Walker 18
McColl
Dick 80
Match Information
Attendance: 23,000
Referee: Peter Craigmyle (Aberdeen)
Matchday: Wednesday
Match Trivia
Except for a spell at the start and another towards the end, the Rangers were wholly outplayed by the Hibernian at Easter Road. What a shaking up they got. Henderson’s absence undoubtedly weakened the Ibrox side, but the chief factor in their undoing was the grand work of the Hibernian half-backs. Willie Miller not only had a stranglehold on Dick but found tome to send his own forwards away with long swinging passes. Ably backed by McGinnigle, Kerr was a good position spoiler of the Cairns-Morton combine, and shaw played his part equally well. These were the master men. Their grip never relaxed. At the start the Hibernian forwards showed poor marksmanship, and it looked odds-on the Rangers counting first. One clever movement started by Meiklejohn put the Hibernian goal in danger, but luckily for the Easter Road lot McGinnigle got in the way of Cairns’ drive. Then Archibald put over a ball which Harper fielded safely. But in the eighteenth minute Robb was beaten. What McColl meant for a shot worked out as a pass to Ritchie. Harry’s drive was also off the mark too, but Walker came rushing in to let go a counter. This goal, hardly deserved on play, was the turning point. Confident now, the Hibernian forwards improved, and the upshot was two more goals before the interval. The first followed a sorry blunder by an Ibrox defender – Meiklejohn was the culprit, I thought. Attempting to pass back to Robb, Davie put too little pith behind the ball, and McColl got in to score. Then McGinnigle sent goalwards from midfield, and Halligan, charging down a return by Manderson, went on to beat Robb for the third time. A big Rangers’ effort was looked for after the turn. It didn’t come. Once or twice, Morton put a good ball Harper’s way. Once Dornan got nicely in the road when Dick had a chance. Following this the Ibrox confederacy were fairly up against it – even the forwards had to take a turn at defending. Robb stopped shots Shaw and McColl; he made a brilliant clearance by getting his fingers to a ball which the Hibs’ centre slashed in from one of Ritchie’s crosses. Midway through the half McColl set off with a pass from Shaw, beat Manderson. Robb hardly got a glimpse of the ball as it flashed past him. The end was ten minutes off when Rangers began to show fight, and Dick’s goal revived them. George Henderson’s deputy found his way through between the backs for once, and although his shot was of the soft order, the ball found it way close in against an upright. Every Hibernian played his part in this sound, well-merited victory. Harper was always safe and confident. None of the other backs came up to McGinnigle’s high standard. Miller was number one in the half-back line – a first-rate department this. Best of the forwards were Ritchie, Dunn and Halligan. Some grand runs were put in by Ritchie in the second half. Only two Rangers played to form – One Robb, the other Dixon. ‘Lil Arthur’, who did grand work in the defence, had little time to look after his forwards. Neither wing half was impressive, and as a consequence the backs got too much to do. McCandless stuck into his work gamely. Lacking support, the wings were unable to make ground as usual, and Dick’s comparative failure made matters worse. Almost the only time danger threatened the Hibernian goal was when Morton got the ball – and even Alan made mistakes.
