Plenty of Nothing

Scottish Cup 1923

Source.

CELTIC 1; HIBERNIAN 0

    At Hampden Park, Glasgow, in fine weather, and in presence of about 80,000 spectators. The gate drawings amounted to £9540 (exclusive of tax and tickets sold). The teams were:--

    Celtic -- Shaw; M'Nair and M'Stay (W.); M'Stay (J.), Cringan and M'Farlane; M'Atee and Gallagher; Cassidy; M'Lean and Connelly.

    Hibernian -- Harper; M'Ginnigle and Dornan; Kerr, Miller, and Shaw; Ritchie and Dunn; M'Coll; Halligan and Walker.

    Referee -- T. Dougary (Bellshill).

    The Hibernian captain, Kerr, won the toss for choice of ends, and Celtic, facing a slight breeze, kicked off. The wind, however, was not an important factor, and did not affect either the play or the result. Hibernian made progress, first on the right and then on the left, but the movements were not allowed to develop, and the first shot for goal was at the other end, where Harper smartly saved a low shot from M'Lean. Just previous to that Gallagher slipped a fine ball to Cassidy, who raced ahead, but just as he was about to shoot Miller stepped in and cleared. After Dornan had stopped another promising Celtic raid, the Hibernian forwards took up the running for Halligan to send in a fast shot which Cringan was fortunate to intercept. Shortly afterwards the Hibernian inside left with a good effort sent the ball wide of the goal by less than a yard. The next minute Celtic were in front of Harper, Dornan heading dow a pass from Cassidy to M'Lean, who without hesitating a single instant drove hard into goal for Harper to bring off a clever save, but only at the second attempt. The exchanges continued to flucuate in the most interesting fashion, first the one goal then the other being strenuously assailed. About this stage Hibernian were slightly the more dangerous side, but though hard pressed M'Nair and M'Stey never wavered. A long pass from Ritchie gave M'Coll and Dunn a scoring opportunity chiefly owing to M'Nair failing to get in his kick. A scrimmage close in and a high shot by Dunn which went over the bar were, however, the only outcome. Subsequently a fine pass by M'Farlane to Connelly allowed Celtic to secure a footing in their opponent's half of the field, and it was only after a defender had stopped a hard shot from M'Atee that Hibernian gained relief. Ritchie and Dunn then cleverly beat M'Farlane, but the Celtic left back with a timely tackle averted trouble, while Shaw fisted out a corner kick taken by Walker. Towards the interval Gallagher, the most assertive Celtic forward throughout this half, forced an unproductive corner kick. Shaw from a cross by Ritchie headed narrowly past, and just on half-time Celtic were awarded a free kick close in. This was taken by M'Stay (W.), who instead of shooting for goal passed to M'Lean, who had his effort to get the better of Harper charged down by M'Ginnigle. Half-time -- no scoring.

    On resuming Hibernian attacked strongly, Shaw in the first minute saving brilliantly from Dunn. Three more hard shots were intercepted by Cringan before M'Stay with a long kick let Cassidy away, the movement ending in M'Ginnigle kicking into touch. From an awkward position M'Lean shot over, and a little later M'Ginnigle shot down a groat shot [that's what it says] from Gallagher, who in the course of his run into goal beat several opponents. Twenty minutes after resuming M'Atee sent across a long pass to M'Lean, who immediately centred, and Cassidy getting the ball after it had bounced, headed into a vacant goal, Harper having left his charge in an effort to save the situation.

    During the next ten minutes Celtic were the more aggressive side, but in the last quarter of an hour the Hibernian forwards dominated the echanges, and but for the craftiness of M'Nair, the dash of M'Stay, and the soundness of Shaw, they would have drawn. They came very near to equalising when Walker surprised Shaw by kicking past a clearance by the goalkeeper, the ball striking the side of the net. Close on time Hibernian had a strong appeal for a penalty disallowed, the referee ruling that the handling of a shot from M'Coll by Cringan was accidental. Goal scorer:--Celtic--Cassidy.

    At the close of the game the Scottish Cup was presented to Mr. T. White, the Celtic prseident, by Sir John Ure Primrose, Bart.

Glasgow Herald, April 2, 1923, page 9.

Stark Staring

Richard Dadd's portrait of Sir Alexander Morison, alienist, with fishwives. From the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland.

Greenock Morton make their final visit of 2012-13 to Raith Rovers' Stark's Park this afternoon.

Morton Reserves beat Partick Reserves 3 - 1 Monday.

Partick took over first place Wednesday when they beat Cowdenbeath 0 - 3. Partick enter today's play one point up on Morton with a game in hand. Raith, Falkirk and Dunfermline were all eliminated from the title race Wednesday, and Queen of the South won the Second Division.

