Match ended 0-0
Match Information
Attendance: 18,000
Referee: unknown - to be confirmed
Matchday: Tuesday
Match Trivia
Before a goodly 18,000 of their own people and a fair sprinkling of Wednesday-holiday Falkirk ‘Bairns’, the Rangers failed to repeat their brilliant Tynecastle exhibition of last Saturday. Nor could it be expected they would, although most of us thought they would scrape through. Underfoot everything in the Ibrox garden was lovely, but overhead there was something of a tumult. Old King Boreas held sway up there the swirling wind played many cantrips with the ball. As a consequence, we saw little forward play worthy the high reputation enjoyed by either team. Early on Cairns got Morton going, and Alan’s cross shot twice had Ferguson in trouble, but as the score – or rather no score shows, nothing tangible accrued. After that the defenders took a grip of things, and although chances were found and thrown away at either end before the interval, neither keeper was seriously tested. Falkirk, who had the breeze behind them, were generally supposed to have lost their chance when they turned about just as they started. The Rangers certainly had the pull - by a jugful, so to speak -in the later stages, but now and then a scamper by Moore and Kane spelt danger. Towards the close the Brockville boys were kept pretty much confined to their own quarters, but the Ibrox attackers were most inept. Chances were there for the picking up too. I am not forgetting that it was a most difficult day still – well, really the Rangers ought to have landed the points. I agreed with an old Ibrox player – a great and famous one, I may add – who said he had seen it done by their predecessors. This in reply to others who were inclined to make excuses for the shortcomings of some of the fellows who sported ‘light blue’ yesterday. Don’t run away with the idea that Falkirk were well whacked by everything but goals – they were nothing of the kind. No more than the Rangers were their forwards anything to go into raptures about, but their defence was tip-top. Ferguson did everything he got to do like the clever goalkeeper he is; that he wasn’t called upon much oftener was because he was shielded by a pair of sterling backs. Most folks are agreed that Scott is one of the best rear men in the country. He played splendidly in this match, but so, too, did Hunter. ‘The Doo’ was enterprising, and everything he tried came off. When the same clubs met at Brockville, Hugh McNair had much to do with the undoing of the Rangers, but yesterday the rufus-locked laddie from the junior Vale of Clyde was off colour. But not so Dougal nor Townsley. ‘Wat’ – that’s the big fellow in the middle – seems to have only one aim and object when playing football. Get the ball as far away from his own goal as possible, is Townsley’s business. As I have indicated, it was not a day for forwards, still even in the circumstances, I thought a man with Puddefoot’s reputation would have impressed me more. Syd was too often where he should not have been – on the wings; when he did get possession my feeling was he did not get off his mark quickly enough. Kane, I thought, was Falkirk’s cleverest forward. No fault could be found with the Rangers’ rearguard – Robb, Jamieson and McCandless – nor with the trio immediately in front of them. It was further forward the falling off was. Tommy Cairns and Alan Morton opened as if they were going to give us something to enthuse over, but both tapered off. Yes, it was a disappointing match. Near the end I thought the Rangers should have been awarded a penalty kick. What I saw was Townsley shoving an arm forward against the ball; at the finish the referee told me he saw no infringement. He appealed to his linesmen, and while both agreed that Townsley pushed himself forward, they held that he did not play the ball wit han arm – he did so with a breast. I know the referee’s decision is final – I merely mention this because round about where I was, those was said ‘no penalty’ were certain that the ball played Townsley on an arm. You see the difference.
