B McPhail 30
Missed Penalties
B McPhail pen miss
Match Information
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: J McKay (Glasgow)
Matchday: Monday
Match Trivia
A light ball that seemed difficult to subdue either against or with the wind prevented the game at Ibrox from being pretty. Dunfermline’s defence made the Rangers’ forwards fight hard for every goal, and it was a tribute to Harris and his backs that the Fifers were only one in arrears at the interval. McPhail was the scorer, after 27 minutes, but Buchanan and Archibald led up to the nice opening made for Mac who did not forget to give the ball plenty of boot. Previous to this - after only four minutes in fact – Harris had saved a McPhail penalty kick. Just on the interval Archibald went tearing through like a racehorse, and when he lofted the ball to lay it on for Morton, Wilson got his hands to it and diverted it over the bar – a little point missed by the referee in the crush. But Wilson thought it a good joke. With six minutes of the second half gone, Cunningham scored a beauty after Morton had centred and Harris had punched out with Fleming in attendance. And so, Cunningham earned the distinction of scoring Rangers’ 100th League goal. He wasn’t satisfied either, for 20 minutes later, he took the ball on the drop from the left and smashed it into the net, after Fleming had gone through and hit the post, from which the ball rebounded to McPhail and Morton, who between them got it over to the scorer. Nine minutes from the end, Cunningham, working over on the left, with his back to goal, let go a long overhead kick. The ball fell gracefully in front of goal, and Fleming was there to scliff it through with his head, with Harris doing his best to prevent him. That ended the scoring, thanks to Harris, who saved a thunderbolt from Cunningham and another from Fleming. Also, Hamilton had trouble with one from Penman, while TW Dickson, with the Rangers’ goal to himself, shot over – a bad miss. You will see from the placing of the Rangers team how they started, but after 20 minutes and McPhail went into their usual places forward, and Muirhead changed to left half. There was an improvement then. Simpson was very good at centre-half. His timing was really excellent, and he was decisive in his method of getting the ball away. Buchanan was strong ass the time, and Robert Hamilton punted first time with fine power. Muirhead is not back to his old form, and I doubt if we shall see him in the Cup final. I know he would rather stand down than be a risk to the team. Gray played a fine clean-cut game, but near the end, was inclined to take liberties. The jumpy ball often troubled the forwards, but they played some nice football at times. Harris kept a good goal for the losers, and both Young and Wilson fought it out pluckily, although frequently harassed. The half-backs believed in getting the ball well away, and it was the right game, but the forwards had too little confidence in themselves. Both Penman and J Dickson had chances to go through but preferred to veer away and so played into the feet of the defence. McPhail missed a 4th minute penalty
