Saturday, 10 April 1965 would prove to be another pivotal day in the title race, albeit most eyes were on Wembley as Scotland toiled to a 2-2 draw with an English team who played most of the second half with just nine fit players. There were two vital League games played the same afternoon, Hearts travelling to Tannadice knowing that a win would leave them just two points from the title.
As it turned out, the Gorgie men trailed for most of the afternoon to an early Finn Dossing strike and it took a superb late effort from Willie Wallace to salvage a draw, leaving them two points clear of Kilmarnock with two matches remaining. The other big match was at Cathkin, where Dunfermline edged Third Lanark by the odd goal in three to keep their outside chances alive, the Fifers now just two points behind Kilmarnock.
The Pars also had a game in hand of the leading duo and that took place at East End Park four nights later. Defending champions Rangers were the visitors but the Fifers tore them apart with two goals in a devastating opening 15 minutes, Jackie Sinclair opening the scoring before Harry Melrose doubled the lead from Tommy Callaghan’s free-kick. Tommy was then involved in the action again as the hosts sought a third, his penalty kick brilliantly saved by Norrie Martin.
Fellow Fifer Jim Baxter was also foiled from 12 yards, Jim Herriot twisting to block his spot kick in the 41st minute. We then had a bizarre episode as referee Henderson of Dundee immediately blew for half-time with four minutes still remaining, despite clearly being advised of the situation by his linesmen as they headed down the tunnel. Sure enough, the officials re-emerged with the teams within a few minutes to play out the first half. Dunfermline did get a third goal when Sinclair beat Martin again with 20 minutes to play and the match was in its dying seconds before Davie Wilson pulled one back to make the final score 3-1.
That victory took the Fifers into second place, now above Kilmarnock on goal average. Indeed, Dunfermline had the best goal average of the three title contenders, 2.26 to Hearts’ 1.85 and Killie’s 1.72. And with Hearts and Kilmarnock playing each other on the final day, hopes were raised once again that the League flag would be flying over East End Park by the end of April.
And those more optimistic Pars fans believed that the Double was also a distinct possibility, a view endorsed when they heard that Scottish Cup final opponents Celtic had been trounced 6-2 by third-bottom Falkirk at Brockville the same evening. Not a bad way for Falkirk manager Alec McCrae to end his five-year tenure with the Bairns. He resigned the following morning following a disagreement with the directors over club policy.
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Great memories Matt. Shows how much the Scottish Football world has changed. On reading that it reminded me how much I took it for granted at that time that Celtic were not a team who would be challenging for the title. I was engrossed in getting that Scottish Cup win. That was enough for me, although I was sure Big Jock would be succesful in improving us.
By the way I recall that in the Daily Record on Cup Final Saturday morning there were 4 pages devoted to the 2 big games that day. One page each for Celtic, Dunfermline, Killie, Hearts telling gving the reason why each of these teams would be a winner. Then in Monday’s edition the Record was able to review both results with a “as we predicted” headline!