Wood
Puddefoot
Match Information
Attendance: 18,000
Referee: J Bell (Dundee)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
A grand victory, gained on merit, was the unanimous opinion of the sane onlookers among the 20,000 at Brockville Park yesterday. Falkirk gave an exhibition of more polished football over a team that is considered to be the most accomplished. After waiting patiently to see their wat-time idol, Syd Puddefoot, reproduce his old-time form, the Falkirk enthusiasts saw him gave one of the finest exhibitions in the brilliant career. His inimitable footwork bewildered Dixon to such an extent that the Ranger could make nothing of him. Puddefoot’s distribution of the ball, his elusive touched, his feints and swerves, and his first-time drives placed him in a class by himself. He was the hero of the home section of the crowd, who cheered him to the echo, and nobly did he respond to their flattering calls. Briefly, Rangers lost simply because the forwards were up against one of the greatest defences in the country, and one which was immeasurably superior on the day to the rear division of the Ibrox club. As spoilers, tacklers, and even in placing, the Falkirk trio were almost masters, and largely because they had a master mind in the centre, who was supported by two fast-playing wings, open and methodical. A deplorable scene during the course of the second half, which is dealt with fully in our columns, occurred, but, fortunately, did not interrupt play greatly. Right at the start Puddefoot burst into view with a great drive from twenty-five yards, which almost beat Robb. Soon afterwards he ran with the ball to the left, and suddenly swung it into centre, and Thomson, meeting the cross, just missed by inches. The Rangers then asserted themselves, but Smith made poor use of two glorious openings. As a matter of fact, the centre was weak, and handicapped others. From this stage till the interval Falkirk did the bulk of the attacking, and the visitors were rarely dangerous. The Light Blues were seen in something like their usual form after the interval, but it was only a flash. Eight minutes after the resumption Puddefoot got possession, and eluding Sixon, ran on towards goal. When he was about to be tackled by McCandless he slipped the ball to Wood, who, with a first-time effort, beat Robb with a fast angular drive. Rangers almost equalised within the next minutes, Smith forcing a corner at the close of a dashing run. Immediately afterwards Puddefoot again got on the run. This time he mystified not only his opponents, but all the crowd, by the manner in which he manoeuvred the ball up to goal and went right on. Robb came out to meet him, but Puddefoot quickly slipped the ball past him into the net. It was a great bit of play and was one of the many illustrations that the home centre showed that he is a player of the highest stamp. Falkirk appeared to slacken for a time after this, and the Rangers pressed incessantly, but it was obvious that they were sadly off their game. Rangers’ moves were crude and rash. The home side ultimately asserted itself and won easing up. With the exception of Cunningham and Cairns, the Rangers never looked like scoring. The outstanding players for the victors were Kerr, McNair, Puddefoot and Glancy, and for the losers, McCandless, Muirhead, Cunningham and Cairns
