Match ended 0-0
Match Information
Attendance: 107,475
Referee: W Bell (Motherwell)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
The Cup Final turned out to be a much better match, and at the same time a much poorer exhibition of football than I had expected. The general opinion before the start was that Rangers had only to appear on the field to demoralise and whack their opponents. That idea proved all wrong, for Rangers never at any time had the upper hand of their rivals, who must be complimented for their plucky display. Partick Thistle have been the lucky team of the ties, and their luck stood by them yesterday to the winning of the toss – a vital consideration on the blowy afternoon. Probably that very fact upset the Rangers and set racing the Cup final nerves which have been their undoing so often in the past. At any rate at no time in the game did we see the all-conquering Rangers of the earlier rounds. Their attack hesitated at vital moments, and gave the Thistle defence time to cover up, and their half-backs played without their customary push and go. Nicholson and McPhail were by a long way their most dangerous men. Instead, I thought the best past of the Rangers’ team as a division was the rear defence. I had little fault to find with the two Hamilton’s and Gray. Big Tam in goal was Rangers 100 per cent man. He saved them on several occasions when a goal looked absolutely certain. But the praise of the day must be bestowed on Thistle for dealing out to the 107,475 spectators as big a shock as they have had since Kilmarnock won the Cup last year. Right proud am I to think that this is the team I singled out as the most likely Cup-fighting team in Scotland this season. The mercurial Jags were in top gear from the kick-off. Their inside forwards held the ball nicely and distributed the play, but every man-Jack else of them made speed, enthusiasm and first-time stuff his motto. The result was that Rangers never settled. The forward rarely shook off the thistle half-backs – two terriers and a mastiff – and when they did there was Rae, Calderwood and Jackson to bar their progress. I would say that these three men were all 100 per cent sound. Jackson was splendid. He gave a classic display of anticipation, and saved two shots that to ninety-nine keepers out of a hundred would have been goals. Rae, cool as a cucumber, impressed me a great deal. He was the better of two grand backs, and his tackling was a delight to watch. Once when Fleming had cleared the whole of the opposition he jumped in and in a face-to-face tackle barred the Rangers’ progress. His bottling of Archibald was equally clever. The old King’s Park man is one of the finds of the season beyond doubt. With this grand defence it is no wonder that Thistle played with such confidence. Taking things all over, I should say that they played as the better team. It was only as individuals that Rangers shone, and all too often the panicky stuff was apparent when working for an opening. I think Thistle would have won had they had a centre-forward with a more powerful shot in his locker than Boardman. There were at least half a dozen occasions when Ballantyne or Grove pushed balls up the middle that to a natural centre-forward would have meant goals. On the other hand, Rangers might easily have walked their way home, had Jackson not stopped a point-blank range shot from Marshall early in the game, I could have seen Rangers winning easily, but that miss like the losing of the toss, set Rangers’ nerves on edge, and after that their attempts at scoring were wild in the extreme. But even at half-time it looked as if Rangers would pull it off. With the wind behind them they should have stood a much better chance of success, but Thistle again showed their fighting spirit, and put their backs to the wall in telling fashion. It is no exaggeration to say that Thistle played better against the wind than they did with it, and once Rangers initial burst had been shaken off a goal never looked very likely, although Nicholson and McPhail came very near to doing the trick. Against the wind the Thistle wingers were less conspicuous, but the rest of the team was at its best in this gruelling 45. At the end, it was admitted on all sides that draw was a good result. A late goal to either lot would have been an injustice. Which of the teams will win on Wednesday night is an open question. If Thistle can reproduce, I would say that their chances was at least an even-money one. On the other hand, Rangers now know what they are faced with and may lay plans accordingly. It was a day for defences. Both goalkeepers were top-class men, while the four good backs I would place in this order – Rae, Calderwood, Gray and Hamilton. In the two half-backs lines were the two captains – pivots both – and on the day’s play I must plump for Lambie. Never once did I see the big fellow resort to shady tactics that were all too common, and very rarely did I see him beaten. He was here, there and everywhere, an inspiration to his side. The rangers half-back line played little better than