MATCH REPORT
Date : 30th September 2023
Opposition : Bo’ness Athletic
Venue : Home
Scorers : Idrissa Sarr (T), Sam Straughan
Booked : Ross Aitchison, Rhys Bloomfield
Sent Off : None
Attendance : 50
Referee : David Gallagher
Team Lineup :
Ryan Dunn
Brad Smith
Craig Heath
Evan Smith
Jack Forster
Rhys Dixon
Ross Aitchison
Griffin Sabatini (T)
Idrissa Sarr (T)
Rhys Bloomfield (C)
Gary Robertson
Subs :
Jake Gibson
Adam Deans
Leighton Robertson
Jay Atkinson
Craig Bell on for Gary Robertson 70 mins
Sam Straughan on for Idriss Sarr 70 mins
Jack Cummings
Match Report :
Tweedmouth stunned Bo’ness by scoring in the first minute but, although there would be no shock result, Rangers could take encouragement from Bo’ness manager Willie Irvine’s post match comment that, unlike in some other recent outings, his top of the table team had been given a game this time.
That early goal came when Rhys Bloomfield’s cross from the right wing reached unmarked trialist Idrissa Sarr who needed only the gentlest of touches to direct the ball into the net.
Finlay Shearer could have claimed a quick equaliser but, from right in front of goal, was off target with a header from Owen Main’s cross. Next time, Main attempted to send across a lower ball but it was cut out by Evan Smith.
Shearer did make it 1-all when, with the ball on the ground following a corner, he stabbed it over the line. It would be the first of three goals inside as many minutes. Callum MacDonald swept Calum Simpson’s delivery from the left into the net and soon followed up with another success when the ball again came over from that side.
Tweedmouth contributed to the visitors advancing half the length of the field through missed tackles and mishits of the ball until Ryan Dunn came out to prevent Main cementing the move with a fourth goal, belying the fact that with Euan Robertson unavailable, the goalkeeper had come off his sick bed to play.
Bloomfield stormed up the right to drive the ball past the far post with the last kick of the first half.
Early second half exchanges included Dunn saving Jack Forster with a great piece of goalkeeping going low to take the ball from Main who was equally troublesome on either wing.
Rangers’ Ross Aitchison got his head to Rhys Dixon’s free kick but the ball landed safely in the arms of Fraser Currid.
Just before the hour mark, Tweedmouth conceded a rather soft goal to Ryan Robertson, the cue for the visitors to make a triple substitution. Rangers soon followed with a double change and within minutes it paid off. One sub, Craig Bell, played the ball through to the other, Sam Straughan. He still had one outfield man to beat before going on to confidently slip it past Currid.
Main was once more busy, this time setting up one of his team’s new men, Mathew Meechan. Despite having time to fully control the ball, he sent it over the bar from a few feet out. Soon afterwards, Tweedmouth got a reprieve when the ball struck the bar before dropping back into play.
A major difference between the teams was in overall speed of movement and decision making. A tad ironic then that Athletic’s final goal was something of a slow motion affair. Home defenders held off allowing Ryan Robertson time to opt for the right hand corner of the net for his second goal three minutes from the end.