Rangers 2 - 4 Aberdeen

About 20,000 spectators witnessed this League encounter at Ibrox, Glasgow. From the outset the visitors, although somewhat handicapped through having to face a brilliant sun, delighted the crowd with their long swinging passes and altogether sparkling combination. Murray opened the scoring, heading past Lock from a well placed corner by Lennie, who from the start had been prominent on the left. Their lead, however, was short lived, for Reid clinched a timely centre by Smith within the next couple of minutes. Shortly before the interval Lennie beat Lock from close in, following upon some clever work by Soye, and at the interval Aberdeen led by two goals to one. Five minutes from the resumption, Reid equalised, the point being the reward of a fine run and centre by Smith. Aberdeen, however, continued to worry the home defence by their wide passing and rushing tactics, and when Wylie scored from a penalty granted against Law for bringing down Lennie, and McIntosh added a fourth immediately after the kick-off, the game seemed lost and won. In the closing quarter of an hour, Smith, Reid, and Bennett, handicapped as they were through indifferent support from the inside men, made valiant efforts to reduce the leeway, but all to no purpose. Result :- Aberdeen, four; Rangers, two.

Source: The Scotsman, 19th September 1910

There were fully 19,000 spectators of Ibrox Park, Govan, on Saturday, when Aberdeen and the Rangers' met in a Scottish League fixture. The weather was well-nigh perfect for football, there being no wind, while the pitch was in first-rate condition. The teams were:-

Aberdeen: King; Colman, Hume; Wilson, Wyllie, Millar; Soye, McIntosh, Murray, Travers, Lennie.
Rangers: Lock; Law, Richmond; Galt, Chapman, Hendry; Bennett, Parker, Reid, Gibson, Smith.
Referee - Mr. Grieve, Kirkcaldy.

Play was keen and exceptionally fast during the opening stages, Smith and Lennie on the respective left wings showing up well for their teams. The first named picked up a pass on the run from Hendry, and when near goal transferred to Parker. The inside right, however, was too slow in gathering the ball, and Hume rushed in and cleared. Parker had yet another opening, but his parting shot went very wide of the net. A nice combined movement on the part of the Aberdeen forwards was next witnessed. Lennie was eventually left in possession of the ball and subsequently passed to Murray, who sent in a very fast shot that Lock cleared just in time. Following this incident, came some pretty play by Lennie and Travers. The outside left got round Galt, slipped past Law, and finished with a glorious drive. Lock dashed out to save his charge, but missed the ball, which, however, went bang against the upright. Soye followed up and caught the rebound, but failed to improve upon the opening. A sprint by Bennett brought the play to the other end of the field. Aberdeen, however, defended with skill, Colman and Hume being prominent in the goalmouth. The left back pulled up Bennett when the right-winger was well on his way towards King, while next minute Colman headed away a centre from Smith. For a time the Rangers did most of the attacking, but during their pressure in the vicinity of the Aberdeen goal ball rarely found its way to King. This was largely due to the sterling defence set up by the backs, who received capital support from Wyllie, whose heading was quite a feature of the game. Gradually the Aberdeen forwards opened out the game, mainly due to the fine forcing play of the half-backs. The front rank covered the ground quickly, particularly the left wing, the result being that Galt and Law were frequently in trouble. Both were penalised for unfair tactics. The game was 20 minutes in progress ere King was called upon to save a shot, but it was a good one, sent in by Bennett at close range. The goalkeeper, however, caught the ball cleverly, and eventually punted strongly down the field. This clearance lead to a strong rally by the Aberdeen forwards. Wilson joined in the movement, and it was a pass from the right half to Soye that enabled the outside right to slip past Richmond, and then race straight ahead for goal. Instead of shooting, however, Soye passed across to Lennie, who immediately closed in on goal, trapped the ball, and eventually beat Lock with a very fast shot. This reverse put more life in the Rangers' team, and soon the scores were equal. Breaking away from midfield, Smith ran right through the defence and then crossed to Reid. The centre forward was challenged by Hume, but the Rangers' man managed to get his shot in, King being unable to avert disaster. More lively play followed, Aberdeen showing up strongly in the forward line. McIntosh wrote off a capital single-handed run, in the course of which he beat the backs, and was racing straight for goal, when Richmond tripped him. Still the Aberdeen forwards kept the ball swinging, and this style of play completely upset the Rangers' backs. Law could make nothing of Lennie, and in the course of a hot tussle between the pair the back gave away a corner. Lennie placed the ball beautifully into goal, and Murray, rushing in, beat Lock with a clever header. The visitors continued to hold a whit hand, and on several locations came very near adding to their score.

