A Morton 7
Match Information
Attendance: 83,500
Referee: H Watson (Glasgow)
Matchday: Thursday
Match Trivia
Those who know the history of Rangers and Celtic matches are well aware of the curious things that have happened. I remember two games in which I played against our Parkhead rivals. They were Cup-ties, and Rangers were beat for a team. they played me centre-forward, and the crows laughed when we lined up. But we won both games. And here was something of the same. Bu all the reckoning, Celtic should have been sailing in this Neerday battle at Ibrox. They were at their very strongest. Rangers had to do desperate things to get an eleven in which they could place some trust. The Alliance half-back line was thrown into the breach, a change was made at outside right. It was a case of do your best, and good luck! And these is no doubt about it, the young ones rose to it. Why, I would go as far as to say that Simpson won the match for Rangers. I know there is a sharp cleavage of view as to the exact merits of this tall young Ladybank-born lad, but I am taking him as a I saw him in this game. Apart from the scoring of the goal by Morton, which of course, was necessary to the pulling of the points. Simpson was the man who exerted more influence than any single player. He was as cool as you like, he kept position, he foresaw the danger from McGrory, and set himself to meet it. He had two good feet. He could put the ball down with the sole of the boot, which was exactly what very few of the other could do. He could maintain his balance and he was strong. And now we come to the all-important goal. It showed Morton as a match-winner. Actually, he shouldnt have been where he was, but the master mind was at work. It was an example of anticipation at its best, and anyone who has played football knows that anticipation is the thing that counts most in the game. Let me tell you about it. The match was just six minutes old, and Celtic had been pressing. The ball came out to McPhail, who ran on and shot hard from well out towards Thomsons left-hand post. Thomson did not gather the ball as I expected him to do. He went down to it, and sort of reached out to palm it so that it went off his hands and over the line for a corner-kick. Fleming placed it well, and the ball was hit out by McGonagle, I think. Marshall got it and crossed it in front of goal. It was there Morton came in. He had reached him he snapped at it with the side of the right foot, and with instantaneous action, placed it in the net out of Thomsons reach. Thomson had no chance with the shot. It came too quickly and from too close range for him to have an opportunity of setting himself for a save. So here we had a position entirely unexpected. Celtic, I imagined, were capable of conceding a goal and winning. We settled down to see them do it, and from then to the end it was a tooth-and nail struggle under very bad conditions. Shortly after Rangers had scored, the Celtic forwards got going well. Simpson was cheered for his work with head and feet. He turned several dangerous looking raids through the centre, but once McGrory evaded him and only Tom Hamilton to beat. Under ordinary conditions, McGrory could scarcely have failed, but the difficulty of getting balance for a shot beat him. Hard on top of this, he netted after Napier had swung the ball into the goalmouth, but he was clearly offside almost on the goal-line, and the referee had no hesitation in ruling so. If there was any feeling about the wiping out of this goal it would be lessened by the fact that Rangers shortly afterwards had also a goal disallowed. Morton headed through from offside. He was offside right enough, and even if he got the ball from a Celtic defender the referee was right in his decision, for the scorer was in the position of distracting Thomsons attention. Until the interval it was gruelling tussle, with the conditions always making it doubly so. Rangers were slightly the better and held their lead comfortably. But in the first fifteen minutes of the second half the Celtic looked like carrying the day. Scarff and Alex Thomson got rid of the W Formation idea, which is the most abominable thing in the game. The effect was there to be seen by everybody. McGrory, with the support he was now getting, showed how dangerous he could be. A beautiful header, saved by Tom Hamilton, and then a trimmer of a shot again gloriously saved by Hamilton at the right-hand post. Opened up the prospect of a telling Celtic rally. Rangers had to put everything into defence for quite a time, but they could not always be tied to defence. McDonald and Murray began to get the ball through to the forwards, and the Celtic defence had their turn of trouble. Cook and McGonagle were in difficulties, and from the way things were shaping I was not surprised when rangers scored again. The referee deleted the goal, also, but I think he made a mistake here, and while saying so, I would pay tribute to his general handling of the match. As I saw the incident, McPhails cross shot was handled by Thomson, but he did not get hold of it, and it was over the line when McGonagle, in a desperate attempt to save, kicked it right into the net. Thomson was charged by Marshall, and on that account, the referee deleted the goal, but the ball was as good as in the net before the charge took place, and the signal should have gone for a goal. The let-off seemed to spur Celtic, and they came on again along the right. Bert Thomson was getting lots of the ball, and doing well with it, but Alex Thomson was not keeping up with him, and he had no one to whom he could give the ball back. Until the very end the result was in the balance. There was the chance of a goal for either side, for we had always to bargain with the ball beating the man at a vital moment as it did so often in the outfield. Had Celtic managed a draw, Rangers could not have complained, but under all the circumstances, it was a very fine performance on the part of the winners. It is impossible to criticise seriously players under such conditions, but at the same time, I thought they could have adapted themselves better. Wilson and R Thomson, I thought, mastered the conditions better than any. Wilsons heading was very clever, and so was his interchange of passes with R Thomson. The latter might have turned the game had his partner been more close in his support. Tom Hamilton never made a mistake. He was, in fact, the more impressive of the two goalkeepers, John Thomsons judgment was not always as good as usual. Hamilton did nothing to serve what Napier did to him in the first half, near the interval. This was the one outstanding unpleasant incident. Newry Hamilton was a good back. He had a more difficult job than Gray, but he kept his head, and recovered well, beside kicking a good straight ball. Cook must have surprised many. He showed excellent judgement, and he was not afraid to let himself go. It was a day for taking risks and Cook took them. He overshadow McGonagle who, for all that, was always trying to be judicious. I have told you about Simpson. So much depended on him that he was more closely watched than any other player on the field, but he did all, amore than all, that was asked of him. McDonald and Murray played their part. Murray works the ball well on the ground, but he is a little deficient with his head. It was in headwork that some of the Celtic players excelled, and on such a day ability to use the head to direct a pass was invaluable. Wilson was easily the pick of the Celtic half-backs, and Geatons was a great worker, but McStay was below his best. Rangers forwards did not play so good a game as the Celtic front line. There was nice bits of play by them, but it was not so sustained as Celtics. Before the end, I would have expected Fleming and McGowan to change places, and I am certain it would have been to advantage. Scarff played and shot well in the second half, but I should like to see him more up with McGrory, Napier was not much seen.
