Rangers 2 Queen's Park 2 - Spiders spot-kick triumph
QUEEN’S PARK under-18s eliminated Rangers from the Scottish Cup in a dramatic penalty shoot-out at the Rangers Training Centre.
Charley King’s side went 2-0 up in the first half through Lewis Smith and Logan Duffy, but a response before the interval by Zebedee Lawson saw Rangers grab a lifeline, and they grabbed a second half equaliser to send the match straight to spot-kicks.
The Spiders held their nerve in the tense shoot-out, and scored all four of their penalties in a 4-1 victory thanks to Archie Aitchison saving two of the three penalties he faced.
Coach King said: “My main feeling is just pride in the boys in terms of how they dug in and followed the game plan.
“They really worked for each other to get a massive result against Rangers.
“We knew this would be tough especially with our own young squad which I mentioned after our last Scottish Cup match.
“It was end to end late on and we had a number of injuries in our side, but I couldn’t be prouder of the boys seeing it through against one of the favourites in the tournament.”
Neither side could gain much momentum in a scrappy first half, but it was the Spiders who found the net first – and in some style.
A brilliant hooked volley by Lewis Smith sent them in front – an acrobatic 10th minute opener after a corner delivery was the ideal start.
The next goal put them further in front and again it was a set-play. Logan Duffy stepped off the goalkeeper in a well-orchestrated move to flick in from close range and send the Spiders 2-0 ahead with 13 minutes left of the first half.
That was enough for the hosts to find a response through Zebedee Lawson’s deflected strike and Queen’s Park also cleared another effort off the line, but King’s side led at the break.
King added: “We discussed a couple of tactical things with the boys – how to press a little better but we praised them for how hard they had worked in the first half. The challenge was then to keep it up for the rest of the game.”
And they did.
Despite conceding another goal during a scrappy second half the visitors took the Gers to spot-kicks with ten men after Logan Duffy and Kaiden Wright also both going off injured.
It was a penalty for the home side’s equaliser and one that took the tie straight to a shoot-out and Queen’s Park prevailed.
Sam McLachlan, Cole Goldie, Kai Williamson sent the Spiders 3-1 up and Lennox Quail netted the winner of a dramatic cup tie.
