Kinnear 2
W Waddell 30
A Venters 83
Match Information
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: A Henderson (Kirkcaldy)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
I have never seen anything like this in my life. With ten minutes to go, Referee Henderson awarded Rangers a goal which no one but himself appeared to see. Even the Rangers players looked amazed. As it happened, it was the winning goal, and as such, leaps into the headlines Groups of people were excitedly discussing it outside the ground long after the final whistle blew. They werent arguing. You cant argue when everybodys on your side. The only people who could have made an argument of it was the referee. And I think he made a mess of it. It was a bewildering decision. The score was 2-2 when Venters, from 20 yards, and just to the left of the centre-forward position, smashed a rare, low ball for goal. It had Mansour whacked to the wide. Like a rocket, it smacked off the bottom of the upright and flew out towards the Rangers left wing. Kinnear fastened on, and was about to cross it back into goal, when he heard his mates shouting to him. Jumping cricket-bats! The referee was pointing to the centre of the field! The Rangers players looked as if somebody had stunned them with a ten-pound note. Queens looked as if somebody had ditto with a flat-iron. They chased apprehension in their eyes, and a horribly sick feeling in their stomachs. The ball-boy nearest the incident forgot his school-teacher might be watching and chased on too. The din in the grand-stand was deafening. Men forgot they had brought their wives and acted as if they were in a bunker on the golf course. Pandemonium increased as it was noticed the man with the whistle wasnt going to use his india-rubber. When he started play off again, the noise from the side sounded like ten thousand cows bellowing to be milked. Now, I try to be fair. I puzzled it out. Maybe the referees idea was that the ball had screwed over the line after it hit the post. I admit, it was a very generous concession. But when I learned later that the goal was awarded because it hit the net inside the post and came out, I felt like walking into the first police-station and saying, Listen, sergeant, I dont know who youre looking for did I did it! When the crowd had gone, I got permission to go on to the field. I examined the entire goal area. And I have no hesitation in declaring that, in my opinion, it was an absolute impossibility for that ball to have struck the inside net and returned into play again as it did. If the ball had struck the net, it would have been killed there, or have slithered into the back drapings. In any case, the smack of the ball as it struck the wood resounded all over the ground. One of my blind party turned round to me and asked excitedly, Was that the cross-bar, Rex? Need I say more? And the baffling feature of it all is that Referee Henderson was having a really splendid game up to that point, despite the fact that it was a tricky affair to handle at times. Play had always been keen. Ask Bob McPhail. As he emerged from a close tackle with Bonomy one time, the back desperately gripped Bobs pants. R-i-p! from top to bottom they came apart, and there was Mac looking like an interrupted strip-tease act! The result told Rangers that Santa Clayss date of arrival is all wrong. Likewise, it derided the courage and resource of a Queens team that refused to lie down and be ironed out by the Ibrox steam-roller. The light Blues got off to a galloping start, when Kinnear shot a magnificent goal from outside the penalty area inside a couple of minutes. It took Queens a long, long time to create trouble. They had the ideas but lacked the executive skill. In 30 minutes, they lost a goal that made Egyptian Mansour wring his hands. Waddell sent the ball over. The keeper jumped for it. Tried to palm it to the side. But his arms must have had hiccoughs, for the ball skiffed past them and dropped almost apologetically into the net. Then the Hampden roar started. Q-U-E-E-N--S! Like hives of enraged bees. On the wave of this Hampden call to arms, Browning and Company surged down. The interval drew near. Wee Christie had his sleeves rolled so high he looked half-naked. Anway on the right, Hunter was worrying Shaw no end. Dawson was not looking like the Jerry who walks into national teams. At this moment, he would have needed a vote. Then, as the tea was being poured out in the refreshment room, Browning scored as delightful a goal as anyone could wish to see. Taking from Christie he lobbed the ball over Simpsons head, wheeled round him, and on the drop, smashed the ball low into the far corner. Dawson dived, but the ball was a week ahead of him. It was all back in the melting pot again. Rangers came out full of football wiles and strong endeavour. Time and again they seemed to be clinching it. Yet time and again that Queens defence, aided by lumps of luck, held the fort. In twenty-five minutes, the Light Blues had the cruellest misfortune. Hunter, boring in from the right, sent the ball across goal. Simpson, standing a few yards out, shoved his foot to the side to intercept it - and sliced it past the astonished Dawson. Mount Florida went daft. Gloom became glee. Glee became greed. Q-U-E-E-D--S! The old battle-cry again. Give us more, it shouted. But Rangers arent easily rattled. Fiddes and Symon toned down this goal-mad Queens attack and sent their own men away. It looked like a draw until that moment when the very foundations of the two Hampden stands shook with infuriation. A draw would have been a jolly sight fairer than the actual result. Not that Queens ever approached Rangers in skill. He did amazingly well, too. But I thought his namesake at centre-half was the big hero. He had Thornton in his hip-pocket beside his hanky. Actually, its unfair to pick out players in a side which knew its limitation but always tried to keep them a secret. As for Rangers, they should have won without any unsatisfactory goal. Shaw was great all through. Simpson also had a splendid afternoon, despite the fatal slip. And Symon improves with every outing. I think this boy Waddell is going to be a storm. He looks harmless and oozes menace.
