Warren 40
Match Information
Attendance: 31,000
Referee: J Hudson (Glasgow)
Matchday: Monday
Match Trivia
An amazing example of football under the worst possible conditions. From penalty line to penalty line, right up the middle of the field was soft mud with small pools of water, and with rain still falling it seemed a downright shame that twenty-two players, a referee and two linesmen, should be asked to preform physical effort. But football is not a sugar babys game, and so the game went on. As the players lined up, we wondered what sort of farce the game would turn out to be. Hardly did we expect that the contestants would courageously rise above the conditions in the manner they did to provide us with ninety minutes that were packed with thrills and plentifully endowed with football of a very clever nature indeed. True, there were plenty of mistakes caused by the ball sticking in the mud, there were funny incidents when players skidded half a dozen yards on stomach or back, or when a fellow ran on leaving the ball behind him and started to squirm in an effort to retrieve it. There were laughs when a player fell with a splash to the blackness of the earth that should have been green and rose a muddied oaf in every sense of the term. But above all that we had football of a high standard that made one marvel. However, what made one marvel most was that Hearts, the team that was little else than a bunch of fellows striving at Dundee, provided most of the classy touches. In the first half Rangers were the more powerful lot, and they had what Hearts did not possess, men who could shoot, and shoot hard, for goal. McPhail for the most part of the first portion was the man who stood out for power on the ball. The glue-pot that was the pitch had no stickiness for his long striding action, while Venters also showed strength that was surprising in a wee fellow, but not so surprising to those who know him best. The shooting came mostly from Smith and Kinnear, and Waugh was called on to make some very fine saves. Against that, Walker was the man who showed the way in the Hearts front line, although he was guilty, rather frequently, of crossing the field instead of working forward. But no criticism, readers, on a day such as this. In this first half it must be said that but for a very strong defence, in which Anderson shone magnificently, Rangers would have taken the lead. Scotlands right back seemed to be wherever there was danger to his goal. If he was not actually intercepting to clear, he was standing by as a cover up. And he had doughty support in Dykes and Herd. It might be argued that Rangers were a shade unlucky not to have gone to the pavilion at half time, for a welcome change, a goal to the good territorially I believe they deserved such a lead but the indisputable fact remains that a whole team must be beaten before a score cane be registered, and these fellows in the Hearts rear deserved their clean sheet for the manner in which they held out. And also, their muddied jerseys and shorts, and stockings, for the wholehearted way in which they went about their business. The second half was claimed, for the most part, by Hearts. As a matter of fact, it was only in the last quarter of an hour that they were not on top as an attacking force. Rangers in the first half, had depended on physical strength chiefly to take them through, Hearts in the second forty-five made the headway by reason of clever football that found them taking up better position than their opponents had done in attack. And in this second half how Walker worked. Early on he received a mud bath, but instead of worrying about it he went into things as though that was the best way to make him forget about the clinging mud that was his attire. Somebody said he looked like a splash off the leather. The goal that won the match was scored three minutes before the half time whistle. Ferguson placed a corner-kick in masterly fashion. Dawson stepped out four yards or so to it and punted towards the opposite touchline. Walker anticipated that and moving into line. He met the ball first time and slammed it towards goal. Dawson was still out, with Gray and Cheyne on the line. Warren standing a yard from Cheyne shoved out a leg, and the ball met his knee to flash into the net. Hearts, after the resumption, did not set out to hang on to that slender lead. They went after an addition, and Walsh had the chance twice of securing it. But Dawsons masterly goalkeeping intervened. Then that Rangers all-in attack in the last ten minutes, with Simpson coming up during an orgy of Rangers corner kicks and being injured in contact with Dykes. Thats a strange incident in these days of centre-halfs keeping with a defensive shell. But the nearest they could get to an equaliser was one that hit the cross-bar with Waugh well beaten, and another from Kinnear a first-timer that Waugh steered over the bar. Criticism of players? No sies. On a day like yesterday nothing but unstinted praise for men who could serve up such stuff.
