B McPhail 60
J Smith 67
Match Information
Attendance: 43,308
Referee: M.C. Hutton (Glasgow)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
St Mirren are out of the Cup, but certain sympathisers, including officials of the club, are still kicking. They are prepared to argue that Rangers first goal was scored from an offside position. What happened was this :- Fifteen minutes after the restart, Cheyne placed a long free kick into the St Mirren goal area. Smith met the ball and glanced it on with his head to McPhail, who was standing a yard or two nearer the goal, unmarked. McPhail steadied the ball, and placed it in the net, out of McCloys reach. Referee Hutton was on the spot, and instantly pointed to the centre of the field. There was a bellow of Offside! from the crowd, but no apparent protest from the St Mirren players. From the Press-box, it appeared that McPhail was onside in relation to Baird, the Paisley right back who had taken a nasty knock a minute or so before, and consequently was probably less alert than usual. At any rate, he was not marking McPhail, as he should have been according to the Rangers position, and doubtless did not come in to the mental picture of the scene as visualised by the offside claimants. The goal came unexpectedly. It was just one of those suddenly snapped-up opportunities that prove the value of quick-thinking forwards. Seven minutes later, Rangers got another in very similar fashion. From a Fiddes corner-kick, McPhail nodded the ball through the defence to Smith, who took it on the turn and flashed it past McCloy. Thus, after battling gamely for a full hour, and matching raid against raid of their more polished opponents, St Mirren, in two quick shocks, found defeat staring them in the face. For a short spell it looked as if they were ready to crack up and go under. The Light Blue wing half were playing with superb form and forcing play relentlessly. Fiddes was redeeming himself, after an indifferent early display, by a series of flashing runs and dangerous crosses. The mighty McPhail was always up and ready a two-footed menace. But St Mirren didnt crack. Somehow, they survived the gruelling, and fought back. McCamon made ground on the left and slung a square pass inwards. Gall made as if to collect the pass, but seeing Miller coming up at full speed, drew aside and left the half-back a clear run. From twenty yards out, Miller hit the ball hard and true, to leave Dawson standing. With the margin thus narrowed, Saints went all out for the equaliser, but Rangers were just too powerful in defence. Nevertheless, there was always a chance, until the final whistle went, that the desperate efforts of the Paisley men might find a weakness. Everybody stayed to the end! High-lights of the game, apart from the goals, were McPhails great swerving run in the seventh minute, ending with a rocket drive that McCloy just stopped at the post; Dawsons full-length dive to push away a Knox daisy-cutter at the foot of the post: a similar feat by McCloy when Smith flashed in a down-header from a Fiddes cross; a dangerous lob by Gall, which Dawson back-handed over the bar for a corner; a tearaway run by Latimer, to finish with a ripper that just grazed the cross-bar; Fiddess clean miss of a ball laid on by McPhail; and a fine save by McCloy of a point-blank drive by Venters. McPhail was the outstanding player on view, unrivalled for power and effectiveness. He spoon-fed Turnbull faithfully throughout, but to little advantage. The winger had an off-day. Smith and Venters were always in the thick of it, but Fiddes did not touch his best till late in the game. Simpson took a heavy charge in the kidneys early on, and never quite recovered, though always up to his job. Brown and Meiklejohn progressed from quiet effectiveness to brilliance in the later stages. The Ibrox rear divisions were sound. McCloy, in the Paisley goal, has nothing to reproach himself with. Some of his saves were superb. Baird and Ancell were a pair of lion-hearted backs, and Wilson a first-class stopper. Millers tackling was conspicuously good, and Cunningham showed many nice touches. The St Mirren forwards were all triers, especially young McCamon, who was never out of the picture for long.
