Goodwin 43
Parker pen >45
Match Information
Attendance: 37,000
Referee: R.T. Murray (Stenhousemuir)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
“If our fellows can hold the Rangers for a quarter of an hour I believe we shall win!” The speaker was an ex-president of the Academicals who sat alongside as I watched the Cup re-play at Ibrox Park from the pavilion balcony. I like the football optimist. He keeps the game going. The bigger the ordeal the greater his faith in the ability of his team to win. On the authority of a Hamilton man, I was told the number was legion of optimists who travelled to Glasgow on Saturday from Lanarkshire to see the Academicals win. For the nonce everybody in that 37,000 crowd at Ibrox Park who passed through the centre of Glasgow on route to Govan was an optimist. The city was shrouded in darkness. The enthusiast felt sure the fog was not so dense in Govan. Wonderful to say he was right. Wisely the teams started the game a few minutes before the advertised time. The atmosphere was clearer in Ibrox, but the close movements of the players at one end of the ground led to a lot of guessing among the crowd at the other end. The players had no difficulty in following the flight of the ball. They had to sacrifice the customary retirement to the pavilion at the interval. For three Saturdays in succession I had the privilege of seeing the Academicals in cup ties. Their latest display was the least satisfactory of all. They had no finish to their work forward, were not so thrusful as their opponents, and much slower in getting on the ball or putting it away. I like the sparkling display of the Rangers. The side pulsed with new life. After the first twenty minutes I could not see them losing, so much more active and purposeful were they. A springier ground and drier turf contributed to the betterment in their display. The improvement was most marked at half-back and forward. All the combination in the game was on the side of the winners. The Academicals are a plucky side. They played with desperate courage to keep the Rangers out. Until a few minutes from the interval they succeeded. Then Smith took a corner, and placed the ball so accurately that Goodwin broke Watson’s defence. That goal sealed the fate of Hamilton. All through the second half the superiority of the winners, was unquestioned. The Academicals’ half-backs could not hold them. Reid kept plugging through the centre. He fastened on the ball quickly in the danger zone. No man looked more likely to score. Once he got clean through and had no one to beat but Watson. He let drive from the penalty spot, and just missed. Another time he was equality favourable placed. The crowd seem to think a centre-forward should always score. They blame him if he missed. I like the centre who keeps trying. Reid has pleased me in this respect since the first time I saw him on the same field in another jersey. A lot of folks said then and afterwards ‘Reid was no good.’ I never had any doubt of his superlative qualities as a pivot. His rise to fame as a scoring forward was certain bar accident. Reid suffers an excess of sporting instinct. He must have a pop at goal. James Quinn is another of the type. This instinct wins matches. When the second half was about twenty minutes gone Parker got the Rangers second goal from a penalty kick. Before that Goodwin had crashed the ball against the bar. Watson emerged best of the losers’ defence. He had all the goalkeeping in the tie, and was the one man who prevented the Rangers adding to their score. Not a man failed the winners. Almost every player touched to-hole form. Gordon has developed heavy kicking at back. Not once in the game did McNeil beat him. As a right-half Gordon is supreme, as a tight back none excel him in Scotland. Ormonde also shone against the Academicals. I have not seen the Rangers team perform better in any match this season. Their domination of the game in the second half was complete and convincing of strength. The half-backs began and finished the process of preventing the Hamilton team getting into concerted action. After a shaky start Logan opened out. For hard graft he surpassed everybody. Galt also showed brilliant form, and with Brown in the same forceful tackling moods, the half-back lie scored heavily. The speed of the Ibrox forwards was a feature of their play. Paterson and Alex Smith led the Hamilton wing halves as merry dance. The left winger was as sprightly as the other, who was quite as resourceful. The success of Reid reflected the good work of Parker, who took Bowie’s place, and of Goodwin. Smith’s partner is not only a splendid backer-up but he goes through on his won for a shot at goal. Watson, Garrett and Jarvie were the most consistent of the Academicals. The defence could not cope with the Rangers’ forward line late in the game. The falling-off was the most noticeable in the half-back line. The forwards were spasmodic. They were earnest triers all, but on the day were overshadowed. Waugh and Anderson were particularly faulty in their movements, and failed to support the wings and centre. Hamilton have done well in the ties, and they were not disgraced losing to such a fine side
