Allan
T Cairns <45
Match Information
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: J Lyons (Hamilton)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
Clyde deserved their victory at Ibrox. With new faces in front and rear lines, they were not by any means a dazzling combination, but for an hour they were the superior team. Rangers, on the day, were a mediocre lot. What has gone wrong with them? There was lacking harmony forward, weakness was visible in the middle line, the full backs were at times shaky, and the goalkeeper seemed to have lost confidence in himself. Clyde opened strongly and confidently. Fleming, after five minutes, looed a certain scorer, but he was unable to gather the bouncing ball, and as Hempsey dived for it Smith placed it in the net. An infringement, however, annulled the point. Rangers worked a passage down on the left, but Farrell with a lusty kick sent them back. The long kick was headed out by Pursell. The ball fell just three yards in front of Allan, who took a flying shot, and the ball went into the net like lightning. Hempsey had no chance to save. Only ten minutes had passed, and Clyde were already practically masters. With long passing and quick centreing by Thompson and Smith, Rangers’ defenders were having as hot a time as they could wish for. Allan and Thompson moved along pretty much as they liked, and a sort of half-shot-half-pass was caught up by Fleming, who again placed the past Hempsey. Fleming was ruled offside, although it seemed to me that the ball had cannoned off Craig before reaching Fleming. Clyde made no fuss over this further ill-fortune. They continued to keep Rangers on the stretch, and all the forwards movements of the home team were nipped in the bud by the Clyde halfs. Duncan, however, was coming along well, and Cairns tried managed to get across several good balls, and Duncan gave McCrae a lot of running. Yes, Rangers in a haphazard way were pressing, and after twenty-five minutes Cairns had the satisfaction of heading through a corner kick beautifully placed by Duncan. Resuming on terms of equality Rangers, with a slight breeze behind them, played on to Clyde’s defence so strongly that we thought they were going to do something. It was something like the old Rangers for a few minutes, although there was one blemish – poor finishing. Then, as often happens, the defending side had one run and obtained a goal. It came after five minutes, and a soft gaol it was. Smith centred from the line, Craig cleared, and the ball was secured by Thompson, who transferred to Allan. Allan gave Hempsey a soft shot to negotiate, and the goalkeeper picked up the ball quite easily. But as Hempsey stepped forward – presumably to kick clear – he allowed the ball to slip from his hands, and to recover he fell on the leather. Fleming, however, ran in, dispossessed Hempsey, and quickly placed the ball into the net. The better-balanced team won. Farrell’s defence was fine, his one fault being a tendency to kick across his own goal. McCrae, who is a forward, did very well in his strange position, and would develop into quite a good defender if he were not so restless. Walker and Collins were the best of the half-backs, each putting a spoke in Rangers’ inside game. Black policed Reid. Allan and Thompson formed a good wing – the best on view – and from this quarter Clyde were most dangerous. Latterly they shaped well at centre-forward, his pace and had Craig and Brown well beaten. Cold courage being prominent features of his play. Fleming and Smith did their part. The forward line is the best I have seen in Clyde jerseys this season. Rangers had another off-day. They showed something like their true form for a period in the second half, but otherwise there was very little real football supplied. Hempsey was at fault in losing the second goal, but near the end did something to redeem himself by anticipating Clyde forward movements which left Craig and Muir standing helpless. There was only one bright feature in the entire defence. And that was the display of ~Pursell, who often saved the situation when his colleagues were beaten. Pursell had little time to play other than a defensive game, but in Rangers’ bright period he gave assiduous attention to placing. Duncan and Cairns were the outstanding forwards. Paterson accomplished some clever work, but he was frequently dispossessed through dallying. Bowie worked hard without effect, and Reid never could get the ball kindly
