French broke leg 40
Match Information
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: JP Brown (Glasgow)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
No more thrilling game will ever be seen anywhere, any time. I raise my hat to Morton for their magnificent defence in the second half with nine whole men and a lame one. George French was the absentee. He played with great dash for half an hour. Then he and Cairns let out at a ball simultaneously. A distinct snap was heard in the press box. French was carried off and removed to Victoria Hospital with a leg broken below the knee. It was a pure accident – a case of the survival of the fittest. Bobbie Brown was the lame one. He went off a few minutes before half-time whistle, but resumed, and, limping usefully on, helping to win a point. I wouldn’t say that fortune smiled on Rangers at any time of the game. Yet I won’t admit that Morton were lucky to save the game. Their second half defence was magnificent. The trills in this thrilling game began right away. Cunningham provided the first when he gave Edwards a teaser to hold. Cairns nearly smashed the crossbar. The ball beat Edwards bumped straight down and rebounded into play. It was Morton’s turn now, and Robb distinguished himself saving, with French on top of him. Next minute Edwards was saving, while Henderson tumbled a somersault over him. Robb spreadeagled himself to tip round the post a low hard drive from Bickerstaffe. Meiklejohn, Robb and McCandless then lay in a bunch on their own goal line, and Davie scraped the ball away. French cleverly mastered McCandless and shot Robb saved. Hereabouts Rangers set up a regular barrage. Alan Morton, Cunningham, Henderson and Cairns all tried their luck, but found the Greenock defence giving nothing away. After a great solo effort, in which he was robbed in the act of shooting by McCandless, French was injured. Immediately after Henderson was going clear in on Edwards, when Wright brought him down. The crowd had something to say. So had the referee. Edwards slipped McCandless free-kick over the bar, but Rangers could not improve on either of the three corners that followed. Although the editor gave me a whole page to myself, I couldn’t recount all the thrilling incidents of that great second half. For forty minutes Rangers pressed and pressed and pressed. Edwards one staggered on the goal line with a pile driver from Cunningham. Henders in handfuls, corners in spadefuls, and shots blocked in cartloads was the Rangers’ share of the play, but the Morton defence defied them to count. When I say defence, I mean the ten Morton men. They played with but one idea – get the ball out of the goal-mouth. They succeeded. The other five minutes of the half was spent in three Morton sorties, led by Bickerstaffe. In one McKay made Robb look lively on the post. The other two fizzled out, and always Rangers resumed that relentless attack. But the Morton man spared neither themselves nor their opponents. Edwards was in great form. McIntyre was magnificent. He was hefty but never dirty. He came in for a lot of barracking, but the crowd might have paid attention to others I could name. Jacky Wright, in the middle, dominated the play most of the time. He was well supported by his wing men. The front rank were upset by French’s injury, but were game to the end. Rangers will never play harder and not win. The defence was A1, but none of the half-backs fed their forwards properly. The attack was grand. Every man gave all he knew, and if I single out Cairns, it is for the power of his play in the last quarter of an hour. He spared neither his wind nor limbs in his almost frenzied dash. But the Greenock armour had no cracks. Yes, I raise my hat to Morton
