B McPhail 90 secs.
Match Information
Attendance: 88,859
Referee: J Martin (Ladybank)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
Immaculate Jerry Dawson! A goalkeeper in a thousand and a thousand goalkeepers in one! I see him yet in those testing moments when the wind, sun and Cathkin courage threatened to crash through the Rangers defences. I see him picking the wind-swept, jerky ball out of the air or off the ground with a grace of movement which hid the grim tenacity of those masterful hands. And, most memorable of all, I see his six-foot muscular body hurtle through space to being off the save of the match. Old-My answer is that I saw Jerry Dawsons save in 1936 and thank heaven I wasnt born late enough to miss it! Kennedys shot was a surprise effort. It deserved to hit the target. Dawson had a motley of players in front of him when the ball was released. It isnt for us to wonder how he reached that ball in time to tear the Home, James! label off it. But it certainly is our job to marvel that he did it! Yes, I saw Jerry Dawson. But I saw a lot of other things, in this game which was more hysterical than historical. I saw Dougie Gray, of all people, spooning balls into touch! A strange sight. Of course, the wind and sun get all the blame. Which is just too bad, for they cant answer back. My notion is that Rangers played one of the limpest games of their career and got away with it! When Bob McPhail slipped through to score rather simply after two minutes play, it looked as if somebody was due to call for the Cathkin empties. Even the Ibrox fans were quite upset. That goal caught them before they had properly rehearsed their Follow, Follow. Anyhow, Denmark & Co rubbed the dust out of their eyes, and straightened the old spine, determined to stop the rot. Very soon it was apparent that the rot was in the other camp. Venters, Smith and McPhail tied themselves in knots in front of Thirds goal in desperate endeavour to clinch matters. Fiddes broke down. Turnbull popped the ball over. Meiklejohn and Brown kept slamming the ball into goal. YET MUIR DIDNT HAVE ONE DECENT SHOT TO SAVE! It ultimately became evident that if Jimmy Smith was to do anything it would be after Denmark had gone home for his tea. Blair and McInnes, too began to feel that these Rangers jerseys were the same, but the men inside em different. They signalled the news to their forwards. Things began to happen. Dawson stopped lounging against the upright. His busy day was just starting! And what a Start! A ball bounced past Jimmy Simpson. The pivot gallops after it, with Hay, the Cathkin leader, hanging on his right hip. Inside the area, Jimmy hits the ball back to Jerry. Ye gods, its a ITS A No! Dawson of the elastic ribs, twists round and down and smothers a shot which any centre-forward might have been proud. Jimmy hugged Jerry. Looked as if he might burst out into I Cant Give You Anything But Love with the slightest encouragement! Well, the Rangers forward play continued to be as scrappy as ever. The defenders and half-backs were doing all they knew, but Smuth and his mates were in the shadow of Dandy Denmark. The second half saw the tables revered. It was then that Gray, Meiklejohn and others began to spoon the ball out, and head the ball sideways instead of forward. There isnt any doubt that on pressure Third should have got one or more goals. But there also is no doubt that the failure to score was a perfectly just return for the services rendered by the forwards. They became just as involved as had the Ibrox men earlier on. Howe was appallingly slow in getting the ball across. Kinnaird tried to round Gray by methos as innocent in conception as they were futile in effect. Gallacher, the ace dribbler of the team, caused the deuce of a fuss by his repeated and silly souls. He got a big laugh when he cockily slipped the ball through between McPhails legs one time. Now if hed chosen Dawson instead! Kennedy was a hard worker and very serviceable. Hay, ever shading his eyes from the sun and Simpson. Is it any wonder that nothing happened? I was sorry for Demark and his colleagues in the rear. They played well enough to win any cup. The strategy of the rangers defenders was sticking out a mile all the second half. Meiklejohn headed the ball back into Dawsons lop from as far out as thirty yards gems of quick thought. A slide, a flick of the foot, and opposing forwards find themselves running on without the ball! Behind him was the classiest full back afield Cheyne. This young man has come bounding to the front. He played faultlessly. I give this credit with eagerness, because Cheyne is a boy whose qualities are apt to be shaded among so many crack players. You know about the forwards. The wind and sun made them look terribly ordinary. Actually, Third Lamark had more chances to win this game than Rangers. But what is no justification for the remark of a Cathkin fan at the finish, The best team lost. His reasoning is on a par with his grammar! Next to Dawson the most efficient man afield was Referee Martin. I can pay him no higher tribute.
