J Smith 15
Match Information
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: A. H. Leishman (Falkirk)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
This was a monotonous sort of game. Too much of the Hibs defence and little or nothing from their forwards. Unstinted praise must be given Blyth and his backs; Watson, the centre half, also deserves an extra pat on the back. This quartette not only saved the Easter Road side form a humiliating defeat, but made possible a surprise result had McColl received a better response from his wing forwards. Rarely did the Hibs attacking party show any zest or enterprise. Twice in the first half Brown caused a slight flutter by driving for goal, bit one expected a lot more from them after the cross-over when they had the advantage of the wind. Late in the game Miller and Clelland changed places, but without effect. None of the five could make any impression on the Rangers defenders and I dont remember Tom Hamilton being brought into action once throughout the second portion. No, no, for a team struggling to escape relegation the forwards showed little fight. McColl distributed the play with judgment and Wallace was lively enough, but the others did not go about their work with the abandon the occasion demanded. As a defensive force the losers were first-rate. Blyth was certainly not kept so busy as he should considering the amount of pressure exerted by the Light Blues, but he effected several clever and daring saves, and he had no chance with the shot that brought about the defeat of his side. Wilkinson and Urquhart were resolute defenders. Their kicking and tackling were beyond reproach, and they stood up manfully to the recurring attacks. Watson gave then every support. Besides keeping a very watchful eye on Smith, he did his utmost to inspire his forwards by forcing the play whenever he got a chance, but without result. Clelland and McFarlane also laboured strenuously to open up the game, but latterly they were overworked in endeavouring to thwart the rangers raiders. Nicholson, like the others, found the wind troublesome, but he showed nice footwork, and his two terrific drives in the closing minutes deserved some reward. Archibalds best work was done in the first half, when he received adequate support. After the cross-over Marshall did not ply him with the ball as he should to have opened up the Hibs defence. McDonald was not quite up to the standard of his other two intermediate line colleagues, but he forced the game nicely in the closing stages. Brown was artistic in all he did and made few faulty passes, while Meiklejohn maintained a close guard on McColl. Gray and R Hamilton were seldom unduly harassed, while Tom Hamilton has cold job. About half-a-dozen saves comprised his afternoons work. Rangers goal was collected in the sixteenth minute by Smith, who emerged successful in a tussle for the ball with two defenders and then smashed it low into the corner of the net out of Blyths reach