The Rangers opened the second half in a thorough a business-like manner. Right away, the Aberdeen defence was hard pressed, first Colman and then Hume clearing splendid tries by Smith and Reid. Colman and Smith both dashed for the ball, following upon a strong kick by Richmond. As a result, the right back and left-winger collided by lovely, and the game was stopped for a few minutes while the two players were attended to. Restarting, Smith dashed away on his own, and finished with a low cross to the centre. Reid did not hesitate a moment, but shot straight for the net, King being helpless. Once more on an equal footing, the teams went at it farther than ever. Fouls were frequent, and players on both sides were cautioned. Latterly the Rangers fell away greatly, the half-back line cracking up badly against the persistent, worrying tactics of the Aberdeen forwards. Richmond cleared luckily after Lock had saved a fast drive from Travers, while later on the goalkeeper saved another drive from Murray, but lost hold of the ball, which was ultimately kicked clear by Richmond. Keeping up the pressure, Aberdeen appeared likely to score at any moment, so keen and so accurate was the footwork of the forwards. Lennie was in his element, and in the course of one of his speedy runs into goal he was brought down by Lowe and then fouled by Richmond. The usual award followed inside the penalty area. Wyllie took the free kick, and beat Lock with an unsavable shot. There was practically only one team in the game now, Aberdeen being masters of the situation. The outside left came once more into the picture, and while he was being tackled by Law and Galt the Aberdeen forward slipped the ball across to McIntosh, who quite easily diverted the leather past Lock. All interest was now out of the game. The Rangers, however, made one final effort to reduce the leeway, what were well held by the Aberdeen defence.

Aberdeen were worthy winners, and deserved their victory dash the first ever obtained against the Rangers. There was not a weak player in the Pittodrie team, but special mention may be made of the sterling play of Lennie and Wyllie.

SATURDAY'S GREAT VICTORY

The utmost satisfaction was afforded to followers of football in Aberdeen on Saturday by the splendid victory of the Aberdeen team at Glasgow. For the first time in their history the local team defeated the famous Glasgow Rangers, and that by the substantial lead of four goals to two. And the Aberdeen players returned to the city at 10:15 on Saturday night, they were met at the station by a large crowd, who formed a kind of garb of owner, and loudly cheered the visitors, Colman, Lennie, and Wyllie receiving a great ovation as the outstanding players of the day.
It is estimated that 19,000 people witnessed the match at Glasgow, which means that the divisible gate amounted to at least £430. This is an undoubted tribute to the popularity of the Aberdeen team in Glasgow, for there were other two big matches in that city on Saturday. The spectators were very impartial, and as the players trooped off the field at the close of the game, the crowd cheered the winners with great enthusiasm.
Before the departure of the team for Aberdeen, Baillie Henderson, Glasgow, congratulated Mr. James Phillip, the manager, on the club's success, and hoped they would go far in the league competition. He was, he said, particularly struck with the play of the Aberdeen men.

Source: Aberdeen Daily Journal, 19th September 1910

The unanimous feeling in Glasgow prior to Saturday was that Aberdeen would sustain their first defeat from the Rangers. Amongst the Aberdeen players there was a quiet confidence that if they could not beat the Rangers, they were going to take a point from them. Evidently the western enthusiasts recognised there was going to be a great struggle, for they rolled in through the turnstiles till there was a crowd present that was estimated at close on 20,000.

The only fault that could be found to the weather was that it was a trifle mild for a hard game, everything else being in tip-top order for fast play. Aberdeen began in promising fashion, Lock having to clear from Lennie. The custodian had little to spare with his clearance, Tom Murray being in close attendance. A flash by Alick Smith, the Rangers' evergreen Internationalist, was safely got rid of by King, and them ensued a protracted tussle for mastery. Aberdeen's middle line were performing like Trojans, the Rangers' attack finding it most difficult to get away. Allowing that the halves were sometimes beaten, there were a couple of backs to be encountered that gave nothing away, and anything that came King's way was smartly dealt with.
Watching all this inspired our confidence in Aberdeen being able to beat their opponents. Every time they got through they were dangerous, Lock doing some clever saves before he was beaten. Lennie was more frequently in the picture in this game than we have seen him this season. He seemed to have every freedom with Galt, and Law had to use his weight frequently to keep the Pittodrie idol from scoring. It was a great run that led to the score. Initiated on the right and finished by the left, Lennie flashed the ball past Lock into the net with such a force that it rebounded into play.
Nothing daunted, the Rangers' left set off, and Wilson watched to intercept the pass while Colman tackled Smith. The latter cleared and sent straight across to Reid, who netted the ball, giving King no earthly chance of reaching it. The equality lasted only a few minutes, for many thought now the Rangers had got a start they would pile on the agony. It was the other way about. Aberdeen had once got a start and meant to keep it, for they swarmed down again and Law had to concede a corner for safety. Lennie put the ball across so neatly that Tom Murray, with his napper, put the northern men on the lead. These three goals all being scored inside six minutes, the crowd was kept in intense excitement till half-time came with the score unaltered.

