J Smith 5, 65
Kinnear 18
B McPhail 77
Match Information
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: J Baillie (Motherwell)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
I take it you are anything but surprised at the result. Certainly, I am not. And yet it might have been different. Dont misunderstand me. Rangers always had it in power, precision and purpose, and the longer the game went the greater became the gulf. But this was by no stretch if imagination a cat-and-mouse affair. In the first half particularly those eager, energetic Paisley forwards time and again went advancing on Dawson, who thrilled us with two copperplate saves, the kind that make you want to rise from your seat and cheer until you remember! I mention those masterly saves because the rest of the Love Street marksmanship, except for a bar-crashing drive by K Miller after the turn, would have made a good Paisley man talk in his sleep. Repeatedly Hanlin and his mates sped past the Ibrox outer defence and closed in on Dawson. How patiently we waited on Them accomplishing something. How often were we disappointed! Bobby Rankine did thunder in a couple of venomous drives, but like Hanlin, he was sending the ball anywhere when within striking distance. It was here and elsewhere, of course, later in the game that Rangers were masters. Without having to exhaust their reserve, they hit four times with an ease and elegance that emphasised the shortcomings of their adversaries. Venters, a restless forager who gloried in a tackle, brought out the best in Kinnear. And when Kinnear is at his best, there in none better. The flashing winger was not quite a hundred per cent, but he was precious near it. He is fast staking a claim for international honours. And some of big Jimmy Smiths footwork was a joy. That it was not froth without solidity he demonstrated by notching a couple of goals. Main did not dazzle as I have seen him, and not until the last twenty minutes or so did Bob McPhail rouse himself to all-in endeavour. Actually, he did not require to do so. The urge of the half-backs, among whom Ross caught the eye by his boldness, tempered by astuteness, always gave the champions a distinction St Mirren lacked. And Hanlin must have looked upon Simpson as a man possessed of several legs and heads! Winning was ill at ease at times against the slick-moving Griffin, but the winger invariably found himself discomfited before going far. K Miller I thought the Love Street forward who gripped me most, but even he blundered in marksmanship. Although on occasion caught in two minds, Murray and Bruce steadfastly refused to allow this Ibrox superiority to become a monopoly. And the more I see of Cunningham, the better I like him. Rangers were two in front in eighteen minutes. First of all, Smith smartly put the copestone on a beautiful manoeuvre by McPhail and Venter, and then Kinnear swung his leg to the ball as it was palmed out by McCloy and whooped as he watched it strike the curtains. Twelve minutes of the second half and Smith virtually walked the ball into the net. McPhails adroit header for the fourth was merely rubbing the salt into the wound
