YFS
It was a cold afternoon at the Excelsior stadium, where Motherwell sealed a 1-0 victory against Rangers in the SPFL Under 20s Development League, courtesy of a Ross MacLean penalty.
Motherwell looked to pick up where they left off in their quarter final victory over St. Johnstone in the Youth Cup last Tuesday. Rangers were looking to bounce back after a defeat to Falkirk earlier in the week.
It was Rangers who got the game underway, but Motherwell tried to get an early goal when Ross MacLean beat White to a loose ball and managed to get a cross into the box but Ross McCrorie cleared the danger.
The first shooting chance of the game fell to Josh Jeffries who received a threaded pass from Ryan Hardie, but the shot went wide of the target.
MacLean tried his luck from 20 yards out with a shot that was blocked before he had a second effort from the rebound but the attempt was off target.
Rangers came close to opening the scoring when Dykes played a quick one-two with Ryan Hardie, Dykes hit the post with his shot and the ball rebounded to Josh Jeffries, but he was unable to find the back of the net and the ball went out for a goal kick to Motherwell.
Ryan Hardie cut inside and got a shot away, but the Motherwell keeper dealt with it easily to deny the Rangers number nine.
It was a midfield battle as both teams had good spells of possession but couldn’t break down their opponents defence and get the first goal of the game.
The referee blew his whistle for half time. Both teams created chances but Rangers would have been disappointed at not being ahead at the break after having the best chance of the game when Dykes hit the post.