Mexborough and Swinton Times December 3, 1910
Great Suter
Denaby United 1 Notts County Reserve 2
Suter has given some magnificent displays of goalkeeping in the Don Valley in years gone by, but for sheer theatrical brilliancy, is exhibition against Denaby on Saturday easily reach the very top standard. He won for Notts County reserves a brace of points which, in the circumstances, should by all the laws of superiority and not only gone to Denaby, but by a substantial margin.
A description of the first half can be appropriately quoted up in a sentence. Notts County were not in it. Right from the start Denaby, who had learned their cup tie lesson too late, and brought Nimrod into the halfback line to the exclusion of Smith, were in a stormy mood.
The forwards appeared to revel in the month, and there was a whole heartedness about their work, which was good to watch. Time and again they irresistibly bore down the Notts defence, but there was always Suter standing, jumping or falling into the breach. Several times his 8 feet of length from toe to fingertips was at full stretch in the mud, and the ball was almost miraculously turned round the post when a save looked an impossibility.
A Break Away
Jones was always having a “pop,” and Thackrah, Lang and Dudley to say nothing of the hard-working Fitton, were eager to get there. The crowd – or at least those present – was kept on tenterhooks, but do as they would in their shooting was decidedly good – Denaby some of our other could not get the ball through. To make matters worse the fickleness of Fortune was evidence when not in a breakaway, got a goal through Walker, a surprise effort, which caught the “to dogs” napping.
Denaby certainly ought to have scored when Thackrah was pulled down in the penalty area, but Suter appeared to cast a spell over Gregory, who kicked the ball hopelessly skywards. Notts occasionally attack, but Denaby’s predominance was very dated. They were the masters until they got to Suter. When the teams walked off, the Notts custodian, garbed in mud, was given a generous round of applause.
In the second half, taking heart of grace, the Notts forwards showed to better advantage, but Denaby still had the best of the play, the Notts goal experiencing more emirates escapes. Denaby’s doom was decided when, in the midst of heavy pressure by the home team, Notts scampered off again, and Sheppard, showing bad judgement in running a long way out of his goal, allowed Walker to put on a second goal.
Denaby worked heroically to the end, and from another penalty Jones showed that after all Suter was only mortal and could be beaten.
So Notts walked off with a 2-1 victory, very much their own surprise I imagine.