B McPhail pen 1
J Smith 40
Missed Penalties
Turner missed penalty
Match Information
Attendance: 14,000
Referee: W McCulloch (Glasgow)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
To lose a goal in the first minute from a penalty-kick wasnt exactly the kind of thing to put Arbroaths tails up. They took the set-back like men of mettle, and up to the interval, showed real grit and a lot of cleverness. For quite a long time, their forwards gave the Rangers defence all the work they could tackle, and Dawson had to make a great one-handed save. He had another from Duff, who shot unexpectedly. But I thought the Arbroath forwards erred in combining so closely. It worked well up to goal, but it had not the effect of opening the Rangers defence, and you cant expect to beat Dawson unless you get clear of the outfield barriers. It showed, however, that these Arbroath forwards can play some, only it is wise to alter tactics to suit conditions. After scoring, Rangers sagged as an aggressive force, although Venters was always ready for a race through and a shot. Nearing the interval the front line got going, and after 40 minutes McPhail and Venters worked an opening for Smith, who beat Roberson at point-blank range. Three minutes later Venters, who fairly revelled in the mud, drew the defence and passed across to young Thornton, who whacked home an unsaveable shot to a chorus of ringing cheers. These goals revealed the vital disparity in the styles of the two front lines. It was a one-sided second half in favour of Rangers, yet the only goal scored with one by Smith who took a nice pass ahead by McPhail and shot low and strongly into the net, and that made up for his missing an absolute sitter earlier. In something of a rally, Arbroath got a penalty for hands, but Dawson saved Turners good hot by throwing himself full length at an angle. The chief interest afterwards was whether Venters would get the goal he had tried so hard and well to score. He didnt, but he took the credit of being the strongest driving forward on the field. He and Kinnear were a good wing. Play was mostly on the Rangers left, but Thornton and McPhail had some nice moves, too and the youngster from Winchburgh got all the encouragement he deserved. McKillop, of the younger ones, also had a good match, and Cheyne has not done better since he came back to the team. The inability of Brand to fins a way past Simpson had a good deal to do with the scoring failure of the Arbroath forwards, but I liked the manner in which Lynch and Devlin took the ball on. Duff, in the first half, was a strong, forcing half-back, but in common with the others, he found the rangers forwards hard to hold after the interval. Turner missed a second half penalty
