South Yorkshire Times, April 26th 1969
Yorkshire League
Denaby United Had a Field Day
Denaby Utd, 5, Thorne Colliery 1
Denaby United’s light and speedy forwards played havoc with the opposition in Saturday’s Yorkshire League match at Tickhill Square, netting five times and splitting the Thorne defence wide open with the best display of open, attacking football seen from Denaby this year.
With both Gordon Smith and John Pitman unavailable, Denaby fielded Keith Roddis in the goalkeeper’s jersey, and had Harold Sapey and Joey Walton making their debuts. Thorne had ex-Denaby full – back Tommy Hymers and David Whittaker, brother of Trevor, in the team.
In muddy conditions it would probably have been a different story, but on the hard ground at Tickhill Square,Denaby’s lightweight forward line really came into their own and threatened to overwhelm Thorne with a barrage of attacks in the first half.
Walton capped a fine debut with a goal — Denaby’s first — a solo effort ending with a low drive past Jones in the Thorne goal. He had the ball in the net later, but the referee had already blown for a penalty, which Peter Cunt put wide.
John Royston had a field day prompting the forward line and giving Johnny Gilbert plenty of scope to use his ample speed. The Thorne defence had no answer to the fast, direct attacking and wilted under the first half pressure,
Howard Morley, always dangerous in the air, rose to head in a corner for the second, and completed the same movement for the third. Another Gilbert corner gave Trey Whittaker the chance to rocket a header inside the near post for the fourth, and a Gilbert-Royston break gave Royston the easiest of tasks to notch the fifth.
Keith Roddis was never really tested but performed with competence when asked and was finally beaten by a penalty. Only Watson and Whittaker gave Denaby trouble in the second period, when Wiggles and company had little difficulty in keeping Thorne at bay.
With matches on hard grounds coming up. Denaby can look forward to a good run of successes to end the 1968-69 campaign.
Teams:
Denaby United : Roddis, Wiggles, Whitehead, Sapey, Parker, Caunt, Gilbert, Royston. Morley, Whittaker, Walton.
Thorne Colliery: Jones. Parlett, Hymers, Mason, Thomas, Jones, Whittaker, Watson, Leeson, Pickersgill, Marks