Park 9
Reid 14
Match Information
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: W Webb (Glasgow)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
Cup form was not confirmed at Douglas Park. A minor consolation fell the way of the Academicals for their failure at Hampden in the last slogan of the League campaign. The play lacked the fervour and sparkle of the previous week, but it produced a struggle that held the interest throughout. The narrow victory of the home team was well earned. There were seven fresh players engaged; four of the home side and three on the other. One saw better team work from the Academicals. Thomson fed his wing a shade more consistently than Murray, to make the defence more impressive and confident. Had he the physical strength of Murray, Thomson would be a regular. McGourty, at inside-left, was best in attack, but he lacked the intuition of the Rangers inside forwards, Venters and McPhail, by failing to recognise that half-backs need support. Gilmour revealed marked improvement in McLarens place, and Wilson and Reid again proved the most consistent forwards. Park paid his way, but he is not so resourceful as King. Overall, I was pleased with the Academicals defence. McStay was a master of strategy against Smith and McPhail and, in conjunction with Wallace, rarely put a foot wrong. Wallace was best of all the backs. The Rangers missed the help of Dougie Gray, Brown and Main. The young ones, Cheyne, Winning and Fiddes, had an outing on fast ground that should be to their advantage. McDonald took some time to accustom himself to right-back. The mainstay of the defence were Simpson and Kennedy. Keen, hard workers all the time. The goalkeepers on both sides distinguished themselves at critical periods. At times in the second half the Rangers struck fine combination, McPhail, Smith and Venters more than holding their own. All the scoring took place in the first half. Wilson and Reid connected to give Park the chance to dash across and open the account in nine minutes. Five minutes late Reid smartly headed a second goal. Following a free kick taken by Cheyne, Smith put power into his hot to baffle the vigilant Morgan. A popular win!
