T Walker 15
Gillick 25
Match Information
Attendance: 36,345
Referee: William Bell (Motherwell)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
Rangers were shown up in this game. They were licked and leathered. The first half saw them beaten; the second portion completely rattled. It is no exaggeration to say that, if a little luck had come the way of the Hearts men who did the shooting, there might have been a score against Rangers that would have made the Light Blues supporters turn dark blue in the face. In recent games, I believe, the Tynecastle boys have been slow to get down to their work, in an attacking sense. In this contest they got to business right away and found that the opposition was weakest where it should be strongest in the half-back line. Hearts kept up a hot pace, overran Meiklejohn and Brown on the wing, forced Simpson to desert the centre of the field, and this left McCulloch with more open space than any centre-forward who has played against Rangers for a long time. With the cracking of the half-back line, the Rangers team became a thing of sherds and patches. Gray and McDonald were played on to and were found wanting two different men from the pair who, under normal circumstances, are left with plenty of free kicking space. The road to Dawson was easy wide open at times. Early in the first half, Johnstone received a bad cut on the brow and was taken off. He came back in a few minutes wearing sticking plaster. In the second half he played with a deep bandage round his head. The cotton blinded him, and seriously affected his judgment. If he had been his usual self, he would have found the rigging twice on his own each time from a couple of yards, and perhaps would have helped others to score. As so often happens it was left to the handicapped man to take the chances. The game started at a fast pace, and the speed of it was maintained all through and in a manner that kept a previously keyed-up crowd shouting excitedly. There was a strong wind blowing from the Gorgie end of the pitch, but each side in turn when opposed to it surmounted any handicaps it offered. The first goal was well taken by Walker, but Dawson decidedly was at fault. He ran out to a loose ball and kicked it. Instead of hurting back to his charge, he stood for a few seconds to see the result of his kick. Walker fastened on and, while Dawson was running back, slammed a beauty from 30 yards into the net. That was just under 15 minutes from the start. In the twenty-nine-minute Rangers were on level terms again, Thanks to McClure trying to be too clever with Main. The ball, as a result, came whizzing low across the goal, and Venters shot. Harkness could only check it, and from a couple of yards Gillick netted the rebound. Eight minutes from the interval a long ball came up the centre. McCulloch got it, deftly flicked it past Simpson, and ran on with only Dawson opposed to him. The ex-Third Lanark man was delightfully cool and seemed to choose the part of the net into which to send the leather. McCulloch second goal, a minute or so from the interval, was well taken. Massie, from the touch-line, banged the ball across. Walker let it pass him, and the centre, bringing it down with his right foot, shot like a flash. Rangers tried hard at the beginning of the second half, but within a few minutes McKenzie added a fourth for his side with a fine shot, and after that Hearts made the Rangers look foolish. Hearts here were a right good team, although at times I thought the backs at fault. Anderson was not so good at positioning as I have seen him, and in addition was occasionally rather easily beaten by Gillick. Harkness was like a Jack of old, playing with a safety and confidence that must have impressed more than one of the selectors present. To the others in the Hearts team, I must give nothing but praise, and I may say this is the best game I have seen McCulloch play. Walker too was grand. McKenzie didnt find things running too well for him. He just missed being a treble scorer. Of Rangers I think you have already gathered mu opinion. They were made to look as like a championship Rangers team as ditch water is like champagne. The Ibrox boardroom have something to think about. The fears they must have felt during some recent games materialised here.
