The 27th April sees the goal-fests of the last couple of days consigned to the dustbin as today’s 27 matches see goals scored at a rate of less than 2.5 per game.

We begin in 1914 as with a 1-1 draw against Liberty in the Middlesex League and then 11-years later there was another draw, this time in the Athenian League at Bromley in a game that ended 0-0.

Four-years on in 1929 a visit to Leyton in the Athenian League ended ignominiously as the East Londoners cruised to a 5-0 win and then in 1931 as temperatures hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit for the first time in Hawaii, Freddy Young and George Bucci score in a 2-2 draw with Enfield at Southbury Road.

The first win on 27th April arrived in 1933 on the day that Hitler creates the Ministry of Aviation, headed by Hermann Goering, Barnet came to Claremont Road in the Athenian League and were beaten 1-0. Five-years later Casuals contested the Will Mather Cup with Golders Green at Claremont Road and won 3-0.

Just a year later and the Green picked up a second win on this day with a 3-2 win over Barking on the Thames riverside and a year later on the day that Himmler ordered the construction of a concentration camp at Auschwitz, a Middlesex Senior Cup tie with Tufnell Park ended 0-0.

In 1946 the two sides met again, this time in the Middlesex Charity Cup and goals from Melvyn Griffiths and Alf Williams gave Golders Green a 2-1 win, this on the day that radar was first installed on-board a commercial ship. Nine-years later in 1955 Horace Meadows found the net back in the Athenian League against Leyton however once again the East Londoners came out on top with a 2-1 win.

Just a year later the Greens contested the final of the Middlesex Senior Cup at Lower Mead and try as they might, they were unable to overcome the Hounslow Town rearguard who held out to secure the trophy for the West Londoners, 1-0. Two years later in 1959 there was another defeat as Enfield came to Claremont Road back in the Athenian League and won 3-2 despite Jimmy Quail’s two goals for the Greens, this on the same day that Mao Zedong resigned as Chairman of the People’s Republic of China following the failure of the Great Leap Forward.

Brian Figg was on target in 1960 as Hounslow Town once again provided the opposition, this time in the Athenian League and managed to secure a 1-1 draw, this as Togo declared its independence from French rule. Three years on and it was honours even once again in a home game against Hornchurch which ended 2-2 thanks to a brace from David Swain, this on the day that TV writer Russell T. Davies was
born and Fidel Castro arrived in Moscow for the first time.
Bobby Wilson and Rod Haider netted in 1968 as the Greens picked up a first win in 22-years, Tooting & Mitcham United were beaten 2-0 at Sandy Lane and then in 1971 the scoreline was the same, alas this time the Greens ended up bettered as they travelled to Southbury Road to take on Enfield.

Just a year later Tony Bass was on target as the Greens slipped to a 3-1 defeat to Walthamstow Avenue on the road and then two-years later the Middlesex Senior Cup was secured with a 1-0 final second leg win over Edgware Town at the White Lion Ground to complete a 4-1 aggregate win. John Baker was the goalscorer.

There was another defeat in 1976 as a visit to Woking ended in a 3-1 defeat, Alan Phillips grabbing the Hendon goal, this on the day that Isobel Campbell of Belle & Sebastien and British actress Sally Hawkins were born. Nine-years later in 1985 a George Duck strike secured a 1-1 draw against Epsom & Ewell.

It was back to Claremont Road in 1991 as Basingstoke Town visited NW2, Colin Tate scored but the visitors returned to North Hampshire with a 2-1 win. Two-years later in 1993 a trip to Buckinghamshire to take on Aylesbury United ended in a 1-1 draw with Jon Daly on target for the Greens.

1996 was responsible for the entirety of goalkeeper Robert Acteson’s entire Hendon career and to his credit, he kept a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw with Grays Athletic and three-years on in 1999 a pair of strikes from Paul Whitmarsh along with another from Junior Lewis saw Frank Murphy’s side to a 3-0 win at Bishop’s Stortford.

Martin Randall and Ricci Crace scored the goals in 2002 as Enfield were beaten 2-0 at Claremont Road before an 11-year gap until the next match on this day – that taking place in 2013 with a long trip to Suffolk to take on Lowestoft Town. James Fisher and Kevin Maclaren both saw red in the 1-0 defeat to bring the 2012/13 season to a disappointing end.

There was better cheer just down the Suffolk coast five-years later in 2018 as superb goals from Daniel Uchechi and Ashley Nathaniel-George not only defeated Leiston at Victory Road, but as news in stoppage time filtered through that Jamie O’Hara had equalised for Billericay against Folkestone, a home draw in the play-off semi-final was also secured.

27 matches have appropriately taken place on the 27th April of which there have been eight wins, nine draws and 10 defeats. Just 29 goals have been scored and 36 conceded.