Munro >45
Match Information
Attendance: 7,000
Referee: J Binnie (Glasgow)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
The big clubs of the League did not have a joy day yesterday. More or less the majority of them had a touch of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Something of the kind they dole out to others. Just the other day Mr Wm Maley, assumed the mantle of prophecy. The Celtic manager selected the St Johnstone club as one of the two teams who were likely to figure in Second Division football next season. At the very first got off, following the fateful peep into the doubtful realm of probable happenings in the most uncertain sport of the round ball, the Saints of Perth managed to sneak a point from their great rivals of Dens Park. Of course, there were people outside of the Celtic camp who knew from experience that any result is possible when local rivals are in opposition. During the week I had a note from Davie Taylor expressing quiet confidence in the ability of his team to steer clear of the dreaded two positions on the League table. The Perth manager takes a calm view of the eventful happenings to which we are all accustomed. He had not lost faith in his men. So, the St Johnstone players reappeared on the ground where they made their debut as First Leaguers. The match yesterday was of considerable moment to them. They had four ex-Rangers in their ranks, the brothers Kirkwood, Jamieson and Dick, and there was their old scoring centre forward Fleming, in a Rangers jersey to heighten the interest of the clash. As the rangers trotted out from the pavilion it seemed odds on the Ibrox Park favourites hoisting the winning ticket at the finish. At long last Sandy Archibald and Tom Cairns were back to the fold, and Robb guarded the goal. It only required the presence of Bert Manderson, Billy McCandless and Davie Meiklejohn to complete the famous eleven who made the winning of League championships seen so easy of accomplishment. The Sains entered the contest big of heart, and so thoroughly did they respond to the new spirit that is in the team that they won a struggle of equal chances by a goal scored by Fleming’s successor, Munro early in the second half. This was the only counter in a game of many thrills, played on a pitch cleared of snow, and ending in an atmosphere of fog not dense enough to force the referee to apply the closure. At times the Rangers played with the desperation of despair, but such was the defence of goalkeeper Page and the resolute backs in front of him – Penman and Jamieson – coupled with the ceaseless attention of Swallow paid to his former comrade Fleming that the Rangers were held as they never had been by a Perth team. Never did any St Johnstone team rise superior to misfortune. Never was victory more welcome to them on the threshold of a new year with anxieties redoubled by past failure. There was no semblance of the white feather among the Perth players. They took all risks, and not a man funked contact with an opponent. Even after Munro scored, they let themselves all out on the precarious surface, and meant to hold on to what they had got. Even if there was a suspicion of luck in the manner of the taking of their goal, the success gained was worthily earned. Andy Cunningham, Cairns, Morton and the other Ibrox forwards tried all their wiles to beat a defence whose keenness and first-time clearances revealed the determination of the Perth team to prevail at all hazards. The Rangers had more of the play in the second half. Nearing the end their desperate anxiety to draw level proved their undoing. All too late in the contest they recognised that their early scheme of attack had done all wrong. The more open game they swung in the second half was countered then by a defence that went into the play with even bigger heart than before. Determination and zeal, coupled with impetuous dash and confidence, carried St Johnstone through to make more merry the Christmas feeling shared by them all. Wilson, Dick and Munro were the more energetic attackers in the winning team, where every man pulled his weight. Robb, Gray Osborne and Tom Muirhead were the more consistent members of the Rangers’ defence. In an attack that did not play quite to expectation, Cunningham and Cairns were most prominent. The forward play was at timed impressive, but over all it was below the high standard of the club for forward play
