On This Day: 19th February

Greensnet Editor
Fri 19 Feb 2021, 10:24

19th February has seen the club in action on no fewer than 21 occasions and with it, a record number of goals scored so far. Additionally, largely thanks to a single result, the second largest number of goals conceded across the month and a half so far revisited.

We begin in 1921 and an Athenian League visit to Kingstonian which saw Cecil Wise score the first of three hat-tricks to be scored on this day in a comfortable 3-0 win. The second treble came in 1927 on the same day that there was a general strike against British occupiers in Shanghai when Harry Shearcroft netted three against Botwell Mission (latterly Hayes) in the Middlesex Charity Cup at Claremont Road. George Howell, G H Smith and Harold Pease also found the target in a resounding 6-2 win.

Staying with the Middlesex Charity Cup, 1938 saw London Caledonians beaten 4-2 at Claremont Road with Dave Walker scoring twice, Jerry Marrable and Fred Boston were also on target and in 1944 as 823 British bombers launch an attack on Berlin and U-264 is sunk off the coast of Ireland, Clapton beat the Greens 3-1 at the Old Spotted Dog in the Herts & Middlesex County League with Eric Worthington grabbing the Golders Green goal.

In 1949 it was back to Middlesex Charity Cup action and Tufnell Park were beaten 6-2 at Claremont Road with Ted Hornsby this time scoring thrice. Bob Avis grabbed two and Bill Reay the other in the comprehensive win over local rivals. Things were rather more sedate in 1955 as a visit to Wimbledon in the Amateur Cup ended 1-1, Norwegian Ragnar Hvidsten – who has his own Wikipedia page and was capped 21 times by his country – grabbed the Hendon goal.

Remaining with the Amateur Cup and another road to an unsuccessful final appearance continued in 1966 as Leytonstone were beaten 2-1 at Claremont Road thanks to strikes from John Evans and Dave Swain before our 1972 run to Wembley was briefly interrupted by a goal-less draw at home to Maidenhead United as Harry Nilsson’s ‘Without You’ made it’s way to Number 1 of the Billboard Charts three weeks before it would do the same in the UK.

Rod Haider, Roger Connell and Jimmy Wilsonham grabbed the goals in a 1974 Isthmian League win over Corinthian Casuals before a 1977 visit to Woking ended 4-2 with Tony Field, John Butterfield and George Brooks (2) on target. This on the same day that the space shuttle Enterprise made its inaugural test flight on the back of a Boeing 747 airliner.

Another visit to leafy Surrey in 1983 ended in another success as Leatherhead were beaten 2-1 at Fetcham Grove thanks to an own goal and one from Devon Gayle. The unbeaten run on 19th February stretching back 41-years was halted in 1985 as Fisher Athletic won by the only goal of the game in the London Senior Cup as supporters found themselves with the acidic choice of football or Eastenders for the first time as the BBC soap premiered. Also occurring on this day 150 were killed in an air crash on the approach to Bilbao and cherry flavoured Coca-Cola became a thing.

In 1987 as President Reagan lifted a trade boycott against Poland strikes from Andy Smith and Danny Worley beat Finchley 2-1 in the London Senior Cup and a 1991 Isthmian League derby against Enfield ended 3-2 to the E’s with Martin Duffield and Colin Tate on target for the Greens.

Three-years later in 1994 Sutton United came to Claremont Road, scored the only goal of the game and took the points with them and in 2000 Dominic Gentle’s goal was to no avail as a visit to Chesham United ended in a 2-1 defeat.

That run of three defeats in a row came to an end a couple of years later in 2002 as then Conference side Hayes were hammered 5-1 at Church Road in the Middlesex Senior Cup to set up a last-four tie with newly formed Enfield Town. Steve Forbes, Martin Randall, Eugene Ofori, Ricci Crace and an own goal completed the nap hand over Terry Brown’s side. Three-years later in 2005 Gary McCann’s unbeaten start as Hendon manager continued as John Frendo netted the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over Windsor & Eton at Stag Meadow.

A 2008 Middlesex Senior Cup semi-final at Northwood saw goals from Casey Maclaren, Danny Dyer and Iavor Guentchev, his only goal for the club, secure progression into the final against Hampton & Richmond Borough with a comfortable 3-0 win before a 2011 visit to Lowestoft Town ended in disaster as the hosts racked up 8 goals whilst the Greens faithful had just a consolation from Belal Aite-ouakrim to cheer.

We end in 2013 and another visit to Suffolk that ended rather less sourly. A rare Kevin Maclaren goal and another from the impressive Junior Morias secured the points in a 2-1 win against Bury Town.

Of 21 matches to have been played to date on 19th February we’ve seen 13 wins, two draws and six defeats. A whopping 49 goals have been scored and 34 conceded.