Hampstead Town opened the season on Saturday with a trip to Chelmsford, where Hoffman's Athletic (last year's semi-finalists of the Essex Senior Cup) were met before a large crowd.

The Town tried five new men, which did not tend to make the team cohesive. However, they put up a good game and led by 2-1 until within a few minutes of the end when an unfortunate misunderstanding by the right-back and goalkeeper led to a gift goal to Hoffman's who, playing with great dash, managed to put on two more goals in the remaining few minutes, and the Town lost their first match by 4-2.