G Henderson 72
Match Information
Attendance: 40,291
Referee: William Bell (Motherwell)
Matchday: Saturday
Match Trivia
If I say that Tommy Cairns won the tie at Paisley for Rangers that may be regarded by some as too extravagant. Yet it must be admitted that it was the inside-left’s driving power that led to the scoring of the goal, and it was that same driving power that led to St Mirren’s goal all but falling on more than one occasion. Yes, the better team won, but taking the game all over there was so very little in it that one-goal victory id all the Rangers were worth. Big Andy Cunningham, who is nursing a thigh injury, was missed. Although Tommy Craig, who deputised played cleverly, the line was not held the same way as it is with Cunningham’s long, all-of-a-sudden swinging passes, and it took the forwards some time to conform to the new order of things. The fact of the matter is that the tie was won in the last half-hour of the game. Cairns and Muirhead behind him seemed to gather force as time went on, and with Rangers playing something like their real selves, St Mirren’s defeat was inevitable. It was not a great game so far as clever football is concerned. The tackling was swift, forceful, relentless and if the referee once or twice was called upon to put in a word of caution the play was remarkably free from anything that was dirty. In the first minute of the game Wood got a nasty one on the right leg in a tackle with Muirhead. Scrambling play followed the throw-up on the Rangers’ right until a big punt let Thomson in on Manderson. Bert tried for a behind, but Thomson outwitted him. Manderson went down and appeared to handle the ball, but the referee gave the corner from which Wood was fouled for a bad tackle. Hamilton was cheered for a clever clearance from Archibald, but Meiklejohn followed up and cut right in. Findlay came across to meet him. Davie shot hard and low right through the back’s legs, but the vigilant Bradford saved cleverly low down. By sheer pertinacity Cairns bored his way down, slipped the ball to Morton, who crossed sweetly. A defender, however, got his head to it, and away sped Thomson to finish with a lovely shot which landed on the top of the net. Archibald got a corner off Hamilton, but in a few moments, Wood forced McCandless to give one away, and Thomson headed narrowly past. Evans, who was playing well up to McCandless, was giving Billy a lot of bother, but the Irish internationalist was giving nothing away. Three times he was obliged to play into touch for safety. The fourth time the honours went to Evans, who lashed in a shot just over. Following this McIntosh and Wood might have shot from close in, but both slipped. Wood, however, got a second chance which McCandless hot his forehead to. Then Thomson got in a sneaker. Robb saved easily. Up to this stage Rangers were not shaping like winners at all, but we got a thrill from the Ibrox fellows when Morton beat Findlay on the run and crossed. Nothing doing. Sheer force took Craig past MacDonald. Out the ball went to Archibald, who crossed a nice one. Henderson headed over. Morton was fouled when cutting in. He placed the kick beautifully, but Henderson put past and Bradford required the attention of the trainer. Rangers were going better now. Muirhead forced on his forwards. With the aid of a foul, they kept the ground this made, and craig and Archibald carried on well in. Tommy got clean in and show low. Frankly I thought it was a counter, but Bradford threw himself full length and saved gloriously on the post. That was the nearest thing this half, for after a little talk to Craig by the referee while Findlay was being attended half-time came. There was another near thing in the first minute of the second half when Bradford ran out and kicked clear from the toe of Henderson. We had seen little of Henderson in the first half, but again he popped up with along shot well over, an effort which Craig emulated immediately after. Rangers were going sweeter now. Morton won in a race with Summers by getting a corner, but Henderson fouled in an effort to head home. A corner for Craig next minute still yielded nothing. Rangers were in grave danger when Wood dashed ahead but was shouldered out of play by Meiklejohn, and again, when Robb ran out to the penalty line and lost the ball. Meiklejohn cleared on the six-yard line. Here we saw something of the real Morton. Three men he beat in his cut-in on goal, and he whacked his shot past the far away post. Hereabout, the St Mirren defence cleverly adopted the offside game. First Morton and then Henderson were held. At the end of 26 minutes Rangers scored. Barclay was showing signs of distress as Cairns seemed to gather strength. Cairns got the better of the half. Summers, coming to assist, made a weak effort to stop Cairns. Out went the ball to Morton, who delivered the goods with prompt dispatch. Bradford came out but Henderson got their first with his head, and the ball was in the back of the net. Seven minutes later St Mirren all but counted. They started the movement on the right when Evans cleverly tricked Muirhead. He swung the ball right into the middle. Robb came well out but didn’t field and Thomson was at the wrong angle to ger in a shot. Down went Whitelaw, but Saints appealed in vain for a penalty. After clever work by Morton, Cairns got right in. He delivered a hot one at point black range, but Bradford was right in line and the ball hit him. Out it came to craig, who whacked it past. When I come to deal with the players I at once single out Cairns, Muirhead, McCandless and Dixon, on the Rangers side, and Bradford, Hamilton, Summers, Wood and Thomson on the other. These were the stars in a hard-fought fight. Rodd judgment in coming out when he did was not confidence inspiring, and he never got anything in the way of shooting to deal with. Manderson played a really grand game, but he was often disconcerted by Thomson’s headers into the middle. But we saw McCandless at his best. He kicked and tackled with rare judgment. Muirhead, swift and fearless, covered an enormous amount of ground, and gave as much assistance to his forwards as to his backs. Dixon was the smasher-in-chief and Meiklejohn was the second-best half afield. Cairns took the honours in front. Morton had done better often. Craig was clever and forceful, but Archibald only came into his own in the second half. Henderson scored. What more is wanted from a centre? I have notion Bradford saved St Mirren from a bigger defeat. His backs gave him every assistance. Hamilton was the cleverer, but he seemed to tire towards the end. Little wonder! The pace was scotching. In a middle line that lost a grip of the game in the second half, Summers was best with MacDonald a good second. The best Paisley forward was Wood. He wasn’t well played to, hence the reason for his lack of success in the shooting department. Thomson opened delightfully, but he tapered off towards the close. Evans is young in experience, but I liked the way this boy played on to his man. I have seen both McIntosh and Whitelaw do better. The gate was a record for Love Street
