Rangers B pulled off an important 3-1 Lowland League win over Caledonian Braves at Dumbarton on Saturday afternoon thanks to goals from a returning striker and two substitutes.
The Young Gers hadn’t played a league fixture since an understrength side was hammered 4-1 by Cumbernauld Colts at the beginning of the month.
However, most of the squad was involved in the U19s’ UEFA Youth League triumph over Hammarby in midweek, so David McCallum left important players like Tony Weston, Ross McCausland and Alex Lowry on the bench.
Summer signing Juan Alegria was named up front after recovering from injury and he got his side off to a positive start, slotting home a penalty in the 19th minute.
Then, when Braves player Cameron Breadner was shown a red card on the stroke of half-time for a dangerous challenge on Charlie McCann, the match looked over as a contest.
However, Jack Duncan headed the visitors level three minutes into the second period.
McCallum was forced into a number of changes during the search for a winner and in the 84th minute, the opposition’s resistance finally ended, with substitute McCausland grabbing the goal.
In the penultimate minute of normal time, Kane Ritchie-Hosler was taken out in the area and another substitute, Lowry, stepped up and dispatched the resulting penalty to make the points safe.
The win saw Rangers move from fourth to second in the Lowland League table on 33 points from 14 matches, seven points behind leaders Bonnyrigg Rose with two games in hand.
In other news, Rangers have struck a new multi-year partnership that’s set to provide a significant financial boost to the club.
