John White 25
S Archibald 28
Match Information
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: W.F. Campbell (Dundee)
Matchday: Monday
Match Trivia
Of evidence of impaired Rangers’ morale there was none at Ibrox. In beating the Hearts so decisively they atoned in a measure for the Airdrie setback. Not even when they lost a goal cleverly taken by John White from 30 yards out, did them confidence desert them. Rather did the reverse make more purposeful their already sweet-moving attack, and with eight minutes of the scoring of the Edinburgh goal the ‘Light Blues’ were two to the good. This burst of accurate shooting was required to infuse some fire into a game which the rain threatened to make drab and lustreless. As it was, bright forward play maintained the interest to the end, but the Hearts never looked like getting on terms again. Like Robb, W White found the stopping of the wet ball beyond him when Archibald shot the equaliser. White hadn’t even a chance to save the Meiklejohn goal which followed Morton’s skilful drawing of the defence, and he was equally at seas when Cairns, after lobbing the ball against the crossbar, ‘headed’ the rebound between the empty frame. That was the beginning of the end. The Tynecastle defence had failed at a critical moment, and thereafter their attacks slackened off from the regular to the spasmodic. Even then, however, the Rangers continued in wholesome respect. Also in the second half, when it was mostly all Ibrox offensive, it was pretty much the same. There was a general retiring movement of the ‘Light Blues’ half-backs, aye, and forwards, too, when the Edinburgh van got on the move. Before the interval, Henderson missed an easy chance close in by slamming the ball against the post; after that, Archibald twice rolled the ball along the bar. Against this, Tynecastle could only point to a late White drive which Robb had to dive full length to save. With the arrival of Cairns’ second goal, a neat effort which he snicked in at the post over an outstretched leg, the champions could afford to cry content. White had been beaten for the fourth time. While the Ibrox reserve backs were unsteady under pressure, they profited by the ready covering up of the middlemen, of whom Meiklejohn excelled. He held his wing so well as to make the opposing front look ill-balanced. Murray, however, was inclined to shirk a tackle. Thus, the efficiency of the Edinburgh forwards, of whom White and Smith were best, was thereby reduced. It is a tribute to Wright that Henderson was so little in evidence. But the wing halfs had so gruelling a time of it, especially in the second period, that it is little wonder all three fell far below the Rangers’ trio in the matter of forward collaboration. Wilson was the better back, but the uniform excellence of the Ibrox wings permitted of neither he nor Crossan shining.
