Mexborough & Swinton Times January 7, 1905
Mexborough 0 Denaby 2
Mexborough: Tayles, goal; Powell Streets, backs; Gosling, Biggs and Shaw, half backs: Simmons, Rogers, Hakin, Grovesand Hawley, forwards
Denaby: Hancock, goal; Welsh and Lawley backs;Chatfield, Hawkins and Arnold, half backs; Lindley, Hall, Hosey, Lavery and Nimrod, forwards
The Mexborough team was not at cup tie strength, although you will for sure as the last cup tie which they engaged, only serve to show the team’s weakness, perhaps that did not matter.
A slipshod game Mexborough were rarely in it, Denaby never great but always good enough for their opponents. Wasted opportunity on both sides, a well-deserved victory for the better side on the day’s play
Mexborough won the toss and that was all they won. They decided to kick downhill, the ground was greasy and a lot of floundering. Both sides did the floundering, but Denaby were generally at the top of the slope and floundered dangerously near. The Denaby supporters formed the majority of the population in the neighbourhood of the Press Box and disparaging remarks on the subject of the Mexborough play were frequent and sometimes lurid.
Tayles saved a good deal more than Hancock, but Mexborough took the first corner. Corners however do not count. After 12 min play, or thereabouts Lindley centred and Nimrod chipped the ball over Powell’s head into the net. Tayles had little chance to save, his view of the shot being obscured by Powell. Denaby deserved the goal but the disparaging remarks before alluded to, which now increased, were not exactly just.
Mexborough now pressed and had a lot of corners and things which amounted to nothing. Hancock did a lot of work in some of which he was lucky, but in all of which he was smart and successful. Appeals for penalties were knocking around about general, but referee Morton turned a deaf ear
All the play was not on one side, for Tayles was occasionally called upon to display his form. He was safe or it would have been a bad egg for Mexborough. At the other end the Mexborough forwards missed chances or it would have been a cough drop for Denaby. Nearing half time, in the midst of pressure at the Denaby end, Lavery broke away and running nearly the length of the field parted to Hall when at close quarters and ‘Pal’ coming in on his own had no difficulty in beating Tayles. An outcry about offside was nonsense, because Hall came down yards behind the, and was yards behind the pass. Nothing else until at half time Denaby led by two goals to nothing. Nothing else afterwards for the expectation that Mexborough would play better uphilll was not fulfilled. They played, if possible worse than in the first half. The forwards scrambled about, and if they shot anywhere near goal they always shot into Hancock’s hands.
Denaby made the Mexborough defence sit up sometimes and Tayles saved a good header from Hosey, while Nimrod struck the bar with a rasper. Generally Mexborough had the better half of the play, but that was all. They got no goals and in a very poor game ended in Denaby favour by two goals to nil