Somers
Hay
Hamilton
Match Information
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: J Lewis (Blackburn)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
On Ibrox Park, Govan, estimated attendance 65,000. Drawings (gate and stand) £1910. The crowd was so dense that one of the exit gated burst open and before order could be obtained, large numbers had gained free admission. In the rush several persons were crushed, and had to be been for the admirable service rendered by the mounted police the disaster might have had more serious consequence. The drawings we believe constitute a record for a Scottish Cup tie
In the balcony hall of the Celtic pavilion, after the deciding game in the thrice-played Morton-Celtic cup-tie, I chanced to meet Sir Joseph Renals, ex Lord Mayor of London, in the company of a well-known Glasgow merchant. This worthy Officer of the Legion of Honour in his early days wielded the willow for Motts Amateurs, and when occasion permits he likes to see a good football match. Sir Joseph witnessed a brilliant display by the Celtic on the Queen’s Park ground in December, but he was disappointed at the inferior play of the Celts against the Greenock men. “When you see a team right at the top of their game, and your enthusiasm is aroused by their skilful play”, remarked the Metropolitan knight, “you somehow expect when next you are watching them that the same high standard of play will be maintained, hence my disappointment today”. At Hampden Park the Celts were represented by their best line of forwards. In the Morton match the pivot of the attack was under suspension, and the difference so apparent to Sir Joseph is therefore easy of explanation. Without Quinn the Celtic attack loses 50 per cent of its effectiveness. The wings never move with the same confidence when the leader is absent, and the forward play as a whole is only of average quality. The drawn games in the Cup competition leading up to the cu tie at Ibrox Park last Saturday, and the intervention of the League International, all worked out for the benefit of the League champions. Quinn’s enforced period of seclusion expired on Friday, and he was free to take the field in the greatest club match of the season. With the pulse of the public throbbing feverishly, the occasion was marked by the biggest attendance of the season, and 60,000 people packed Ibrox Park to watch Glasgow’s leading rivals matched under cup tie conditions. The Celts had their favourite centre forward, while the Rangers sprung a surprise by the appearance in their ranks of Archie Kyle, who was down with appendicitis and out of football since January 12. As a game it did not answer to expectation, because of the marked superiority of the winners in every division except back, where Campbell and Hendry as a pair, were a shade better than McLeod and Orr, though the younger Light Blue was more often beaten at close quarters than any back on the field and was sorely nonplussed by the tricky passing and dribbling of McMenemy and Bennett. Half-back play largely dominated the situation. The Celtic trio, playing to the top of their form, prevented the Rangers attack from settling, and controlling their own by well judged passes forward, the Celts enjoyed a monopoly in open combined attack, which decided the fate of the Rangers as far as the Scottish Cup is concerned for another year. The Rangers middle line was never seen to less advantage against their traditional opponents. All three were earnest enough and put in a lot of running, but g=for the greater part of the game they were chasing the opposing forwards. In tackling they were often too slow and were too often drawn out of position. Stark played his usual role of shadowing Quinn. The Celtic centre began well, but he was hurt in contact with Hendry early in the game, and play was suspended until he recovered. The mishap was the most serious in his career, but he pluckily kept to the field, although he was a sick man for the rest of the game. Ere this happened however, Somers has given Celts a goal after some eight minutes play, and the confidence begotten by this success influenced the result not a little. Hay got another goal just about haft-time, and Hamilton headed a third early in the second half from the second run down the Celtic had. The point appeared very simple, but it was well conceived. Newbigging got his hand to the ball, but could do no better than divert it against the wood, from which it rebounded into the net. Occasionally the Rangers flattered, but their forward’s brightness was confined to the raids of Kyle and Smith, and a few spurts from the midget right-winger. At the start of the second half they came away boldly, but the third goal got by the Celtic damped their enthusiasm. The veteran left-winger was the best of a disappointing line, which failed principally an account of the eclipse of Spiers by McNair. Deprived of its pivot, the wings could do little against a side nerved for the occasion. Livingstone’s appearances in the centre in the second half improved the combination slightly, but by that time the game was lost. The Celtic have not played such a strong game this season, and their victory was thoroughly well merited. The half-backs kept playing the ball to the wings after the centre was hurt, and only when it was absolutely necessary was it slung across or passed forward to Quinn. The movement of McMenemy and Bennett were a treat to watch, and Somers was almost as successful in conjunction with Hamilton. In the closing twenty minutes the trickiness of the Celts completed the satisfaction of their supporters in the hour of the club’s greatest triumph since that victory in the Cup final three years ago over the same club. I asked James Crabtree in the pavilion at the close what he though of the game. “ It reminded me of the Villa and West Bromwich Albion in the old days”, he replied. “The play was not so sharp and crisp as we see in England from the best teams, but it was a good game to watch. I don’t think there was any fluke about the Celtic’s win. They were absolutely the better team”. With the verdict of the greatest footballer of all time most folks who saw this remarkable game will agree.
