Briscoe 7
W Waddell 22
B McPhail 44
A Venters 85
Missed Penalties
A Venters pen miss 11
Match Information
Attendance: 38,592
Referee: J Baillie (Motherwell)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
If Hearts take this defeat with bad grace, I should be the last to blame them, for Rangers didnt deserve to win, not because of lack of football, but because of the spirit in which they played it. There was more juvenile pettiness than football skill in both teams, but it was saddening to see a team of Rangers tradition play as this side played. The bother started when Bob McPhail and Waugh were in collision Hearts goalkeeper had to be taken off on a stretcher. McPhail had surely one of his poorest games in seasons. Symon came in for a rebuke near the end of the game for trying to hook the ball out of a Hearts mans hands in an effort to waste time before a throw-in was taken, but he might have come under the referees ban much earlier. It was not all Rangers, of course. The Hearts men were just as ready to do their bit in the jousting, and Black Warren, Robson (versus McPhail) and Dykes had their parts in incidents. There was far too many, to the complete detriment of the game, and not unnaturally the referee comes in for some criticism. There was several examples of bad decisions, notably the penalty award made to Rangers in the first half. McClure was a yard and a half outside the box when he brought down Thornton. It was fortunate in some respects that Venters fluffed his drive from the spot and Waugh, down on the ground waiting on the ball trundling into his arms, saved the shot. There was little play worth telling, and no skill worth praising. If we take skill first, only Andy Anderson and Tom Brown played enough football to justify mention in the Hearts side. Hearts were markedly weak forward. Had they had one man to shoot they might well have scored three goals in the second half period hen they swarmed around the Rangers goal. Walker tried hard to reproduce two of those express drives that won Wednesdays match for Scotland, but he couldnt. Of the Rangers, only Thornton for his football skill and Waddell for his opportunism that brought two goals, stood out. Rangers did have teamwork in front that Hearts lacked, and it was that quality, as much as anything, that won them the match. Hears opened the scoring with as clever a goal as Briscoe has ever been credited with. The winger took a pass from Walker, dribbled round two men and then shot a terrific drive into the corner of the net at Jenkins right-hand post. Rangers equaliser came in the 22nd minute, Waddell taking a cross from Kinnear, passed on by McPhail, and coolly driving high past Waugh. McPhail scored the second from a scramble in front of goal in the 43rd minute, and the third came with five minutes to go, when Venters headed in a cross from Waddell. Only bright note in a sorry display by two of Scotlands premier teams came after the final whistle, when McPhail waited on Waugh coming across the field and the pair shook hands before entering the pavilion, chatting animatedly together. The Referee If you have read thus fat, you can guess my views, Venters missed a 15th minute penalty