Dunfermline have gone into administration. There is still no set point reduction for a club entering adminstration, despite the fact that it happens nearly every year, so the Pars will have to wait and see how far they will be forced into the relegation zone. They laid off most of their first team Thursday. Partick have signed two of them.

Partick visit Cowdenbeath for the second time this week.

The 12-12-18 scheme is hitting significant opposition among Second and Third Division clubs, so SPL2 is back on the table. If the First Division is replaced this summer by an SPL2 whose founding membership is decided by invitation, expect Rangers to be in it and Dunfermline out. Morton would be invited I imagine.

In the meantime, Morton has announced a £750,000 stadium improvement program which includes new seats, a new pitch and a temporary groundsharing agreement with St Mirren in case the renovations stretch into next season, should the club gain promotion.

[Raith win 2 - 1. Morton goal by Wilkie. Partick win, and are now four points up with a game in hand. Partick play again Tuesday (against Raith) but not next Saturday due to their Ramsdens Cup final against Queen of the South.] [Rangers have won their first ever Third Division title.]

Tomorrow Sapporo host Gamba Osaka in a meeting of the recently demoted. [Gamba win.]

Sundown

Barrington School

I've been trying without much success* to figure out the history of this building where I went for Grade Six in 1970-71. I'm pretty sure it had the name Barrington School while I was there. To a kid whose previous school had been younger than himself, this place seemed like a time machine -- a very very dilapidated time machine with a severe case of dry rot. It didn't help his sense of displacement any when on the first day the teacher showed up dressed like a Gibson Girl, with puffed sleeves, a floor-length skirt, and piled-up hair, as was the fashion briefly in 1970. This postcard is dated 1913, but the schoolyard life was just the same in my day, though the ground was less green and more the colour of furnace clinkers and broken bottles. The view was about the same too. The red building on the left is Carmen United Church, which still stands. The square yellow building on the right is the town hall, which I think existed in 1970 but is gone now. There is another picture of the school here showing that it predates the 1906 construction of the church. When was the school demolished? I'd like to know. The site, in the triangle formed by Main and King Streets and Clyde Avenue, now contains the more modern D W Archibald School. D

*The History of Sydney Mines published in 1990 is no help at all.

Unarigoe, Chapter 5, Page 3

For more, much superior, pussywillow ikebana see here.

Next Favourite Japanese TV Ad

Smartphone! Starts at 3:50 here.

Women's Hockey Champions 2013

#27 for Boston, Hilary Knight. Source.

CIS: Carabins de l'Université de Montréal

Clarkson Cup: Boston Blades

Finland: Espoo Blues Naiset

Germany: ESC Planegg/Würmtal

NCAA: Minnesota Golden Gophers

Russia: Tornado Moscow Region

Sweden: AIK

Switzerland: ZSC Lions

A Griffin

James Watt on the A8

James Watt surveys the corner of William Street and Dalrymple Street (the A8).

Cowdenbeath visit Cappielow today if the weather holds. [Game on.] This is the season's final meeting between the two clubs. Morton have won two of the three previous matches, and the third ended in a draw.

Morton enter today's action two points up on Partick, with Partick holding two games in hand, as has been the case for several weeks. Partick were again unable to make up one of their postponed matches Tuesday. The ideal result today would be a Morton win plus a Thistle defeat. Partick Thistle are up against third-place Livingston.

The Scottish national team trained at Cappielow this week.

What was the closest First Division finish ever? Three-point era: in 2006-07 Gretna beat St. Johnstone by one point; Inverness CT beat Clyde by one point in 2003-04; Raith beat Dunfermline by one point in 1994-95. Two-point era: too many photo finishes to count, which was why they brought in the three-point win, apparently. But ... don't you want close title races? Don't they create meaningful games?

Did the First Division title ever come down to goal difference? Yes, in 1977-78 Morton (Pts 58, GD 43) beat Heart of Midlothian (Pts 58, GD 35) for first, though in those days first and second were both promoted.

Since 1994-95, when the three-point wins were introduced, what has been the highest points total attained by a second-place club in the First Division? 72 points, by Clyde FC, in 2002-03. But that was the year Falkirk finished first with 81.

And what has been the greatest margin of victory in the First Division since the three-point win came in? 24 points, last year, by Ross County.

Portion of 2013 when Scotland and Nova Scotia are three hours apart: March 10th to 31st. Portion of 2013 when they are five hours apart: October 27th to November 3rd.

[Morton win 4 - 2 with goals by MacDonald (2), Taggart and Hardie. Partick also win, so still no change at the top. Hamilton cannot win the division.]

Tomorrow Sapporo visit Avispa Fukuoka. [And win 0 - 1.]

James Watt, maker of finely calibrated fly swatters. Source.

Unarigoe, Chapter 5, Page 2