Nothing was more pleasing in Hampstead's Middlesex Senior Cup-tie with Enfield on Saturday, at Claremont Road, than the form shown by the youngest players. Two of them - W.G. Morton at outside-right and F.H. Dean at right-back - gave outstandingly good performances. Valuable to a slightly lesser degree was the work of the other back, L. Compton. He made one bad mistake which led to Enfield getting their only goal, but as it made no difference to the result he was soon forgiven. It was a good performance on the part of these young backs to keep the smart Enfield forwards at bay. While Morton had recently given promise that he was likely to prove a worthy successor to F. Sherman and others who have played on the right wing, he surprised everyone with his electrifying touch-line runs and the clever way in which he out-manoeuvred his opponents. His centreing is not uniformly good, but on Saturday he did some masterly work, and had a share in the first three goals. Evans scored twice from his passes, and the other came from a brilliant shot which may have been intended for a centre but found its way into the corner of the net without assistance. This goal came at a time when the result was doubtful, but after that Hampstead never looked back, and made Enfield look a comparatively weak side.

Hampstead's success may be attributed largely to the half-back line, which worked effectively. G. Bucci, restored to his old position, has seldom done better. He was good both in attack and defence, and was a much more potent force than was Johnson in a similar position for Enfield. Comparisons were inevitable, seeing that Johnson was an old Hampstead player. F.G. Young, to be rewarded later in the day with a gold medal for long and faithful service, and W.H. Butland excelled as wing halves, and as a result the Enfield attack was broken up time and again.

Coming to Hampstead's front line, there was one weak spot, and that was at inside-left, J. Edwards hardly justifying his promotion to the first eleven. The selection committee, however, have faith in his abilities. At the moment there is not a man of the Cecil Wise type to fill the position, and Edwards seems to be the best partner that can be found for Moore, whose work suffered as a result of Edwards' weakness, although he put in a number of fine shots. It happened that it fell to Moore to take an unusually large number of corner kicks, but he failed to lift the ball sufficiently to make them of value. The right wing was much the stronger. We have already mentioned Morton. C.H. Walsh, at inside-right, was an untiring worker, but was unlucky in his shooting. It was not until near the end that his perseverance was rewarded.

Evans, as we have said, scored two goals. This is the ninth consecutive match in which he has found the net, his total bag in these games being 18. His value to the side can therefore be judged.

Miles, Enfield's trusted custodian for many years, is now playing as an amateur for Aston Villa, but in G.F. Smith they appear to have a useful man. Considering the large family of Smiths, it is not surprising that two of that name should be in opposite goals in this match, but this is not the first time it has happened since S.R. Smith took up "residence" with the Hampstead club. He did not have much work on Saturday; in fact, in the first half he was unemployed for long intervals, and must have thought that he was qualifying for the "dole."

W. Green, whose position for several years was outside-right, led Enfield's attack, but except for the fact that he snapped up a chance when a back miskicked, he was not conspicuously successful. The forwards on the whole were disappointing. Considering their record, something better was expected.

Playing with the wind in the first half, Hampstead had a large share of the attack. After Dean had stopped Irons from getting through, Morton came into the limelight, and sent in a fine centre. From the subsequent corner Evans almost scored. Then came another centre from Morton, and nothing could have been prettier than the way in which Evans got his head to the ball and found the net. He seemed to have anticipated just where the ball would fall.

This goal came at the end of seven minutes, but it was their only success in the first half, despite the fact that for four-fifths of the time Enfield had defended. To save the situation, Johnson was practically a third back. Many corners fell to Hampstead, but Moore, who took most of the kicks, could not place the ball to advantage. Offside, too, spoiled several Hampstead attacks. Twenty-five minutes from the start, Enfield equalised, Green taking advantage of a bad slip by Compton. Smith had no chance to save.

Seeing that the conditions were against them on the cross-over, Hampstead had reason to be dubious, but they soon demonstrated their superiority. Evans seemed to have a perfect understanding with his wing men, particularly Morton, and their football was a treat to witness.

From a long shot Morton put Hampstead in front once again, and a little later, from Morton's pass, Evans got Hampstead's third goal. Some adjudged Evans to be offside when he got possession, but the referee was apparently satisfied as to its legitimacy. Enfield's backs were prone to throw opponents offside, but when this policy is adopted a referee may be pardoned for making one mistake. This practically settled the issue, but before the end Walsh made the score 4-1 with a good shot.

Hampstead thus went one better than in the Middlesex Charity Cup, when Enfield lost by 3-1, but to get complete satisfaction Hampstead hope to wipe out the 4-0 defeat inflicted by Enfield in the Athenian League match in September.