Denaby’s Forward Experiment Was Not Successful

Denaby Utd 0 Boston 3

Denaby United were beaten 3-0 by a better side at Tickhill Square on Saturday, though I gathered that Bradfordians watching the game were not unduly pessimistic about their chances against Boston in the first round of the FA Cup tomorrow.

Before this fixture the first meeting this season, Denaby and Boston were level pegging in the Midland league table each with 20 points, Denaby having won nine of their 16 games and Boston eight. Now, they have each won 9/17. Denaby with a goal average of 46-40 (the arrears are creeping up on the credit side) and Boston with 37- 20. Only two sides have had fewer goals scored against them, Peterborough, the leaders, and Frickley Colliery, and the fact pinpoints one of the reasons for Boston’s success at Tickill Square. The Denaby attack was seen to advantage only in brief patches: for the remainder Boston had control. Overall, the Denaby forward experiment did not work entirely satisfactorily. Martin, principally, and Duggan were the two forwards who threatened the Boston goal most often. Martin produced several excellent touches, but he is still a centre forward and to that position he reverted after the second Boston goal in the 61^st minute.

Near Misses

Lambert worked hard without producing concrete results, though he was unlucky to miss scoring early in the game when he lifted a close in shot high over the crossbar. Southall tried to penetrate the Boston lines from long range in the second half and almost succeeded. Holmes just robbed himself of a chance by working the ball to an extremely acute angle before shooting and thereby killing the power of his shot. Egan put just wide and Duggan crashed a long, low shot into the Boston side net early in the second half. Egan had a good deal of chasing to do, and he was by no means a free man with the constant attention of Miller. The Boston backs, Robinson (a familiar face at the end of it) and Deans, both kicked hard, but young Duggan got through in the first half and was extremely unlucky with a splendid after Martin had said up the opportunity.

All things considered, Denaby had no brakes, and they needed them badly on Saturday. If one of those shots had registered I think we might have seen a transformation, but Hair’s 27^th minute goal, augmented after 61 minutes by Birkbeck, who fairly bulldozed his way through and scored via the post, put on too much top weight and United rarely looked like reducing it. Wilson’s goal in the 86^th minute underlined Boston superiority, Williamson made one or two excellent saves; indeed, at first it looked from a distance as though he had reached that hair shot in the 27^th minute, but it just eluded his out-flung arms.