A Cunningham
B McPhail xx, xx
Muirhead
S Archibald
Gordon
Muir
Match Information
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: P Craigmyle (Aberdeen)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
Rangers’ fit on the blues has not lasted long. At Airdrie they changed the tune to a more lively rhythm, and literally waltzed off with the points, and with a nice lift to their goal average into the bargain. It was a come-back with a vengeance and here and now it must be said that Rangers deserved each and every goal they scored. It brought back to my mind this display of a wonderful game the Light Blues played at Firhill earlier in the season, when they triumphed by six clear goals. Thistle were hopelessly outplayed that day. Yesterday Airdrie were in a like position. They found themselves up against an all-conquering Rangers, and only a few minutes in the second half, when slackness on the Ibrox part gave away two goals, did they put up any sort of an attack. Rangers were a brilliant team, but not only that, they were sound all over, and only in goal, where Moyes did not get really tested, need there be any qualms for the ties. I do not propose to criticise Moyes too keenly. I thought – that Referee Craigmyle rather put the keeper off his save when Airdrie scored their first by being almost directly in line with Gordon’s shot. Moyes deserved a better trial before opinion is passed upon him. Airdrie were, of course, weakened by the absence of McDougall and Bennie, but with the material at their disposal did they make the best of it? For instance, Muir, an inside forward, was played on the wing, and so was Allison, another inside man if ever there was. It was a winger less Airdrie on paper and so it proved on play. Whenever Rangers scored their first Airdrie appeared a beaten lot, and with the forwards striking no sort of a combined game, the Rangers’ half-backs came well up into the forwards, and the result was that two of them – Craig and Muirhead – were among the scorers. This put far too much work on the Airdrie defence, and a crack was inevitable. First Archibald took the measure of McQueen, and then Morton followed suit with Crapnell, and the crosses these two wingers sent over might have meant twice as many goals as were eventually scored. It was a sore day for poor old Airdrie and represents a tremendous decline from the standard that has been set in these games in the past. Right away Rangers got into touch with Currie, Archibald sending in a long one which the keeper held, and just as smartly Airdrie retaliated on the right, Muir and Murdoch co-operating well before the latter missed his cue and allowed Meiklejohn to clear. A Woods was very nearly successful with a low drive which Moyes found tricky and saved with difficultly. Archibald crashed in a beauty which Currie tipped over the bar, and then Cunningham, receiving a cross from Archibald, who had indulged in a sparkling run, took it first time with his left and it went straight for the corner of the net. Success after 10 minutes put Rangers on good terms with themselves, and Archibald and Fleming had further tires. Following a corner there was a mix-up in front of Currie, but the keeper frustrated Fleming’s shot and Crapnell cleared the line. A few minutes later Morton spirited across a nice one. McPhail got his head to it and had the ball in the net in a twinkling. Half-an-hour had gone when Craig tried a long one. It looked quite an ordinary affair, but Currie mistimed it, and it went in off the underside of the bar. Alan Morton careered off again with the defence well drawn and to the unmarked Fleming the ball some. The centre, although still suffering from the effects of a collision with Currie, put his best foot foremost and shot out of Currie’s reach. Airdrie had a wee look-in after this, and Murdoch nearly counted with a drive that hit the upright while Moyes was far away. After the resumption, Rangers were for a short spell on the defence and then Muirhead made an opening, crossed to Archibald, came up to take the return, and flicked it into the net. Airdrie retaliated, and Wood gave Moyes his first real test in the shape of a hard drive, but Rangers came back to the attack, and McPhail with a shot across the goal which Currie pushed off the objective. The hollowness of the Rangers victory was in some measure lessened when following a Muir corner Gordon shot in and the ball beat Moyes when it rolled into the corner of the net. This success braced up Airdrie no end, and with the forwards going better Meiklejohn and company were busier than they had been before. Gordon sent out a nice pass to Muir, who taking it without hesitation banged it into the net from the wing position for as nice a goal as you would ever want to see. This eye-opener to the Rangers brought out another Ibrox spurt, and Archibald receiving possession just on the penalty line chose to go through on his own rather than pass to Fleming – a policy that paid well. The winger beat the back and shot No 6. A few minutes later Muirhead gave McPhail a chance which he accepted by hooking in his own second against this old clubmates. Rangers, as I have said, carried no passengers. It is difficult indeed to lay a finger upon the mainspring of the success, but so splendidly did Meiklejohn, Craig and Muirhead spur on their forwards, that I choose to think it was the half-back line. I liked the trio in the order I have written them. The forwards played up splendidly. Archibald and Cunningham stood out prominently, but McPhail was little, of anything behind. Fleming got a nasty knock early on, but that did not prevent his counting. Morton improved with time and played a spirited game. Moyes got rid of some dangerous stuff slick. Bob Hamilton further consolidated himself as Gray’s partner. His tackling improves weekly. Gray was also in form, and rarely let anything past him. Currie is a peculiar keeper. One minute he is saving ‘daft’ stuff, and then je loses a simple goal. There is no getting away from it, he misjudged Craig’s long counter, and yet that is about all he can be clamed for. It was not a happy day for the Airdrie keeper, and yet he was quite a success. Both McQueen and Crapnell started well, but they had too much to do, and at half-back the only regular on view – Preston was the best. Next to him I liked Gordon. In front Muir deserves praise for his goal. It was a rare effort, and yet he seemed lost on the wing. Rock did not hit it off in the middle, and the best Airdrie forward was Woods. He possesses a good shot and was unlucky on one or two occasions. Murdoch was quite good, but Allison, like Muir, would have been better nearer the middle of the field.
