Mexborough & Swinton Times — Friday 08 January 1904
A Denaby Surprise
On Saturday I met a man
Who wore a heavy frown,
Who told me he was going to see
United taken down.
For Denaby, I’m sure, said he,
A hiding is in store,
If they but only play to-day
As on the day before.
I also went to see the game,
Where those from Grimsby Town
Were pitted against United lads,
And did not take them down;
United, when the whistle blew,
Possessed the winning score,
They didn’t play on Saturday
As on the day before.
Yet when I met my frowning friend
His face still wore a scowl;
He uttered, when I greeted him,
“A vexed and angry howl:
I know they’ve won,” he cried, “and now
I’d like to shed their gore;
Why couldn’t they that sort of game
Have played the day before?”
“Be satisfied, my friend,” said I,
“That you have won to-day;”
But angrily he shook his head
To all that I could say;
“Of silver yesterday,” quoth he,
“I lost a tidy store,
Because the game they played to-day
Was not the day before.”
— G. R. Tennyson-Sims