Rangers entertained second place Shirebrook Town in the second of two tough games in 5 games, but were full of confidence after coming away from Lincoln with a win on Saturday.  Manager Steve Smith made two changes to the side, Michael Wheatley coming in at left back relegating Jamie Ndlovu to the bench, and Shaun Singh returning to the side on the bench.

Shirebrook started brightly looking solid at the back and very mobile up front, forcing the first opportunity on 11mins.  Shirebrook captain Orton pulled the ball back into the path of Fletcher who shot straight at Herrick.  Three minutes later in a similar flowing move Town's striker, Johnson, was picked out from the right and his rasping shot dipped just over the bar.

It wasn't until 24 minutes that Rangers created their first good chance from a corner to the far post, which was met by Alderson but easily picked out of the air by the Town keeper, Halos.  Rangers were now competing all over the park and looking the most likely to produce an opening.

Just before the half hour Green picked up Nikolaidis in midfield who ran diagonally across the park before releasing Banks' towards goal.  He found Sewell whose dipping cross to the near post was met by Pindar with a glancing header that the keeper did well to tip over.  Billy Green met the resultant corner with a diving header, but the ball unfortunately bounced up and over the bar with the keeper stranded. 

It wasn’t long before Rangers took a deserved lead.  A corner from the left wasn't cleared properly and Banks who seemed to be going away from goal, spun and smashed a half volley through the crowded box and into the back of the net.  Shirebrook still looked likely to find an opening, but Rangers defend in numbers and have become hard to break down. Herrick was tested a couple of times with low drives from the edge but he was equal to them.

The away side came close when they picked up a poor clearance and Orton was released into the box.  He looked up and drove to Herrick’s far post but the ex Scunthorpe United keeper spread well to parry. The ball fell into the path on the oncoming Fletcher who drove towards goal, with Herrick struggling to get back, Doyle headed off the line.  On the stroke of half time Rangers nearly went two up when a goalmouth scramble gave them three attempts at goal, one saved, one blocked and one headed off the line.

Gary Dickinson

With Shirebrook looking to get back in the game Rangers went 2-0 up on the hour mark.  Dickinson dropped a ball into the space behind the centre half for Pindar to chase.  He drove into the box before pulling the ball back to Dickinson who calmly stepped inside his marker and rifled the ball low into the back of the net.

Rangers needed to consolidate the lead but a defensive mix up allowed Johnson to pounce and pull a goal back on 64mins.  Shirebrook were now on the ascendancy and started pushing Rangers deeper, but even with this sustained pressure they couldn't find the equaliser although they did have the ball in the back of the net but it was disallowed for offside.

As the game entered the last 10 minutes Rhys Pindar, who never stopped harassing the back four all game, created a chance out of nothing.  A ball into the corner to relieve pressure was run down by Pindar who took the ball from the centre half but his shot from an acute angle was blocked away.  Rangers were then forced to reshuffle when Dickinson limped off to be replaced by Singh. He slotted into midfield pushing Nikolaidis up front.

It was nail biting stuff for the Rangers faithful when the away side almost grabbed an equaliser - Rowbottom drove a free kick from the edge of the box towards the top right hand corner, which the scrambling Herrick tipped over.

Although pushed back for periods Rangers thoroughly deserved this result.  If they can sustain this work-rate they can be a match for anyone in the league.