A Venters 50
B McPhail 60
Match Information
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: J Baillie (Motherwell)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
Dundee let us down badly. Mincing words wont alter the fact. Where a thriller was expected, we found ourselves something as exciting as a home and family serial. We yawned away all thoughts of a glorious Rangers triumph. Not blaming Rangers. Mid you, for they rose over abnormal difficulties, which deprived them of the services of three international players, and the back of their team was broken by the absence of those supreme strategists, Meiklejohn and Brown. Dundee have recently been discussed as fire-eaters. Well, on this display I know that those Dundee fans, who gathered over 20,000 strong, will agree with me. I heard some of them talking of funk and it is a very useful word. In any case Dundee gave an abject display, and leg wariness is a rather obvious excuse. The defence had fearful apprehension written all over it and the attack was overawed into the most childish attempts at battling or designing through Rangers defence. When Venters opened the scoring about five minutes after half-time, pass-out checks would have been welcome, for the remaining forty minutes were mostly spent by Rangers swinging the lead. Had the game ended with Venters goal, it would have been a fitting climax. The little Fifer was the giant of the game. This opening, and really finishing goal, was a revealing flash that Rangers had it where Dundee pathetically had not, in strategy. A throw-in, with no freakish acrobatic taking, is not recognised as richly fruit-bearing in goals. But heres what Rangers made of it. McPhail trapped the ball and placed it across square. Venters gobbled and caught defensive heads still turned the other way by manoeuvring inwards. This gave him a clear view of goal, but he was yet about twenty yards out and no ordinary shot will beat Marsh from that range. Any further hesitation manoeuvring would have given the defence time to recover, so Venters let go and a faster, more astute ball has bever passed Marsh as it tore into the side of the goal. The second goal was such another gesture of Rangers superior football intelligence. Nine more minutes had gone when Kennedy got a great opportunity of a scoring belt at a ball not far outside the penalty line. The defenders lined up solid to leave no opening. But Kennedy did not shit his eyes and wallop. Instead, he tricked the ball behind the human wall and McPhail was over the dyke before the defenders realised what was happening. Moving instantly the kick was taken, McPhail had an open goal, actually trapping the ball before steadying his aim. Dundee were well on the run when Smith scored again two minutes later, going past Evans almost at an amble and beating Marsh as he liked. Dundee put in a semblance of keeping the play open later, but no one was deceived, and the game dragged to an insipid close. Under such disappointing circumstance, one is advised to refrain from individual criticism. But a hearty pat cannot be withheld from the youngsters, Winning, Turnbull and Fiddes for Rangers and Innes for Dundee. These laddies were very welcome to the eye in view of the future. Though not outstanding, they were bright enough to illuminate a rather gloomy game.
