RANGERS travelled to Hadley Stadium, Smethwick where they encountered excellent facilities but came away pointless from a game in which a point should have been minimum reward.

MAHAL 1, MALVERN RANGERS 0

The game kicked off with the referee falling over as he blew the whistle, but Rangers weren't laughing too much with a very disappointing first half performance.

Mahal opened the scoring after 20 minutes. They attacked down their left flank and when the ball was crossed into the middle it provided Harban Dhillon with a simple goal. It took Rangers until the 45th minute to test keeper Adrian Battersby firstly with a comfortable save from Stuart Harvey and then on the stroke of half time Stuart Harvey cut in from the right and his low left foot shot was more of a test.

After a few home truths at half time, Rangers at last showed the right degree of commitment in a much improved second half performance.

Chances were still few and far between although Richard Forde threaded a pass through to Marc Lines, but his effort was thwarted by the alert Battersby at the edge of the box. At the other end Carl Preece was forced into making a couple of decent saves to keep the scoreline at 1-0.

On 40 minutes Simon Rhea made a tremendous run at the heart of the Mahal defence, then delivered a great ball to Rob Perrins but just when it looked a certain goal, the ball seemed to get stuck under his boot and the chance was lost. Right at the death Phil Llewellyn, who replaced the injured Marc Lines for the final few minutes, saw an excellent shot at the far post well saved.

Rangers certainly gave their opponents far too much respect and had they performed for the 90 minutes as they did during the second half three points were certainly there for the taking.

Joint Men of the Match Simon Rhea and Stuart Harvey.

Tomorrow (Saturday) Rangers, sponsored by Willie Thornes Snooker Club, will be looking for their first victory when they entertain Chaddesley Corbett at Victoria Park (2.45pm). Players meet ground 1.30pm.