Had Finchley taken advantage of all their chances in the first half, Saturday's semi-final in the Middlesex Senior Cup at Golders Green would have run to extra time, but, with a high wind keeping the ball well in the Golders Green half, Finchley failed badly, mainly because there was poor support for Stone, at centre-forward, while the Golders Green defence played a stout, if not always scientific, game against a heavy disadvantage. It was a very praiseworthy achievement on the part of the Greens to have kept their goal intact when half-time arrived, but this was largely due to two men, Bucci and Lovell, whose work was al;ways inspiring and who gained the warm applause of the crowd of 3,000 who saw the duel.

A change announced for the Golders Green team was the inclusion of P. Martinson at left back in place of T. Caswell, but Martinson arrived late and Caswell returned to his place. He was not always pleasing - one fault was a tendency to lie too far up the field - but he improved as time went on and did some good work in the second half. Graves was fit again to resume duty at centre-half, but was by no means at top form, and half-back honours were undoubtedly shared by George Bucci and A. Lovell. Thomas, at centre-forward, was closely watched by the Finchley centre-half, Pearce, but often out-manoeuvred him and gave quite a good display. But the centre of interest in the forward line was E.M. Owen, whose agility and resourcefulness fully compensate for what he lacks in inches and weight. He was the chief thorn in the side of the Finchley defence, and was completely unshaken by the stiff tumbles that came his way. Breagan, on the other wing, was his hard-working, slippery self, never tiring, always a source of danger when a gap occurred and frequently finding one when the prospect looked impossible.

Finchley were without Broadis at centre-half , owing to injury a fortnight ago, but W. Pearce, who deputised, put up a good show and, as it has been observed, gave due attention to Thomas. J. Duncan was unable to turn up, and his place at right back was taken by S. Wright. There was some doubt about W. Richardson, who had damaged a wrist, but he turned out and appeared not to be handicapped.

Finchley won the toss and set Golders Green to face a wind almost of gale strength at times and which carried sleet at the end of the first half. Finchley were the first to attack, and Blythe got across a shot which the wind carried to the goal, but Barlow held it as he fell with Green on top of him. Then Green slipped past Bucci and Caswell, but shot yards wide. Blythe tried another shot, but the wind carried the ball far behind.

The wind was too strong to be of real use to anyone and was clearly going to spoil the game. Both sides were lifting the ball too much under the circumstances, and there was a general lack of combination, too, with much aimless kicking. Both sets of halves were quick tackling and there was not much punch in the forward lines in the first half.

Stone got through several times, but more due to the wind and to occasional faults in the home defence than by brilliance of attack. Once, from a throw-in, Green transferred the ball smartly to Blythe, who turned it round to the goal, but Barlow fisted it out. Then Smart dropped a free-kick just below bar level, but Barlow pushed the ball over the top.

In spite of the handicap of the wind, Golders Green began to get into stride, Bucci and Lovell doing much to push the game forward, and ground was gained by free-kicks, but shots were blown yards away from the goal. One of Bucci's drives should have gone two fields ahead, but the ball sailed right back to midfield.

Good work by Breagan brought a real chance to Golders Green, but Thomas miskicked in front of goal. After a quick raid by the Finchley left-wing, Owen go away, but held on too long while Thomas was waiting for a pass.

The first shot for Hawkins to deal with came from Breagan, and soon afterwards Owen drove the ball over the bar.

Finchley pressed again, but there was no polish about their finishing, and when W. Boston cleared strongly, Graves sent F. Boston and Owen up the field, Owen placing a grand centre, which Thomas just failed to connect. The left wing tried again, but this time Owen shot wide.

Neary and Green led the next Finchley attack, but Stone came up against W. Boston when about to shoot.

The Greens gained another free-kick, taken by Bucci, who sent the ball out to Breagan, and the winger reached Hawkins but did not beat him.

Bucci's play was inspiring to the home team, and Lovell and W. Boston were working well, but Graves seemed slower than is his wont, possibly the result of his recent injury.

At the other end Green took the ball in and Barlow fell in clearing, but Blythe, following up, skied the ball over an open goal. Again Blythe came in, but Caswell upset him. Caswell had periods of brilliance, but was not always reliable.

Near half-time Ellison forced a corner. Breagan placed the ball well and Ellison shot, but Baird cleared.

Half-time arrived with a blank score sheet and an impression of too much midfield play.

It was not until midway through the second half that any excitement crept into the game. Finchley had started off with power, but did not keep it up, while Bucci, who had played very much for safety in the first half, now became a lively attacker and, like Lovell, lent added confidence to the home forward line.

Golders Green's chances began to look better, but after 25 minutes STONE put Finchley ahead, profiting from an error of judgment by Graves, who headed the ball down in front of goal instead of leaving it to Barlow.

Five minutes later THOMAS equalised, taking a short pass from Ellison and getting the ball in neatly past Hawkins. It was a nice piece of work, and equally good was the goal by Breagan, quickly following, to put Golders Green ahead. Ellison had tried for a shot, but the ball came of Baird to BREAGAN, who snapped it up and finished in good style.

Tones was off the field injured at this time, but he came back just before the final goal was netted to give Golders Green their 3-1 lead. Lovell passed the ball forward to ELLISON, who had his back to the goal. He whipped round and sent in a brilliant shot high up in the net. Hawkins jumped a fraction too soon and was coming down as the ball passed under the bar.

A fourth for the Greens nearly came when Breagan swung the ball across to F. Boston, who met it with his head, but Hawkins reached it.

There was some beautiful work by Lovell, Ellison and Breagan in the closing minutes, and two shots came near from F. Boston, but at the other end Blythe went near to reducing the margin when he shot just over the bar.