Rangers 0 - 3 Inverness CT

League Cup - Rd 4
Wednesday, October 31st, 2012, 7:45 PM at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow
Attendance: 28,033
Referee: Steven McLean
Rangers Inverness CT

Goalscorers
None. Andrew Shinnie (27)
Gary Warren (59)
Graeme Shinnie (pen.) (79)

Team Managers
Ally McCoist Terry Butcher

Starting Eleven
Neil Alexander
Chris Hegarty
Ross Perry
Emilson Cribari
Lee Wallace
Kyle Hutton
Ian Black
Lewis MacLeod
Andrew Little
Lee McCulloch
Dean Shiels
Antonio Reguero
Josh Meekings
Gary Warren
David Raven
Graeme Shinnie
Aaron Doran
Andrew Shinnie
Owain Tudur Jones
Ross Draper
Billy Mckay
Philip Roberts

Bench
Scott Gallacher
Anestis Argyriou
Kevin Kyle
Fraser Aird
Barrie McKay
Ryan Esson
Conor Pepper
Richie Foran
Shane Sutherland
Matthew Cooper

Substitutions
Anestis Argyriou -> Ross Perry (46)
Kevin Kyle -> Kyle Hutton (62)
Barrie McKay -> Dean Shiels (62)
Shane Sutherland for Philip Roberts (82)
Richie Foran for Andrew Shinnie (88)
Conor Pepper for Billy Mckay (90)

Bookings
Emilson Cribari (22)
Ian Black (74)
Neil Alexander (78)
Andrew Little (87)
David Raven (52)
Billy Mckay (52)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Antonio Reguero (GK) 5 apps -
David Raven 14 apps -
Gary Warren 14 apps2 goals
Josh Meekings 34 apps -
Owain Tudur Jones 24 apps -
Ross Draper 14 apps3 goals
Aaron Doran 42 apps4 goals
Graeme Shinnie 70 apps2 goals
Andrew Shinnie 34 apps16 goals
Billy Mckay 38 apps8 goals
Philip Roberts 7 apps1 goal
Conor Pepper (sub) 10 apps2 goals
Shane Sutherland (sub) 75 apps3 goals
Richie Foran (sub) 142 apps35 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Aaron Doran (21 years 177 days)
Oldest Player:Antonio Reguero (2014 years 94 days)
Average Player Age:25 years 34 days
Domestic Players:6 (54.55 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Aaron Doran (21 years 177 days)
Oldest Player:Antonio Reguero (2014 years 94 days)
Average Player Age:25 years 268 days
Domestic Players:11 (68.75 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

No cup shock at Ibrox

SPL quality brushed aside a plucky The Rangers as Inverness moved into the semi-finals of the League Cup for the first time in their history with an emphatic 3-0 win in Glasgow.

The minnows were looking to get into the next round at the expense of their more illustrious opponents from the North of Scotland, but by the end of the game they were well beaten and looked in disarray as the SPL club showed the gulf in class was too great for them to overcome.

A first half strike from Andy Shinnie was added to by Gary Warren in the second half, and brother Graeme Shinnie buried a penalty to end the scoring and put Inverness into the semi's along with Celtic, St Mirren and Hearts.

Inverness were treating this game the same as any other and fielded an unchanged side with a surprise on the bench as Richie Foran made sufficient recovery to get stripped for action. Reguero kept Esson away from the gloves for his fifth game in a row.

The game had started evenly enough but Neil Alexander had to save sharply from Doran and McKay as Inverness showed their class. It was fifteen minutes before Antonio Reguero earned his wages, saving from Macleod and Little in quick succession.

A period of posturing was ended in the twenty seventh minute when Andy Shinnie made amends for his series of misses last Saturday after knocking in a feed from Aaron Doran to open the scoring.

This goal stunned the third division side but they struggled to make any headway against a resolute Inverness back four who look more commanding with every game. Hegarty had the only effort of note just before the break, but he headed onto the roof of the net.

Half Time 0-1

Inverness upped the pace after half time and Phillip Roberts was popping up on both flanks and causing problems with his pace and close control. David Raven was booked and then tested the referee's balls as he committed another rash challenge within minutes but he went unpunished for it, much to the chagrin of the home support.

Lee McCulloch passed up the best chance for the liquidated team as he turned a Little centre wide of the mark and five minutes later the game was put beyond them when Gary Warren headed home a Graeme Shinnie corner to put the clinical visitors two ahead.

This prompted McCoist to change things around and he withdrew Shiels and Sutton for Barry McKay and Kevin Kyle, but the pattern remained the same, Inverness dominating play and The Rangers continuing in their error strewn ways.

Billy McKay should have scored the third when Hegarty was short with a passback but Alexander blocked well and an even better chance came when Andy Shinnie played him in on goal, but again Alexander was equal to it.

The goal was merely delayed though as Andy Shinnie was needlessly bundled over on the edge of the box going away from goal by Argyriou, and brother Graeme showed him how to take a spot kick as he stuck it behind Alexander.

Inverness were now well in control and Roberts stung the keeper with an angled shot while Andy Shinnie blasted one over from twenty yards.

Reguero did have one excellent save to make with five minutes left as Barry McKay got a low shot away from twelve yards but found the keeper saving well, diving to his right to deny The Rangers a consolation goal.

Full Time 0-3

So, big team beats wee team, nothing to see here, move along.

Excellent result for Inverness and some all round decent performances with Andy Shinnie in the thick of the action most of the time. Back four looks good once again but were not stretched by the third division outfit and Phillip Roberts just oozed class when he got on the ball, leading the home defence a merry dance.

Match report written by tm4tj