THE SCOTSMAN - Monday, October 27, 1958

Most accomplished team in Scotland

Hearts' win a formality

BY OUR FOOTBALL CORRESPONDENT

Heart of Midlothian 5, Partick Thistle 1

Something like sixty thousand spectators, 11 of them wearing red and yellow, saw Heart of Midlothian prove themselves Scotland's most accomplished football team at Hampden Park on Saturday.

That they won the Scottish League Cup in the process was as much of a punctilious formality as the presentation ceremony which followed the game.

Perhaps the only obvious advantage that the Partick Thistle players could claim over the other onlookers was a closer view of Hearts impressive exhibition.

But they were given little time to appreciate the finer points and it may be assumed that their study of the cup-winners techniques would be more exhausting than exhaustive.

The Glasgow side did exert a positive influence on the game for ten minutes in the second half but their brief rally was scarcely sufficient to alter the general impression that they were no more than inadequate sparring partners for the Tynecastle champions.

Since this was a professional title contest the referee might have been forgiven for intervening halfway through to save Partick from further punishment.

ASSURED MASTERY

Hearts' assured mastery, firmly based on their skill and the tangible results it had produced lent genuine authority to predictions that the League Cup will have distinguished company at Tynecastle before the season is out.

Hearts should certainly be in a position to drape it with the League flag, and there is little to suggest that come April they will not have the Scottish Cup to complete their spring ensemble.

If that great triple success is achieved it will not be through the efforts of 11 men.

It is usually a platitude to say that a triumph for a football club reflects credit on every man on the staff.

In the case of Hearts it is a simple fact.

Yet there can be no doubt that two men have made a special and probably irreplaceable contribution to the Hearts formula for success.

They are of course the wing half-backs Mackay and Cumming.

And whatever the International team lists may indicate Cumming is the more brilliantly effective footballer of the two.

On Saturday the left-half was outstanding in a Hearts team that was without one conspicuous weakness.

Mackay's spirit, his unflagging vigour and his skilful encouragement of his forward were always inspiring.

But even the fine performance of the young Scottish captain was overshadowed by the magnificent economy that marked everything Cumming did.

He tackled with a controlled strength out of all proportion to his slim physique, his passing was almost invariably subtle and accurate and he was never caught dangerously out of position.

His performance warranted the particular attention of the Scottish selectors.

MURRAY THE VILLAIN

If Cumming was the classic hero of the piece Murray would certainly be the most sinister villain in the eyes of Partick Thistle.

The inside-right celebrated his return to the first eleven by scoring two goals and taking a key role in the production of the other three.

Murray s first goal—and Hearts second—epitomised the qualities which stamped him as the most menacing forward on the field. When a pass from Kirk found him on the right wing in the tenth minute, Murray's positional sense had as usual given him ample room to control the ball and move forward with it.

As Davidson advanced to tackle Murray slipped the ball round one side and adroitly circled the centre-half on the other before moving in to push the ball very deliberately inside Ledgerwood's left-hand upright.

The whole operation was executed swiftly, surely and with a distinct absence of over-elaboration.

Five minutes earlier Murray's unending search for the open spaces around the Partick defensive area had led to his side's first goal—and the lively controversy that surrounded it.

The officials controlling the game were among the rninority who thought that Murray was on-side when he gathered the ball to hit a shot which went just wide enough to become a pass for Bauld.

From the Press seats it seemed that Murray was clearly offside but a linesman who was ideally placed to give a ruling had no hesitation in signalling play on.

Fortunately, Bauld, who provided shrewd and forceful leadership throughout the 90 minutes, did not wait for the verdict.

He cracked the ball briskly into the net—and went on to repeat the procedure in the 28th minute after Murray had head-passed a Crawford corner back across the Partick goal

TOO GOOD TO BE LEGAL

Hearts' fourth goal, scored after 38 minutes was marred by another offside dispute.

Again Murray's position appeared too good to be legal when he collected a pass from Hamilton.

A linesman's flag went up in unison with a desperate appeal from the Partick defence But the referee ignored both and Murray sent a left foot drive streaking into the net off the far post.

By this time there were clear signs that Thistle had attempted an offside strategy—and even clearer signs that it had failed miserably.

The beginning of the second half brought a short but amazing revival which proved that Partick though overwhelmed.

were still not overawed McKenzie, with a burst of his old fire raced clear on the right wing and chipped the ball accurately into the middle for Smith to head a fine goal.

A few minutes later Marshall's crossbar shuddered under the impact of a shot which had blurred twenty yards from McParland's right foot.

Almost before the woodwork had stopped quivering, Hearts had steadied too.

Their entire right flank joined in a manoeuvre that ended with a Murray slip and a Hamilton shot which restored the statistical margin between the teams to four goals.

In such a company, most of the Partick men looked painfully outclassed.

Only Ledgerwood, Hogan, Smith and McKenzie made any pretensions to equality.

The others would have to be satisfied with the faint consolation that few teams can expect any greater kindness from the hard Hearts of Tynecastle.

"Treble" is the target

Mackay confident

The " Treble " - League Cup, Scottish Cup, and League Championship - which no team have yet achieved, is Hearts target this season.

In a short speech at a dinner, in Edinburgh, on Saturday night, to celebrate their League Cup triumph, Mackay, the Hearts captain, ended by saying that the wish of the team was to achieve the treble.

Enlarging on the issue later, Mackay was confident that the team were capable of achieving their target - with a bit of luck.

The League Championship, he said, invariably went to the best side, but they would need a bit of luck in the Cup.

In congratulating the team on their victory, Mr. N.

G. Kilgour, the chairman, once more pointed out that teamwork had taken them to the top.

But he added a special word of praise for the inspiration provided by Mackay's captaincy.

It was a wonderful compliment to the club, he added, that Mackay had recently been appointed captain of Scotland too. Under the wing-half's leadership he was sure Scotland could recapture some of her past glory.