-half injury time. Carlos Martinez’s curling strike from 20 yards gave Cammy Bell no chance but the Light Blues responded superbly after the break. With 48 minutes on the clock it was Lewis Macleod who sent in a great corner kick and McGregor, who had replaced Bilel Mohsni at the interval, rose above the defence to head home his first goal for the club. Ian Black then hit a dramatic winner in the dying second of the game to give Rangers their third win this pre-season. Following the 3-1 defeat to Ventura County Fusion this was certainly an improved performance from Ally McCoist’s squad. Sacramento again provided excellent opposition but Rangers had the best of the goalscoring chances throughout the match. The manager made two changes to the team that faced Fusion with Kris Boyd and David Templeton starting with Black and McGregor dropping out. There was a carnival atmosphere in the 8,000-capacity ground prior to kick off which was helped by the noise coming from a huge funfair positioned directly behind one of the goals. With a monorail also circling the ground behind the stands it made for a bizarre yet memorable setting for Rangers’ second game of their North American. The grass pitch was also in great nick as the League One champions walked out for kick-off in the club’s stunning new Puma home kit for the first time. To mark tonight’s occasion the Republic players wore superhero capes as both teams stood for their respective national anthems. The home side showed in the early stages that they are a decent side with their number seven Gilberto an energetic performer in the middle of the park. Alongside him was Chad Bond who picked up a yellow card within 15 minutes for a couple of heavy challenges on Boyd then Templeton. After that the game burst into life with Rangers creating a great opening. Foster played the ball out of defence to Macleod who picked out Boyd with a terrific pass in behind Sacramento’s defence. The striker had just the keeper to beat but as he was about to shoot a defender made a last-ditch block to keep the game goalless. At the other end the visitors then had Bell to thank for denying Republic’s Thomas Stewart. The striker was picked out by Gilberto and after controlling the ball well his low shot brought out a good save from the number one before Foster punted it clear. On 33 minutes it was Rangers turn to threaten and Boyd was guilty of missing a snip. Nicky Law made the most of hesitant defending to get into the box and when he cut the ball back from the left Boyd somehow sclaffed his shot from six yards with an empty net in front of him. It was proving to be a first half of missed opportunities and after a good spell of pressure Republic’s forward Chad Bartlome blazed a shot over from 15 yards after two previous efforts had been blocked bravely in the Gers box. Before half time McCoist was forced to make his first change to his side with Richard Foster holding his hamstring. The defender immediately put ice on the back of his leg as Seb Faure went on to take his place. Before the half was finished the Light Blues then suffered another blow when they conceded the opening goal. A corner was headed clear to American Carlos Martinez who looked up and curled a terrific shot high into the postage stamp corner of Bell’s goal. For the start of the start of the second period McGregor and Black were introduced and within 60 seconds the latter had been booked for a tangle with Gilberto. On 48 minutes McGregor then had the impact his manager would have hoped for when he made it 1-1. Macleod’s corner was perfect for the defender who produced a bullet header which flew past Republic’s number one Dominik Jakubek. It was better from Rangers and in the next attack Miller came close with a powerful shot which fizzed across goal and wide of the target. With the pace of the game dropping the Light Blues continued to push forward and Miller again came close when he volleyed the ball wide from a Law cross from the right. Macleod, like every player in blue, put in an impressive shift and the talented youngster almost scored late on with a low drive from distance after he had cut in from his left midfield berth. With Dean Shiels and Kyle Hutton also getting second half run-outs this was again a great work-out for the Rangers stars who stunned the home support at the death. Miller had an opportunity to shoot from a tight angle but instead he squared it intelligently to Black who flicked the ball high into the net from five yards. It was a great end to an entertaining match and Rangers will now travel to Canada tomorrow morning as they continue their preparations for the 2014/15 season with a game against Victoria Highlanders on Monday night. RANGERS (4-4-2): Bell; Foster (Faure 41), Mohsni (McGregor 46), Zaliukas, Wallace; Templeton (Black 46), McCulloch (Hutton 76), Law, Macleod; Boyd (Shiels 66), Miller SUBS: Simonsen, Kelly, Smith, Clark, McKay, Crawford, Gallagher, Murdoch W A T P......
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 07:21:25 +0000
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