A hotly-contested encounter saw Rangers Under-19s narrowly miss out on a place in the UEFA Youth Cup last 16 after a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to 10-man Sevilla in Dumbarton.

Speaking in response to the defeat, manager David McCallum said he was happy with the effort his side put into what was always going to be a difficult game.

He said: “We know we won’t have as much control in these games, we’re going to have to defend at times and the guys did that terrifically well.

“After they went down to 10 men we created two or three opportunities off the back of that and it’s just unfortunate we never quite managed to get it over the line.”

The Rangers cubs put up a fighting display in what was a physically competitive first half.

Rangers weren’t shy in going forward early on with Ross McCausland forcing a good save from the visiting goalkeeper four minutes in after some excellent wing play from hot prospect Alex Lowry.

With the rain lashing down the surface began to cut up under the harsh weather forcing the sides into a more physical contest.

Rangers certainly won the physical battle in the first half as they managed to keep the young Spaniards from causing any real problems.

Tricky playmaker Carlos Alvarez struggled to get going as he was physically out-fought by a firm Rangers defence.

And Alvarez would continue to be frustrated by the home team, this time by goalkeeper Jay Hograth, who made an excellent save with his feet after Spanish youngster manage to weave his way through the Gers defence and get a shot away.

It was all to play for in the second with Rangers very much in the game. But it was Alvarez who would finally get his goal as he was first to react to a rebound off the woodwork to tap home.

Rangers responded by bringing on Tony Weston for Charlie Lindsay and the winger added an instant bit of energy and creativity to the home side.

He showed a good turn of pace down the left-hand side and proved a constant threat to the opposing defence as Rangers went in search of an equaliser.

Tempers threatened to blow over at times in the second half which culminated in Sevilla’s Marcelo Exposito Jimenez being sent off for violent conduct.

The sending off drew cheers of encouragement from the supporting fans as they pushed their side on for an equaliser.

And it very nearly came in the closing minutes as some great wing play saw Weston pick out Lowry in the box but the Rangers prospect saw his effort fly just over the bar.

Sevilla continued to frustrate the hosts with their game-management tactics as the Spaniards made the most of opportunities to slow the game down and run down the clock.

And they got their reward in the end as they saw the game out to the final whistle after six additional minutes to book their place in the last 16 of the competition.

After the game, McCallum said that his players will learn a lot from playing against a team capable of slowing the game down.

He said “We’ve watched them and knew that that’s just what happens. Obviously when you go a goal down then they don’t need to chase the game and they can slow the game down.

“So it is a learning curve because we’re not exposed to that often.

“We knew it would be a tough game with the pitch and we knew Sevilla had some good individual players.

“But I thought defensively we were excellent.”