T Cairns 37
Tennant 70
Match Information
Attendance: 35,000
Referee: William Bell (Hamilton)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
Rangers scraped through at Ibrox Park and no more! A couple of minutes from time Motherwell were on equal terms. Meiklejohn relieved the tension by working an open position close in and scoring a winning goal, as Archibald did at Firhill on Tuesday when hope of success was almost gone. Cairns profited by the only bit of luck the Rangers enjoyed in the first half to open the corning after thirty-five minutes. Rundell fisted the ball down instead of clearing in more decisive fashion, and Cairns was on the spot to take advantage of the chance. Tennant squared matters when the second half was twenty-five minutes gone with a smart header, following one of Motherwell’s spasmodic breaks-away. The winners are never weak when Reid is at full back and Nicholson ar half. Not even if Muirhead is in the attack in the place of Cunningham, as happened yesterday. The big inside right was troubled with a blistered foot. In the case of Motherwell, it is a different story. There are no substitutes at Fir Park of the class of Dick Little, Paterson, Hugh Ferguson and Ferrier. The side suffered a distinct handicap by their absence. All through the game they were the under dog, and yest if Tennant had taken advantage of an open goal when he shot wide before Meiklejohn scored the boot might have been on the other foot. The chance was an easy one for a cool head. The football never touched the standard of the Thistle match at Firhill, which was the bets contest of all the Ibrox holiday games. Even when they were a goal up the Rangers never pressed the attack with spirit until they were compelled to ginger up the play in the last fifteen minutes of the latest contest. Outfield movement was pretty. There was delightful footwork from Morton and Cairns on the left, and Archibald and Muirhead on the right. Between the two sections of attack Hansen shot freely and well. Rundell was brilliant in the Motherwell goal, his stiffest tests coming from Hansen, Cairns, Morton and ab uncommonly hard one from Nicholson in the second half. Hansen’s straight hard drive from close range in the first half was a tribute to Rundell’s skill. There was no shot in the match to compare with it. The Motherwell forwards were not much in the game for real, live attack until well on in the closing portion, when Tennant’s goal had inspired the hope of a draw. Lennie and Rankin were the cleverest forwards. Tennant had not the physique to force the attack. The defence was uneven. Jackson could not cope with Morton, and he could not be excused for his treatment of Hansen, who like tenant, was slightly injured in the second half. Newbigging was a sound back against Archibald, and Craig Brown, if apparently indifferent about conceding an odd corner kick, was a forceful centre half, and at times a third back. Most of the good play was seen on the winning side, and in a sound team, Meiklejohn, Dixon and Nicholson at half, and Cairns, Morton and Archibald were as eager to score as Hansen. There were 20,000 spectators. The Light Blues left for Turnberry after the match to prepare for the cup tie at Shawfield
