Never before has there been such an atmosphere at an Athenian League match at Claremont Road as there was on Monday evening. For Hendon, holders of the [Amateur] Cup for just 48 hours, were at home for the first time since the final.

Sporting gesture of the year came from visiting Enfield. They formed a guard of honour and applauded the Wembley winners on to the pitch.

The Hendon team took the Amateur Cup on a lap of honour just before their Athenian League match with Enfield at Claremont Road on Monday evening. The track-suited players circled the ground, lustily cheered by the many spectators.

Laurie Topp, the hero of the Final, and Bill Fisher had the honour of carrying the trophy with skipper Charlie Murphy. Topp and Murphy held the cup between them for the first half of the lap and then Topp dropped back to allow Fisher to join Murphy at the head of the file. This was indeed a tribute to two fine club stalwarts who have done much to take Hendon to the pinnacle of the amateur soccer world.

There was also a tribute by Enfield, the team that Hendon knocked out in the semi-final. They formed a guard of honour and applauded the Hendon players out on to the pitch. This delightful gesture touched the hearts of the Hendon players, officials and supporters, and was sportsmanship at its finest.

It was fitting that the match between Hendon, the Amateur Cup winners, and Enfield, making a late bid for the Athenian League championship, should end in a draw.

Hendon took the lead in the first half with a cracker-jack of a shot by Brian Figg. Enfield equalised during a goalmouth scramble.

Only two of the Amateur finalists were not on parade. Bobby Ellison took over at right back from Ron Widdowfield, who is enjoying a spot of leave from the Fleet Air Arm, and young Len Longuet was on the right wing in place of Mike Candey, who is studying engineering in Peterborough.

Longuet gave a favourable performance before he was slowed up by an ankle injury in the first half.

[Newspaper cutting supplied by Graham Frost of Enfield]