Hampstead opened their season on Saturday with a home match against Summerstown in the Athenian League, and although generally superior to the visitors, Hampstead gave a somewhat disappointing display, mainly as regards shooting. There was promise of really good work, however, and when the settling-down process is completed the team should give great satisfaction. The result was a draw with no goals scored, though Hampstead should have had a couple at least.

The preparations for the match had not been carried out under ideal conditions and in the trial games it was doubtless difficult to judge the merits of the players. Hampstead have lost Smy and Deeks, the former having gone to Northfleet and the latter having returned to Barnet, and they were without Pease and Shearcroft, but on the other hand there was a valuable acquisition in the return of Goodwin to the Hampstead goal, where he gave immediate satisfaction. Young and Brazier, the old favourites, who have been out of play for some time, took the field once more, apparently quite fit, and gave a good account of themselves. W.J. Carter, a newcomer from Sutton Court, was placed at centre-half, a position in which he showed up well, but his position is not yet definitely determined. He showed himself a pretty good marksman and more than once it looked as though the only goal of the game would come from the half-line. Two new men interesting to watch were R. Warren, who comes from the Old Johnians, and F.T. Ryding, who has played for Brentford Reserves. Warren was placed on the right wing and Ryding inside on the left, and both amply justified their selection.

All this reshuffling meant a few misunderstandings, but on the whole the team worked well together and had they not been handicapped as regards speed the result might have been victory for Hampstead. Right at the start Hampstead forged ahead on the left and the ball was swung well out to Howell, who was well placed, but a wary back intercepted. Hampstead were not stopped, however, and good combination resulted in Young forcing a corner, though it proved valueless. Young was given another opportunity a minute or two later and was distinctly unlucky not to net with a pretty shot swung round from an awkward angle. Full credit goes to Thornett for the save and he stopped another likely shot from Warren shortly afterwards, when Hampstead pressed hard after a slight reverse. Summerstown were most dangerous on the right and Imison and Dominy both came tolerably near to opening the account for the visitors, the speed of whose front line made things uncomfortably hot for the home defence at times, but Goodwin was spendidly steady, and the backs, particularly Parsons, broke up several promising movements with their fearless tactics. When Hampstead came to the attack again the halves kept Howell well fed and with the co-operation of Young he frequently looked like a scorer, while several tense moments were occasioned by the manoeuvring of Harvey, Hampstead's centre, but he spoiled his chances by high shooting.

Hampstead were undoubtedly having the better of the exchanges and it was remarkable that no score was registered at this stage. Time and again shots were taken from all along the line but Thornett dealt surely with all that were not ballooned or sent wide of the mark.

Towards the interval Summerstown became more insistent but their brightest movement was upset by an offside ruling. It was here that Parsons showed up at his best with the result that Goodwin was saved a lot of work. The latter was in action quite enough, however, and there was an exciting moment when Dominy sent in a lightning drive close under the bar, Goodwin just succeeding in punching clear over the head of Manners, the visitors' centre-forward. Howell, aided by Ryding, took the game to the visitors' end again and produced the sensation of the game. He shot at fair range right to the feet of the goalkeeper, and before Thornett could clear he was tackled by two forwards. The trio fell to the ground with Thornett underneath, but he threw the ball to Saggers, who eased the situation with a hefty kick which sent Summerstown away on the left. Dominy tried a shot which Goodwin cleared neatly, and another shot from Birnie went wide. With a few minutes to go, Warren drew the visiting goalkeeper and shot accurately, but George, at left-back, sprinted back in the nick of time and cleared.

At half-time Hampstead deserved to have taken the lead, but they were not so good afterwards, though there were some spirited attacks in which Howell, Harvey and Young were again prominent. Thornett was lucky to save, in a fumbling manner, a hot shot at close quarters from Young. For a matter of ten minutes Hampstead pressed and the Summerstown goal had narrow escapes, but for the most part unsteady shooting was responsible for the profitless campaign. Twice more Imison and Dominy raised the hopes of the visitors, but failed to penetrate, and once Manners beat both backs, only to shoot wide by a few inches.

For Hampstead, Howell and Young were particularly brilliant, and Warren could have done more had he been fed more. Carter and Wardlaw functioned well in the half-line, and Anderson was quite good both in defence and attack. Parsons and Brazier both played a sound defensive game and Goodwin's performance between the posts made his return doubly popular. Dominy and Imison showed up well among the visiting forwards, the latter making good use of his speed, while Manners was almost brilliant in the centre. The defence was generally quite sound.