Battles 32, 55
Murray 70
Match Information
Attendance: 37,000
Referee: M.C. Hutton (Glasgow)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
The atmosphere at Tynecastle before the start was charged with suppressed excitement. For weeks the Hearts have set all their hopes on a victory over the champions, and this feeling was reflected in the do-or-die spirit they infused into their play. Rangers with their long string of victories realised that they were up against it, and they, too spared nothing in their efforts to clear the hurdle. The result was a grim and relentless battle in which quarter was not asked and none was granted. Massie and Brown finished up crocks, and there were others feeling the effects of strenuous tackled. Unfortunately, there was an undercurrent of bad feeling, and once or twice the referee was called upon to issue warnings. Hearts won, and deserved it, too. All over the place they were the better team, played the wind better, and possesses a more penetrative attack. Barney Battles with two more goals was unexcelled as a marksman and gave Meiklejohn a most trying task. At he same time it must be admitted that Hearts task was rendered easier by a penalty-kick given against Meiklejohn after 33 minutes had gone, and unfortunately for the Light Blues, it was one of those awards that are sometimes passed by the referee. Mind you, I am not criticising Mr Hutton, fir he was fully entitled to give the award, but merely stating the case as I saw it. It was undoubtedly a foul. Up to that time Rangers had been the team with the kick. Better combined in attack and surer in defence, they looked as if they were going to canter home. What stopped them? Jack Harkness without a shadow of doubt. Jack of Hearts took every trick when the Rangers were releasing all their trump cards. Single-handed saves from McPhail (twice) and McGowan brought down the house. Had even one of these eluded his grasp, I fancy Rangers would have won. Then came the penalty, and Barneys goal therefrom. Hearts were afire now, and even an injury to Massie did not stop them. For the first time in the game, they held their own in outfield play. In the second half, with the breeze behind them, they did even better. Rangers were hemmed in, and it came as no surprise when Battles scored his second from a neat pass from Chalmers. Murrays effort twelve minutes later merely emphasised Hearts victory. Rangers made a poor show of it in the second half. With Brown injured, they were quite demoralised, and in the end, they might have been beaten by a bigger margin. Hearts, on the other hand improved with every minute, and even their lame duck, Massie. Played a storm of a game on the wing. For the hearts players praise must be given all long the line. Both in defence and in attack they were an attractive combination. In singling out Jack Harkness, ONeil, Johnstone, Bennie and Battles, I feel that I am hardly fair to their colleagues. But these five played splendidly. Harkness with his wonderful saves, and Battles with his accurate shooting, were Hearts stars and believe me, they twinkled for 90 pulsating minutes. Johnstone and Bennie stood out as the two half-backs on the field. Johnstone had an upsetting effect on the Rangers attack with his first-time clearances, and he blotted out McGowan as if that unfortunate young man did not exist. Bobbie, from Airdrie, played with the enthusiastic abandon of a juvenile allied to the craft and generalship of a veteran. In attack Hearts did best when the wind was behind them and with Chalmers at inside left. Stewart paved the way for the second goal, and generally pleased with his tricky footwork. John White, Murray and Massie even when injured played above themselves. As a line they were better than the Rangers. In the Rangers defence, T Hamilton, Gray and R Hamilton were not to blame for the defeat. The trouble lay further forward, and that was accentuated when Brown was forced to call off. The champions were heavily handicapped at half-back, and it seemed to me a mistaken policy to allow McPhail to do two mens jobs at left-half and inside left. It would have been better to have called back McGown. Alan Morton and Marshall were the leading lights in an attack that played well for half an hour. McPhail and Archibald were not so successful and failed to give McGown the support he needed. Morton was the little blue devil without a doubt. He had Anderson on the end of a string and sent over some delightful crosses for the inside men. Marshall worked hard and early tumbled to it that his game was to sling the ball out to Morton at every opportunity. In his he was eminently successful. It was Hearts Day. Every man-jack of them pulled his weight and went into the fray with a refreshing abandon. The swirling wind worried both teams at the start, but there was plenty of enthusiasm in the crowd, and when Jock White sent a piledriver over the Rangers goal there was a yell of delight. Rangers left moved delightfully after this and Jack Harkness was twice in difficulties with crosses from Morton, but once these had been cleared the Maroons once again came into the picture and Battles just failed to turn in a high cross from Murray. At the other end Marshall was near the mark with a first-timer off a cross from Archibald. Bennie followed this with two long shots at Hamilton which were right on the mark. Then Morton dazzled his way through in brilliant fashion only to shoot past weakly. Alan almost atoned with his next chance, Harkness bringing off a great save for a corner. Two more of these flag kicks followed before the danger was cleared. This started a spell of Rangers supremacy during which Morton sent over crosses which might easily have been turned into goals. Massie injured in a tackle, had to retire for a spell, and then after Buchanan had been warned by the referee, Battles sent in a hard shot which was splendidly saved by Tom Hamilton. Massie returned and took up the outside-left position. Immediately Herd swung a hard ball into the centre and Battles was fouled by Meiklejohn as he rose to head the ball. The referee ordered a penalty and Battles himself was entrusted with the kick. The centre put no loft on his shot, nor was it placed very wide of the keeper, but it was too swift for big Tom. After this reverse all against the run of the play, Rangers crowded on all sail, and Harkness was the hero of the hour with two clever single-handed saves from McGowan and McPhail. In between the goal and these saves. Hearts shifted their attack, Massie changing over to the right wing, and Chalmers coming in as inside left. In his original position Chalmers put over some clever touches, but he made a mistake in not trying a shot when he burst clean through. Rangers were unlucky to be a goal down at the interval, but with Brown limping badly, and a hard wind to face in the second half their prospect was reverse of rosy. Hearts realised this, and for the first few minutes of the second half they came within an ace of adding to their total. First Chalmers and then Massie sent in telling shots. The former effort was only partially saved, and it was left to a back to clear from the onrushing White. Brown went off after this, leaving McPhail to act as a forward-half-back. Under this handicap it was only to be expected that Rangers would suffer, and with twelve minutes gone Battles scored his second. Chalmers ran up the middle and laid the ball on for Battles, who managed to get rebound off Meiklejohn. The centres git found the net at the far corner. Brown returned to the field as outside left, but like Massie he was little more than a passenger. Jock While was running through when he was fouled, and it was indirectly from the free kick that Hearts became three up. Hers smashed a hard shot into goal and Murray, jumping up deflected the ball into the net. Rangers, bow a well-beaten team looked like losing more goals, particular when Bennie slapped a long shot against the crossbar. Led by Johnstone, Hearts banged the ball upfield at every opportunity, and the policy was paying one, for it kept Rangers from settling. Massie hit the crossbar with an angular shot, and Marshall neutralised the effort by smashing a hard shot against a post
