Lewis Budinauckas, the custodian for Rangers, had been eager to make his debut at Ibrox for his entire career.
However, it took the 22-year-old goalie just a few hours to make his Greenock Morton debut.
The Ibrox youth goalie was immediately put into the starting lineup for the trip to Hamilton after joining the Cappielow club on an emergency seven-day loan.
However, Lewis Budinauckas’ debut was unforgettable as he gave up three goals and was the recipient of a hat-trick from Oli Shaw.
The debut of Lewis Budinauckas as Greenock Morton
Prior to the journey to Hamilton, Lewis Budinauckas would have had little to no opportunity to workout with his new Greenock Morton colleagues.
The Rangers goalie’s seven-day loan was revealed just hours before the Scottish Championship match began.
After being thrown into the match at New Douglas Park, Budinauckas, who had recently played for the Scotland U21s, was defeated by a powerful performance by former Hibs star Oli Shaw.
After opening the scoring in the 77th minute, Shaw was in outstanding form and scored all three goals in a thrilling seven-minute thrashing in Lanarkshire to give Hamilton a late hat-trick.
Prior to concluding the three-game loan stint away to league leaders Falkirk the following weekend, Lewis Budinauckas is also expected to start Morton’s home match against Queen’s Park in the middle of the week.
In addition, Budinauckas joins former Rangers players Kirk Broadfoot and Arron Lyall at Morton, who lost to Hamilton and are currently seventh in the Championship.
Greenock thanks Rangers for lending him their goalie.
Just hours before kickoff versus Hamilton, Greenock Morton announced Lewis Budinauckas’ signing on their official website.
According to a statement from the club,
Lewis Budinauckas, a custodian, has joined Greenock Morton on an emergency seven-day loan from Rangers.
The 22-year-old is available for selection and joins the team ahead of today’s league game against Hamilton Academical.
“We want to express our gratitude to Rangers for their support in making this deal possible at such short notice.
“The number 44 shirt will be worn by Lewis.”
Morton’s go-to goalkeepers this season have been Scottish Ryan Mullen and his English counterpart Gary Woods, but neither was included in the team for the 3-0 loss to Hamilton.
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