The home supporters still clung to the belief that the second half would see a change in their favour, but it was not long started when they had to acknowledge there was another team besides Dundee that could beat them. Reid had equalled the scores again, when there was no doubt about the illegibility of Richmond bringing down Lennie inside the penalty line. The ex-Queen's Parker crossed to assist Law, who was sorely tried by Lennie, and finding he could not hold him either, he brought him down. Wyllie was entrusted with the kick, and after preliminaries had been arranged between him and the referee as to placing the ball, the centre-half had a notion not to fire off immediately, and waited till Lock appeared flurried before he let drive with such force that the ball was netted before he actually knew.
Aberdeen were all over the Rangers now, Lock being the only barrier to a coup of goals. Murray, Soye, and Travers had good tries, but Mackintosh brought off the final goal which knocked the heart dean out of the home side. This left Aberdeen with their first victory over the "light blues" since they entered the Scottish League.

PLAY AND PLAYERS.

As we have remarked several times, Aberdeen have not got the same class of forwards that has hitherto represented them. They have held the reputation of being deft and clever in the open, but weak at finish. This year's quartette were seen at their best on Saturday on the splendid pitch at Ibrox. With plenty of room, their outfield play was not so pretty, maybe, but their movements were more methodical, and their dash at close quarters was bound to tell. They worried the backs beyond endurance, all the inside men having a thorough understanding as to how they would gather the ball and when the shooting was to be done. We are astonished that Aberdeen did not get more goals, and but for Lock's excellent judgment Rangers would have been badly beaten.
As ne have said, Lock was in capital form, Law and Richmond proved a pair of only fair backs. and the middle line had more work to do than they seemed capable of performing. Alick Smith and Reid took the eye most in the front line, and they complained of being badly served by the halves, who retorted that they had too much to do stopping the attack without assisting in feeding.
From goal to centre-forward the Aberdeen team worked like a machine. King did well. He was beaten twice with unsaveable shots, while he saved some good ones. He inspires confidence every week. Colman and Hume were ahead of the Rangers' pair of backs by a long way, the Aberdeen captain being the best on the field. Wyllie, by some extra clever work, was slightly superior to Wilson and Millar, though no fault could be found with them. As a trio they did remarkably well in every respect, and as a line were better than their opponents.
Of the forwards nothing but praise can be awarded them. The pity is that Soye and Travers did not complete the list by getting goals, but though they failed in this, they were able to say they had a hand in the formation of the others. It would be unfair to individualise, for they were all so well mated that praise to one more than the other would savour of fayouritism. A fair and true opinion would be that we have not seen a front line with so much dash, and still possessing command of the ball, representing Aberdeen since they entered Pittodrie. We trust they will keen up their present form and be able to occupy a better position in the table than they did last season.

CHATTY BITS.

After a long spell of perseverance Aberdeen have got their reward in defeating the Rangers.
They make no secret that there is another club in Glasgow they would like to beat, and intend doing so - bar accidents.
Besides earning a couple of valuable points, Aberdeen had a big cheque for their "half-gate," which should help them out of their financial difficulties considerably.
There have been many croakers who have phophesied that Aberdeen would suffer by the departure of O'Hagan and Simpson from the front line.
The answer to these critics was given on Saturday, when the front line moved as sweetly and as methodically as ever they did.
Regarding O'Hagan, he has blossomed out in a new role for Morton, and has become their chief scoring forward.
He seldom tried that on Pittodrie, but left it for others to do.
Bobby Simpson was amongst the goals on Saturday, and scored a beauty. Once he gets his eye in there will be a lot chalked up to his credit.
Huddersfield had another drop on Saturday. Mutch was beaten three times. He could have easily saved one of them.
This won't do; Sandy will have to buck up or he will be losing his place. The Yorkshiremen are very particular.
The rumour that Aberdeen were after a new goalkeeper is entirely without foundation: none of the officials seem to know anything about it.

Source: Bon-Accord, 22nd September 1910