Rangers under 18’s were knocked out of the Scottish Youth Cup this evening – losing out on penalties to Queen’s Park in what was a shock exit.
Rangers welcomed the Spiders to the Rangers Training Centre for a Glasgow Derby match in the fourth round – expecting an easy win similar to the 9-0 dismantling or Darvel in the previous round.
Rydnn McGuire – who has featured in European squads this season started in goal, with former Queen’s defender James Reid partnering Oliver Hynd in the centre of defence after arriving from Lesser Hampden in the summer. Further forward there were starting berths for highly-rated youngsters Kyle Glasgow, Alexander Smith and Zebedee Lawson – signed from English Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer.
Rangers started brightly with Max Cameron striking the woodwork within the opening minute and all signs pointed to another dominant performance as we had seen in the third round.
But it would be the visitors who took the lead – netting from a set piece after only ten minutes.
Shellshocked Rangers would lose a second before half-time from a corner as several players earned bookings and the game looked to be lost.
One of which was Lawson, who managed to compose himself enough to reduce the deficit in half before the interval – pressing the Spiders’ defence high before nicking the ball and driving into the area – his shot was deflected but still nestled in the back of the net to offer the Gers a route back into the tie.
Rangers would draw level on the hour mark – a feisty game already was clearly exhibited by the awarding of a penalty to Rangers.
Glasgow, one of the club’s brightest young talents at just 15, stepped up and converted the spot to bring Rangers level.
The Light Blues pressed for a winner to complete the turnaround, Aiden Crilly and Glasgow both going close late on.
It was not to be and the match, with no extra-time included in the competition, went straight to penalties.
Unfortunately the Colts would miss their first two penalties, and despite scoring the third it would prove to be too little too late as their Glasgow rivals netted all four to book their place in the fifth round.
Rangers won the trophy in 2024, but follow up last year’s early exit to Partick Thistle with another early exit to a fellow Glaswegian side this season.
Incoming Academy Director Jon Hunter-Barrett will be tasked on turning around the fortunes of the youth sides at Ibrox – as Hynd said earlier in a season “Our main goal is to win everything.
“We want to come here, win games and send teams away.”
Rangers tonight failed to do that, and no matter the level, Rangers should be winning.
This defeat follows the first-team’s Scottish Cup exit to the same opposition last season.