On This Day: January 16th

Greensnet Editor
Sat 16 Jan 2021, 09:30

Today’s ‘On this Day’ features the equalling of a club record and is, to date, the most successful date in the club’s history that has been covered so far in the series.

Christ Church Hampstead set the tone for what was to follow over the next 112 years with a 4-1 win over St Johns Friern Barnet in the Finchley & District League Division 3 in the club’s inaugural 1908/9 season and 17-years later 3,500 people crammed into the Avenue Ground to watch an Amateur Cup tie against Wycombe Wanderers finish 1-0 thanks to a strike by one goalscoring club record holder featured today, Oscar Reinke.

Six years later Portland United returned to Dorset with a goalless draw and replay in their pocket after an Amateur Cup tie – Hampstead’s side included a certain Leslie Compton - and in 1937 Romford came to Claremont Road in the Athenian League and returned eastwards with a 2-1 win, Bill Weaver netting the solitary Golders Green goal.

A run of success on this day that spawned 47 years and saw six wins and a draw in seven matches on this day kicked off in 1943 with a 4-3 win over St Albans City in the Herts and Middlesex County League, Les Pulling and veteran George Bucci shared the Golders Green goals equally between them with two each and 11 years later in 1954, Cliff Nock netted a brace in a 2-1 London Senior Cup success over Barking.

Jimmy Quail continued the tradition of scoring twice on this day with a couple of goals in a 3-0 win over Staines Town in the Middlesex Senior Cup in 1960, Terry Howard added the other strike and Quail enjoyed that experience so much he repeated the trick again exactly five years later in a 3-2 success over Clapton in the Isthmian League, Danny Lakey this time was also on target.

Six years later in 1971, John Baker went one better than his predecessors on this day and struck a hat-trick in a 6-0 Amateur Cup replay against Alton Town. Peter Anderson, Bobby Wilson and Mickey Cannon were the other goalscorers, normal service was resumed in 1988 when Iain Dowie struck twice in a 2-2 draw with Bishop’s Stortford in the Isthmian League at Claremont Road. That made the future Northern Ireland international the seventh player to score more than once on this day in consecutive matches.

That run came to an end in 1990 when a solitary Colin Tate strike sunk Rayners Lane in the Middlesex Charity Cup and three years later a rare defeat on the 15th January occurred as St Albans won 2-1 at Clarence Park in the Isthmian League, Trevor Wilkinson with the Hendon goal.

Normal service was resumed in 1999 as Worthing were beaten 2-0 at Woodside Road to set up an FA Trophy tie at Cheltenham Town, Matt Howard and Paul Whitmarsh saw Frank Murphy’s side comfortably through. Finally, in 2018, Spelthorne Sports found themselves humbled 9-1 at Silver Jubilee Park, with Joe White equalling a club record on his 19th birthday by scoring 5 times – the first player to achieve the feat since David Hyde in 1963. Ashley Nathaniel-George added a hat-trick of his own and Liam Gordon, on-loan from Dagenham & Redbridge netted the other.

Of 14 matches on this day in history 10 have ended in wins with 2 drawn and another 2 lost. 39 goals have been scored and 16 conceded.