On This Day: 18th March

Greensnet Editor
Thu 18 Mar 2021, 16:38

Where 17th March was one of the quieter days in history, today’s round-up sees no fewer than 24 competitive fixtures on the ledger for us to have a look back through. So, without further ado.

In 1911 as the hail insurance law was passed in North Dakota, allowing farmers to claim against crop damage specifically caused by hailstorms, Hampstead Town rained in the goals at Friern Barnet in a Finchley & District League Division 1 match, scoring 9 for the second day in succession with a 9-2 win. Three years later in 1914 and a rare midweek Middlesex League match against Wealdstone saw a 3-2 success this time, Eric Wright, George Hyde and H Baldock with the goals.

A whopping 5,000 strong crowd congregated at The Avenue Ground in 1922 saw St Albans City travel down from leafy Hertfordshire and hand out a 3-1 beating, S Howard netting the goal for the home side. There’ll be more about the Saints later on. Moving ahead to 1933 and Jimmy Spalton was on target twice on a trip to Redhill in the Athenian League, however the Surrey side won the game 3-2 to take the points.

Wealdstone again provided the opposition in 1939, this time at Claremont Road and the two sides shared 6-goals equally between them. Billy Breagan, Jock Ellison and Ted Owen scored for Golders Green. Five years later in 1944 and Leyton came to Claremont Road in the Herts & Middlesex County League, Roy Worthington scored twice and Cyril Goodchild once in the 3-1 win that occurred on the day that Nazi Germany began their occupation of Hungary.

A 1950 Middlesex Charity Cup semi-final tie with Finchley at Claremont Road saw the visitors leave with a 1-0 win and progression into the final eleven years before Leyton returned to Claremont Road, this time in the Athenian League, and left with their ears ringing after a 5-0 beating. Two goals each from Graham Davies and Jimmy Quail as well as one from Ronnie Hall kept the Hendon title charge on track.

Half a dozen years later in 1967 as Penny Lane went to Number 1 in the USA and the oil tanker Torrey Canyon hit rocks off Cornwall spilling oil, the Greens trekked to the Baseball Ground, Derby, looking to keep their hopes of a third consecutive Amateur Cup final appearance alive as they took on Skelmersdale United. A goalless draw did indeed maintain those hopes and secured a second bite of the cherry the following week.

There was another goalless draw two years later in a 1969 Isthmian League match with Sutton United at Gander Green Lane before another Amateur Cup semi-final arrived in 1972 and the Greens took on Wycombe Wanderers at Brentford’s Griffin Park. John Baker gave the Greens a lead that was equalised by the Chairboys. In the second half a ball dropped on the edge of the area and was met with a venomous strike from Peter Deadman. The goalkeeper had absolutely no chance and for a fifth time, the Greens were going to Wembley Stadium for an Amateur Cup final.

1978 saw a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Slough Town on the day that former Pakistani premier Ali Bhutto was sentenced to death and a couple of years after that in 1980 strikes from Jock McGleish and Peter Shodeinde secured a point from a visit to Enfield’s Southbury Road.

A visit to Farnborough Town’s Cherrywood Road ended in mild humiliation as Boro’ rattled in five past Mark Broughton without the Greens able to summon any reply, that was in 1986 and three years later Steve Scott and Uche Egbe scored the goals in a 2-2 draw against Dagenham at Claremont Road, this on the day that a 4,400 year old mummy was discovered in the Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt.

1995 saw Mick Browne’s side dish out swift and impressive retribution against Yeading only four days after a 6-1 Middlesex Senior Cup defeat against the same opponents. This time the defence stood rather firmer at The Warren and Dave Flint came off the bench to grab the all important strike to secure a crucial win on the day that NBA legend Michael Jordan announces his return to the sport after a 17-month retirement. Two years later St Albans City returned for a second time and once again returned to Hertfordshire with the points as they won 2-0, Naseem Bashir controlling the game for the Saints and persuading Hendon boss Frank Murphy to sign him in the summer of 1997.

Same opponents three years later, same place and same result as the Saints nailed the Greens for a third time on 18th March. This time the scoreline was 3-0 in front of a crowd of 380, rather fewer than had attended the game 78 years previously but more than 100 more than had been at Claremont Road three years previously.

In 2003 as British Sign Language is recognised as an official British Language, Dave Anderson took his side to Canvey Island for the first leg of the Isthmian League Cup semi-final. Goals from Ricci Crace and Martin Randall weren’t enough to stop the home team winning 4-2 and hold all the aces ahead of the return leg. Meanwhile, the inch towards safety in 2006 continued with a visit to Worthing and an own goal secured a point.

Ashford Town (Middlesex) provided the opposition in 2008 at Claremont Road and goals from Brian Haule (2) and Belal Aite-Ouakrim were enough to grab a 3-1 win and keep the Greens in the play-off picture. Two years later and that picture was altogether gloomier as a visit to Brimsdown Rovers in the London Senior Cup ended in a gloomy 1-0 defeat.

Kevin Maclaren played a captain’s innings in 2015 with the only goal of the game to beat Canvey Island at Earlsmead with a measured low curling effort from the edge of the penalty area and then just two years later the Greens picked up another crucial win, this time in the fight against the drop as goals from Keagan Cole and Matt Ball were enough to beat Needham Market 2-1 at Silver Jubilee Park.

All of which means at the end of the marathon 24-game review, we’ve been treated to nine wins, six draws and nine defeats with 42 goals scored and 39 conceded.