Thornton 19
Woodburn 38
Venters 51, pen 60
Fiddes 67
McLintock 70
Match Information
Attendance: 35,000
Referee: C.E. Faultless (Glasgow)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
Ive always believed a good big un was better than a good little un. But when the little uns arent even good well, its apt to be something like a massacre. And thats just how it was at Ibrox. Rangers were big and good. Saints were neither. The result was a walkover more pronounced than even the score indicates. I confess to feeling sorry for the Paisley attack. They were never given the faintest vestige of a chance by the towering Ibrox mid-line trio. And they never looked like providing the football ability to overcome their physical handicap. Bolt, Woodburn, Symon there three! They were the men who made Rangers. Before the game I heard it said more than once Rangers blundered over their mid-line choice. But if ever men silenced their critics this trio did. Bolt made a grand debut. Deft in his footwork, deadly in the tackle, a real urge to the men in front, and his treatment of the sixteen-year-old Steele was a lesson in good sportsmanship. Thank you, Bobby! I saw Woodburn make two slips neither of them resulting in harm. Thats a high enough percentage for anybody. And his 40-yard scoring drive was the highlight of the game. But Id like to see more of him in more trying conditions. Scot Symon was himself capable captain in an unostentatious way. For the rest, it was Rangers you know so well. A virile Venters, a Thornton who looked even better to me than last season, two grand backs and of course, the inimitable Jerry Dawson. But Im not sure Fiddes in the man for inside-right. Nor did Waddell and Kinnear inspire until the game had been lost and won. St Mirren were a side outclassed. For that the forwards with the possible exception of Tom Brady, were to blame. I liked the courageous Kelly. Fulton Wilson, even if beaten rather easily by Thornton on occasion, did a lot of stout work. The backs did their bear under gave handicap, and Rennie was in no way to blame. Yet, taking them as a whole, I see little improvement in this St Mirren side from the relegation-rattled lot of last season. Rangers first-half goals were beauties. The first a Thornton turn-and-shot from a Venters slip, second that thundering Woodburn effort. Six minutes after the interval Venters slid through on his own for No 3 and added a fourth from the spot after being pulled down by Young. Fiddles made it five when the Paisley defence clubbed together to make a gift of a goal. Saints one and only was a McLintock header from a Deakin corner. I thought the cross almost in when the centre touched it
