McInally 42
G Henderson >45
Match Information
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Tom Dougray (Bellshill)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
The cauld blasts of winter had an appreciable effect on the attendance at Ibrox Park yesterday, where Rangers and Celtic were opposed in the first of their League exchanges for the season. An Ibrox enthusiast from Ayrshire, who never misses a match between the ‘Big Two’, remarked that fully six inches of snow covered the moors in the vicinity of Troon. Nearer the city the Campsie Fells were mantled in white. The early morning snow was succeeded by sleet and rain, and the snell atmosphere restricted the crowd to 50,000. These figures are official, and they fall short of the attendance at Hampden Park, when the clubs met in the final of the Glasgow Cup competition, by about 35,000 people. The pitch was heavy, and the more skillful side did not reproduce the fine football that marked the first match between the pair. While the Rangers were again the better side, the Celts maintained the tradition of being able to show their best results of the season on a ground associated with some of their best triumphs. The drawn result did not synchronise with a 2-0 for the Parkhead men last season, but, considering the improved standard of play which the champions have set up this term, the comparison did not disgrace the visiting team in so strenuous an exhibition of determined forcing play as you could desire to watch. The Rangers had Alan Morton out for the second meeting between the keenest of football rivals, and while the left winger did not score, no forward on the field showed more consistent control of the ball, and none of the other wingers excelled him in effectiveness against defenders who gave nothing away. Up to the last minute the Celtic were doubtful about the extreme left position, where Longmuir was substituted for Miller, who took McLean’s place against Albion Rovers the previous week. I saw McLean at Ibrox before the game started, and he informed me that a sprung muscle would keep him out of the Celtic team for probably a match or two more. A variable north-east wind troubled the players, and as the Rangers won the toss, they were probably more favoured by the conditions than their opponents. The start of the game pulsed with life and fast movement. The Rangers were first to show their strength in attack. The Light Blues have always been alive to the value of a good beginning, and they went off with a bang. In three minutes Shaw had to fist away a shot from the wing by Archibald, and a couple more in succession from excellent work by Alan Morton, who was a shade too tricky for Gilchrist. The young Celt was generally a yard short in getting there, and ere he realised his position Morton had side-stepped and was clear away on the run for the vigilant McNair. The wily Celtic team veteran was in much better form than when he last opposed the Rangers on the classic slopes of Hampden. The opening ten minutes seemed to presage another victory for the ground team, who put in more consistent pressure during that period than they did at any part of a struggle that was intensely interesting all the way. Before McInally had tested Robb, Shaw had to deal with more than half a dozen shots, and so quickly was he plated on to by Henderson, Cairns and Cunningham, that the majority of them had to be fisted out as they came in. After Cunningham had tried his luck with no better success than the others, McNair brought off what I consider was one of his finest bits of play in the match. He had missed his man in going out to tackle and allowed Henderson to get through clear. The Celt pursued his man, got the ball as the Rangers’ centre imagined he had nothing to do but shoot, and passed it back high in the air to Shaw. The ‘old head’ was never more in evidence than in this particular move. The run of the game continued to favour the Rangers slightly. They were faster on the ball, but the Celts met all their raids with unflinching courage. McAtee gave Robb a teaser of a shot, which the goalkeeper promptly jumped at and punched the ball away, and latter a long drive with plenty of sting in it from Cassidy gave Robb the opportunity to display his best save of the day. This occurred when the game had gone twenty-one minutes. In between the Rangers were only baulked of their purpose by the daring and cleverness of Shaw, whose goalkeeping could not have been improved. Nearing the half-time interval Gallagher almost sneaked a goal for the Celts, following a scramble in front of Robb, who saved an ugly-looking situation very cleverly. The next minute McInally, from an open position, scored a fine goal with a straight drive. The success of the non-favourites harmonised with the unexpected happenings when Celts meet Rangers. It gladdened a big section of the crowd on the west terraces, who redoubled the vocal strains of ‘God Save Ireland’ and a refrain about Patsy Gallagher, which they had sung with great gusto from the moment Tom McInally kicked off. The good humour of the choristers was a welcome change from the language one has to endure when keen rivals are on the warpath. The second half opened with a burst against the wind by the Celts, and a shot from McInally, but, following a corner kick and two saves by Shaw, the Rangers for a time monopolised the attack to such an extent that the Celts experienced considerable difficulty in crossing midfield. The score was equalised in fashion four minutes after the teams crossed over. Manderson took a free kick about twenty-five yards out, granted against McStay. He shot hard into goal. Henderson rushed in to clinch matters. He missed the ball a yard from Shaw, but it took his leg and rebounded low into the corner of the net. While it could not be reckoned other than a lucky goal, the subsequent play ruled in favour of the Rangers. The Celtic goal escaped by the merest fluke midway through, when McNair let Morton in when the ball seemed going over the line. Twice it rolled perilously across the goal, and it was missed, before Shaw recovered and got the ball away high up. Just before this occurred the Celtic goalkeeper effected a one-handed save from Alan Morton, which was the best bit of goalkeeping in a game where the keepers were well tested. Alec Smith, who came up from Darvel to see the match, told me that the struggle was better than he had expected. It reminded him of many bygone similar games in which he had played a prominent part for the Light Blues. Jamie Bowie was equally well pleased. Every other person you met, including Andrew Cunningham, who captained the Light Blues, and had dropped into full back when Manderson was laid out, chatacterised the game as the hardest contest of the season in which he played. Mt James Kelly, of the Celtic FC, facetiously said the rangers might have won had they shot better. Somebody reminded him of what Shaw had done to save his team, and the banter continued. The Celtic players, as well as the officials, were in great glee over the result. McNair could not remember offhand when such a hard and keen Celtic-Rangers match took place. Alec seemed as delighted as any of his clubmates. He had reason to be, for the football he showed against Alan Morton in his most brilliant form was high class. McStay, as he nearly always dies against Archibald, was also a big factor in preventing the Rangers from gaining the honours. If you add Cringan to the rear trio, you have the quartette who most distinguished themselves in the Celtic team. Unlike the match at Hampden, there was no set plan in the style of the game adopted by the Rangers. Gallagher and Cassidy were given scope to do their best, but such was the nature of the defensive play on both sides that no single inside player of either side was given much scope for individual brilliance. Robb, Manderson, McCandless, the three half-backs, with Dixon the pick of the trio, rendered great service for the Rangers, whose best forward was Morton. The strong defence put up by the celts and the goalkeeping of Shaw were features that could not be overlooked.
