Napier 17
J Smith 55
Johnstone 65
Gillick 84
Match Information
Attendance: 12000
Referee: H Watson (Glasgow)
Match Trivia
Falkirk played dead easy in the first half and scored a goal. In the second half they played dead and lost three! They came off at the interval looking like winners and came out again looking AT them. Rangers were winners of this game from the first kick in the second half. The wing halfs, both and Thomson, threw off the Napier-Keyes hand-cuffs and started to hand the ball a cuff right, left and down the middle. In ten minutes, Smith equalised with a goal that might be called the luckiest in the world or the greatest. With his back to the goal and Shankly hanging to it like a plaster he managed to whip an overhead ball into the net with the keeper standing as if sunk in cement. Then Falkirk did an amazing thing. They switched Marshall and Dawson. Amazing, because Marshall had shown up splendidly, while Dawson had simply shown up. Anyhow, it made no difference, and Rangers were mostly on the attack. Just after Smith had almost repeated his first goal with an overhead shot which came back off the crossbar, winger Johnstone flashed the ball into the net from 14 yards. So now Falkirk switched Marshall and Dawson back to their original positions! The change was apparent at once, but Jerry Dawson, Gray and Shaw were thoroughly entrenched. With six minutes to go, Gillick scored with a great hook shot which put a gumboil in the far-side netting. That actually wasnt quite the end of the battle, for Napier and Johnstone got together in a little battle of their own, and the Falkirk man too that walk to the pavilion which lets a player get first to the bath! The game had plenty of sparkle for a pipe-opener. The crowd opened their own pipes in the first half when Jimmy Smith retaliated on Picken in a way that made most folk a bit sick. The Ranger would have beaten Napier to the bath had the referee seen that one. Id hate to think that he did see it and passed it up. Falkirks first half inside-forward play was smooth and saucy. Keyes, Marshall and Napier tapped that ball to each other as if they were the only players who subscribed for it. Very nice, very tasty. And when Napier took a pass from Keyes waggled a hip, side-stepped Woodburn and placed a beauty into the far corner, it seemed as if the Bairns were definitely out to play. That happened in the 17th minute. That no more followed it can be attributed to the brilliant and off-times lucky defence of Gray and goalkeeper Dawson. McKie didnt have a good day in the home goal. The shadow of the thundering Smith lay across him and often more than the shadow! Abd if someone whispers to McPhee that its the ball and not the man who doe the damage, hell develop into the player we all hope to see. Picken was a fine defender all through. Mason and Murray tired quickly. Shankly held Smith as well as anyone might be expected to do. The wingers were wretched. The lion may have wings but Falkirk havent. Little Marshall, at centre, had more determination than Carruthers and Dawson put together. Keyes and Napier shouldnt have been on a losing side. Rangers defence first-rate. Bolt and Thomson a bit confused at the start but real bulwarks later on. Woodburn improves rapidly. The forward stars were Smith and Johnstone. Waddell and Gillick worked hard. And I think Rangers have something they can mould in young Marshall. You can imagine the fun was furious when I mention that three times Falkirk struck wood and once Gray saved a scoring ball on the goal-line. At the other end, Rangers had four shots against the bar or upright, a disallowed goal, and a goal-line save by Shankly. Napier sent-off after 88 minutes
