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DANNY AT
THE DOUBLE
Danny Maguire scored his first
goals of the season to help Rangers’ under 18’s secure a point
at leaders Colchester this weekend.
After both
sides were dumped out of the FA Youth Cup in the week, the two
managers would be looking for a response from their boys as they
concentrated on the battle for the league title.
Chris Goodchild
continued in goal for this one behind a back four of Billy
Coyne, Aaron Goode, Lee Brown and Andrew Howell. The midfield
was made of Romone Rose, Matt O’Brien, Kieron Murtagh and Dean
Parrett whilst James Folkes was paired with Maguire upfront.
The home side
hit the front after twenty three minutes when Tom Webb’s free
kick took a nick off the tussling duo of Tom Devaux and Goode to
slip past Goodchild in the Rangers goal. However things would
get much worse for the Rangers ‘keeper ten minutes later when he
came off worse in a one on one and was forced to leave the field
injured.
Joe Gallen only had four
substitutes on the bench and no goalie, so it was defender Josh
Ford who was tasked with taking the gloves for the remaining
hour or so of play. He found himself beaten five minutes into
first half injury time when he let Aarun Best’s speculative shot
slip under his body to give Colchester a two nil lead at the
break.
Joe Gallen
introduced fresh legs early in the second half as both Chris
Arthur and Ricky Sappleton came on and suddenly it was clear
that Rangers weren’t going to let this game get away from them.
After creating a decent number of chances, and then seeing a
Maguire effort ruled out for offside, The R’s finally found a
way back into the match with eighteen minutes left to play.
Parrett, fresh
from England duty, saw his free kick headed onto Maguire who
found the back of the net for the second time in the game but
this time it counted.
As the seconds
ticked away Rangers were presented with the equaliser from the
spot. Arthur’s run down the left and subsequent cross found the
feet of Parrett but the youngster was brought down before he had
a chance to finish and the referee awarded the penalty. Maguire
kept a cool head from twelve yards and earned Gallen’s lads a
share of the points.
The result
still leaves Colchester and Rangers neck and neck at the top of
the South East Conference with the Essex side in pole position
thanks to a slightly better goal difference.
The under 18’s
now take a break from action over the Christmas period with a
struggling Northampton their next opponents. That match takes
place at Harlington on Saturday 6th January.
QPR:
Goodchild (Ford), Coyne, Goode, Brown, Howell, Rose, O'Brien
(Arthur), Murtagh, Parrett, Folkes (Sappleton), Maguire. Sub
not used: O'Connell |
