Match Report

Hendon
1
Southall
4
Date:
Saturday 06 January 1923
Competition:
Athenian League
Attendance:
2000
Venue:
Hampstead Town

Match Report

From the Hendon & Finchley Times, 12 January 1923 :

Hampstead [Town] hardly expected to win their Athenian League match with Southall, who are enjoying a remarkably good season, and have a particularly good side. Nevertheless, on the general run of play Hampstead did not deserve to lose by the margin of four goals to one. In the early stages Hampstead had the best of matters, Travers Day scoring a good goal after ten minutes' play, and narrowly missing again soon after. The home defence, however, could not effectively check the untiring efforts and dash of the Southall forwards, and before the interval they had established a lead of two goals to one, Hunt and Alford scoring for Southall. The latter, however, appeared to be offside.

The very heavy going adversely affected the play, but the visitors adapted themselves better to the general conditions, and in the second half scored twice through Morey and Heard without response.

Southall proved a well-balanced team. They were best served by Holding (goal), Harry (left-back), and B. Alford (centre-forward). For Hampstead, the two new half-backs, A.G. Butcher and L.E. Evershed, did good work, and of the forwards another of the young players, F. Young, was the pick.
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From the West Middlesex Gazette, 13 January 1923 :

Southall recorded a brilliant win at Cricklewood-lane on Saturday, when they defeated Hampstead Town by four goals to one. It was a triumph not only over a team who usually offer stout resistance on their own ground, but over the wretched conditions of a difficult pitch.

In fine weather and before a crowd of about two thousand, Southall, having won the toss, kicked off with the sun on their backs and down the slope. The ground was in a terrible condition, thick, sticky mud frequently causing the ball to stop dead when it dropped, and severely taxing the energies of the players. With such heavy going and a leaden ball the play was adversely affected. Probably more accustomed by experience to these handicaps than the visitors, Hampstead Town found their feet, or rather kept them, sooner than did Southall, and the opening exchanges slightly favoured the home team, who displayed a good deal of dash and energy in their attacks. Buttery and Harry did excellent work under very trying circumstances, but in spite of this Holding early had his capabilities tested in dealing with two dangerous centres from Howell and did well to avoid the close attentions of the inside forwards. Howell was a constant danger and it was from another centre of his that Butcher missed the posts with a good try. In the meantime Southall had made several good efforts at the other end. Heard had sent wide with a good shot, and Alford, after just failing to get his head to a capital centre by Hunt, had put in a smart run and beaten two defenders, only to be robbed by a third. After ten minutes' play Travers Day got through and gave Holding no chance with a fast rising shot. Hampstead Town redoubled their efforts, and Travers Day, who was an enterprising centre, was responsible for some dangerous movements that brought the resoucefulness of the Southall defence into prominence. Holding made a splendid save when he stopped a difficult shot under the bar from Fenton and then scrambled the ball away from Travers Day on the goal-line. Buttery, Harry, and Strevans made timely clearances. The Southall goal had a narrow escape when Howell headed just wide from a centre by Fenton. At the other end the Southall forwards had initiated several promising attacks. Good work by Hunt and Heard had resulted in an opening from which Watts shot high over the bar, and a shot by Watts had been dropped by Boxall on the goal-line with no one to profit by his failing. Southall began to adapt themselves better to the conditions and from now onward they had an increasingly larger share of the game, which continued to be keenly contested. Alford and Heard took a prominent part in the move that led up to the equalising goal, Hunt scoring, after thirty minutes' play, with a splendid shot just inside the post, which Boxall got his hands to but could not hold. Southall pressed strongly and Heard had a fine shot charged down. Alford, who was fearlessly and ceaselessly worrying the backs, met with deserved reward when, five minutes later, he received the ball between the backs and gave Boxall no chance with a superb shot. Profiting from a neat forward pass by Watts, Alford made another brilliant run, but after cleverly eluding the two backs, he was fetched down in a tackle by Evershed. Hampstead Town made a desperate effort to get on terms, and after Holding had made a great save, Young just shot past the posts as Holding fell in a plucky effort to save the goal that seemed imminent. Half-time : Hampstead Town, 1 ; Southall, 2.

Southall surmounted the ground difficullties with far greater success in the second half, and because of this, or their own failure to keep up the pace, Hampstead Town were slower in comparison and far less effective than the visitors. Attacking in great style, the Southall forwards opened strongly, and in the first minute a centre by Morey gave Heard a good chance, but mud-bound, he could only shoot weakly for Boxall to clear easily. Morey was playing a great game on the left wing, and time after time beat Humphries and accurately placed his centres. One bounded on the crossbar and went over; from another Alford and two Hampstead defenders came down in a heap in the goalmouth as Watts rushed up and shot, but Boxall diverted for a corner, which resulted in another hot tussle round the goal, Watts and Heard having shots charged down before Hunt headed wide of the posts. Hampstead made one or two raids in which Wise was prominent, but Holding was not troubled. Southall were having much the better of the game, and twenty minutes after the interval Morey increased the lead with a splendid cross shot into the far corner, which completely deceived Boxall. The visiting forwards were working well together and five minutes later pretty play between Heard and Hunt led to Heard beating Boxall for the fouth time. The home forwards got away but Wise with a good opening shot weakly behind. Southall resumed their onslaught and Alford, after getting through, had only the goalkeeper to beat but shot directly at Boxall, while Heard with a fast drive hit the far post and the ball went out. Both goalkeepers made marvellous saves. Hampstead attacked towards the close, but Holding was in great form, and after stopping a good shot pushed the ball away from the feet of two forwards. A free kick for a foul against Hunt was well placed by Fidler, and Alford neatly headed in, but Boxall brought off a smart save at the expense of a corner, which was cleared. Result : Hampstead Town, 1 ; Southall, 4.

Hampstead Town

1
G M Boxall
2
J Humphries
3
W G Brooker
4
A G Butcher
5
Lewis Smith
6
Leopold Evershed
7
F W Fenton
8
Freddy Young
9
Travers Day
10
Cecil Wise
11
George Howell

Match Events

11''
Travers Day
A J Hunt
31''
B Alford
36''
S Morey
66''
L Heard
71''

Southall

1
T Holding
2
E Buttery
3
W Harry
4
E Fidler
5
R Wenham
6
T Strevens
7
A J Hunt
8
L Heard
9
B Alford
10
F Watts
11
S Morey