RANGERS warmed up for their Betfred Cup clash against Motherwell with a 2-1 win against Charleston Battery on Wednesday night.
Goals from Josh Windass and Harry Forrester were enough for the Gers as Mark Warburton’s side rounded off their trip to South Carolina with a deserved victory.
But the travelling Light Blue legions had to wait to see their side in action after severe weather resulted in a lengthy delay to the match.
The players were forced to leave the park around half an hour before kick-off as supporters were ushered into the stands away from torrential rain and thunder and lightning.
It was more than an hour before the teams re-emerged following a dramatic storm and the game didn’t get under way until 8.20pm local time.
A couple of thousand Gers fans turned out to see Warburton’s side ahead of the big kick-off this term and the visitors dominated proceedings as they stepped up their preparations for the new campaign.
Boss Warburton has spent recent days putting his squad through their paces in the South Carolina heat and was able to give most of his squad some game time at the MUSC Health Stadium.
There were starts for summer signing Windass and trialist Oguchi Onyewu as the American got a chance to impress following a spell training with the Gers squad.
Defender Danny Wilson was forced off early on after suffering a facial knock and was replaced by new recruit Clint Hill just after Andy Halliday had Rangers’ first shot of the night.
There were plenty more to come as Warburton’s side controlled the game but they couldn’t make a breakthrough as Kenny Miller and Windass were denied.
Miller would put a header over the bar before a break from James Tavernier and Martyn Waghorn gave Halliday another chance that he pulled just wide of target.
After Waghorn came close, Charleston gave Rangers a scare on a rare venture forward, Ricky Garbanzo’s neat flick hitting the post with keeper Wes Foderingham beaten.
A handful of changes at the break saw Matt Gilks, Michael O’Halloran and Barrie McKay introduced and Wilson return to the park after receiving treatment.
The former St Johnstone forward made an immediate impact and was involved in the opening goal as he burst into the box and saw his shot blocked.
Windass was on hand to net his first strike for the Gers as he found the roof of Odisnel Cooper’s goal after 57 minutes.
Rangers continued to see plenty of the ball but there was little flow to the game as Warburton again made several changes to his side.
Youngsters Ross McCrorie, Jordan Thompson and Ryan Hardie were all introduced, while Onyewu took over from Hill for the final 20 minutes.
It didn’t take long for Rangers to secure the win as Forrester marked his return to action following his injury lay-off with a finish low finish into the corner of the net.
There was no clean sheet for Warburton’s side, though, after Ataullah Guerra beat Gilks from a tight angle with a stunning strike to give the Battery fans something to cheer.
Rangers first half: Foderingham; Tavernier, Onyewu, Wilson (Hill), Wallace; Halliday, Holt, Windass; Waghorn, Miller, Walsh
Rangers second half: Gilks; Tavernier (McCrorie), Hill (Onyewu), Wilson, Wallace (Thompson); Halliday, Holt (Forrester), Windass (Walsh); O’Halloran, Waghorn (Hardie), McKay
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