‘Well fans had been hoping for a glimpse of the New Zealander Gerard
A chilly night saw a three hundred plus crowd take in a pretty one sided affair that was short on quality. Both teams made a cagey start and it was not until the tenth minute that the first effort on goal stirred the crowd. Stephen Hughes made space for himself on the edge of the box but the Motherwell born player could only scoop his shot over the bar.
Ranger’s winger Chris Burke was looking the most likely to produce the goods and the young winger was unlucky to see his shot blocked after a great solo run on the right.
Both teams flirted with possession and the only other effort in the first half was a deflected shot from Rangers’ defender Alan Hutton, which never troubled Corr in the Motherwell goal.
Into the second half, and Rangers continued where they left off. Two chances in close succession were dealt with well by the Motherwell defence. Most notable a great save by Corr from a Burke half volley from twenty yards.
Rangers finally broke through the stubborn Motherwell defence in the sixtieth minute. Darryl Duffy found himself with space on the edge of the box. He rolled in young Tom Brighton and the Rangers youngster calmly stroked the ball past Corr for the opener.
Rangers had another chance to double their lead from Robert Davidson, who headed a great cross from Burke wide of the right hand post.
Motherwell started to push for the equaliser but were punished when the home side doubled their lead with only ten minutes left. Burke’s slide rule ball through the channel sent Alan Hutton away. The full back dinked a shot over the diving Corr and in off the right post to confirm Rangers’ victory.
Both teams pushed for more goals, but struggled to create anything. The ref blew his whistle to end the game and consign Motherwell to another week at the bottom of the U21 table.
Motherwell: Barry John Corr, Paul Quinn, Graeme Mathie, Kevin McDonald, William Kinninburgh, Chris Higgins, Kenny Wright, Shaun Fagan, Andrew Scott (Ross Ballantyne 75mins), Barry Neville (Kevin Barkey 59mins), Marc Fitzpatrick (Adam Coakley 68mins) Subs not used: Jamie Ewings, Brian McAndie