On This Day: 31st January

Greensnet Editor
Sun 31 Jan 2021, 11:32

We reach January’s end in our look back at matches on this day in history and begin in 1920 with an Athenian League match at Metrogas which ended in a 3-1 win, J Hall (2) and F Yates with the goals.

5-years later and in front of a mammoth crowd on 7,000 at Dulwich Hamlet in the London Senior Cup the hosts won with the only goal of the game. It was 1942 before the club would be in action of the final day of January again and Les Pulling’s two goals were not enough to stop Golders Green slipping to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Leyton in the Herts & Middlesex County League.

The post-war era got off to a good enough start as a visit to Poole Town in the Amateur Cup ended in success, Bill Fisher, Bob Avis and Bill Reay scoring in a 3-1 win in 1948 and then in 1953 on the day the Princess Victoria capsized off the coast of Stranraer with the loss of 133 lives, Southall beat the Greens 1-0 in the Middlesex Senior Cup.

Two goals from Micky Moore saw the Greens to a 2-0 win over Tooting & Mitcham United at Claremont Road in the Amateur Cup in 1959 and in 1970 an Amateur Cup replay against Evenwood Town ended 4-2, Rod Haider was amongst the goals along with Bobby Wilson, Peter Anderson and Paul Collett.

It was John Baker who grabbed a brace in 1976 to secure a 2-2 draw against Slough Town in the FA Trophy, the first match of our current roving photographer Derek Beech, and Paul Currie emulated Baker’s achievement in 1981 with a duo of strikes to see off Tooting & Mitcham once again 2-0.

A 1987 home game against Barking ended in a 1-0 defeat in the Isthmian League and 11-years later in 1998 Junior Lewis struck at The Camrose to help the Greens to a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw at Basingstoke Town.

A 4-2 defeat against Fisher in the London Senior Cup in 2005 in which Jason O’Connor and Anthony Clark scored their sole Hendon goals wasn’t enough to save manager Gary Farrell. A dismal run of 10 defeats in 11 matches with 41 goals conceded saw Ivor Arbiter take decisive action by relieving Farrell of his duties.

Exactly a year to the day on and Gary Meakin, who had played for the Greens in that defeat at Fisher, scored his only goal for the club – albeit in Northwood colours – as the Wood won a Middlesex Senior Cup tie 2-1, future Hendonian Peter Dean had opened the scoring for the home side.

In 2011 a visit to Essex and Aveley ended in success as goals from Michael Peacock and Greg Ngoyi secured a 2-0 win and finally in 2015 a visit to Peacehaven & Telscombe also ended 2-0, this time to the opponents in what would prove to be the club’s last defeat in three and a half months.

The final reckoning so far on this date has seen 15 matches played with 6 wins, 2 draws and 7 defeats. 24 goals have been scored and 21 conceded.