Rangers beaten and broken in 'roughest cup final on record' - Morton's finest hour recalled 100 years on

Rangers face Celtic in Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final having gone 13 years since they last lifted the trophy.

However, exactly 100 years ago in the early stages of Bill Struth's reign, the Light Blues were in the midst of an even longer barren run in the competition when they lined up against unfancied Morton in the final at Hampden.

Rangers hadn't lifted the cup since 1903 but despite the stark statistic and a shock loss to Partick Thistle in the previous year's final, the Ibrox side were overwhelming favourites to break their so-called hoodoo.

Bob Cochran's Morton had achieved top-six finishes in eight of the previous ten seasons and boasted several internationals, yet were credited with little chance in their first final. And when 37-goal centre-forward George French was ruled out through injury minutes before kick-off, it seemed Morton's best chance of victory had gone.

Greenock Morton players pictured with the Scottish Cup after beating Rangers in the 1922 final at Hampden.

However, in a highly physical contest, the Ton triumphed with an early goal from Jimmy Gourlay, the oldest man on the pitch.

Playing against a strong wind on a heavy pitch, Rangers attacked from the first whistle with Alan Morton's strong shot hitting the post in the first minute.

Skipper Andy Cunningham missed a gilt-edged chance from close-range and Morton then came into the match. Rangers' left-back McCandless was short with a pass back to goalkeeper Robb who rushed from his goal in an attempt to retrieve the situation but only succeeded in handling the ball outside his penalty area.

From the resultant free kick, right-half Jimmy Gourlay, a Morton stalwart for a decade, drove the ball with expert precision over the massed ranks of the Rangers wall into the roof of the net.

Just twelve minutes had passed and worse was to come for Rangers when they lost Cunningham on the half-hour mark with a fractured jaw. The game then deteriorated into a no-holds-barred stop/start battle with players from both sides escaping censure for bad fouls, although Morton's diminutive inside-forwards Bobby McKay and Alf Brown showed some delightful glimpses of their talents either side of half-time.

Despite an injury to international centre-half Jackie Wright which left him limping badly on the right-wing, Morton began the second half brightly with Buchanan, McKay, and McNab all coming close to a second goal, but for the last 30 minutes, it was virtually all one-way traffic towards the Morton goal.

Goalkeeper Edwards, relatively untroubled until then, was at last called into action, saving a powerful shot from Archibald and pulling off the save of the match in the 75th minute, breathtakingly fingertipping Alan Morton's net-bound shot over the crossbar while lying on the ground. From the corner, McIntyre headed clear from under the crossbar and Edwards performed more heroics, diving into a mass of flailing boots to emerge with the ball.

Morton continued to defend resolutely and goal-hero Gourlay saved a certain goal at his own end when he got a foot on the ball to block Cairns' net-bound effort.

Rangers grew increasingly desperate in their quest for an equaliser and the Morton injuries mounted with McMinn, McKay, and Buchanan having to play through the pain barrier. It was virtually ten men against seven by this stage but Morton managed to see out the last ten minutes without further travail to take the cup to Greenock.

Post-match, the overall consensus was that Morton deserved their victory, adapting best to the conditions and playing the best football in a match in which skillful football was at a premium.

In a courageous team performance, every Morton player played their part but only Alan Morton showed anything like his true form for Rangers. Rangers drew sympathy for the loss of their captain, but Morton had been badly affected by injury too.

Several newspapers condemned the physical aspect of the match with the Dundee Courier calling it "the roughest cup final on record." However, the Scotsman took a different view, considering the final "capital fare."

But the Greenock Telegraph spoke for all Morton fans with their apt description of Jimmy Gourlay's winning goal, the first that had been scored direct from a free kick in a Scottish Cup Final – "a triumph of poise and aiming."

Rangers' hoodoo continued until 1928 when they lifted the cup after a gap of 25 years, but for Morton, a full century later, the 1922 Scottish Cup win remains their sole major honor.

Morton: Edwards, McIntyre, R.Brown, Gourlay, Wright, McGregor, McNab, McKay, Buchanan, A. Brown, McMinn.

Rangers: Robb, Manderson, McCandless, Meilklejohn, Dixon, Muirhead, Archibald, Cunningham, Henderson, Cairns, Morton.

Referee: T. Dougray.

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