A Venters 11
J Smith 20
Hamilton 39, 69
Thornton 86
C Johnstone 90
Match Information
Attendance: 90428
Referee: Peter Craigmyle (Aberdeen)
Match Trivia
The Light Blues ought to have gone down on their bended knees last night and given thanks to all the good fairies who look after their welfare on occasions such as this. Occasions when they are beaten and somehow manage to survive! Five minutes from the finish we were all set for an extra-half-hour, and we certainly needed it. Yeah! To recover from the shock of seeing the trophy won inside the distance by Rangers. The picture I have of the last four minutes is more than a trifle hazy. I saw it all happen, and even yet I can scarcely believe its true. Last week it was Rangers who were the second-half team. Yesterday in the second they were only half a team! Hearts with a gallantry I have seldom equalled by any Tynecastle side had fought and conquered a deficit of two goals. Hamiltons dream equaliser twenty-five minutes after half-time put them in such a mood that subsequent defeat looked out of the question, and then to lose as they did! A chancy Rangers right-wind raid; a quite uncalled-for infringement on the part of a defender, a perfectly-placed free kick by Bobby Bolt, a header from Willie Thornton. That was all, but it was enough to break the hearts of thousands of fond Hearts from Edinburgh. Even though there were only four minutes left after that, the Tynecastle fellows still had a chance. But what happened? Walker, instead of having a go on his own, tried to tee up the ball for Massie. An Ibrox foot intercepted, and in a flash, play was away at the other end. A corner! A lot of indecisive poking at the ball by defending and attacking men alike, until it came to Charlie Johnstone; the winger gathered it perfectly and hit it low as true as steel through a ruck of players into the net. Seconds more and Rangers had officially won the cup by four goals to two. Hearts will dwell on their misfortunes for a long time to come, I have no doubt. Ah, me! As somebody or other said to me at the finish It would take a tommy guns, not Tommy Walker, to beat a side with that amount of luck. An excusable expression under the circumstances! Hearts were a better all-round team than they were last Saturday. They lost two goals in the first twenty minutes, and they never displayed any signs of inferiority. I had the feeling that Waugh might have prevented the first he lost the ball after having it in his grip, leaving Venters to walk the ball into the net. The second may have looked a bit on the soft side, but I am convinced it wasnt. Between them Gillick and Thornton made position for Smith, and the big fellow, veering to the left to outwit Dykes, hit the ball from a terribly difficult angle with his left foot. Hamilton, whose wily leadership was putting furrows in the forehead of young Woodburn, rose to a free kick by McClure six minutes from half-time to keep Hearts in the game. It was a well-deserved and long-overdue reward. Yes, Rangers were distinctly rattled round about this time. The fact that Scott Symon could do very little with Walker made things a trifle too hot for some of the others, and for a time the tactics of the Ibrox defence werent exactly kindergarten. In the early stages of the second half, it looked as if we were in for a repetition of last week. Willie Waugh made one of the most daring dives of his career to rob Venters of a goal, and then there was Jimmy Smith getting all tied up when he had little more to do than hit the ball straight in front of him. But it was only a passing phase. Before long Hearts were giving more than they were getting. The equaliser was well on the cards. It came delectably in twenty-four minutes. Massie started it, Walker added his touch with a beautiful pass to Dougan. The winger then lobbed one across, Dawson moving out, the watchful Hamilton closing in. They rose almost simultaneously, but Hamiltons judgment was better, and the ball sped unerringly off his top-piece into the net. The remainder I have already described. I might devote screeds more to this ifs and buts of it all. Instead of doing that I want to say that apart from the result it was a grand final. While at times Hearts backs and halfs brought added work on themselves with faulty releasing of the ball, they all performed heroically. Walker was something like the glamour boy of old, and he had the perfect foil in Dougan. I very much question if there is a better outside-right in the country today than Dougan, Christies form was well in advance of last weeks, but Im afraid Alex Massie was very little better. Rangers didnt move with nearly the same assurance. One of the more noticeable changes was that Johnstone didnt get half the rope he got a week ago. Venters wasnt quite one hundred per cent, but Thornton was dandy, and Smith as big a problem as before. The backs and halves had less time for the stylish, bit once again I couldnt see two better performers in the rear than Woodburn and Bolt.
