Match Report

Hayes
2
Hendon
2
Date:
Saturday 05 December 1936
Competition:
Athenian League
Attendance:
Unknown
Venue:
Hayes

Match Report

The return Athenian League match at Hayes resulted in a draw of 2-2. Golders Green twice took the lead, but after Hayes had equalised for the second time Golders Green's defence was severely tested, and once again they have to thank Kimber for saving the game.

F. Boston was responsible for both goals obtained by the "Greens." The first, which came at the end of 10 minutes, may be called a surprise goal. The shot was not one of Boston's best, and it enteed the corner of the net without any big effort to save it. A contributory cause may have been the fact that the Hayes' defenders were handicapped by the sun. Their captain had lost the toss. Golders Green's other goal, also scored by Boston, was of a different type. With it Saphin had no chance.

In the meantime Hayes had equalised from a penalty kick, awarded against Hayward, and their equalising goal, scored by Hunter twenty minutes after changing ends, also resulted from a free kicknot far out of the penalty area. In the case of the penalty kick the ball hit Kimber's foot and struck the crossbar before entering the net.

Taken on the whole, Golders Green were fortunate in getting one point, as in the second half Hayes pressed heavily, and called for constant watchfulness by Kimber, who, we should say, is playing better than he has done at any time in his long career. Golders Green were also well served by Hayward, at left-back, although he should guard against actions which handicap his side. In Jones and Chudley he had a strong right wing to face, and the old Uxbridge right winger, Jones, more frequently than not found his master. Hayes' other wing was equally good, but although W. Boston was not quite at his best, he pulled his weight.

Golders Green's half-back line was weakened by the absence of A. Broadis. His substitute, B. Weaver, was unequal to the responsibility thrust upon him, but to be captious would be unfair. There are few better centre-half-backs in London amateur football than Broadis, and Weaver was set a hard task. It may be that Broadis's absence is just temporary, and he may be assured that his return will be welcomed on all sides. The other halves, Bucci and Bloxham, did their best to make up for the absence of their old colleague. Taking the front line as a whole, Golders Green's five were not so good as the Hayes' attack, but much good work was done by Breagan and Browne, and, of course, F. Boston, by scoring the two goals, played no unimportant part. Like most of the others, however, he missed easy chances. Many times players on both sides shot wide when they seemed to have the goal at their mercy.

A further trial was given to W. Morton at inside-left, and while he is not a top-notcher, he has not let the side down.

Owing to the fact that the R.A.F. had the first call upon the Service men in the Hayes' team, two new players were tried. One was C. Bandey, who has a strong kick and shows no sign of fear.

There were too many free kicks to our liking. The referee was inclined to err on the side of safety, and pulled up players when other officials would have refrained from blowing the whistle, but that is a better course than letting men get out of hand. We did not count the number of free kicks, but from memory them seemed to be almost equally divided. But Golders Green suffered most through goals being scored from two of their offences.

Play opened in favour of Golders Green, and their goal at the end of 10 minutes, though a lucky one, was merited on the run of the game. Boston's success was the prelude to further efforts from the same position, one shot almost toucing the crossbar. Kimber, however, had quite as much work as Saphin, the Hayes' goalkeeper, Friday (at inside-left) being exceedingly troublesome.

Hayes equalised the score [through Townsend's penalty] midway through the opening half, and the subsequent play before the interval was so even that it seemed as though the teams would cross over on level terms. F. Boston, however, gave Golders Green the lead for the second time with a fine shot, and though Hayes tried hard, Jones heading the ball against the crossbar, they could not make up lost ground before the whistle went for a breather.

The second half went in favour of Hayes, but they could only score once, Hunter netting after a free kick had been taken. In one of their attacks Weaver was injured, and there were other casualties, but none bad enough to warrant players leaving the field. There was wonderful work by Kimber, who exercised sound judgment, and extricated himself from difficult positions on several occasions.

But Golders Green were by no means inefficient. They were showing form quite equal to that in the previous match with Uxbridge, which they won by 7-0, and there were times when their combination reminded one of their palmiest days. However, there were lapses on their part, as well as on the other side, and no further goals were scored.

Report by Hendon Times, 11/12/1936, p.16

Golders Green

1
Gerry Kimber
2
Bill Boston
3
Reg Hayward
4
Joe Bloxham
5
Bert Weaver
6
George Bucci
7
A J "Billy" Breagan
8
Johnny Browne
9
Les Green
10
Bill Morton
11
Fred Boston

Match Events

11''
Fred Boston
L Townsend
25''
37''
Fred Boston
J Hunter
66''

Hayes

1
R Saphin
2
J Ward
3
C Bandey
4
J Gooderham
5
J Richards
6
G Dean
7
Trevor Jones
8
A Chudley
9
L Townsend
10
J Friday
11
J Hunter