ROVERS won the mini-tournament in Reutlingen this evening, but have to endure a nervous penalty shootout to secure the victory, after a 2-0 win over SSV Reutlingen, they then drew 0-0 against SSV Ulm in the final in a bad tempered affair.
In the first game of the tournament, Paul Gallagher scored a goal in each half against hosts SSV Reutlingen in a one sided affair.
Twelve minutes into the game, Craig Short went on a run down the left, he fed the ball to Vratislav Gresko who centred it for Gallagher to score from close range.
With the games being just 25 minutes each way, there was little incident, but Rovers dominated throughout.
Eight minutes into the second half, David Thompson and Matt Jansen combined well in midfield before the ball was once again fed to Gresko out on the left, his centre was volleyed into the back of the net by the young Scottish international.
David Thompson, making his first start in a Rovers shirt for nine months almost marked it with a spectacular lob, but the Reutlingen goalkeeper got a hand to it to push the ball over the bar.
And just before the final whilst, Gallagher almost completed his hat-trick, when he rounded the goalkeeper, but his touch took him too wide and his shot flashed across the goal.
Rovers: Enckelman, Neill, Johansson, Short, McEveley, Reid, Flitcroft, Thompson, Gresko, Gallgher, Jansen.
In the second game this evening, it finished 0-0 between SSV Ulm and FC Luzern, the game was decided on penalties, with local side Ulm winning 4-2.
So for the 3rd place play-off, hosts SSV Reutlingen faced Swiss side FC Luzern, the game ended 1-1, so the dreaded penalties was required, it ended 9-8 to the German side.
So Rovers met SSV Ulm in the final, and Graeme Souness made good use of his squad by using players who didn't take part in the first game. It meant first appearances in Rovers shirts for Javier De Pedro and Dominic Matteo.
The game itself was a poor spectacle, with a fussy referee along with Ulm players all too eager to fall over spoiling the game.
The match was littered with yellow cards, including two for debutant Javi De Pedro, and with chances at a premium, it came as no surprise when the game ended 0-0, and so the tournament was decided on penalties.
Amoruso and Emerton scored, whilst Ulm missed their first two penalties, Stead scored from the spot to increase the pressure, but three accurate spot kicks from Ulm and a well saved shot from Dickov meant that it was left to Irishman Jonathon Douglas to take the vital fifth penalty, and he made no mistake from the spot.
Rovers will now go to Ulm on Friday for another friendly game against Bohemiens of Prague
ROVERS V SSV ULM: Friedel, Douglas, Amoruso, Matteo, Gray, Emerton, Ferguson, Tugay, De Pedro, Stead, Dickov.
Discuss this story on our messageboard, click here.
