W Reid (2)
Graham
Match Information
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: unknown - to be confirmed
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
What struck me more than anything in the match at Hamilton was the virility of the Rangers. It was amazing, almost, on a terribly holding ground, which, to say the least of it, was not conducive to good football. The Ibrox team from stem to stern showed a power which their opponents did not possess. By comparison the Academicals seemed a pack of schoolboy’s set to do the work of eleven men. That’s one of the reasons why they are this morning bewailing the loss of their unbeaten home record. From the very start the energetic Rangers took such a grip of things that I could not see them losing, end that they only finished a goal ahead was no fault of their own. Hamilton’s luck was in. The ‘Light Blues’ had sufficient of the game in the second half to warrant them walking out with a two or three goals’ lead, and in the earlier portion Dame Fortune was dead against them. ‘Bobby’ Mason will never have a better friend than the right hand upright at the end of Douglas Park nearest the Hamilton town. Twice is came to his assistance when all seemed lost. Surely never a harder shot was fired at any custodian than that which came back off ‘the wood’ for McDiarmid to put past. It was a ‘whizzer.’ Before this, however, both teams had scored. ‘Reid’ getting away on his own, let go a high one at Mason, which the little fellow touched but could not get hols of, and the ball fell on the wrong side of the line for the Academicals. The game was a quarter of an hour old then, and the next minute the Ibrox lead was neutralised. From a centre of the field I could not say that a Hamilton goal was scored. But Tom Robertson, who was well within the eighteen yards’ line at the moment, had no hesitation in awarding the point. It followed a lovely cross from McNeil which Manderson and then Dixon dealt with before Greenhorn gave it to Graham to head net-wards. Hempsey returned it off an upright, but the ball must have been over the line before he did so; at anyrate, the referee promptly pointed to the centre of the field. That was all the scoring before the interval – the Rangers’ other goal came along about midway through the second half. Fine work by Archibald found first Kerr and then McAllister at fault and ‘Reid’ ready. The International half-back, quick to seize his opportunity, half-wheeled round on his right foot and with the other whipped the ball past Mason. It looked a soft goal – a gift one might say – still, I question if there was another player on the field who would have snapped at the chance as ‘Reid did. At the finish I head the Rangers’ people talk eulogistically of their wing men. Certainly Archibald, if inclined to be just a trifle too individualistic, did a lot of splendid work, and McDiarmid I have never seen to more advantage; but it was their three inside men who really carried them to victory. The Academicals had nobody to compare with this trio. Cairns simply defied the opposition defenders to rob him of the ball; when it came to a tackle it was always two to one on the powerful Larkhall forward. ‘Tommy’ gave McDiarmid a score at least of lovely passes, but withal he did not forget the man in the centre. And ‘Reid’ was simply great. He was not so pretty in his actions as the much sweeter moving and craftier Bowie, who made a host of openings for his comrades, but he always, or nearly always, did the right thing. No individualism for the Rangers’ stop-gap centre – what a misnomer! One man was enough for him to beat; after that the ball went to the left or right – to the latter oftener than the other. Little wonder Willie McNamee was something of a spent force long before the close. The Douglas Park centre half-back started all right in his own kind of way. He battered the ball about to some tune without caring very much where it went, but for most of the time he was a very ordinary player. ‘Reid’s’ hit-and-get-away methods were not to Willie’s liking. I thought John Kerr, even although he contributed to the loss of the second goal, was the best Hamilton half-back. The junior Bent-Cambuslang-Parkhead back a worker all the time, is adapting himself nicely to his new position. Purdie was outclassed. Bu comparison the Ranger’ three were an easy first. If not quite so aggressive as the more powerful Dixon, Pursell played an eminently useful game, and McKenna helped Blair much to ‘put the lid on’ the Hamilton right wing, where Kyle was heady and McNeil not brave enough for my taste. The outside man far too often fought shy of the Rangers’ left back, who I have never seen play better. Manderson was his usual rollicking self, and Hempsey was safe behind. I heard Mason blamed for the loss of the first goal, but my opinion is that it was want of height that beat the old Burnbank boy, who dealt very smartly with a lot of stinging shots. McAllister, whose dribbling cost his side a goal – and a point perhaps – started very well, but over the piece the Hamilton backs, of whom Adam Miller was the better, were not up to the standard of the Ibrox pair. Graham. The Douglas Park centre-forward, looks like a chap who would do damage if he got the ball as he should. Archie Kyle tried his best to keep him going, and McNeil got across several lovely centres, but the left-wing pair were bad defaulters in this respect. Faulds and Greenhorn kept the ball far too close on such a sticky surface. They caused Manderson much concern, but their passing and re-passing was so much wasted energy. The ex-Bellshill junior should have taken a lesson from Cairns, ‘Reid’ and Bowie and kept the ball swinging
