Rangers pay penalty for poor display

Kilsyth Rangers went out of the Central League Cup when they lost 8-7 on penalties to Cambuslang Rangers after 1-1 draw at Duncansfield on Monday.
Action from Kilsyth's match with CambuslangAction from Kilsyth's match with Cambuslang
Action from Kilsyth's match with Cambuslang

It was disappointing evening for Rangers who didn’t play to anything like the standard of recent weeks in the second round tie and as a result missed out on a lucrative encounter at Pollok.

In a dreary first half Kilsyth had most of the pressure but very few real scoring chances. Shots were mostly well off target and the visiting ’keeper was rarely troubled.

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In contrast Andy Carlin had to make two very good saves to keep his goal intact.

The second half was a little more even, but again neither side seemed likely to break the deadlock until, with just over 1O minutes left, Pearson got the final touch after a break down the right to put Kilsyth in front.

However in almost the final minute Cambuslang levelled matters with a good solo goal and emerged the winners after a shoot out which went to sudden death.

Kilsyth maintained their outside hopes of reaching the Super League First Division promotion play-off with a 2-0 win at Ardrossan Winton Rovers on Saturday.

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The result was never really in doubt after the first quarter of an hour as Rangers took a two goal lead which was well defended.

Rangers made a bright start, as they have done in quite a few of their recent games, and Damien Welsh put them ahead after only five minutes.

It was 2-0 10 minutes later when they were awarded a free-kick after Joe Barclay was taken down just on the edge of the penalty box and Corey Pearson sent a great shot low into the corner of the net.

Kilsyth continued to dominate play for the remainder of the first half with chances falling to Nicky Prentice and Chris Reid among others.

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After the break Rangers seemed content to sit back and defend their lead, which they did pretty successfully with very few shots going in to trouble Andy Carlin.

Rangers also gained a point from a 1-1 draw at Clydebank last Wednesday evening, but it came so close to being another three as they were denied by a controversial injury-time free-kick.

Promotion-chasing Clydebank made all the early running and Carlin made an excellent save within a couple of minutes of the start.

It was 25 minutes before Rangers had their first real shot, a good Prentice effort narrowly clearing the bar.

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But a couple of minutes later Prentice made another good run and put over a cross which Joe Barclay knocked home in the ensuing scramble to put Kilsyth in front.

Clydebank had a few more chances to equalise before the interval but Carlin did a fine job in keeping them out.

After the break Clydebank continued to press but squandered good chances and it looked like Rangers would to repeat their Central League Cup win at the same venue just a few weeks ago.

But a free-kick award right on the edge of the Rangers area gave Clydebank one final chance and Little made no mistake with a very fine effort which went just under Carlin as he dived to his left.

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