Mexborough and Swinton Times January 24, 1936
Snow Fight
Laughs and Thrills at Tickhill Square
Denaby’s Fine Display
Denaby United 4 Grimsby Town Reserves 2
The game at Tickhill Square on Saturday served some surprisingly good football. The second half brought goal thrills galore and the best goal of the match, but for sheer amusement there was nothing to equal those first few minutes of frolicking in 6 inches of “nice clean snow.”
Anything might’ve happened in those miniature snow fights and only four minutes of the game had gone when Guest cut in from the left, rounded Branson and drove hard to beat Theaker. I shouldn’t have been surprised to see a half-dozen goals this half.
Narrow Escape
Then came the first good laugh. Earnshaw had cleared a dangerous snapshot from Dyson when Beckett, some 20 yards out, sent in a lovely drive which brought the Denaby goalkeeper diving – just a second too soon. A certain goal – but the goal stuck in the deep snow, slap on the goal-line! Before the Grimsby forwards could reach it, Earnshaw got to his feet, Clark kicked clear. Tickhill Square certainly showed its appreciation of that one !
But it was a narrow escape, and a forerunner to many more thrilling scrambles before Grimsby eventually got on terms. That was “High spot number two.” Dyson and Moralee (formerly of Denaby) were constantly proving too big a handful for the Denaby halves, and on several occasions the ball as it shot narrowly across the goalmouth, hit the upright or skimmed the bar.
Then, in one fine move, Moralee caught Earnshaw off his balance. The ball shot towards the net at a terrific rate, and the next thing we saw was Sykes, the Denaby centre half, bringing off a lovely two handed save diving headlong into the snow as he pushed the ball over the line. Lumby put Grimsby on terms with the simplest of goal from the resultant penalty. Only gentle flick of his foot – but the ball had Earnshaw well beaten.
Troublesome
It is difficult to say much of the general run of the game. Midfield play was always fast and exciting, but little came of the moves on account of the very treacherous surface. It was very disappointing, for on many occasions Grimsby showed fine spirit – and, under normal conditions, I am inclined to think they would have proven very troublesome during the first half. Their backs, Branson and Annables were always reliable – even in the second half – 90% of whose play fell to Denaby – they did yeoman service.
Fearnley, Fleetwood and the two Barks came to live with some fine work in the second half, and Guest, on the left-wing came into the picture with some useful manoeuvring too. Straight from the resumption Fearnley received a long swinging pass from the centre, and only Smart work by Branson cleared the danger. A few seconds later Fearnley rounded Lumley and lobbed to Barks who headed just over.
This hectic rush could certainly not have gone on for much longer without something happening , and even then Dyson scored another goal for Grimsby before Denaby returned to the attack and full of vim scored 3 more through B Barks (2) and Guest. Barks last goal was the best of the match – a glorious drive from well out which slammed into the back of the net with Theaker well beaten all the way. In fact it was scored so quickly that the crowd hardly seemed aware of what had happened for a few seconds.