A SECOND home win in eight days does not tell the whole story of a remarkable game at KGV on Saturday.
Rangers, playing in a change strip of white shirts due to the colour clash, looked condemned to defeat as the game clock ticked towards 90 minutes.
Normal time was all but up and Rangers had survived scrape after scrape in a frenetic finish where for 10 minutes they lost all composure, when they pushed forward desperately.
Sylvans cracked and Steffan Timms shot home from close range to make it 2-2.
The visitors, who were surely worthy of a point having been the better first half side, were rattled and within a couple of minutes were beaten.
George Goubert, who had given the Sylvans right flank a roasting in the second half, jinked inside off the left and his fierce shot deflected off a defender and high into the net for the winner.
Young Goubert was buried under a sea of bodies and with the victory Rangers leapfrogged Sylvans and into fifth spot, level on points with Northerners and the defending champions Rovers, who lost 1-0 at Saints.
With Rec slipping up in Alderney, Rangers find themselves just four points off the top as they seek the manager’s goal of a top-four finish.
In truth, we were poor in the first half, Sylvans far sharper across the pitch and creating the better chances.
Sylvans were breaking through our midfield and beyond the back three regularly, but we were not without our own chances.
Early on Zac Batiste turned well and fired a yard wide and Goubert was denied an opening goal by a super save from young keeper Tomass Bourgaize, filling in for the suspended Nick Batiste.
Twenty minutes in the visitors scored, Tiago Rodrigues driving in a low ball from near the right byline and attempting to intervene, a sliding Nick Trebert turned the ball into his own net.
Rangers were behind for just eight minutes as Steve Renouf, probably our best player on the day, hit a fine equaliser from an acute angle.
Just before half time Sylvans had the ball in the net a second time, only to be correctly denied by an offside flag.
U18 skipper Harry Tester had not been sure of his fitness before hand and struggling with a groin strain he did not reappear for the second half, Timms coming on up front and Jacques Cauvin slotting in on the right of the back three.
Rangers’ first half passing had been dreadful but playing against the wind they were much improved and on 62min Jack Smith fired just over.
A minute later Goubert produced a good stop from the young keeper and Renouf was inches too high with a 20-yard curling effort.
Rangers were now dominating, looking good.
But Rangers were forced into another defensive change as Trebert, playing his first match back, departed and Kyle Fossey went central with Tom Solway dropping to the left of the back three.
Rangers twice more went close to scoring but on 76min after conceding a dopey free kick centrally 20 yards out, Tiago rattled the post with his well-struck effort.
A minute later Rangers conceded another soft free-kick and Tiago’s floated cross beyond the back post was met by Zach Gilman, timing his arrival to perfection.
For 10 minutes or so Rangers were all at sea, other than when Goubert was fed with the ball wide under the KGV balcony.
On 85min Simon Arnold really should have scored at the far post and there were a couple more escapes for the home side until that remarkable finish.
A 2-2 draw would have been a fair result, but there have been many a time in recent years and even this season, notably in the cups, Rangers have not got their just desserts, so we will take it.
Like us, Sylvans have many good young players and they will be gunning for us when we travel to St Peter’s.

Rangers team:
Seb Sheppard; Harry Tester (Steffan Timms 46), Nick Trebert (Dec Collenette 66), Kyle Fossey; Jacques Cauvin, Jack Smith, Tom Solway, Steve Renouf; Zac Batiste, Shane Billien, George Goubert.
Subs unused: Max Wall, Charlie Le Lacheur, Joe Tempest.
Referee: James Lihou.