it did at Wembley a week before. The limitations of Craig and Buchanan were exposed, and they lacked the fire of the younger men opposite them in McLeod and Elliott. Meiklejohn again played a hard game and was more successful than a week ago, but with his colleagues under a shadow he was unable to make the intermediate line the tower of Rangers’ strength. The outstanding personalities in the two forward lines were Ballantyne and Nicholson. The former was the genius behind the Thistle attack, and the later, a last-minute deputy, never put a foot wrong and never wasted a ball. On his own familiar soil of Hampden, ‘Wee Nick’ seemed to know just the sort of stuff to bother Jackson with. His lobs had the Alan Morton touch about them. McPhail gave some of his delightful touched and id much to make Nicholson a success, and Marshall was, as usual a grand ball manipulator, but I consider that he struck his old fault of holding on too long. The hardest tasks in the front rank were borne by Fleming and Archibald, who were up against Thistle stars, and neither were at any time comfortable, although the Fifer tried hard to shake off Rae. Grove was a useful partner to Broadman in the inside berth and was the most dangerous Thistle man in front of goal. He was closely followed in this by Torbet, who had some telling smacks. Ness and Boardman were best in the first half. Partick won the toss and booked a teethy breeze for the first half. Tom Hamilton was first to handle when he took a long, harmless ball from Ballantyne. The first sparkle came from Nicholson, who sent in a lovely high ball, which Jackson took after a bounce. Clever work by Ballantyne and Ness produced a corner, but this was easily cleared. At the other end McPhail brought forth a great cheer when he smashed a hard drive over the cross-bar. But it was Thistle who were shining and making things hum. Ballantyne and Grove spread out the play, and the latter had the mortification of seeing a shot go narrowly past with Tom Hamilton out of position. Then cane the thrills. Fleming sent over a lovely cross from the right and Marshall ran in and looked to have the goal at his mercy, but Jackson jumped to the shot and stopped it. Marshall had another try, but this time Lambie was in position to save. It was a let-off at the same time as being a grand save by Jackson, but Thistle did not worry. Instead, they set up an incessant attack on the Rangers’ goal, and Grove and Ness were just inches off the target with hard deliveries. Rangers came back with a rush, and Marshall tried hard to deflect into the net a hard cross from Fleming and from Archibald’s return fired one in, which Jackson cleared confidently. Then came a quick Thistle thrust and Boardman pushed the ball out to Ness, who carried on, and from 15 yards let drive for Hamilton’s far post. Big Tom just got his fingers to it and deflected it sufficiently to put it away for a corner. With half-hour gone no one could say whose Cup it was going to be. Thistle were playing wonderful football, and they should have had a goal when in a mix-up in Rangers’ goal Grove hit the bar and Boardman shot narrowly past. A Rangers’ revival followed, and Jackson was called upon to save, but thistle were soon back to the attack, and made their last first-half effort to get on the lead. It was bit to be, however, for Referee Bell’s whistle went with Boardman in position. The second half opened quietly. Rangers had the early chances, but Fleming missed badly with a wild shot, and this gave Thistle some relief. From a long pass by Ballantyne, Ness beat R Hamilton and was held up by Tom Hamilton. The next Thistle attack was also originated by Ballantyne. Boardman got the ball clear of opposition and slung it out to Torbet, who had a glorious shot glorious stopped by Hamilton, who turned it on to the cross-bar. Rangers improved after this, and set up a hot attack, but Marshall and Nicholson missed easy chances of scoring. Thistle showed the spirit by fighting back, and Boardman was stopped by off-side when Torbet had made a clever opening. At Jackson’s end gain, Buchanan was in action with a low shot that struck the outside of the netting. After a spell of rough stuff and elbowing of an entirely unnecessary nature, Rangers again set the pace, and McPhail was unlucky not to score with a long drive for the near corner of the goal. The Rangers were now doing the bulk of the pressing, and Archibald headed a free kick inches over Jackson’s bar, when a goal looked to be an odds-on certainty. A heroic tackle by Rae when Fleming was going through for a goal saved the situation for Thistle when things looked ominous. It was Jackson’s turn next to be the saviour of his side by palming out a smashing delivery from Nicholson. With five minutes to go, Buchanan had to be attended to on the line, but he promptly recovered and resumed. Rangers by this time had also lost their sting, and both teams seemed contented to fight their battles all over again. The last incident of note was an attempted shot by McPhail stopped in the nick of time by a defender.
