Anderson 15
Dr Marshall 23
Match Information
Attendance: 31,805
Referee: T Small (Dundee)
Matchday: Wednesday
Match Trivia
I am pretty certain that everybody who was at Hampden will agree with me that the ending was just right. It would have been tough luck on either side had they been knocked out after taking such a gruelling. In the first half when Queens had a stiffish breeze behind them, there was little nor nothing in it. The Amateurs, I thought, didnt just make the most of their opportunities in this period in which we had lots of clever stuff from both sides. Then Rangers got the wind with a bit of rain along with it, and I looked for an even better Ibrox side. But I didnt see it. The attack seemed to lose touch with each other, and the halfs didnt follow up as they did earlier on. Mind you, Bob Gillespie and company had something to do with the rangers falling off. All three Hampden middlemen rose to the occasion nobly, and the positioning of Campbell and Cooper couldnt have been bettered. McAlpine and Anderson, too helped to ease the strain in defence. JB had a turn in goal for five minutes in the first half when Smith was off injured, and the one ball he was asked to deal with a free kick by Craig he dealt with like an accomplished keeper. It was an enthralling encounter most of the way. Attack was followed by counter-attack. A free kick by Craig brought the first big thrill in the fourth minute. English got his head to it, but Smith jumped in to punch away in the smartest fashion. A fine triangular movement by English, Marshall and Archibald followed and was wasted by Sandy shooting recklessly. This was a bright spell for Rangers, and Smith almost did the trick when he veered to the right and sent across a great low drive which his namesake in the QP goal injured himself in saving. McAlpine, as I have mentioned, deputised for five or six minutes. Smiths return seemed to put new life into the Amateurs, and he had scarcely been back a minute when they were a goal up. Dodds pushed the ball through to Anderson, who hesitated in shooting and got his shot blocked. But he got a second chance through what I thought was a bit of slackness on craigs part, and he had no trouble in slipping the ball past Dawson with his left foot. Rangers didnt take things lying down, and Smith got away on the run to give TG Smith a pile-driver to hold. The Queens keeper did some good work round about this time, and his saving of a Nicholson scorcher at the foot of the neat post was done in masterly fashion. Then the equaliser. It was a surprise affair. Nobody looked for Marshall shooting when he did, but his shot from 25 yards had Smith beaten all the way. A great effort. The Queens went out to make the most advantage of the wind before the change over. Gillespie started to push the game on, and after Anderson had one great drive stopped by Dawson, McAlpine beat two men cleverly and sent in a smashing 30 yards shot which struck the bar, with Dawson beaten to the wide. Just before the interval Gillespie took it into his head to go through on his own, and he was all but successful. He was well inside the penalty area and shaping for a shot when he over ran the ball and Simpson nipped in. That showed the kind of stuff Queens were made of, and I thought it rather a pity that Gillespie didnt see fit to go out and force things sooner. The second half was fought out in the same strenuous way without producing just the same standard of sustained play, which wasnt to be wondered at. The driving rain must have trouble the players a lot. The nearest things to a goal in this period were a Smith header which the other Smith cleverly tipped over the bar and a shot by the Rangers centre-forward which found the left-hand post low down. Still facing the same way, the teams entered the extra period. Rangers brought English into centre, with Marshall on his right and Smith on his left, but the change didnt make much appreciable difference. The big thrill of this part came from McAlpine, who worked his way through and shot, but he had taken so much out of himself by the effort that there wasnt much steam behind it, and Dawson saved. In singling out TG Smith, Gillespie and McAlpine, as the QP bulwarks, I am not in any way detracting from the worth of the others, who every man jack of them played as if their lives depended on the result. But these three were so much in the eye that they are naturally the first ones you think of. Gillespie was a most effective policeman to Smith and found time to attend to some of the others as well. Both in attack and defence McAlpine almost ran himself off his legs. Cooper impressed me as a big, strong back, who never loses his head. Campbell, his partner also paid his way. In the middle, Gardiner shirked nothing, and kept his wing going, and Grant was a hard grafter. Crawford didnt do just so well towards the finish as he did earlier on when he was very good indeed and McKenzie on the other wing, was a big improvement on the previous occasions I have seen him. Anderson did lots of good things in the outfield, although he spoiled a lot of his work by his finishing, but I was glad to see him take his goal with the left foot a far too rare thing these days for a right wing forward. It was my first peep at Dodds. A big, strong boy who shapes well, he was a bit out of luck here. Dawson was very safe all through and did his part in bringing about the replay. Gray and McDonald both pleased, and I though McDonalds anticipation was particularly good. Simpson wrought hard and successfully, and I see an improvement in his constructive work in the way he found Archibald and Nicholson with long balls. Craig and Kennedy did excellently in the first half, fell away a bit in the second, and came away again in the extra time. Nicholson is the best outside-left on the Rangers books to my idea. In the first half his understanding with Marshall was grand and he played every ball to advantage. Played regularly I see no reason why he shouldnt go on to wear an international cap. Marshall never spared himself, and his goal taken with his left-foot was an example of first-time opportunism, Smith had a terribly big hurdle to clear in Gillespie, but still he paid his way and comes on apace. English, like a good player should, adapted himself well to the inside right position and kept Sandy Archibald going. Sandy was just a bit slow in getting the ball over.
