Everything favoured the Hampstead Football Club on the occasion of the opening of their new ground at Claremont-road, Cricklewood, on Saturday afternoon. The weather, it is true, was rather unseasonable for football, but it served to bring together a gathering of about 3,500 people, among whom were many of the leading lights in the football world, and after their blessings had been bestowed upon the club - many congratulations were tendered upon the provision they had made for the sport-loving people in Hendon, Cricklewood, Golders Green, and the surrounding district - the Hampstead players embarked upon one of the most thrilling Cup-ties in the history of the club, Berkhamsted Town, a plucky junior side that competes in Division II of the Spartan League, eventually being worsted, after they seemed likely to take the honours, by the odd goal in seven. Heartily to be congratulated upon their display, they returned to Hertfordshire not only with the satisfaction that they had given anxious moments to players competing in a higher circle, but with a share of a gate which realised £83 17s.

OPENING CEREMONY : The match was timed to begin at 3.30, but before this there took place the interesting ceremony of formally declaring the ground open, this being done in the presence of a large crowd. Invitations had been extended to representatives of the local authorities of Hendon, Hampstead, and Willesden, and the Hendon District Council, from whom an area of 4.5 acres has been leased, were represented by the chairman (Councillor W. Taylor, J.P.), and six Councillors . Among the football bodies represented were the Football Association, Middlesex F.A., London F.A., Herts F.A., Essex F.A., and most of the Athenian League Council, of which Mr. W.S. Drake, of the Hampstead Club, is a member.

The opening ceremony was fittingly performed by Lieut.-Col. C.D. Crisp, O.B.E., J.P., who fills the dual positions of president of the Middlesex County Football Association and chairman of the Athenian League. Other national and local football dignitaries were also present.

THE GAME : The Hampstead players had a good reception on entering the field, as did also the Berkhamsted team a few minutes later. There were two changes in the Hampstead side which undoubtedly strengthened the team. Parsons, who hails from Luton, was induced to play through the good offices of Bob Wardlaw, the captain. The return of Howell, who left Hampstead two or three seasons ago to play for Southall, came as a welcome surprise, it having been felt that the forward line had been far from successful.

Berkhamsted, it may be remembered, played at Cricklewood-lane in the F.A. Cup last season, and were beaten by 8-1. Since then new players have been obtained, and it is worthy of notice that three of them - Gomm, Wright and Sam Ringsell - played for Chesham United (the holders of the Berks and Bucks Cup) in the final tie against Maidenhead. Mothersole has signed amateur forms for Millwall, and Boardman is a recruit from Wembley.

Wardlaw won the toss - a good omen - and set Berkhamsted to face the sun. From the outset Hampstead showed a marked superiority over their rivals, and but for the fact that Patterson gave a surprisingly good show in goal they must have scored several times in first quarter-of-an-hour. The Hampstead halves served the double purpose of holding up the visiting forwards and giving their own many opportunities, so that while Allen stood idly in goal the young man guarding the other net was constantly on the move. He was well supported by his backs. Quite early there were glimpses of the old-time effectiveness of the Howell-Wise combination, and it was from the left wing that most danger threatened, although Sear managed to put in one or two good centres. A lively ball on a hard ground, coupled with the fact that the Hampstead players, equally to the other side, were strangers to the pitch, caused much good work in the field to be thrown away, far too many shots being sent wide. Wise and Evans gave most trouble to Patterson, who came in for much applause from a very impartial crowd for the manner in which he circumvented their work. For a long time Berkhamstead could seldom pass the centre line, and when danger did threaten it came from the right wing.

When it was found that the home forwards were ineffective, despite their constant efforts, the halves took a turn, both Pease and Wardlaw sending in some shots which, with a less skilful goalkeeper to defeat, would have found their mark. Too often, however, the shooting was inaccurate, and as time passed by without goals the Hampstead supporters began to show signs of anxiety. The ineffectiveness of the home players was the means of encouraging the other side, and their forwards began to make headway, a good attempt by Devlin being followed by a shot from Gomm (from a free kick) which brought Allen to his knees, Lloyd also joining in the attack. At the end of twenty-five minutes, however, Hampstead met with their deserts, Sear scoring the first goal after Wise had made a brilliant attempt. One of Howell's old-time centres led up to this goal, which, needless to say, was received with terrific cheers.

