Mexborough & Swinton Times, September 16, 1922
Rough House with The Rovers.
Unpleasant Game at Denaby.
Temper, Casualties and Marching Orders.
Denaby United 2 Doncaster Rovers 1
The return match with Doncaster Rovers brought Denaby United both funds and glory. The game resulted in a clear win for Denaby, and was watched by a crowd worth £147 (gross). The best Denaby “gate” so far, and likely to rank high all through the season.
The match was exciting enough, full of incident, but including some episodes which could well have been dispensed with. The crowd got tremendously excited, and their passions seem to infect the players, who, towards the end of the game, were inclined to lose their heads will stop temper was rife, and it was manifested in senseless little quarrels, one of which promote drastic official action.
Mr Marper found the game very difficult to control and he did not do himself justice. He gave several bad decisions and allowed feeling to run high when he might have checked it in its incipient stage by aprompted display of firmness. Percy Reed, the Denaby right half, was sent off, and I do not say that he did not deserve his sentence, but several notable offenders before him had been overlooked.
The lapse from good manners and the sporting spirit extended to both sides, and the eruption of feeling was regrettable because otherwise we should have had a fine, scientific game. The play opened out beautifully, and, indeed, the first half was wholly enjoyable. It was after Denaby scored their second goal that roughness crept. The 1500 Doncaster spectators seem to communicate ill temper to the field, and it broke out quite suddenly amongst the players. They were jars between Reid, the Doncaster halfback, and Godfey, and, of course, that stormy petrel, Tim Peters, had to step in, while the distemper afterwards extended to Ashmore, Reed, Rintoul, and one or two others.
Defeat at the hands of the despised Denaby team was a bitter pill for Doncaster to swallow, and they did not take it with a very good grace.The second-half was hardly possible to judge the merits of the game as a whole, but Denaby undoubtedly had the best of the play as well as the goal scoring. They were not quite so pretty and methodical as the Rovers. In the first half, but they were much more dashing and enterprising. They took full advantage of the wind and piled on all the pressure, they could, though they were not particularly steady in front of goal.
The most previous incident of the match was the injury to Jacklin, the Rovers goalkeeper, which occurred 20 min after the commencement, and which was part of the incident in which Denaby scored their first goal. Cowan set Kemp going very prettily with a header, and the old Doncaster man ran clean through. Jacklin came out to meet him, and KEMP, in trying to put the ball wide of the Rovers goalkeeper, would actually have placed it out but Jacklin with a desperate effort touched it and diverted it into his own net.
In addition he came out of the scuffle with a bad rupture of the thigh muscle, and had to be carried off, spending the rest of the game in the stand.
Strangely enough, Ashmore selected Rintoul, the most formidable of the Rovers forward to deputise for Jacklin in goal, and, although he played brilliantly there, making one or two notable saves, particularly from Powell and from Godfrey, he would have been better employed on the Rovers wing. Ashmore probably realised this at the interval, for he sent Shaw, the Rovers left back, into goal, and Rintoul went entre forward to relieve Boardman who had injured his arm in the first half, but pluckily continue playing on the left wing, doing a little here and there, as he could.
The second goal came from a swift raid by Powell and Homer, which Wigglesworth checked but could not repulse. The Denaby flyer came again, this time rounding Wigglesworth and read, and passed to HOMER, who dashed in at tremendous pace and scored at point-blank range.
Homer have been brought into the team on account of the illness of Bretnall, who with George Hill, was down with influenza. Godfrey took Bretnall´s place and Homer was brought in to partner Powell, well timbered Peters came in at left back for Hill, and Kemp captained the team.
Taylor was to have lead the Doncaster attack but yet to stand down with the Tom muscle, so childless gaming once more inside right, and Shaw replaced Coward at left back, read being preferred to McLean a right laugh, Shaw was one of the outstanding men of the Rovers team, and, in the first half, put up a great defence against Hamilton and Kemp.
Kemp’s goal, like Bretnall the previous week was compensation for a previous mix, for the game was only 3 min old when Kemp miskicked with the goal at his mercy. The Rovers were depressed and disorganised by the casualties they suffered in the first hour, and that may have accounted to some extent for the fraying of temper. Certainly, that element did not improve their play towards the end of the game.