J McPherson >45
Match Information
Manager: No Permanent Manager
Attendance: 14,000
Referee: Mr Hay (Dumfries)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
In exceedingly cold weather and in presence of a crowd estimated at between 12,000 and 14,000 – the sum drawn amounted to £460 – the Rangers and the Celtic met on Ibrox Park to lay the semi-final tie for the Glasgow Cup. The weather was all against first class or even a moderate display of football, the wind blowing with great violence. The ground itself looked in good condition. As usual, Captain Hamilton had charge of the arrangement, which were complete. The Rangers were the first to appear, and were followed shortly afterwards by their opponents. The Celts, having lost the toss, hard to kick off against the wind, which was blowing diagonally across the field. Cassidy set the ball in motion at 2.52. Drummond relieved with a long kick, but the Celts left wing afterwards got on the ball, when McMahon centred to Blessington, who shot high over the bar. A penalty kick against Doyle just about midfield enabled the Rangers to make some progress, but the Celts again attacked, only to be sent back, when Steel sent in a long well judged shot, which was splendidly fisted away by Cullen. Again the Rangers attacked in spirited style, and from a long kick by Smith, Cullen had to concede a corner, which came to nothing. Against the wind the Celts so far, were giving a creditable account of themselves, and from some good passing Campbell just shot over the bar. With the wind the Rangers were having the most of it, and from were having the most of it, and from a foul against Reynolds close in goal they nearly succeeded. After all however there was little in the play, which was spoiled by the wind and Sun, and it said a lot for the Celtic that they were not only able to defend successfully, but that they were able to occasions to lead the attack. Had Cullen not been exceedingly smart the Rangers would have scored through some misjudgement by Doyle. As it was they had a penalty kick right in front of Cullen, from which everybody expected to witness them score, but only a corner resulted, and the ball was placed over the bar. The Rangers were playing extremely hard to gain a goal, but even aided by the hurricane the fine defence of the Celts proved too much for them. The Celts tried to make progress against the wind, but it seemed utterly impossible, and latterly they could not get further than the centre line. They had simply to content themselves in defending which they did to good purpose, but at halftime McCreadie sent in a clinking shot, which was saved by Cullen at the expense of a corner, and then the whistle blew, neither side having scored.
In the second half the Celtic ha the wind in their favour. The Rangers began well and caused Doyle to kick out. Returning in most persistent brilliant style, they swarmed round Cullen’s charge, which had a hairbreadth escape. At the outset the Rangers showed surprising form against the wind, but gradually the Celts asserted themselves, and from a fine return by Doyle, Blessington missed a splendid opportunity of scoring. Excitement ran high as the Celts approached the home goal, which however was never in real danger, the Rangers backs playing much better than they did in the first half, and clearing splendidly. Boyd was the most conspicuous figure in the Rangers front division, and his runs were always dangerous, and indeed nearly resulted in the downfall of the Celts goal. Against Campbell and McMahon, Smith was playing grandly, tackling and kicking in greatly improved style. From a pass from the right Campbell had a chance, but he shot wildly over the bar. All round the Rangers played improved, and they were really showing to better advantage against the wind than they did with it. Reynolds met with an accident, and retired for five minutes. The Rangers continued to have the best of the game, and everybody expected to see them scoring. The Celts put forth some determined efforts, but the Rangers defence remained impregnable, although McMahon on one occasion all but scored. Even a foul well played by ‘Montgomery’ was of no avail. The wind was spoiling the play, blocking the progress of the Rangers, and interfering with the shooting of the Celts. From a foul against the Celts McPherson scored the first goal for the Rangers amidst thunders of applause. The goal was well deserved as the Rangers had played extremely hard for it, and as it only wanted five minutes from time it was felt by the strenuous way they were playing that they had the game in hand. Indeed they forced a corner, and looked all over the winners. The Celtic made a dying effort, but it was of no avail. The Rangers walked into the final, as they did last year, the result being – Rangers 1 goal: Celtic 0 goals.
