Thornton 7
J Smith 55
A Stewart 80
Match Information
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: W McCulloch (Glasgow)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
Falkirk, I fancy, will draw more confidence, looking to Cup tests ahead, from this display than can Rangers. The Bairns played like a very sound team indeed, and but for some super-stuff by Jerry Dawson should have taken at least a point away. Thats allowing the Light Blue defence full marks, with a plus mention for Shaw. In the middle too, Rangers carried all the power and craft they needed, but only for a spell of about fifteen minutes in the second half did the forwards shake into anything like shape. Not one among them struck consistent form or operated with any sustained effectiveness. Most of the time the wingers were too easily stopped or edged into touch; Venters was rarely up for the kill, preferring to skirmish in the second wave; Thornton over-indulged a propensity to dribble, and Smith rarely found a move that made Shankly and Company guess wrong. Falkirk were better balanced all over. Nisbet and Peat defended lustily, if less clean-cut in method than their opposite numbers; Bolt and Brown were tireless and forcing wing-halfs, and Shankly a rat-trap tackler with elastic powers of recovery. Huskie and Dawson hardly matched the drive and zip of the remaining forwards. It was Stewart, Keys and Carruthers who carried the war into Jerry Dawsons parish, and none was more dangerous than the hefty centre. With a soupcon of jam, that terrific smack of his which got the cross-bar in the last minute should have levelled the score. Falkirk took some little time to tighten up, and paid for this early slackness when, in the seventh minute, a sweet Turnbull cross found Thornton unmarked. In off the inside-rights head it went to open the scoring. The Bairns retaliated straight away with a couple of Stewart slams which found the Ibrox keeper all set; then playing nice open football, the Brockville forwards made ground again and Carruthers saw a great shot equally greatly saved. Still Jerry was kept on his toes, grabbing a dangerous Carruthers cross, tipping over a humming drive from Keyes, and supremely confident every time. After a brief Falkirk onslaught at the start of the second half Rangers struck their brightest patch, and following some crisp, fluent raiding Smith took a Thornton pass to draw McKie and place the ball in the vacant goal. Midway through the half, Symon crashed against an upright and was off for fifteen minutes. During this period, Falkirk strove doggedly to get on terms. The Rangers defence stood firm under test, however, until at a Carruthers flag-kick, Brown headed the ball into the goal-area and Stewart met it with his skill, to score. Keyes and Carruthers came close to saving the day before the finish, but the effort that drew the gasp from the crowd was a rising, oblique wallop from Stewart which cannoned off the bar just before the final toot.
