Victorious at a previous meeting in December by eight goals to two, Leyton found a stiffer proposition awaiting them when they visited Claremont-road for the return Athenian League engagement with Hampstead on Saturday.

At the end of a strenuous and very interesting tussle, played in almost ideal spring-like conditions, the visitors gained a narrow success by three goals to two, although there was a stage of the proceedings when it seemed likely that the issue might go against them.

Hampstead celebrated their last Saturday appearance on the local ground by giving their best performance of a somewhat disappointing season, and at times the work of the home eleven was little short of brilliant, although their opponents are the acknowledged "stars" of amateur football this season.

Leyton were accompanied for the visit by the Amateur Cup which they won a fortnight ago, and which was given pride of place in the stand. There were two alterations in the team which gained them this distinction, the captain T. Cable and E. Tong standing down for C. Lockwood and H. Terris, while Hampstead made a late change in the introduction of Bucci in the place of Levy at outside-left.

The elements favoured the visitors from the start, for Leyton, winning the toss, accepted the assistance of a turbulent wind, which showed a partisan spirit by "dropping dead" just before the interval.

Hampstead took five minutes to settle down after kicking off, but subsequently they forced the pace and kept the opponents' defence busy, chief danger threatening from the right wing. Reinke and Neil both gave Burr some anxious moments and a spectacular incident occurred when Shearcroft dropped a well-timed overhead kick into the mouth of the goal.

When the game had been in progress twenty-five minutes the same player had a golden opportunity of putting his side ahead, but he appeared to be affected by the excitement that prevailed and the consequence was that his shot from a yard or two out sent the ball spinning over the bar.

Hampstead were showing more initiative than their rivals at this period and the team work of the home side was smooth and inspiring. The speed was such that when a collision occurred on the left touchline Reinke found himself temporarily incapacitated and had to leave the field. He returned five minutes later to his side one down, H. Hall having taken advantage of a lapse by Shorland to head through for the visitors.

Leyton nearly had another goal a minute later but reckless shooting relieved the tension and gave Hampstead the chance to collect their forces for another assault. The home side were not to be denied. Two good shots by Smy were kept out and then, five minutes before half-time, Neil made the scores level as a result of a pretty bout of passing between Reinke and Shearcroft.

The success was short-lived, however. Just before Mr. Referee W.E. Baker blew his whistle for the rest Lockwood slung over a perfect centre, Hawkings meeting the ball with his head and registering a fine goal. Hampstead thus crossed over undeservedly in the minority of one to two.

The second half opened with Hampstead still in an aggressive mood, and the 2,000 spectators had an early disappointment when Smy wasted an excellent opening by shooting straight for the goalkeeper. Compensation came after ten minutes and a great shout went up as Shearcroft, accepting a centre from the right flank, rushed the ball past Burr into the net.

With over half-an-hour to go, hopes were high among the home supporters of a result that would bring much needed credit to the club. Then, in the most annoying fashion, fortune turned. Avey took a shot on the run, and the ball travelled near the ground and without much powder behind it just inside one of the uprights. Smith made a grab for it and missed, and Hampstead had the mortification of seeing the visitors take the lead with a "dud" goal.

But this was the undoing of the home eleven. They never recovered the superb form they had produced in the first half, and where they had previously shown better control of the ball and more masterly tactics generally, they now had to take second place.

This gave Leyton the opportunity of demonstrating some of the qualities that have made them so famous and for the last half-hour they treated the crowd to as pretty a display as anyone could wish to watch. Their positioning was almost perfect, and the highly decorative midfield play was an admirable example of the art of combination. One or two more shots strayed towards both goals, but nothing serious threatened, and the game finished with Leyton still leading by three goals to two.