J Smith 17, 50
Armstrong 75
Match Information
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: H Watson (Glasgow)
Matchday: Tuesday
Match Trivia
Airdrieonians hadnt forgotten what happen when they were last at Ibrox. They were out for another shot at pulling down the champions. Any time I saw Airdrie last season they were a good lot, so I was not surprised to see them make such a strong stand. Rangers did not play to standard. Marshall was injured in the first half and was off for a few minutes. In the second half, Archibald also was hurt, and was off for a minute or two. These things did not help the home team, but neither did they excuse the moderate display. Certainly, Rangers had the best of the game. They were the more dangerous side, but there was a lack of effective cohesion. There was nothing much between the teams up to the scoring of the first goal, which came after 19 minutes. McPhail shot hard, and the ball came off a defender to Smith, who with his left foot, drove it into the net. Paterson did not have a chance. Just before the goal Armstrong was pulled up for offside after a quick rallying move by Sharp and McDonald. I though the centre was just onside, but the referee could be excused, for the Rangers had been attacking, and the situation changed too quickly for him to follow up. A leap and a grand one-handed save by Paterson prevented Craig scoring with a fast-rising shot. Tom Hamilton also made a very fine save from Johnston by throwing himself full length. The one team was a s good as the other up till the interval. The feature was the forcing work by Sharp. He kept coming on and was not afraid of being unable to get back. I thought Meiklejohn made a mistake in not following similar tactics. He began in great style and for ten minutes hid play all round was perfect, but he then adopted a waiting game, and it affected the entire machinery. Rangers opened the second half with fresh vitality, and in five minutes, they went further ahead with the best goal of the game. Morton made a quick pass across to Marshall who promptly transferred to Smith, who drove home with great power. Then we saw more of Sharp. He came as near as possible to scoring when he sent the ball away out to Bertram and went ahead to get it back and head narrowly past. McPhail had the scoring of a third goal for Rangers, but with only Paterson to beat at close range, he shot over with his left foot. His failure confirmed my belief that he is a right-footer, and that his proper place is inside-right. Hamiltons goal had a marvellous escape from a shot by Johnston. The custodiam knocked the ball up, but he lost sight of it, and it was only clever recovery that enabled him to save. Airdrie, however, were not to go away empty-handed. Ten minutes from the end, and while Archibald was in the pavilion, a stray ball ran past McAuley, who had been forcing. He passed back to Tom Hamilton from a distance of 20 yards. Armstrong had anticipated and he ran on. Hamilton came out and bent to lift the ball, but Armstrong put his weight on him, and he fell and lost the ball, which rolled away. The Airdrie centre had a chance he could not miss. He placed the ball into an unguarded net. This set Rangers off again, and Paterson saved a tearing shot from Smith and another from McAulay. The game finished in something of a scramble in Rangers favour. Both goalkeepers did well, apart from Hamiltons failure to get a grip of the pass back. I would put down McAulay as the best back of the four. He was agile and strong, and he did a lot to force the play. Crapnell, while erratic with his kicking, was very clever in anticipating. His headwork was a treat. There was no more effective man on the field than Sharp. He is full of enterprise. He plays the centre half-back game that is good to look at. His defence dies not suffer from his excursions up the field because he is watching the flight of the ball. Besides, wing half-backs cam always cover up if necessary. If Meiklejohn had come out, Brown and craig would have come better out of it. So would the forwards. The captain proved all this by his play in the first ten minutes. McPhail and Smith were the Rangers forwards who could be depended upon. Marshalls injury did not help him, Morton has to recover his old touch. McDonald was the strongest of the Airdrie forwards, though Armstrong shaped very creditably. Johnston and Bertram ran too often to the corner-flag when the inside men were waiting for the centre.
