South Yorkshire Times February 22 ,1969
Effort, Poise, From Denaby
Hatfield Main 0 Denaby United 1
Playing for the first time since Harry Lee’s departure from the scene, Denaby United played with more effort and poise than they have shown for some time, leaving Hatfield in the sorry position of still not having won a home match this season.
After last week’s dismal showing against Hampton Sports, Denaby showed an attacking spirit and a renewed effort to keep the home defence at full stretch. Royston, playing his second game for the club, settled in well and brought a composure to the midfield that has been lacking this season. With Gilbert and Morley fighting to penetrate the Hatfield defence, Denaby kept on top for much of the game.
Despite a goalless first half, the crowd could not complain as both teams showed a willingness to attack and came close to scoring. Morley had a header saved and Howe, in the home goal, was injured as Roddis rushed in. He recovered to keep out Denaby until half-time. At the other end, Sinclair blazed over the top when in a good position, and Smith was almost beaten by his own man, Pettit heading into the side netting.
Denaby sealed the game just after the restart when Johnny Gilbert, who had a fine game, cut in from the wing to fire against a defender. He made no mistake with the rebound. From then on it was end-to-end stuff, with Smith saving well after a desperate goalmouth scramble in the closing stages.
Denaby’s strong defence kept the home attack to long range efforts and held on to the points.
Teams: Hatfield Main: Howe; White, Kirkham; Johnson, Hardy, Smith; Sinclair, Mulligan, Willi this ams, Allott, Cannon. Sub. Hickson
Denaby United: Smith, Wiggles, Whitehead; Pettit, Parker, Caunt; Gilbert, Royston, Morley, Whittaker, Roddis. Sub. Reed. Referee: Hayes (Doncaster).