1920-03-06: Rangers 1-0 Celtic, Scottish Cup

Lock, Manderson, Gordon, Bowie, Dixon, Walls, Archibald, Muirhead, Cunningham, Cairns, Paterson

Shaw, McNair, Dodds, McStay, Cringan, McMaster, McAtee, McMenemy, Gallacher, Cassidy, McLean

[…] The great tie between the Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox was won by the slightly better team. The Rangers gave the impression of possessing more physical strength, and their forwards certainly had more finishing power than the Celtic front line. But there was very little in it. It was a match that will be remembered more for its deadly keenness than for the quality of football, although Gordon, Dixon, Muirhead, and Paterson for the Rangers and McNair, Dodds, and McMenemy for the Celts frequently displayed their particular qualities. In the second half McAtee played above himself, and it was then that Gordon got the opportunity of proving what a magnificent defender he is. After a punishing first half the honours were pretty even, but seven minutes after the restart the Rangers took the lead. Anderson placed a free kick to Paterson, who passed swiftly across the goalmouth, and Muirhead drove the ball at great speed into the net. The Celts made a splendid response, and they did easily more of the pressing to the end, due largely to the policy of the Rangers in playing a defensive game. Gallagher and Cassidy changed places, the former going out of the centre to inside right, but the Rangers' backs and half-backs were not to be beaten that way. The number of spectators who paid at the gate was 80,500, and altogether there would be 85,000 present. The gate drawings, exclusive of tax, amounted to £3018, 9s. 9d., a record for a club match in Scotland.

.The Glasgow Herald – Mar 8, 1920
Defence Supreme At Ibrox

When local rivals, whatever their standing engage each other in an important competition, play is apt to be more strenuous than spectacular, particularly if the attack be not allowed to develop, nor any individual forward to be given scope. It was because the half-backs on each side were so successful as spoilers that the game at Ibrox appealed only to the partisan; the disinterested spectator who anticipated an exposition of good football from the two best Scottish elevens saw little that was interesting. It is essential to combination and smoothness in attack that the centre-forward should not be mastered by the opposing centre-half, and as Gallagher was always physically inferior to Dixon, Cunningham quite a loss to circumvent Cringan, it followed that sustained attack was beyond both teams, the inside game conspicuous by its absence. But while dominated in one position Rangers hold a great advantage in possessing the more virile young forwards, an advantage that have given them a slight lead in goals at the interval had not the majority of the opposing defenders been similarly endowed. So while Rangers were the more prominent in attack prior to crossing over they failed to register even a minor point; not one corner kick went their way, as against half a dozen conceded the Parkhead forwards in this period. The nearest approach to scoring by the more convincing attack was a long shot from Cairns, intercepted by one of the goal posts, and as an offset the home goal had a narrow escape when, close on the interval, Gallagher had a counting shot accidentally converted for a flag kick. A blank score at the interval reflected equality that was not likely to be maintained; it did not seem possible for the Celtic defence to battle successfully against great odds, to hold out against forwards, fitter, stronger, more enterprising than their own.
A Decision That Rankled
By rearranging their attack Celtic hoped to give strength to a manifestly weak line, and succeeded to a certain extent. If they did not monopolise the attack in the second half they certainly put their opponents on the defensive more frequently, and for longer intervals than before, and always without one of them getting within shooting range. There was the same thrustfulness in the home attack as before, countered effectively by a defence that betrayed no weakness, and with neither side capable of making the slightest impression a goalless draw and a mid-week replay seemed inevitable. A feature of the game so far was the scrupulous interpretation of the laws bearing on rough play by the official in charge, and two decisions adverse to Celtic were directly responsible for their eventual defeat. From a free kick given against an opponent Paterson crossed so accurately as to make scoring comparatively easy for Muirhead, and when Cassidy found the net with the best shot of the match it went for nothing because of the referee having previously penalised one of the visiting side for an infringement. Though palpably annoyed by what seemed to them an unwise decision, the Celtic forwards never ceased to persevere and nearly had their reward when Lock left his goal unguarded and McAtee failed by inches only to equalise with a fast slanting shot. Apart from the two free kicks which had such a momentous bearing on the result, the game was so evenly contested as to merit the teams having a second trial of strength. The winners held an advantage in attack that was neutralised by a stout defence to an extent that meant Lock having much more to do than Shaw. Paterson and McAtee were the only forwards to break occasionally through the half-back line; the others were always under subjection. As defenders, Gordon and Cringan were conspicuously successful, the others as good as to occasion regret that either section should be included in a defeated team.