Delaney 8
Divers 19
Match Information
Attendance: 40,052
Referee: J.M. Martin (Ladybank)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
This was a game that was hard work having to watch. Celtic were not to blame. They tried to make a game of it. Some of the Rangers players wanted to make it a battle. And the referee blew for free-kicks here and free-kicks there, till at the finish the pea in his whistle must have been half its original size. Celtic, anything but a great team, were made to look a million-dollars by a Rangers team whose play wasnt worth tuppence. Celtic should have won this game by four or five goals. They were all that ahead in play and ideas. Right from the start they were keen where Rangers were blunt. Crim, Divers and Delaney ran all over the place the place where the ball looked like going. Smith, McPhail and the rest patrolled their regular beat with the steady deliberate plod of policemen who know theres a riot round the corner but hope their mates will attend to it. Dougie Gray one time shouldered Murphy off the ball, away on the left, and was allowing it to run over the bye-line for a goal-kick when, like a streak, a green-and-white clad figure tore int to force a corner-kick. It was Delaney, who according to the Ibrox book of rules, should have been tramping the daisies on the other wing. In eight minutes, Cheyne fumbled the ball round about his knee-cap. Divers, running from the left, picked it up and made a bee-line for the right-wing. Did Delaney stand and look indignant? Not on your life. Arms tucked in; he flew into the middle to the place Divers had vacated. And when the ball came over, the slick-moving James screws it into the roof of the net with a smart head-flick. Rangers tried to get through with the use of a little over-hearty beef. Celtic replied with the same kind of stuff just as hearty. For a while the whistle seemed only to pause because the referee had run out of breath. I saw players take chances theyd never have risked had the earlier fouls been nipped in the bud. Then, in the 19th minute, Johhny Crum scored a positively delightful goal only to have it knocked off for offside. This was about the biggest mystery of the season to me, as to my view, Crum beat Simpson in speed of mind and limb in order to reach the ball. The game evened out a bit, but there was still an appalling number of stoppages. Then, just before the interval came a couple of big items. Divers headed the ball clean past Dawson from a Murphy corner-kick. No sooner was the game restarted than Rangers were in on Kennaway. Smith got clear about six yards out and shot the ball right into the keepers middle. He followed up however, but before he could reach Kennaway he was crashed to the ground by Paterson. The referee immediately pointed to the spot. McKillop took the kick and tried to pace it to the keepers right-hand corner. Lo and behold, when the ball arrived there, the bold Joe was standing waiting for it! Most people thought Joe a great feller. As far as I could see the keeper had taken at least two paces in that direction before the ball was kicked! However, the referee decided that everything was in order. Rangers must have had a committee meeting at half-time. Smith was out on the wing, Thornton in the middle, and McPhail had switched with Harrison. Apart from that, you wouldnt have seen the slightest difference. There was only a few interesting items in this half, and an alarming one, when Jerry Dawson spun over Delaneys head and landed awkwardly. It looked as if Jerry was going to miss the Holland trip. Rangers had a lot more of the play for a time, but Lyon and Company were covering the waterfront in great style. Then Divers missed the tit-bit of the day. Simpson went all cocky near midfield and lost the ball. Divers was clean through but staggered over the ball long enough to let Dawson flop down on it almost on the 18 yards line. Then McPhail missed from about eight yards and Thornton, after a great run in which he outstripped the defence including Kennaway, had the bad luck to see the ball breaking to the side of the empty goal. The last big feature was a panther-like leap and save by Dawson when Divers suddenly snicked the ball in. Although the keepers were often in action, there wasnt one decent shot in the game. If I pick out Dawson, Gray (not 100 per cent form), McKillop and Venters Ive been more than kind to the Light Blues. The Celtic defence sailed through the game with Willie Lyon again a classic example of the player who believes in keeping the party clean. Paterson and Geatons were steady, but it was the nippiness of the forwards that won the day. They went for the ball and got it; Rangers waited for it and lost it. Cheyne had a sorry day against the fleet-footed Delaney and Crum was a headache for Jimmy Simpson. McKillop missed a 41st minute penalty
