Rangers rounded off their pre-season expedition to the Scottish Highlands with a hard fought 1-1 draw against Inverness Caledonian Thistle. It was the epitome of a game of two halves with Caley having the better of the first and Rangers in the ascendancy after the break.

Olly changed things around following the comfortable win at Nairn County during the week. Day was in goal behind a back four of Bignot, Forbes, Gnohere and Padula. Ainsworth and McLeod played wide with Johnson and Rowlands in the middle of the park. Gallen and Thorpe started the game in attack.

Much of the first half was lacking in any meaningful action as both sides found themselves battling the driving rain and howling wind for much of the time. Rowlands managed to register a shot on target with a freekick midway through the half which was saved comfortably by Caley keeper Brown.

With ten minutes to go until the break The Highlanders took the lead with an absolute stunner. Rangers won a corner and before they knew it Caley had the ball back and were breaking at speed. Some neat interplay between the front two saw the ball bounce into the path of Stevie Hislop and he crashed a right footed volley past Day. The goal drew applause from every person in the crowd no matter who they were following. I am not sure we will concede many better than that this season.

At the break Holloway made wholesale changes. Gnohere, Forbes, Ainsworth, Gallen and Thorpe made way as Rose, trialist Hjelde, Bean, Cureton and Furlong took their places. The half started much brighter for Rangers and they seemed far more in tune with the pace of the game. The defensive areas seemed noticeably more solid and Hjelde was winning everything, both in the air and on the deck. Rose alongside him was in his unflappable mode, scurrying around averting danger without having to break sweat.

With twenty minutes of the half gone Rangers made two more changes, Johnson and Padula went off to be replaced by Wes Daly and Lewis Hamilton, another trialist. With Daly on Rangers seemed to go up a gear as his range of passing in the middle of the park started to pay dividends. The equaliser came with a little under fifteen minutes remaining.

Jamie Cureton worked some space on the edge of the box and curled an effort goalward which was brilliantly saved by Brown. From the resulting corner the ball pinged around the box before falling at the feet of Cureton to knock home a one yard sizzler. Rangers were now by far the better side but Caley remained solid and there were no more chances to speak of before the ref brought the game to a finish.

The first half showing won't have impressed many people and the central defensive pairing of Forbes and Gnohere were all over the place. Arthur looked like he had missed some training and may also have been taking advantage of the local shortbread as he looked a little on the thick side. At one point he chased a ball and he looked like he was running in super slow-mo! The second half pairing of Hjelde and Rose were a different kettle of fish though and looked solid and commanding. If Hjelde can turn in a similar show against Ajax then he may well be worth a twelve month deal.

Other players that stood out for me were Rowlands, when he moved wide and subs Daly and Hamilton. The versatile Hamilton in particular showed all of the poise and promise he had previously shown for our reserve side and I think he should be snapped up immediately. Daly was terrific; moving the ball with great accuracy, maybe the less frenetic world of the Fizzy Pop Champions League will suit his game. If he gets the opportunity he won't let anybody down.

The next game against Ajax will be a sterner test of the squad and it is important that we perform well regardless of what the result may be. It will be a good opportunity to test themselves against proven players and a decent showing will give the old confidence a little booster as the start of the season draws ever closer.

simon@qprnet.com