PREAMBLE : Before a crowd of nearly 3,000 at Claremont Road on Saturday, Golders Green gave a disappointing FA Cup display against Enfield. They had some bad luck, but they also failed to turn their chances to good account and Enfield had them on the run in the second half.

S.A. Barlow, Golders Green's new goalkeeper, worked well, but it was to some extent unfortunate, on his first appearance, that the visitors brought along a custodian of such brilliance as to detract attention from the home team's capture.
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REPORT PROPER :
Golders Green and Enfield were each in theirown way a mystery at Claremont Road on Saturday. What were the Enfield men doing in the first half to let Golders Green nearly romp away with the game, when Enfield could show such vast superiority after the change of ends? And if Golders Green could lead the visitors a dance before the interval, why were they shattered in the second half?

Certainly Golders Green should not have lost the cup-tie. They deserved to win up to half-time, and were, in fact, leading until close on the whistle. This, it is true, was only a lead by one penalty goal, but Golders Green were worth a bigger margin on the winning side. The defence were caught napping, however, at the last moment, and Enfield equalised.

Then came a thoroughly disappointing second half. Golders Green were altogether too slow, opportunities were lost through failure to follow up near goal, there was too much bunching together in the attack, and the defence went all to pieces. At times it was a one man defence, Broadis doing all the work - except, that is, for Barlow, who gave a good performance, sometimes under great pressure.

Barlow certainly pleased the supporters of his new team.

W. Boston and Caswell, at back, promised well in the early stages, but did not keep it up. Breagan did a lot of valuable work, and Broadis performed far better than was expected, having regard to his shoulder injury of the previous week. Bucci was resting (on advice) and his place at left-half was taken by J.W. Bloxham, but he was a disappointing deputy. The re-arrangement of the front line sounded good, but did not work out so well. Soden, in the centre, worked hard without achieving much, Leahy remained at outside-right and was in quite good form, but he was not well partnered by Walker, who appeared to tire early in the game. Browne, nominally at inside-left, popped up here, there and everywhere, generally to good purpose, but F. Boston, on the outside, often seemed more anxious to score than to centre the ball, which was a mistake in this match at least.

There was one change in the Enfield team, A. Tulley taking the place of E. N. Field at outside-right. The whole team seemed to lack power in the first half, but showed a clever combination after the breather.

Though Golders Green must take a large proportion of the blame for their defeat, it was in part due to the grand goalkeeping of Greygoose. He was only beaten by the penalty goal, though he had to deal with some hard and testing shots.

The match provided plenty of interest, and attracted the largest crowd of the season at Golders Green so far.

Almost from the kick-off, Enfield pushed ahead on the right wing, and Constable centre to Wright, but W. Boston got his head to the ball, and although Cox retrieved the ball and passed in to Griffin, the shot failed. Tulley led another attack after Golders Green had carried out a couple of raids, but Caswell stopped the advance. Breagan got Golders Green on the move, and Soden tried a shot, without success. Walker alsoi had a run for goal, but lost the ball to Sellwood, and Golders Green fell back for Barlow to be tested by Tulley.

Then Golders Green started the pressure which promised a good win and which should at least have produced a comfortable margin by half-time. For long stretches Golders Green penned Enfield in their own territory, and only the magnificent work of Greygoose kept the goal intact. Leahy hooked the ball round for F. Boston, who was well placed, but his shot went a trifle high, and Boston kicked over the top a second time soon afterwards. A free kick taken by Boston led to a corner, and Leahy placed the ball well, but Browne was put off his stroke by Newman while shooting.

At the other end a goal was very near when Enfield broke through in the centre. Barlow came out to meet the ball, missed, and it ran practically on to the goal line before W. Boston nipped in to clear. Enfield were a fast and hard-kicking team, but were making no real impression against Golders Green. The visitors' defence was steady and well combined, but Golders Green could have beaten them if the home forwards had been less given to bunching.

Soden nearly succeeded in a solo effort, but after beating two defenders he had no force left in his kick. Clever work by Browne gave an opening to F. Boston, but Greygoose was ready for the shot. Another effort by F. Boston resulted in the ball rolling along the top of the crossbar.

Soden, Browne and Boston figured in a quick attack, as a result of which Soden gave Greygoose a difficult shot to handle, and he had to handle from Breagan, Walker and Soden in quick succession. Caswell originated another likely movement, and Walker worked through, finally passing to Leahy, who sent in a hard, low shot which Greygoose did well to clear.

Enfield broke away again, and Constable put up a fast run for goal, but he tapped the ball too far ahead and Barlow came out to pick it up.

Then came the penalty which opened the scoring - awarded for hands. Broadis made no mistake with the spot kick, smashing the ball into the "roof" with such force that the net was broken away from the crossbar. This was after 35 minutes of play.

Time and again it seemed that Golders Green must add to their lead, but Greygoose was too efficient between the posts.

Just on time Wright found a weakness in the home defence, and slipped through to equalise for Enfield.

The second half opened with Enfield pressing, and Cox brought Barlow into action. Golders Green carried out two raids on the visitors' goal, without success, and they were forced back, the defence failing badly to let Cox througfh. He had an open field and beat Barlow with a neat shot.

Enfield had prtoperly turned the tables now, and Golders Green lost much of their spirit. Walker was too slow to turn to use clever work by Leahy, Boston lost chances through holding on too long when Browne could have helped him and, generally speaking, Golders Green were doing too much short passing while Enfield were swinging the ball about. Browne deserved a goal, but Greygoose reached his shot.

Golders Green did rally for a time, and Greygoose dropped the ball on the line after holding from Leahy, but he whipped round in time to save the goal. Soden worked through, but the goalkeeper took the ball practically from his toe.

Golders Green went right off form again in the closing stages, and only brilliant work by Barlow prevented a further score by Wright.