Hodge <45
Match Information
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: unknown - to be confirmed
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
The competition for premier honours in the Inter-City competition looks likely to provide a close finish. Rangers and Celtic meantime are first favourites, but the possibilities of the championship going to the Hibernian, Heart of Midlothian or 3rd Lanark suggest that very little would establish any of the least fancied of the latter trio in the position meantime held by the Rangers. The Ibrox League champions hold pride of place with a point over the Celtic and 3rd Lanark, who however have a match in hand. The leading match in the competition on Saturday adversely affected the position of the Rangers. A win over the Celtic would have given them a clear lead over their powerful local rivals, but the peculiarity of the season’s form in the seven matches previously played between the clubs was again uppermost, for the Celtic won at Celtic Park, and the score of 1 goal to 0 was just a sufficient indication of their superiority on the day’s play. The Rangers victories over the Celts this season have been achieved on Ibrox Park, and neither club has scored a win over the other away from home. The surprising feature about Saturday’s game was the creative display given by the Rangers, considering that their Easter tour embraced two matches in England, one in Glasgow, and two in Belfast. Their play at times betrayed evidence of fatigue, but on the whole they always kept the game open and right up to the finish seemed as likely to equalise as the Celts did to gain an addition goal. Neither club was fully represented, the Celts being without McArthur, Loney, Divers and Campbell, while the ‘Light Blues’ wanted Drummond, Robertson and Campbell. Donnelly, Hynds, Hodge and Quinn figured in the ground eleven, and Crawford, Stark and Graham turned out for Ibrox. The substituted all did well in a game that had many good points to commend it, but which however was lacking in many of those stunning incidents of sensational play associated with this fixture. The wind spoiled the game somewhat, but the Celts played better against it during the first half than did their opponents latterly, and it was after some thirteen minutes play that Hodge celebrated his reappearance by a finely taken goal. Each side had a point disallowed, the Celts off Findlay, presumably for Hodge interfering with Dickie, and the Rangers six minutes from time when Graham beat Donnelly from an offside position. The Rangers goalkeeper got most work during the game, and towards the close, when the Celts shot grandly he was simply unbeatable if risky in some of his clearances. Donnelly likewise did well, and had the best save in the match near the end, when he gave away a corner. Next to goalkeeping the feature of the Rangers defence was the marvellously effective play of Neil Gibson at left-half. His was the finest display on the field. Stark was good at right-half, and Crawford the safer back. Forward the Rangers were fairly consistent, but Speedie was much inferior to the others, of them Hamilton and McPherson were most earnest. The rearrangement of the winners defence by the appearance of Russell in his old position at centre-half, gave it greater stability and Hynds was a decided success at right-half, Orr, Battles and Davidson improved on their final tie display, and forwards the younger players of which Quinn in the centre was best, imported a dash into this division which has been conspicuous by its absence since the Cup tie against Kilmarnock. The result of the game gives a rubber interest to the Charity Cup tie on the opening day of the Exhibition.
