Two more Athenian League points were the lot of Golders Green on Saturday, when, either having recovered from the effects of their Christmas dinner or made a New Year resolution to win all their matches, they trounced Redhill and left them without a single goal to take home.
As so often happens, the team that was eventually to lose started off with a very bright flash in the pan when they rushed right down to the Green's goal and tried to score. The defence was too good, however, and although Ellwood gave the Greens a nasty turn on a number of occasions, on the whole Redhill were clearly out-run on the ball and outplayed over the whole field.
W. Boston, who should not have been playing after the knock he took on Boxing Day, turned out and gave a display of good football which fully justified his presence on the pitch.
After Redhill's rush down-field, Hayward and Bucci cleared the ball up to the Green's left wing, where F. Boston, Morton and Soden carried it away to the Redhill end of the field. Before they could take their opportunity to score, however, West and Colwell succeeded in holding them until the other back and the halves arrived, and a tussle for supremacy ensued. The superior weight of the Reds told then, and the ball was cleared, but not for long. Breagan and Browne brought it back and again tried to get through, but Ellwood and Gage were far enough back to stop a very pretty piece of work.
W. Boston put in a very nice piece of work here. He trapped the ball neatly and then from the half-way line he ran right down the wing, evading Ellwood and Gage with excellent footwork before he centred for a shot from the Golders Green forward line and lost the ball.
Then came the Green's first goal. Morton had been fouled about 40 yards from the Reds' goal and HAYWARD took the kick. The ball sailed serenely over the heads of the defenders and right into the net, actually the most beautiful kick of the game.
After this Ellwood and Gage, who had been playing outside and inside-left respectively, changed over to their normal team positions, Ellwood being far more use on the inside of the wing. The goal against them spurred the Reds on to try and equalise, and one shot from Baker which was an almost certain goal was beautifully punched clear by Hill. Play then returned to the Redhill end of the field, and finally the ball went out of play. Smith, the Redhill goalkeeper, made a fine long kick up to midfield, but Golders Green, who were always faster than their opponents, soon had it back again by way of Soden, Browne and Breagan, who lost their chance to score through Parratt and Tabor.
Play then brought Hayward into the limelight and gave him a nice run before he passed on to Soden, who continued this move by passing on to F. Boston. Boston got through and had a clear field in front of him for his shot at the goal, but he was in too much of a hurry, and sent it wide of the post.
At length BREAGAN succeeded in beating everybody, including Smith, and left Golders Green with two goals to their credit in the first half.
Shortly after this Hayward strained a muscle in his leg and went off the field for the rest of the first "45." With Hayward away the Reds began to play and Washford nearly scored. If the crossbar had been four inches higher he would have done. As it was the ball bounced back to Bucci's feet and he sent it away to the centre of the field, where play remained until the whistle blew for half-time.
With Hayward back on the field again, the defence of the Greens was sound, and, having got the feel of their adversaries, they attacked like men possessed. The result of this was a steady procession of goals at regular intervals. It seems incredible that Redhill never tumbled to what was happening, but the Green's forward line got through with the same manoeuvre every time. A long kick from the half-back line, and the forwards were hareing away for the Redhill goal before any of the defence came near. Smith must have felt very lonely indeed with only the ball to keep him company in the goal, but for some reason the Redhill defence line thought it could do its work better on the half-way line, and Golders Green spotted this.
The third goal was scored by BREAGAN from a pass by Hayward which left the Redhill men completely lost. The next move was spotted by Tabor, the Redhill centre-half, who did his best to keep the line together. It fell to the lot of Jones, however, to stop a scoring run of Soden. Nevertheless, after this SODEN again came down the centre of the field and scored a well-deserved goal, making the Green's score four. Quick work was evidently his motto then, for as soon as the Reds had kicked off he (SODEN) had the ball and was away again, threading his way with clever dribbling right past the defence, and had put the ball past Smith before that 'keeper knew anything had happened.
A breathing space followed, but there was to be no rest for those Redhill men, and, prressing hard, Golders Green forced the pace outside the goalmouth, finally resulting in a pass from Broadis being headed in by BREAGAN in beautiful style.
After this the game went pretty much as the home team liked. So great was their self-confidence that they became careless with their kicking, and both Soden and Morton spoiled good shots, Soden finding the post instead of the net and Morton kicking right over the goal. Shortly afterwards, however, SODEN netted the ball after the usual manoeuvre of a long kick from the half-back line past the defence being picked up by the forwards, taking the Green's score to seven.
The eighth time the ball found the net it was Morton who had headed the shot, but the referee disallowed it on the grounds that Morton was offside. Smith then cleared nicely after a scrum in front of goal and the ball came to the Green's 'keeper for the last time in the game. He welcomed the ball with open arms and put it well placed in the middle of the field. where W. Boston was able to follow it up. He carried it on and passed to BREAGAN, who finally sent it past Smith, who was lying flat on the ground.
For the last few minutes play fluctuated about midfield and nobody seemed to be anxious to score any more goals, although once the Ellwood-Gage combination came dangerously near to beating the backs.
Redhill was playing with a team that had been altered at the last minute, Washford being brought in at centre-forward and Parratt and Tabor at left-half and centre-half respectively. The only really outstanding Redhill player was R. Ellwood, who was soundly backed up by Gage and Parratt. Smith was badly dealt with in goal, his backs having gone too far away.
Bucci, Broadis, and Shorland, at half-back, proved a well-nigh impregnable defence for Golders Green and were invaluable in feeding the forwards. Soden bids fair to winning a permanent place at centre-forward if he keeps up his current form and would be well worth it.