J Bowie
W Reid
Callaghan
McGregor
Match Information
Attendance: 35,000
Referee: Mr Ferguson (Falkirk)
Matchday: Tuesday
Match Trivia
Better, brighter and faster football than that witnessed at Firhill yesterday afternoon one could scarcely wish for. It was a grand game, and the quality of the play surprising under the conditions – hard, and in some parts slippery ground. A cheery holiday crowd of 30,000 people cheered impartially the outstanding movements of the game, and from the very start the hum of an exciting throng could be heard on the clear, frosty atmosphere. The draw was, perhaps, a very true reflex of the game. Yet the Partick club has seldom been so near having that cherished home record broken. Had Hogg accepted the easy chance which a penalty kick presents for a score, then the Firhill club would have been beaten – and probably not by that goal only. At that time they were being outplayed. The rangers forwards were getting through more frequently than at any other tome, and Chapman and his colleagues in the Ibrox middle line had taken a firm grip of the opposing attack. But the ex-Sunderland man’s feeble attempt and consequent save on the part of Campbell gave the Thistle a fresh lease of life, and they forced on the play better afterwards. The other side of the story must also be told, however. It refers to the second goal which the Rangers scored. A long drooping ball was sent goalwards, and when Reid was dashing in Bulloch kept a watch over him. The ball bounced in front of goal. It seemed to be in Campbell’s hands, when to the surprise of all, he let it slip over his arm, and Reid, having got in, breasted the ball through. It was the simplest of simple goals. That mistake on the part of the Partick goalkeeper in the first half made up in a way, for the non-successful penalty-kick in the second, but as one of the Firhill goals was scored from a penalty, it will be seen that that fickle commodity called luck, was not against them. All the scoring was done in the first half, the first goal of the match resulting from a magnificent drive by Callaghan. Catching a cross from Keenlyside before the ball had touched the ground, he shot with great force and found the net. Bowie equalised the scores with a high ball, and then came the Partick penalty for Galt handling, after Callaghan from an offside position had centred. McGregor successfully negotiated the kick, and that was when Campbell blundered. If all the scoring was done in the earlier portion the best shots of the day came from the foot of Reid in the second, and Campbell cleared cleverly then. The Rangers centre twice caught the ball on the drop, and it left his foot like a bullet from a rifle on each occasion. There was very little between the teams at all in the matter of general ability. When it is said that Rangers were slightly superior forwards, and that their wing half-backs were just a bit more successful in forcing on the play than the men in the corresponding positions on the other side, the difference between the two teams had been stated. Lock and Campbell both saved cleverly, and of four good backs Campbell and Bulloch were best. The former played one of the best games, and in the second half particularly kicked beautifully. As on the previous day on the same ground the excellence of half-back play in some measure accounted for the somewhat patchy display of the respective attacking divisions. Raisbeck and Chapman vied with each other in effective hard work, and if the former could not get back so quickly as the Ranger, his judgment was so good that he rarely found himself in a difficulty in that respect. Galt played a grand game. He carried the ball well forward before parting, and his placing was rarely at fault. Hendry was scarcely so good, but played well. McGregor and Wilson did not suffer much in comparison with the Ibrox stalwarts. The Ibrox left wing was more prominent in the game than the right, where Hogg found the slippery surface affecting his centreing. Goodwin put up a really good game, particularly in the second half, when he worked into effective position very cleverly at times. The Partick forwards were not an impressive lot. Keenlyside did well in the first half, but rarely got the ball in the second. Elmore was dashing, but not particularly effective, and Robertson and Callaghan have done better. Gardiner is still playing below his best form
