S Archibald
A Cunningham
A Cunningham
Match Information
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: J Binnie (Falkirk)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
The Rangers gave their brightest display of the season yesterday, and as the score of five goals to nothing indicates, they overshadowed Hamilton Academicals. When I foregathered with the Hamilton officials an hour before the kick-off at Ibrox Park, they were in pessimistic mood. Nothing has gone right with the team since Dickson had a leg fractured. Kerr was still unable to play; the half-back line gave cause for uneasiness, and twelve hours before the match at Govan Hanlon developed influenza, and a new right wing forward had to be got to take his place. A solution was found at Dykehead, and the transfer of McIvor, of the local club, was carried through at the last minute. The Dykehead boy got few opportunities to show what he is capable of doing, but in his first encounter with Billy McCandless he showed that the Irish back had no terrors for him, as he managed to sling the ball into goal from the line. In the last fifteen minutes of the game, when, for the first time, the Academicals’ forwards were able to beat up in open formation, McIvor and Cullen were the only forward who made any sort of a show against the Ibrox defence. There were only three outstanding players on the losing side – White at goal; Hunter, at right back; and Cullen, at centre forward. So one-sided was the run of the game that Robb never had contact with the ball until McCandless passed it back to him after twenty-six minutes’ play. The opening fifteen minutes was one continual series of Rangers’ attack. White distinguished himself throughout this period by saving a couple of fine attempts at scoring by Andrew Cunningham, and another one from Tommy Cairns. Once the ice was broken the Rangers asserted their supremacy in convincing fashion. Archibald scored in twenty-three minutes from an acute angle. Cunningham responded with a smartly-headed goal seven minutes later, and Henderson got his napper to a ball sent across from a corner kick taken by McDiarmid. The Rangers were then in the happy position of leading by three clear goals at the interval. Much of the interest had gone out of the game in the second half because of the inability of the Hamilton players to rise to the occasion. The side played without enthusiasm, and they were outmatched by the overwhelming brilliance of the nippy Rangers, whose half-back formed practically a second line of attack and held the opposing forwards in a grip so deadly that it was only on rare occasions Manderson and McCandless were pressed. A penalty kick awarded against Scullion right minutes after the interval afforded the Rangers’ right-winger the chance to score his second goal. The infringement was more apparent than real, for the Hamilton back put his hands to the stomach to parry a hard drive by Archibald, and for a time he appeared to be in evident pain. There was no relief for Hamilton. The Rangers never lost their combination, and they returned to the attack with recurring regularity. Between the rival half-backs there was a wide gulf. Meiklejohn, Dixon and Muirhead were superb. A claim for another foal produced a problem that necessitated the referee’s having to consult with both linesmen. It occurred in this way. When the second portion of the game was fifteen minutes gone Cairns let McDiarmid away. The left winger cut in and tested the goalkeeper. The ball was caught up by Henderson, who sent it against the upright, got in on the rebound, and forced it into the net. Henderson’s dumb show did not influence the referee. The centre pointed to his body to demonstrate how the ball had reached the net. The referee sensed the circumstances correctly, but it was only when he went over to the second linesman that he disallowed the clamour for a goal. The fifth and best goal of the match fell to Cunningham seven minutes from the close. He took the ball on the drop from twenty yards out and sent it past White like a rocket. The winning side played almost ideal football. Their strength in defence and attack overpowered an Academicals’ side that never showed its ordinary form. Twenty-five thousand spectators watched the game, and a fourth number remained to learn and to cheer when the Celtic result from Motherwell was announced
