Logan
T Cairns
J Bowie
Paterson
Match Information
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: J.B. Stevenson (Motherwell)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
At last it has happed. Rangers have come to life again. Some people had thought they would never see the real old Rangers any more, but there they were at Ibrox laying out the once familiar pattern. St Mirren could find nothing to match it. There was bad luck in the circumstance that the Saints should come to Ibrox on the very day that Rangers had chosen for their revival. Some might have it that it was because the Saints played poorly that Rangers were able to scintillate. There may have been a little of that to reckon with, but there is no getting away from the fact that Rangers were finely in tune from the start. They played the best game I have seen them play this season, and I believe it is the opinion of officials and players alike that it was their best game since August 15. The good results of November had restored the precious confidence that had been lost in disastrous October. Anyone with half an eye could see that the men were bubbling over with enthusiasm and self=reliance. Then, I think, the conditions just suited Rangers. There was a strong wind against them in the first half, but the old heads in the team turned their experience to account. Keeping the ball low, half-backs and forwards controlled it skilfully, and it went from foot to foot sometimes with beautiful precision. The scoring of an early goal – only four minutes had gone – was another factor towards the perfecting of the Rangers’ organisation. They never looked back afterwards. St Mirren began in quite dashing style, and things were looking well for them when Logan pushed the ball on to Cairns, who was on the verge of offside. He got clear to Todd, and so Andrew Reid ran across to save the situation, and in doing so gave away a corner. Paterson placed it nicely, and Logan was able to get in a smashing shot with his left foot that left O’Hagan helpless. I am certain we all liked the plucky way in which St Mirren’s forwards tried to retrieve this early loss. They caused the Rangers’ defence to put in some resolute, occasionally desperate, work, but yet there never was the method in the St Mirren attack necessary to bring success. The ball was neither controlled nor passed with anything like cleverness of the other side, and so, while the Saints might thrust and never threaten, Rangers never advanced without being dangerous. Page got in one short near the mark, and Clark was on the way in once when Kelso challenged him; while, again I thought Logan handled the ball inside the penalty area, but with all that I never could see the Saints within hail of a score. Meantime we were being feted with some delightful passing among the Rangers’ half and forwards. Gordon, Bennett and Bowie works sweetly together, Pursell’s plan was to ram the ball through to Reid, and Cairns, although also showing a fondness for the centre pass, did not overlook the fact that he had a partner. It was the very niceness of the passing that for long kept the score at one, although a header by Reid, after Paterson had centred perfectly, was as near being a goal as anything could be, when O’Hagan recovered in time to get the ball as it came off the inside of the post. Exactly half an hour had gone when the second goal accrued. It was a regular beauty, and the neatest thing Cairns has done for the team. Going up the wing along with Paterson, the inside man found himself in possession to the left of the penalty area. Unable to pass to advantage, Cairns turned and made a cut for goal, and beating three opponents on the way, finished by planting the ball past O’Hagan. Before the third goal arrived St Mirren had done a bit of vigorous attack, with two corners the most attainable. Three minutes from the interval a miskick by Todd let Paterson clear, and then a pass to Cairns saw him run clear of all pursuit. Reid, who had followed up, received from Cairns, and with only O’Hagan to beat he coolly beat him. So by 3-0 against the wind Rangers led at the interval, and everything in the garden was lovely. When the teams restarted St Mirren altered their defence, so that Callaghan went from left half to left back, Andrew Reid to right back, and Todd to left half. The team shaped better for a little, but it was soon evident that the forwards were still no match for the home defence. Bowie left the field limping, and while he was off Gray had one excellent chance, but sadly mismanaged it. Returning, Bowie was in time to take a hand in some clever Rangers forward play, and it was his pleasure to cap it with a pretty goal, the ball going into the net high up to the right of O’Hagan, who appeared to think it was soaring clear of the bar. Following a bad time for the Saints, their forwards made one more effort, and with the Rangers’ defence relaxing a trifle, there was danger for Lock. But I cannot say St Mirren had any luck. Perhaps they deserved little of it, but, anyhow, nothing went well for them. It was the Rangers’ day, and just to prove it they began again to worry the already overwrought Saints’ defence, and were not satisfied until Paterson had smartly hooked the ball past O’Hagan from a pass by Cairns. So ended the scoring. In every department Rangers were superior. Lock’s commission was child’s play compared with O’Hagan’s. The latter was taken aback by Logan’s four-minute goal, and took some little time to recover his confidence. His was an onerous position, because both his backs and half-backs were so often overplayed. Callaghan played better at back than at half, but the change did not help Todd. Andrew Reid stuck to his guns like the tenacious warrior he is, and often brought Rangers’ advances to a stop. There was not a weak spot in the Rangers’ defence, for Kelso both tackled and kicked well, and Craig again was the ideal of a back. If he would tell us where he got his youthful elixir I am certain some of us would try a draught of it. His tackling is as strong as ever it was, and he goes about his business as if he were taking his breakfast. Always something of a stylist, Craig if he can keep hold of his form, will make us believe his palmy days are only beginning. Pursell played another fine game. Who will say how much the recent success is due to his development in the vital position of the team? We know what Rangers owed to the late lamented Bobby Neil, and what Celtic owed to Willie Loney. Rangers may yet owe as much to Peter Pursell. He tackled with the strength of a young lion, and to that was largely due to ineffectiveness of the St Mirren inside forwards. With almost every match his passing becomes more cultivated. Logan’s reappearance was a matter of interest. As a left half he was quite successful, and both he and Gordon combined with their wings to good purpose. Not for many a day have the Rangers’ forwards played so well together. Cairns was one of the greatest successes. Full of life and dash, he ran and passed to his heart’s content, scored a tip-topper of a goal, gave Reid the opening for his, and Paterson a present of another. I do not want to over-praise him; if he keeps his head he should have come to stay. Bowie and Bennett were a telling force. Bennett, like Craig, appeared to have renewed his youth, for he ran strongly and centred in the old sweet way. Reid was using his weight to advantage, which would satisfy those who hold that he is backward in that direction as rule. Paterson could have been doing with more of the ball, for he was in good turn. St Mirren’s forwards never got properly pieced together. They tried hard, but the wind and the opposition beat them, besides which they sometimes beat themselves
