Stewart >45, xx
Missed Penalties
Gordon pen miss 43
Match Information
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: A Edward (Glasgow)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
If you had left Ibrox Park at half-time and learned an hour afterwards you would have forced yourself to believe that the Raith Rovers had been struck by lightning – or something. For in the first half the Rovers had all the lustre, and Rangers found it impossible to put any gloss on their play. More than once the Rangers’ defence during this period was in dire straits, but always a score was averted, and so when the interval came and not a goal on the register, you could only pat the Rovers on the back and tell them that with the wind behind them in the second half they would make certain of the points. But what happened in the second half was this. Facing the wind – which was not so very strong after all – Rangers became a new team altogether and the curious thing was that in proportion as they exhaled life and vigour and cleverness, the Rovers died away to a sad state of semi-turpitude. On the one hand, it might have been that the Rovers ran themselves out in the first half; and, on the other hand, it might be that in the second half they were as good, and no more, as the revivified Rangers allowed them to be. In the result Rangers returned their biggest score in over three months of play, held their goal scathless for the fifteenth time in League warfare, and landed themselves only two points behind Hearts in the race for the championship. Which is sufficient of generalities. With Hendry at left-half and Brown at outside-left, Rangers opened well against a Rovers team that had the new man Lavery at left back, and the rest of the side at full strength. Reid had an early shot saved by Wallace, and then the Rovers settled down to a nice, free, confident game, which Rangers were never able to match in this half. But the Rovers’ forwards had this deficiency that they could not bring forth the little bit of essential driving power to finish with. Being so much in Rangers’ ground, they too often, for their team found the half-backs waiting for them, and lack of room compelled them to hazard their shots from medium range. Once Waugh came near ramming home a rakish shot, for Lock, I should say, knew little about the ball when it smacked the bar and jumped off away to the left. It was a long time before Rangers could develop any settled sort of attack. Duncan made a dashing run and centred. The ball was intercepted by Lavery, whose defence had been one of the bright particular features. It went out to Duncan again, and on his returning it Lavery stayed it with his hand, and penalty was awarded. Here loomed a score that was entirely against the run of the play, but Gordon obliged the Rovers – quite without intention, I assure you – by shooting wide of the left post. Hard on top of this came a terrible shot by Bowie following bonnie play by Duncan, and then Lavery, in clearing from Bowie, partly kicked the ground, and, giving his foot a severe wrench, had to go off for a moment or two. Rovers kept play too much on their right wing after this, and Waugh was often seen hunting for the ball in that direction. Then right about face and away went Rangers at a livelier, merrier bat than anything they had previously shown. Gordon ran down with the right wing and finished with a trim shot a little wide; Reid ran through on the left and screwed a marvellous ball into the net, only to be given offside and rightly, too; then Duncan went away with a pass from partner Stewart (who had changed places with Bowie), and was grassed; on so on and so forth. It was clear that Rangers were out for blood. Within eight minutes Hendry, the best half-back playing ran through the Rovers’ right-wing defences and centred so well that Stewart had simply to tap the ball into the net, which he did with perfection of neatness. Before the second goal came six minutes later Scott had a good try for Raith. Stewart was again the Rangers’ scorer, nodding through a centre from Brown, who had been favoured with a deft pass from Bowie, and given practically a free run down. Rovers’ forwards went completely out of the game, and the Rangers’ five – or six, for Gordon was often racing ahead of Stewart and Duncan to take passes and shoot – came bang into it. The right wing, with Stewart the Prince Controller, played delightful football. But Stewart was also ever zealous in his attention to Reid, and thence subsequent danger arose for the Rovers. Reid was baulked several times, but at last, twenty-eight minutes after the restart, he began a run not far over the centre line, and he did not stop until he had shot the ball past Wallace. This was a good goal, but Reid excelled it next minute, when off he went again, and this time beat four of the defence before coolly selecting a place to sedately lay the ball in the net. As the result turned upon the all-round firing-up in the Rangers’ play, especially in the attack, after the interval, I believe the victory was due in a large degree to the exchange of position between Stewart and Bowie. Stewart was like a man inspired after he had opened the scoring. His footwork was magically ornate, but what pleased me most of all was the manner in which he spun his passes along to Reid. Bowie benefited by the change also, and even Brown shared in the general improvement. To Rangers the important lesson of the match is that Reid with a fir service, is a good a scorer as ever he was, and that being so, the team becomes a challenger once more. I suppose most people looked to Hendry playing himself into fettle, but there was nothing of a try-out about him. Hendry had no superior. I question if he ever played a better game. He tackled, dribbled, and passed to his heart’s content, and incidentally must have broken the hearts of Cranston and Scott, Hendry’s play, along with that of Stewart in the second half, and of Ormonde all through, were the refreshing features of the Rangers’ play, but Gordon was also a great factor in the win, full of zeal and throwing an extra burden on the Rovers’ left wing defence by his dashes in with Duncan and Stewart. Raith had made so good an impression at the interval that everybody, I feel certain, was sorry to see them dispel it. But Wallace had no chance at all with any of the goals. The half-backs seemed to tire, and from being a staunch, clever trio they became east to pass. I fancy that had more to do with the defeat than anything that came within the power of the Rovers. Anderson was a very artiste in the first half, and Porter and Logan strong, effective checkmaters. With the cracking up of the middle men, Winning and Lavery found the Rangers’ forwards coming in on them at a pace that could not be withstood. Of course, the Raith forwards suffered along with the backs by the mastering of the half’s, and the infrequency of the chances they had in the second half allowed the works to run down. Beside, nothing came off for them, not even in the first half, when they were right in the game. Waugh was a conspicuous figure while the good time lasted, but he was compelled to search too often for the ball. Scott and Cranston gave an immensity of trouble in the first half, and were afterwards ‘not at home’, but Gibson found speedy men like Gordon and Ormonde too big a handful to tackle on the one afternoon. Gordon missed a first half penalty
