Premier League Cup
Team: Shepperd, Manufor, Da Silva, Trialist (a), Trialist (b), Talla, Petrie, O’Brien, Dillon, Murphy, Sutton
Subs: Halliday, Friel, Street, Neill, Sanyaolu
I have to say that initially I was surprised to see Nathan Shepperd in goal and two trialists in the starting line-up.
Whilst under pressure, Nathan Shepperd did well to hold on to a high ball in front of the goal-line that had been swung over from a corner.
For the R’s, Kieran Petrie was fouled just outside the box and the resulting free kick rebounded off the wall to safety.
At the other end, Sammy Braybrooke tried lobbing Nathan Shepperd, whilst team-mate Logan Briggs was well placed in acres of space.
Then, Emmerson Sutton’s cross/shot was tipped behind by Stevie Bausor.
I noted that Rangers had been awarded six corners in the first 20 minutes, but they all came to nothing.
In the 25th minute, an excellent ball from one of the trialists set-up Cian Dillon and the R’s striker’s shot was kept out by Stevie Bausor’s legs.
Kieran Petrie’s low attempt lacked power, and Stevie Bausor was able to go down and hold the ball.
After the ball had been given away, Logan Briggs really should have given the Foxes the lead.
Archie O’Brien had a couple of goalscoring opportunities in the closing stages. His first effort went just wide of the upright, and he then forced a flying save from the keeper.
The R’s were awarded a penalty during added time following a hand-ball. Captain, Harry Murphy made no mistake with his spot-kick and Mr Parkinson blew his whistle to signal half-time.
Into the second-half and Toby Onanaye broke away which resulted in the Leicester substitute firing wide of the upright.
And then soon after, Harry Murphy’s shot came off the post after Emmerson Sutton had laid the ball off.
On 55 minutes, Emmerson Sutton got himself into a good position after receiving a pass from Cian Dillon and his shot from inside the box narrowly evaded the target.
Rangers doubled their lead with just over 20 minutes remaining. Emmerson Sutton superbly curled his shot into the top-right corner.
Paul Furlong made his first change on 71 minutes when Charlie Street came on for Joao Da Silva, (aka Esquerdinha).
Trialist B was booked after clipping an opponent.
On 83 minutes, Rocco Friel and Philip Sanyaolu were introduced at the expense of Sam Manufor and Cian Dillon respectively.
After the ball had found Philip Sanyaolu, the R’s substitute sped through the middle and his shot was comfortably held by the keeper.
Six added minutes were indicated and four minutes in Fraser Neill replaced Archie O’Brien.
A fairly comfortable victory saw the R’s into the next round.
It was back to league action next, when Rangers travelled to the Ipswich training ground.
Steve Russell