Mexborough & Swinton Times – Saturday 28 December 1912
A Record-Breaking Game.
Denby United 3 Mexborough Town 4
It has been left to this decadent period of miserable “gates” and hand-to-hand finance to produce the most stirring game of any of the long series yet played between the old-established rivals, Mexboro’ and Denaby, at least the most stirring I have ever seen between them, and my experience of these “Derbies” is fairly ripe, and it chanced upon the most miserable soaking Christmas Day I remember.
The weather conditions at Denaby on Wednesday were all against good football, and of truth very little classical football was seen.
It was all cut and thrust, give-and-take, keep-it-up sort of football, but it was most exhilarating to watch, and for vigour and pace and brightness and excitement eclipsed, as I have already said, anything accomplished by the clubs in their more palmy days, when they boasted better-known players.
Indeed, I will go so far as to say that I do not remember in all my experience a game so packed with thrilling incident as the game which Mexboro’ won close on time by the odd goal in seven.
The play was fought out to the accompaniment of an almost continuous roar from something like two thousand spectators.
Heavy Ground Bad for Defence.
I was surprised to see such a satisfactory attendance, considering the miserable dullness and wetness of the afternoon, the lowly status of both clubs in the League, and the steady decline of interest which has been ominously manifested in the district for so long.
But Mexboro’ brought a rare backing to Denaby’s new ground, upon which the reds and blues were performing for the first time, and they would doubtless have brought more and brought them quicker had the tramway and waggonette people been more enterprising, and put on something like an adequate service.
As it was, Mexboro’ spectators were rolling up twenty minutes and half an hour late, having walked all the sopping wet way. However, they were rewarded for their stoicism, for they saw a game in a thousand.
It is a curious feature of football that when the ground is in a heavy muddy condition, such as the pickle at Denaby on Christmas Day, when the players can scarcely stand on their feet and the ball is doing all sorts of queer things in its flight and pitch, then goals are more plentiful than when skilful forwards have a billiard table surface to work upon.
Apparently the rougher the pitch the more it operates against the defence, which is contrary to the teaching of the theorist.
The game produced seven legitimate goals, which is quite a respectable total for a Midland League match, but neither goalkeeper would have been disgraced had half a dozen or more goals been put up against him.
Indeed each goal enjoyed escapes which were nothing short of amazing.
The crowd held its breath time after time ready to cheer certain goals only to let it go forth in a bewildered howl as Hunter hit the post from the range of a yard with Heath down and beaten to the world, or as Lang at point-blank range lifted the ball almost perpendicularly over the bar.
Both teams, however, were in rare fettle, and I am inclined to sympathise with Denaby on having lost two points in a match through which they all worked like Trojans, and probably gave their best display of the season.
At the same time they had a rattling good start, and had to give it away to a team which was, on the whole, the better.
The sides were slightly altered in each case.
On the Mexboro’ side Goates was dropped in favour of Beaumont, and “Billy” Popple, who is gradually merging into the veteran class, was introduced vice Hoyland, who was dropped.
That is exactly where opinions differ.
The alteration was not in the end justified, but quite apart from that Hoyland had been giving a satisfactory show, satisfactory at least to most passable judges of the game, and it is never quite safe or fair to drop a full-back after a goal-less draw.
There was little amiss with Hoyland’s display against Grimsby.
Popple was never in happy mood, and rarely exhibited anything like confidence and sureness.
I say this with a certain amount of sorrow, for I have admired many dashing displays by the Goole man, and have often advocated a further trial for him.
On the Denaby side Haggar and Raybould were dropped, Blackburn was put back in his natural position of outside-right, with Tim Peters as his partner, and a Mexboro’ youngster, Calladine, was given what proved to be a successful trial at inside-right.