Match ended 0-0
Match Information
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: P Craigmyle (Aberdeen)
Matchday: Monday
Match Trivia
A swirling wind coming from the Glasgow Cross direction made the ‘Old Firm’ battle at Parkhead a titanic test. One thing most folk were agreed upon at the finish – the result was a good one. Measured by the run of the play it was a case of quits. Scoring chances, while not over-abundant, fell to both sides. I reckon the easiest of the bunch was presented to Cairns in the first half. Archibald shoved across to Tommy, who standing almost under the bar, mistimed the ball. Shaw did the rest. Another shiver awaited the Celtic crowd late in the second half. Shaw and Henderson were the principals. By this time the Ibrox centre had realised the necessity for doing something for himself – George was not purveyed overgenerously at any time. A high ball was sent down the field by Jamieson, Henderson followed it, and what time McNair and Dodds were knocking against each other, he caught the ball as it was landing and banged towards goal. Shaw thought it was going past, and only awakened to his mistake when the leather cannoned off a post. McNair averted danger by kicking behind. These two incidents I have chronicled in some detail because they may help you to grasp that the Rangers came nearer to winning. Not that they deserved to bag the points any more than the Parkhead fellows, but the fact remains that Charlie Shaw’s charge had more narrow escape than Robb’s. Perhaps the feature of a stirring and cleanly contested struggle was the show made by both goalkeepers. Shaw’s anticipation was uncanny almost, but it was equalled by Robb’s daring. Charley and Willie were responsible for the clean sheet. Robb was much the busier in the first half, during which McNair and Co had a rare old ally in the hurricane. Early on, Gallagher struck quite a good game. Cassidy too was doing well, when Patsy wriggled for position, and fired for the top corner of the Ibrox goal. Robb clutched the ball as it was curling into the net. A minute later he brought off another splendid save. Willie shot out an open hand and stopped what looked like a certain counter – from McInally’s top-piece. Round about this time it was all, or nearly all Celtic. McAtee tried his luck, but his shot ricocheted off a foot and squirmed round the bottom of the far away post. Almost twenty minutes had gone before the ‘Light Blues’ attack came properly into the picture. Morton broke away, Cunningham joined, and Cairns finished the raid, but only to find a Dodds foot deflecting the ball away from Shaw. Back again ar Robb’s end the Celts showed us one of the best concerted movements of the afternoon. Cassidy, Gallagher and McAtee triangular tactics put the Rangers’ rear in a tangle for a moment, and Robb must have felt thankful when he watched McLean finish the movement by driving over. After McAtee had caused Robb to knuckle a rising ball ‘over the top’, the Ibrox division made another attempt to get going. Alan Morton was far from comfortable against ‘Old Alec’ and had really only one try in the first half. Cairns was here, there and everywhere in an endeavour to bring the others into line. ‘Tommy’ got a chance when Cassidy got into a fankle by dribbling towards the wrong goal. Taking the ball from Joe’s foot, he sped onwards. A Dodds leg got in the way of his shot, but Cairns’ effort had an electric and stimulating effect on his colleagues. Archibald became alive. Twice Alex rounded Dodds and McMaster and crossed. Then Dixon banged upfield. Archibald beat Colleague Henderson in a 20-yard sprint, but found Chaw waiting for him, and Charley won. Later the ‘Fifer’ whipped the ball over to Henderson, who let it pass to Morton, and agile Charley scored again. I have already told you of Cairns’ unaccountable miss with an open goal at his mercy. As if to show Celtic’s gratitude, Gallagher set off on one of his mazy meanders. Hesitating for an instant outside the penalty area, he drove like lightning, and only an acrobatic drive by Robb kept the ball out of the net. A last-minute rally by the Parkhead forwards again found the Ibrox keeper on the alert; he put McLean’s shot over the bar. A similar tale remains to be told of the closing portion, with the difference that most of the attacking was done by the ‘Light Blues and the bigger portion of the brilliant clearing by Shaw. Play continued as keen as ever, and, let me again say, as clean. Incidents, of course, cropped up now and again, but any injuries sustained – and they were very few – were purely accidental. Archibald, Cunningham and Cairns made early efforts to elude Shaw, but with no success. Charley - except for the time he allowed Henderson’s shot to strike a post – was faultless in everything he did. For a long time – just as long as Rangers took in the first half – the celts found progress against the wind a matter of much difficulty, what time their defence was peppered with balls from all directions. Even McCandless found time to stroll past midfield and have a pop at goal. Cassidy opened up the game with a spectacular dribble that led to Robb having a hot two minutes. After side-stepping four opponents, Joe crossed to Gallagher. The ball came back to Cassidy, and his ‘header’ was dropped almost on the line by Robb, who, however, recovered in good style. Immediately afterwards McInally was downed, and from the free-kick Cassidy tried, but only to see his shot being punted clear by Robb. This was followed by a Jamieson miskick – his first and only one. Robb came to the rescue. Archibald was a peculiar mixture. He had many clear roads to the goal, but instead of going right through he left it for the others to finish. Towards the end Alex endeavoured to get on the scoring list, but like the others, he found Shaw’s shutters up. Another Celtic raid on the right found McAtee’s cross held back by the wind. Jamieson cleared awkwardly, and a confident appeal was made for a penalty. Mr Craigmyle had no hesitation, however, in instructing the players to ‘go on’. A couple of Morton angular drives and a Henderson shot tingled Shaw’s fingers, but a more exciting period followed a free-kick at the other end, where Robb dropped a red-hot thing from McAtee. With the end in sight both sides buckled up their sleeves, so to speak. Gallagher, after another corkscrew run, found himself surrounded. Cunningham, at the other end, drove in a low ball which gave Shaw some anxiety. As the result shows, both sides were particularly strong in defence, and to Jamieson I award a special pat on the back. The Cowdenbeath back may be proud of his debut. He is safe rather than stylish; he does not lick a long ball, but Joe Dodds’ old Fifeshire colleague proved a first-rate substitute for Bert Manderson. McCandless and McNair were just their usual collected selves – cool as cucumbers. Dodds, who hurt a knee in the second half, was beaten frequently on the run by Archibald, but in clearing his lines Joe showed much of the old fire. I preferred the Rangers’ middle men, with Dixon the destroyer, and Muirhead a tireless, forcing half-back. Meiklejohn, although quieter than his colleagues, was hardly less effective. Cringan was easily the best of the corresponding Celtic division. Gilchrist never seemed to settle, despite the fact that Morton seldom sparkled. McMaster allowed Archibald too much rope. Gallagher and Cassidy, crafty and clever, worked to the last minute for a goal, but both were often more than a trifle subdued. McInally was well held by Dixon, and McLean, who got across a few nice balls in the first half, did not seem too happy. McAtee, too, was not up to standard he has often reached in these ‘Old Firm’ tussles. Cairns, easily the best of the Ibrox five, was poorly supported. Neither Morton nor Henderson could make much of the opposition. But, as I have already told you, the wind was very difficult to negotiate, and destruction was easier than construction.
