G Henderson 41
Match Information
Attendance: 15,756
Referee: Peter Craigmyle (Aberdeen)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
The public did nor respond to the call of the Glasgow Charity Cup final at Ibrox Park yesterday as of yore. The attendance was 15,746, and the net receipts were £714. Something better than a contest between the champions of the First Division and a Second League team is needed to arouse the public at the end of the season. The holiday tomorrow was a contributory cause of the disappointing crowd. Over the competition this year the money drawn no more than exceeded £2700. The Clyde have not been much in the limelight since they went out of the Senior League, but the youthful side they fielded on the Rangers ground gave the champions such a run for their narrow goal victory as to warrant the hopes that they will not be long in returning to the fold. Bigger and heavier, the Rangers had the extra advantage of experience. In a final tie the value of a seasoned team is an asset not to be ignored. The Rangers had the craftiness and the repose essential to cap outfield work in the proper manner when it came to shooting. Every forward among the Light Blues is a shot. Practically all the shooting in the game was done by the Rangers. None of them had more direst shots than Andrew Cunningham, yet the one goal of a clean, sporting game, never too strenuous, was got by Henderson ninety seconds from the interval. After breaking through himself simply the centre steadied himself for the shot. With the goal exposed Fraser had no chance to avert its downfall. The young Beith goalkeeper, who was secured by the Shawfield club from Newcastle United in time to play against Queen’s Park at Firhill, acquitted himself with distinction in his first big final on a Scottish field. His brilliant save from a straight, hard drive by Cunningham when the second half had gone sixteen minutes, and a sneak shot from Alan Morton late in the first half, when the ball passed through a crowd of defending players, were striking examples of his ability. On all occasions when he was tested Fraser’s fielding of the ball was well-timed. The game was quite a good one to watch. The Clyde made the best attacks in the first half, but later on the greater power of the Rangers was ever in evidence. Ralston and Kelly, the Clyde backs, put up a most effective defence. They kicked neatly and tackled forceful forwards with grit and confidence. Each of them saved a ‘moral cert’ from Cunningham. If the Clyde half-backs did not keep to position and make position for themselves when their opponents were on the attack, they stuck it well. Gibson was invaluable in defence, and more purposeful than Wallace and McGuire in opening out the play. Wallace attempted too much, his chief fault being a tendency to hang too long on the ball. McGuire had the most punishing ordeal to face against the trickiest wing on the field. Cairns was at the top of his form. His ball control was ideal, his slip passes were marked with an efficiency none other revealed. In elusiveness Morton scintillated, but the end of the season found him sending the ball more frequently behind than is usual with him. The Shawfield forwards were not a collective force. Jamieson began well and was a live force in attack for half an hour. After that the dashing Clyde sharpshooter was intermittent and was prone to pass too short. McFadyen worked hard and was ever boring through. More experience will teach this promising young forward to get more out of the ball with less individual exertion. Hodd was unable to get the best out of Malone, the Liverpool recruit, who was almost a spectator in the second half until nearing the end. On the opposite wing McLachlan was fairly sprightly, and made the most of his chances, but up against Manderson he found a back whose speed more than equalled his own. Apart from the greater repose and accuracy of the forwards on the winning side, the big difference in the effectiveness of the teams was the superiority of the Rangers’ half-backs. Dixon was the master of Johnston in the second half. Meiklejohn was in his best vein, and Ireland was as good as anyone of the line in the first half hour and in the last thirty minutes. McCandless excelled all the backs for opportune anticipation. A common remark one heard after the match was that the Clyde were good enough for the First Division. This was their third appearance in the final. In 1910 they won the trophy by beating Third Lanark in the final game. The cup will be presented at the Municipal Chambers at an early date
