Golders Green gave a disheartening performance at Southall on Saturday, losing by 5 goals to nil. They were not in the best of form and their forwards were very efficiently marked by the Southall defence.

It was instructive to compare the different methods of attack of Golders Green and Southall on Saturday. The Southall forward line was always complete in front of goal, a perfect combination, whereas there only three or, at the most, four of the Golders Green men ready to attack at any given time.

From the start the game was a nice open one. There was little of that bunching together which denotes an inability on the part of either team to swing the ball about. When Southall kicked off they made a sudden and quick attack which was immediately frustrated by the Golders Green defence. Then it was the visitors' turn, and they made the most of it. Attacking fiercely, they came right down on the Southall goal, but the defence was too good. It was not by any means impregnable, but the Golders Green forwards were too well marked. The Southall trainer must have remembered Soden's turn of speed, for during the whole game there were never fewer than two men marking him, and these always increased to three when the ball came his way. Golders Green were prevented from taking advantage of the opening their attack had made, and the ball returned to midfield.

On the left wing there was some hard work, and a piece of quick play and thinking by Boston brought the Southall goal into danger again. He passed to Marrable, who returned it, and after a short run Boston shot. His try went wide, however, by a matter of inches.

The goal-kick brought play to Golders Green and back the ball came in a hard tussle in front of the Southall goal. It seemed as though the Golders Green men were likely to get the better of the defenders, but it was not to be, and the situation was saved again.

Shortly after this Golders Green were awarded a free-kick, but it availed them little, for within a minute Southall had been awarded a similar free kick for hands in front of the visitors' goal ten minutes after play commenced. O'HARA took the kick, and the result was a goal for Southall. It was a fairly soft shot, but a deceptive one, and had Hill beaten.

Loose play with indiscriminate kicking followed until Southall put on another whirlwind attack. These were the chief source of danger to Golders Green, as their marking in the half-back and back lines was not good. It was patent that on many occasions an unmarked man received the ball and was well away before the defence could do anything. Five minutes after the first goal was scored LEAHY received a pass forward, and, taking a swift run down into position, he fired a cross-shot which only just beat Hill. It was clear that Hill was trying his best, but he was not on such good form as usual. The Southall half-backs were audacious, too, to add to his troubles.

When the play reached the Golders Green forward line there was little hope of any concerted work. The individuals were never properly placed in relation to one another. This was apparent again and again, especially when Soden received the ball. He was so well marked that he could not get away for a fast run, but he could not get rid of the ball either, because there was nobody to receive a pass. He made a fine attempt to get through with a pass from Bucci, but could do nothing. Then Southall countered the attack with another, and demoralised the Golders Green defence. The shot was a poor one, however, and Hill punched the ball up into the air. It descended on the crossbar and rolled down the outside of the net.

Pressing steadily, Southall worked hard for the next goal, which came ten minutes before half-time. Marchant had made a good run down to the Golders Green goal and shot hard. Hill fell on the ball and saved. He cleared, but the attack brought it swiftly back and LEAHY received it. He went away fast and, with a first-time shot on the run, he made Southall's score three.

The play then went on with Golders Green for a time, but there was never enough punch in any of their shots to make a certain goal. An attack by Golders Green left wing gave Boston a shot, from a pass by Marrable, but Green saved easily.

Here it became noticeable that Southall were always able to have at least one forward completely unmarked, while every Golders Green man was covered. Moreover, all their defence was between the Golders Green team and the goal, while Golders Green failed to keep more than two players between the goal and the Southall forward line.

Boston made a further sound attempt before the whistle blew. He ran down the wing with the ball, lost it, and won it back again. He tried a long cross-shot which just failed to find its target. To his credit it must be said that Boston put in a great deal of fine work on the wing in this match. Bucci also played well, but unfortunately he had few opportunities to show his mettle. Bloxham was another half suffering from the long shot complex, and he made one beautiful kick from midfield which was excellently directed. Owing to the distance, however, there was no force behind it when Green saved it. This passed the ball out to the Southall forwards, and shortly after Hill had saved from their attack the whistle blew for half-time.

The second part of the game provided very similar play to the first half. Golders Green led off and Boston made a swift and sharp attack on ther home goal. Green just saved. Southall returned the compliment and a pass from Priestly to Marchant resulted in a shot from the latter which went wide.

Evidently the first half had not been a lesson to the visitors, for they still left men unmarked in strong positions.

Another speedy attack and Hill had to jump and push the ball over the crossbar to save. The corner did not produce any lively result. The ball went to Bucci, who was away with it in a flash. He tried hard to get a goal, but could not manage it.

Then, for the first time, Soden managed to evade his watchers and got a clear run for the Southall goal. The 'keeper took a risk and ran out to intercept him. He succeeded and cleared the ball up to the middle of the field.

This produced a further attack in which Hill made two saves in rapid succession. He fell in making the first save, and had barely time to get on his feet again when the ball came back hard at him. Southall's fourth goal came from Carter and Lawes. After a good forward movement down to the goal, Carter centred with a good lob, and LAWES headed the ball into the net.

Not long before the final whistle Golders Green made an almost frenzied attempt to score, but were too poor in their finishing. Finally Carter got the ball on the wing again. He came down and centred. The inside men could do nothing with the ball, so back it came to CARTER again, and he shot with nobody to try to stop him.

Near the end of this " 45 " Soden was moved out to the right wing. He once made a fine wing move and only just failed to score.