Oakes 16
Reid 51
B McPhail 61, 75
Match Information
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: J.M. Martin (Ladybank)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
I am not going to praise Rangers; I am not even going to say they have turned their 1938 Unsettlement Corner, for look you, they gained their second round Cup victory at Ibrox over a team that collapsed in the most amazing way in the second half. That collapse had to be seen to be believed. Over a cut-and-thrust first half Queens maintained their hard-won reputation of being champion away-battlers. As Rangers floundered in uncertainty Queens were playing crisp football in front, while their defence, in a manner of speaking, held a dithery Ibrox attack in check with one foot and helped on their forwards with the other. Their goal, scored in 17 minutes, marked their opportunism. There was a quick-stab attack up the left. The ball went to Gray and believe it or not, Dougie of all people, hesitated. That was enough for Law. The inside man nipped in to whip the ball from Dougies feet. Oakes got it, tapped it forward, then shot into the back of the net. Maybe Rangers didnt deserve to be down hereabouts, but they had only themselves to blame. The forwards had chances, serval of them, and had they taken but three they might have been two goals ahead. But they hesitated, hung on to the ball, dribbled about in front of goal, shot past, with Reid worst of the bunch. And all that with the wind in their back. And now, with the wind in their favour and a goal lead, we looked to Queens, as they took the field for the second half, to give us all the drama of a bold bid for a place in the third round ballot-box. I am still not very sure what went wrong. Law seemed to have been hurt in the first period, fir he went to left half, with Oakes inside and Thomson on the wing. That must have been the upsetting factor, for we didnt get the teamwork of the first section. Queens began to struggle, then they sagged when Reid, in six minutes, got a goal he should never have been allowed to get after the way he footered around in the goal area, and after that there was the quick and complete collapse. Bob McPhail aided it along with a well-taken goal in sixteen minutes and finished it off ain about 25 minutes with another goal he ran in to score when George Brown placed a great lob from a free kick just outside the penalty area. Most team can play good football when they are allowed to. Thats what Rangers did. It was a limp Queens defence after their great first half display. Bruce, hardest worker on the field, and Mellors, outstanding goalkeeper, alone held on when Rangers were over-running their team. Savage and Anderson seemed to have fallen away, the wing halfs were run off their feet, and the forwards got very few chances. There was still, on their second half form, lack of incision in front of goal among the Rangers forwards. Only Bob McPhail and Jimmy Smith knew the direct way to goal. Reid and Venters had a poor day, and Thornton has played far better in the centre than he did on the wing. The defence, halfs and backs, naturally played strongly when the game was running for them but the memory of that first half uncertainty is too strong to allow me to make the suggestion with any degree of conviction that Rangers are finding their feet again.
