Battles 4
J Smith 30
J Smith
Match Information
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: R Morrison (Falkirk)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
Hearts really and truly made a brave effort at Ibrox yesterday to prove that their form against Hamilton Accies was all wrong. Bearding the mighty Rangers in their den they made the pace a cracker from the start, and shocked the Ibrox supporters by getting an early goal against the breeze and sticking to their advantage until 30 minutes had gone. At half-time the score stood at one each, and Edinburgh critics looked one another in the face and asked, Is this the Hearts? The reorganised team was playing with spirit and pluck, and it looked as if with the wind they might take away a point or even record a sensational victory. For 25 minutes more the battle raged, with hearts having quite as good a time of it as their rivals. Then Rangers with that devastating finish that won them countless victories last season applied the screw and secured victory in convincing manner. It seemed to me that the first half buffeting into the wind had tried the Hearts defence and gave the stronger Rangers their chance of victory. Rangers did not entirely satisfy. There were weaknesses in the team, and the attack did not move with, and the attack did not move with its customary smoothness, but possibly the ground and wind conditions had something to do with that. Hearts lacked punch in attack, but showed sufficient ability to warrant trial. They were perhaps unlucky to be beaten by 4-1, which does not in any way reflect the needle nature of the game, but they stuck into the champions in the right spirit and should have received the confidence of their Board by their display. John White was nit a great success, but he seemed short of a run and should improve with another weeks training. It was a much better game than ever I anticipated it would be. That goal in four minutes put every man afield on his toes. And a lovely goal it was. Johnstone trapped the ball near the centre, ran on unchallenged before swinging the ball out to Chalmers. Stewart took the ball in his stride and flicked it forward to Battles, who turned the ball into the corner of the net out of reach of Hamilton. This blow unsettled Rangers for a bit, and another goal was imminent when Smith ran in and smacked the ball against Hamiltons face. Had Chalmers accepted his chance from the rebound instead of skying over the Hearts would have been well on the way to victory. Once over this unsettling opening onslaught Rangers came into the picture and hemmed Hearts into their own quarters. Bad luck prevented them from counting when Harkness failed to clear a corner-kick and left it to a back to head from out of the goalmouth. Sandy Archibald proceeded to upset the balance of the team by foozling a rare chance right in front of goal, and later Harness, who was anything but confident, brought off a grand save from a Morton free-kick. Battles, who ploughed a lone fellow in Hearts attack smashed the ball against the upright as a reply. Then came Rangers equaliser! Harkness was to blame, for he held Archibalds shot and let it slip out of his hands into the net. Up till half-time Rangers continued to have the better of the exchanges, and once McPhail missed with his favourite move, a cut in from a free-kick. This time his shot sailed high over the bar. It was a right good first half with Hearts holding their own. Unfortunately, the second half was not so engrossing. For twenty-five minutes Hearts tried to batter down rangers defence, and it was in this period that their limitations were exposed. With the exception of Battles, not one forward troubled Hamilton, who had a much easier passage than Jack Harkness had. And when Rangers tumbled to it that they hadnt very much to do to keep Hearts out, they took more risks, and when Archibald was brought down after beating McNeill the end was in sight. From the free kick taken just outside the penalty area, McDonald sent the ball low to McPhail, who headed it goalwards, where Smith was waiting to push it past Harkness. This he did, but once again I think Harkness should have saved. Seven minutes mire and Heed brought down Morton in the area. A penalty was a pretty stiff award for the offence, but the whistle had blown, and a penalty it had to be. Morton himself took the kick and made a good job of it too, the ball going into the roof of the net over Harknesss left shoulder. It was all over now, and Smiths second goal the result of some beautiful work by Morton was just an additional heartener for the crowd, and served to show what a useful reserve centre Smith is going to be. The unfortunate part about the match was the nasty temper shown at a certain period of the second half. A lot of dirty work was done with both shoulder and boot, and I consider that the referee did not do his duty by only feebly attempting to stop the malpractice. There were several occasions when a warning at least was called for, and the player got off with a mere free-kick. The back-chat between two players one on each side could be heard in the Press box! Mr Morrison, being nearer, should have heard it too. So much however, for that! Rangers played their best football half way through the first half for a quarter of an hour and for the closing 10 minutes. During that time, they gave a display that would almost equal their best of last season. At other times they were ragged. The attack lacked cohesion, and Marshall alone seemed able to get things going. McPhail was erratic, and Archibald had a stiff task on hand with the hard-tackling McNeill. Morton was the better winger of the two by a long way. Smith did not get many opportunities to shine, but he made the most of what came his way, and his height stood him in good stead against the equally tall John Johnstone. Of the half-backs Brown played best. He had more punch than McDonald and kept in better touch with his forwards than did Meiklejohn, who spent most of his time looking after Battles. In doing this he played his full part, for he stopped the one strong man in Hearts attack. Buchanan was a bit uncomfortable at back against Smith and did not show to such advantage as in the half-back line, but Gray did well and was the best back afield. Tom Hamilton started shakily enough, and he must have been delighted that only one of the balls that came his way found the net. Hearts certainly made a big improvement on their last showing. With a little bit of luck, they might have done much better, but they will have to admit that the better team won. All over, Rangers were steadier, and in attack there was no comparison when it came to finishing off. In Hearts attack neither Chalmers nor White had a shot in their lockers. Smith was the only man to assist Battle in the fight for goals. The old Clydebank lad played pluckily and was as dangerous a winger as any on the field. Murray could make nothing of Gray. Battles proved himself the complete footballer. He was always doing the right thing, and with better support would surely have scored more goals. While will no doubt improve, and Chalmers, whose clever football impressed, might well be given a further chance to make good at Tynecastle. It was his clever feint and slip that made the first goal possible. Old Peter Kerr wears well and he played soundly, but he has hardly the speed for a contest of this sort, and Johnstone, who took some time to settle down, did his best work late in the game. It was Higgins that struck me as being the man that mattered in Hearts defence. A strong tackler and imbued with a never-say-die spirit, he did more than any to upset Rangers scoring machinery. The backs did not kick well against the wind, but they tackled sturdily and gave a very fair display. Herd was unfortunate to spoil a great second half by giving away the penalty. Jack Harkness, the one strong man in the team last week, was anything but comfortable. In amongst a host of daring clever saves were mixed some horrible blunders that cost Hearts at least one goal. Had he not dropped Archibald equaliser, it might have been long enough before Rangers scored
