Sutton United had not beaten Golders Green since 1934, and it took extra time to give them the victory on their own ground at Sutton on Saturday, in the third round of the Amateur Cup. It was a shocking day, the ground was swimming in mud and water, and the vast majority of the 2,000 spectators had to stand unsheltered from the rain all the afternoon.

Golders Green started off in promising style and secured the lead after a little over half an hour, holding it for a quarter of an hour. Sutton led by 2-1 after the interval, but Golders Green got on terms again, and it was not until the second part of extra time that Sutton secured the verdict.

Golders Green, who were certainly not two goals less in quality than Sutton, appealed against two goals, but the referee's decision was against them and they had to be content. But it was an unsatisfactory game altogether. The weather and the state of the ground combined to prevent any real display of form, the ball executed all kinds of unexpected tricks, both teams found it difficult to keep their feet, and a more uncomfortable afternoon for the " gate " would be difficult to imagine.

Among the spectators in the stand were the Mayor of Sutton (Alderman J. J. Goossens), the Deputy Mayor (Alderman J. G. Marshall), and Sir Frederick Wall.

Golders Green went to Sutton fresh and inspired by their Middlesex Senior Cup victory over Hayes and with memories of their triumphs over Southwick and London Caledonians. A good display was anticipated, particularly with the forward line strengthened by the inclusion of Graves at inside-right, Button retaining his place at centre-half. But the going was so bad that half the team looked worn out long before full-time, and it was a wonder how any player stood the pace during extra time.

There was one late change in the Golders Green side, Davis taking the left-half berth in place of Bucci, who had been troubled by lumbago.

Sutton began to press from the kick-off and Lock, taking a pass from Pratt, swung the ball out to the right wing. Caswell miskicked and things looked bad for Golders Green, but in the mud the winger failed to grasp the chance that came his way. Then Pettitt tried a long shot, but went nowhere near success. Pratt soon afterwards got away on his own, but waited too long and was upset by W. Boston.

Golders Green soon got into stride and showed themselves the equal of Sutton and, at times, more promising of success. They played with a style and verve which encouraged the supporters from Claremont Road, and if they had kept it up there is no doubt that the victory would have been theirs. The halves and forwards were swinging the ball about freely enough and often gave the home defence a bout of trouble. In fact the Sutton men were sent chasing the ball all over the quagmire and were likely to tire before the interval if they could not find a means to unsettle the visitors. This went on for nearly half an hour, but most of Golders Green's best movements were spoilt by the ground. No one could keep his feet for long, and when players went down they slithered along for yards with legs and arms waving helplessly in the air.

Sutton raided the visitors' territory from time to time, but were not yet particularly dangerous, and Golders Green were rewarded for their open play when, 32 minutes from the kick-off, GRAVES shot well into the net from a pass by Thomas. He had been chief worrier to the Sutton defence, and capped a fine performance with a great goal.

Then came the surprise and disappointment. Golders Green changed their style entirely. Gone was the free, swinging game, with the long passes threatening to run Sutton off their feet. To the amazement of supporters on both sides, the visitors took to close work and thereby sealed their fate. At this work they were no match for Sutton, and LOCK equalised within fifteen minutes. There was considerable division of opinion around the rope over this goal, and Golders Green appealed to the referee for an offside ruling, but he waved to the centre spot, and soon afterwards the interval arrived with the scores still level.

Golders Green attacked strongly after the change of ends and forced a corner, following which Breagan got in a beautiful centre, but Graves shot wide. Within a few minutes LOCK broke through as the result of a well-judged throw-in, and netted to give Sutton the lead, after Barlow had punched out from his first shot.

Sutton were now improving all round, but Golders Green fought hard to get on terms again, and eventually Graves pushed the ball through to Owen. He let fly and Eldrett parried the shot, but THOMAS slipped in to finish it off, and Sutton were forced to extra time.

It was in the second fifteen minutes that WRIGHT put Sutton ahead, and again Golders Green appealed to the referee, the linesman having apparently waved his flag a moment before the goal was scored, but the goal was allowed. Shortly afterwards WELLER netted the fourth to make things safe for Sutton.