The first team made the trip to South Devon on Saturday to take on Ivybridge Town who were sitting one place ahead of Rangers in fifth place .
We travelled with a somewhat depleted squad missing Sam Bryant and Jack Lewis (suspended), Connor Bryant (covid), Sam Rawlings (injured) and Reece Conroy and Lloyd Beech who were unavailable . To top it off Josh Baxter informed Clive he was leaving to try his luck at Dorchester Town . We wish Josh the best of luck.
We lined up with a makeshift back four of Jack Bryant, Josh Pearson , Langers and Luke Horne . Ben Scott made his first start in midfield along with Brad Riggs and Sam Jones . Up front Aiden Horne came back into the team alongside Ian Bellinger and Joe Wilkinson .
So onto the game and Ivybridge started much the brighter side with their passing game causing Rangers problems and it was no surprise when our hosts went 1-0 up after 15 mins when a long ball over the top was cooly finished . The game continued in the same fashion and after 30 mins Ivybridge added a second as we failed to clear a cross and we were 2-0 down . To be honest it wasn’t looking good for Rangers at this stage but we were thrown a lifeline right on half time . A counter attack by Ian Bellinger was thwarted when brought down on the edge of the box . Bellinger took the free kick and his well struck shot could only be parried out by the home keeper into the path of Joe Wilkinson who made it 2-1 . The half time chat was to keep working hard and stay in the game and hopefully our chance would come . That’s the way it turned out with Ivybridge again being the dominant side in the second half but a mix of hard work , great defending and a bit of luck the score remained 2-1 . With 10 mins to go Rangers then created a couple of chances for themselves . A 30 yard free kick by Bellinger was somehow tipped around the post by the home keeper and Aiden flashed a low drive just past the post when well positioned . Then in injury time Rangers forced another corner . Bellinger struck a low corner to the penalty spot where Brad Riggs was on hand to strike a low drive through a crowd of players for the equaliser and give Rangers a share of the points .
Clive commented after the game “I was really proud of the lads as everyone of them gave their all and I cant ask for more than that. At half time the chat was to keep working hard and hopefully our chance would come and it was great to see Brad get us a point against a very good , young Ivybridge side who played some lovely football . I’d also like to give the referee a mention who I thought was excellent on the day . We now look forward to Bovey Tracey on Saturday where hopefully we will have a few players returning.”
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