P Gallacher 8
J Paterson
Match Information
Attendance: 70,000
Referee: A Allan (Glasgow)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
I suppose we may take it that there were several points about which everybody at Hampden Park agreed. It was one of the poorest Glasgow Cup finals ever seen, the ‘gate’ was too good for the game, Celtic deserved to win and might easily have won by more, Rangers were not even a poor imitation of themselves in the second half, there were too many ‘incidents’, and, in short, the affair was a downright disappointment. Rangers never looked like a winning team after the first few minutes, because it required only that amount of time for us to see that their defence was not going to rise above itself. The first goal scored by Gallagher after eight minutes was partly the result of the defence getting itself into a tangle – neither the first nor the last. Gallagher, when the ball went to him, was completely unmarked, and he had a simply to select his route for the ball and roll it past Lock. It took Rangers a long time to suggest that they were the Rangers. It is true enough saying that a team is just as good as the other side allows it to be, but here Rangers were a great deal worse than Celtic were capable of making them. If nerves or anxiety were playing the deuce with the Ibrox men, the explanation would be quite feasible. However, with Gordon bringing in Duncan, and Bowie keeping Cairns and Paterson on the move, something of a game was at last developed, and the equalising goal was as pretty a bit of work as was seen in the match. Duncan outpaced the Celtic defence, and swung across a speedy centre, which was waited upon by Paterson, who clicked the ball into the net like a bullet. It was hereabout that Rangers had a chance to turn the game in their favour if ever they had a chance. Cairns and Paterson were going well, with Bowie the best half on the field, doing fine nursing work. But Craig and Gordon could not hold McMenemy and Browning, and, as McAtee and Gallagher were also difficult to hold, we soon saw what we expected to see – The Rangers’ rearguard in another tangle, and another goal for Celtic, the scorer being Browning, who gave Lock no chance at all with his angular drive. That goal finished the scoring for the day. The second half was a rather dismal entertainment – Rangers held to their own half of the field nearly all the time, and Celtic, with all their advantages in ball possession, finishing mostly like tyros. McAtee was the chief culprit, but he had the best excuse, for the second half had no sooner begun than he was sent lame. Duncan was also lame for a bit. Paterson had his turn in the first half, McMaster was in the wars, so was Pursell. In this half Celtic had many chances. The best that Rangers had was when a rally brought out an opening for Gordon, and he shot a terrific ball that Shaw, with wondrous judgment, and possibly some luck, turned round the post for a corner. I may mention that Rangers had the best of it in corners by 5 to 4. They may console themselves with that. About the Celtic team there was an impression of power that Rangers never showed. It seemed to me that if Rangers could have done better Celtic could have responded with something still better. But as the game was played neither team impelled unqualified praise. On the Rangers side Lock, if not the old Lock, was certainly blameless as regards the goals; Muir did pretty well, but Craig has seldom played with less success; Bowie was one half-back who played the right game all through. The middle line was too easily beaten to allow us to put all the blame on the backs. Cunningham and Reid failed forward; Duncan, though doing good work, often held the ball too long. Cairns and Paterson were a clever wing, but they could not work wonders. From back out Celtic were superior in a lustreless, solid way. The bright bits came mostly from Browning and Gallagher. But McMenemy, quietly, was always having a tremendous effect in making the way for his partner and in worrying the Rangers defence. Johnstone looked so well after Reid that the Rangers’ centre had only one shot in the game. Young spoiled his play by treating Paterson as if he were an enemy instead of a football rival. McMaster was the best for passes. It was only in the first half that McNair and Dodds had much anxiety. McNair was not his old self, but he lost nothing by it, because the effectiveness of Paterson and Cairns was lost on the other Rangers’ forwards
