Fleming 50
Match Information
Attendance: 48,000
Referee: William Bell (Motherwell)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
The West still holds the whip-hand in football, and the Hearts will have to do some team building before the ideal of a challenge from the East comes to aught. Yesterday at Tynecastle, Rangers won by a single goal, and on play they deserved every bit of it. It was only a few heroic men of Tynecastle who held the Light Blues at bay. As a team, Hearts were out of it, and the efforts of their forwards line to pierce a solid defence must have brought tears to the eyes of the Gorgie faithful. Battles was bottled (no blame to him), McMillan failed to open out the game; Smith lacked support; Murray could not get round Gray and Millar was out of it. That is the Hearts’ attack in a nutshell. They were obsessed by idea; that of giving Battles the ball, and when they found that young man unable to shake off Meiklejohn they lost their heads and the match. From this, one might think Rangers had an easy time of it. They had not by any means, for Hearts’ defence comprised a lot of trojans. Johnstone was a super-man. His huge figure seemed to loom all over the Rangers’ attack, and it was his rushes to the wing that stopped so many of Archibald’s brightest moves. A second later he would de depriving Fleming of the ball in the penalty area. It was a great display of recovery and stamina. He was ably backed up by Peter Kerr and Bennie, and with Harkness in form there was no complaint to be made about the defence. Their one blunder let Fleming in for the goal. A half-back, doubled back to his own goal, lost possession before clearing, and Jimmy was let in for a pinch. It was a disaster coming right on top of the interval, and it took the kick out of Hearts for a spell. Even the rock-like defence began to wilt, and had it not been for forcing work by Bennie and Kerr, the Rangers’ total would have been greater. Rangers like the Hearts were tremendously sound in defence. Gray and Hamilton, even acknowledging the fact that they were not up against brilliant wings, rarely had to admit defeat, Meiklejohn was in his element as the policeman, and Barney had all the worst of the battles with him. The Rangers’ attack was, like Hearts bot too convincing, but they were not a one-man band by any means, and with a little luck some of their best moves might have had a more tangible result. Fleming added just the punch that was lacking against Celtic, and his goal showed him to be the man to take a chance. All the same, Fleming might easily have settled the match in the first minute when he missed when Harkness alone stood between him and the net. It was a great first half, a great crowd, and a needle contest. Hearts took the count simply because they lack punch. Peter Kerr saved Hearts twice in the first minute with judicious positioning., but it did not prevent Rangers from taking the offensive. First Fleming miskicked when clear through and Archibald slashed one just past when given a clear goal to shoot into. Hearts, with long punts up the middle to Barney, transferred the scene of activities, and wily Kerr forced a corner which in its turn brought another. Hearts were here pressing, and Hamilton had to look slippy. Rangers moved outwards per Archibald and Morton, and the latter looked very like it when Johnstone nipped in with a grand save. The two McMillan’s were having some great bouts with honours easy, but Rangers were doing the attacking, and Harkness had to do some aeronautics to get rid of an Archibald cross. Nearly half-an-hour had gone before Hamilton had a direct shot to deal with, and it was a grand header from Battles that started him off. Harkness was right on the spot to deal with a Morton shot promisingly after this, but their forwards frittered away chances. Rangers, on the other hand, were never afraid of having a pop at Harkness and a great drive of Fleming’s went narrowly over. Rangers were still on the ascendant when half-time came, but Hearts took the honours of the first few minutes of the second half, and shots from Smith and McMillan were close enough to be uncomfortable for Hamilton. However, Rangers on their first raid made full amends. Footering about in front of their own goal cost Hearts dear. The ball was slipped forward to Fleming, who took a couple of steps forward and shot far out of Harkness’s reach for a simple but, nevertheless, good goal. Inspired by this success, Rangers showed up at their best, and McMillan was not far off with a slippy grounder. A free-kick to Hearts taken by Peter Kerr was stopped by Hamilton, but Murray dashed down and dispossessed the keeper onto to find Gray all there to kick clear. Murray and Battles went on a raid on their own, but the centre was too well marked to be effective. After this Hearts faded out. Rangers, without being dangerous, were all over their opponents, who never looked likely to pierce the defence. Once when Smith was on the ball a penalty was strongly claimed, but the referee was confident that no infringement had taken place. Hamilton in Rangers’ goal had comparatively little to do, but he was always confident as were the two backs in front of him. Meiklejohn was the star of the middle line. I remember he once told me how he hated the ‘policing’ business, that policy so often demanded of him, but he does it so excellently, so naturally that it might be second nature with him. Buchanan lacked science, but he made up fir it in brawn, which was just the thing for the day. Craig too played effectively. Wee Alan was the man who knew what was wanted in front, and his cutting-in gave Harkness a great deal of trouble. McPhail was quiet, but efficient, and McMillan, like his namesake on the other side, with the stormy petrel. Archibald found himself opposed frequently, not only by the wing half and the back, but also occasionally by Johnstone, and was less in the picture than usual. Harkness never seems to incur criticism these days. He couldn’t have reached Fleming’s goal, and at all other times he saved without difficulty. The backs shared the honours, each doing his bit. Johnstone was the star player afield. With Kerr and Bennie, he formed part of a great line. They did all they could to get the front rank moving. There is no use piling on the agony. Battles can be excused, but the others must be put down as failures.
