Rangers B lose out in Lowland League opener as Celtic and Hearts start league season strong
RANGERS B struggled in their season opener as they were beaten in Edinburgh as rivals Celtic and Rangers both cruised comfortably to their first wins.
The Gers B team were beaten 2-1 by the Civil Service Strollers on Friday as gaffer David McCallum admitted the performance was 'frustrating'.
It started brightly for the Blues as Lewis MacKinnon put them ahead 18 minutes in as he was able to get on the end of a neatly whipped in free-kick from Charlie Lindsay and slotted the ball away.
Their lead was short-lived though as Civil Service Strollers were able to level the scoring minutes before half time thanks to a Euan Valentine strike.
Disappointingly for Rangers B they conceded a second just a minute later after a fabulous free-kick from Valentine found the net and the Gers trailed 2-1 going in to half-time.
Valentine's brace was enough to secure the win for Civil Service Strollers as Rangers couldn't find an answer to the Edinburgh side's defence and didn't get off to the start that they would have hoped for.
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Speaking to Rangers TV after the match, McCallum said: "That's the best word to describe it. It is frustrating.
"There's nothing from tonight's game that surprises us.
"We expected there to be quite a chaotic, physical type game, which I thought we handled quite well.
"Ultimately the game has came and went on the back of two free kicks, one of which I think we've got to save them and Buds (Budinauckas) is in agreement with that.
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"I think the second one is a good strike so it's just one of those unfortunate things.
"They are late in the first half where we would have liked to managed the game a little bit better.
"The players are frustrated because they wanted to start strong they wanted to start well."
Old firm rivals Celtic B had a much stronger first outing in their season opener in the Lowland League as they cruised past a ten-man Cowdenbeath.
All four goals were found in the second half as club captain Matthew Anderson opened the scoring for the Hoops and added a second to his name five minutes later.
Bruno Davidson added a third as Chris Aikamitenze nicked a constellation goal six minutes before full time for the away side.
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Hearts B also started their Lowland League campaign off in winning fashion as they thumped Berwick Rangers 6-0.
Connor Smith scored the only first half goal but bagged himself a hat-trick as he added another two in the second half.
Jaden Ferguson, Bobby McLuckie and Callum Sandilands also added to the tally as their six goal route sees Hearts B sit top of the Lowland League after the season opening weekend.
After the match gaffer Steven Naismith spoke to Hearts TV and said his side played with 'freedom' and 'took chances'.
Naismith said: "I think for a few of the boys in the squad there's a slight bit of unknown.
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"They've come away from youth football and came into competitive football which has got to be the biggest benefit overall for us.
"We played with that freedom, we moved the ball quickly, we created chances, we asked questions of them and I think everyone who was on the pitch comes off with pass marks."
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