Arthur Gnohere was back in the side for his first game since tweaking his ACL at Villa in the Carling Cup. The other experience in the side came from Padula at left back, McLeod on the left wing and Bean in the middle of the park. The only other player with a taste of first team experience was 16 year old Scott Donnelly. The rest of the side and the bench were drawn from this seasons U-18 side.

The match was disjointed from the off with youthful strikers Luke Townsend and Shabazz Baidoo failing to make a dent in the Aldershot rearguard. There was little action of note until Aldershot hit the front. A ball was slipped through the R’s defence and the on loan Jon Dixon had made a run from in from the left. He wasn’t tracked properly by John Fletcher and he got there just before Jake Cole and toed the ball past him into the corner. A deserved lead on the balance of what little action there had been. Incidentally, Dixon had scored a goal for Wycombe Wanderers against the R’s a couple of seasons ago.

After the break things didn’t really alter. Gnohere made way for Scot Mulholland and he slotted in at right back with Fletcher moving to the middle to partner the hitherto impressive Ryan Johnson. Baidoo almost wriggled free for a shooting chance but dwelled to long on the ball to get it away cleanly. Rangers had a brief flurry of corners but they really came to nothing and it was no surprise when Aldershot grabbed a late double as the game wore on.

Firstly Adam Miller, last seasons Non-League Paper Young Player of the Year, nipped in to score a mirror image of Dixon’s first half strike and then only minutes later Dixon was in again to beat the exposed Cole following good work again from Miller.

The final whistle was sweet salvation for the chilly fans that had sat through this dire encounter. Aldershot’s team featured a number of players that would probably find themselves in their first XI on a regular basis. I suppose this is the nature of a pro non league side playing in this sort of league. They are likely to be able to field a side that can knock a team of kids out of its stride fairly easily.

Rangers didn’t do themselves any favours though. When the youngsters looked to the more experienced players for leadership little was forthcoming. Padula and McLeod were shocking and Bean may as well not have played. He may well have an eye on Birch’s place on Saturday but with a showing like this he is likely to be warming the bench again. On a slippery, muddy pitch he managed to come off with his kit in pristine condition. Doesn’t sound like the Beany I know!

No doubt the management will seek some positives from the game but from where I was sitting the only players to give a good account of themselves were Johnson and Cole, both of whom did their beat with little help from their team mates.