Reilly
Shearer
Match Information
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: J.M. Dickson (Glasgow)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
King Fog and the consequent train delays played the mischief with the match at Falkirk, where nine or, more correctly speaking, eight Rangers were beaten by 2 goals to 0. Twenty minutes before the kick-off Mr Wilton told me that Hempsey, and Gunner Cunningham had missed the connection in Glasgow. There was no panic however. “Well just start with the nine men we have on the spot,” said the Ibrox manger, “and stick in Hempsey and Hendry when they arrive per motor.” But they haven’t yet, and the ‘Light Blues’ thus lost a couple of point they stood a good chance of winning. Five minutes before the start I looked into the Rangers’ stripping room. “Do you wish a game?” Gordon shouted I declined the honour with thanks, and added. “There’s a fellow outside who’ll keep goal for you.” “Who is he?” chipped in Mr Wilton; “have you ever seen him play?” I hadn’t, and thus a football friend lost a chance of a lifetime. “We’ll stick to Bennett,” Mr Wilton continued. “Alex knows the game, and we don’t want to do anything that might by ant chance reduce the match to farce.” And let me say the game never degenerated into anything approaching a fiasco. In the middle of the room Bennett was being helped into the blue jersey hitherto sacred to Lock and Hempsey amidst a fire of cheery banter. “You’d better put on an extra sweater or two Alex,” sympathetically remarked Director Buchanan; “it’s cold.” “No fear,” Alex replied with a merry twinkle in his eye, “I expect to skip about some once the game starts. I’ll be warm enough.” And did he skip. For a man who hadn’t stood between the posts in a defensive way since he left school, his goalkeeping was a revelation. Alex foozled an odd shot or two, but on the other hand he caught high ball – like a Hillman, I heard one chap say –he picked up low cones in the most approved fashion; he stotted the ball and got round his man; he even indulged in the combination game with Gordon a la McNair and Shaw. In a word Bennett behaved like a ‘true’ goalkeeper. The two goals he lost – one in each half – would have baffled even a Brownlie. Reilly’s long shot – a good ball – swerved suddenly, and he hadn’t the ghost of a chance with the other. Gordon battered the ball against the oncoming Shearer, who thus had Bennett at his mercy. You must not imagine from the eulogy of the Ibrox stop-gap custodian that the play raged round him all the time. Oh, dear no! Indeed in the first half the Rangers, playing far the prettier and clever football, had the better of the exchanges. It might have been that Falkirk, by way of being merciful to a depleted opposition, did not let themselves go as they could or should. If that was so, they were foolish, for they might very well have lost the match. Indeed, I make bold to say that had Paterson been playing where Fleming was, he would have counted once or maybe twice. The Armadale-Tottenham centre let go his chances as if they were so many hot cinders, and missed, whereas a player of Paterson’s experience would have walked the ball into the net practically. Had the Rangers for a goal then, Falkirk I am sure, would have had some difficulty in getting the equaliser. Another factor that contributed to the Rangers’ undoing at this time was an injury to Duncan. He was of no use after fifteen minutes. The right-winger had just beaten his man nicely, and was following on when he drew up with a jerk and retired. He limped on ten minutes later and stuck it out till the interval, after which we saw him no more. Then there were eight, as ‘the little nigger boy’ rhyme has it. I heard that he offered to chance places with Bennett, but Gordon would have none of it. And the captain was quite right – Alex was OK where he was. Falkirk certainly deserved their victory, but I cannot say that they impressed me, or that they would have won both points had Hempsey and Hendry arrived at half-time even. Stewart, Orrock, and Donaldson were as safe as usual, the half’s were fairly good, but the forwards were a feckless lot. Shearer and Malcolm made the more glaring missed, but the others were little better. Celtic-Chelsea John Brown got across a good ball or two, but over the piece he was eclipsed by the dashing and unorthodox Manderson. The big Irish boy, all legs and arms, as often as he could clattered down on the left-winger like a hundredweight and half of bricks. Muir kicked splendidly throughout; Cairns when he wasn’t ‘marking’ Reilly, played excellent football; Bowie was too dainty for a game of this kind, and Reid, although off the mark by a bit, did a lot of good grafting. Once the centre, cane within an ace of reducing Falkirk’s two-goal lead, and shortly after the Rangers made a confident appeal for a penalty. Gordon was the hero of the piece. Whether as a back, a half-back, or as a forward, or as a sort of combination of all three, he was the ‘goods’. He fairly revelled in his work; he saved certain goals; he came near to getting one or two at the other end; he thoroughly enjoyed himself. Rangers had only nine players Hempsey, Hendry and Cunningham all missed their connection at Glasgow, Plus Duncan was injured after 15 minutes and could only play on to half-time. “That a penalty kick”, shouted Cairns of Falkirk. “No” replied the official, “the ball struck the player; he didn’t strike it”. “I know”, returned the Ranger, “but you don’t need to be so particular – there is only eight of us”. Mr Dickson finished the interview by stating that the rules were the same for eight men as for eleven