The next goal was not long in coming. After Pease had stopped Wright as he was getting well away, Howell tested Patterson severely. He managed to clear, but directly afterwards he was beaten by Evans from Howell's centre. There was a strong appeal on the grounds of offside, but after consulting his linesmen, the referee again pointed to the centre, amid cheers from the Hampstead supporters. Col. Crisp, who was closely following the game from the stand, had no doubt about the legitimacy of the goal, the ball rebounding off one of the backs before Evans gave it the final touch.

At this point the result of the game did not appear in doubt, but Berkhamsted played a clean game with commendable tenacity. Their work was not as polished as that of the home club, but Cup-ties are not won by polish alone, and as time went on they swung the ball from wing to wing, and Wright, in particular, often got within shooting range. Evans at the other end often looked dangerous. Half-time was fast approaching when Berkhamsted had the satisfaction of reducing the lead, Devlin heading the ball well out of the reach of Allen. It was then found that the visitors were not lacking support, cries of "Keep it up!" being heard from a merry little party in the stand which hitherto had found little beyond Patterson's work to encourage them. There was no further scoring before the interval. The rest was, we are sure, welcomed by the players, as seldom has football been played on such a sweltering day.

Play in the second half was full of thrills. The game started in favour of Hampstead, Evans struggling valiantly to get through, and Patterson giving signs that there was to be no falling off in the quality of his work. A free kick was awarded for a foul on Wise as he was getting away, but it should be said that infringements were few in number, and the hope that there would be a clean sportsmanlike game was realised. For the first time in the game Berkhamsted began to assume the upper hand, and the home defence had plenty of work. The backs were in good form, the display of Parsons inspiring confidence, but although several shots were saved by Allen the home followers did not seem altogether happy when the Berkhamsted men were in his vicinity. At one period the ball was headed from one player to another in front of goal, and relief was shown when it went over the bar. After Howell had given some trouble to the defence - Patterson just managed to reach the ball in the nick of time - Berkhamsted equalised the scores through Wright, from the right wing, the ball entering the opposite corner of the net. Allen seemed to be at fault in clearing.

The hopes of Hampstead fell with a bound, and they went down almost to zero a little later, when, following a powerful shot by Wise which passed just over the bar, Boardman, the inside-right, placed the visitors ahead for the first time, while Devlin was within an ace of adding a fourth goal. Hampstead, however, pulled the game out of the fire in a remarkable way, two goals following close upon one another. The first came from Shearcroft, who headed in from Sear's centre, and the other - the winning goal - was fittingly obtained by Evans, who was almost the best forward on the field, although he had not had much luck. The last goal, received with tremendous cheers, was a somewhat lucky one, Patterson having run out to clear. He was in no way to blame for doing so, but the visitors had the mortification of seeing the ball pass into an untenanted net. The rest of the game was almost entirely in Hampstead's favour, the visiting goal suffering a bombardment, but Patterson resisted all attacks.

As already indicated, Berkhamstead can be congratulated on running a club of the calibre of Hampstead so closely. Patterson was a hero, and can look back upon the game with complete satisfaction. Other outstanding players were Wright, Gomm and Devlin. The backs may be commended in assisting Patterson in keeping Hampstead at bay during the first twenty minutes.

The victory of Hampstead was welcome following as it did five heavy defeats on opponents' grounds, but the score indicated that it was a victory over which they cannot be over-jubilant. The scoring of three more goals against them - the tally is now 27 in six matches - points to a weakness in defence. The advent of Parsons to assist Clarke has done something to remedy this, but Allen certainly does not inspire confidence.

[Shortened version of report for reasons of space]