South Yorkshire Times Nov 26, 1955.
Three Goals’ Lead – Wiped Out – Then Three Goals’ Lead Again.
‘Trigger-Happy’ Denaby & Mansfield Serve Up A Ten Goals’ Game.
Denaby United 6 Mansfield Town Reserves 4
Denaby United’s remarkable 6-4 victory over Mansfield Town Reserves at Tickhill Square on Saturday was their first Midland League game before home supporters since October 1st, and if United had wanted to rehabilitate themselves after Northwich – well, they could only have bettered this performance by seizing the chances they missed and making it a match of – what? – 15 goals? It might have been: very easily.
Mansfield missed at least four goals and if Morgan had accepted the easiest chance – by converting that late penalty – United’s margin would have been 7-4. Duggan was the only member of the Denaby forward line to miss scoring; only he knows how, for he did as usual a grand job of work. But that kind of luck is just another of those uncertainties of soccer.
Perhaps the most remarkable features of the game were that first and second halves opened almost identically, that Denaby fist established a three goals load, that Mansfield wiped it out inside 12 minutes, and that Denaby re-established it. How often do you see that in a Midland League game?
The Scoring Chart.
The goals make the story of this ‘trigger-happy’ game. And this is how they came.
In the 2nd minute (after Holmes had had one tentative shot) Southall lobbed a diagrammatic ball into the Mansfield goalmouth and HOLMES, with all the time in the world, waited for it, met it neatly with his head, and Denaby were one up. (A few minutes later he scored again, but accidentally handled the ball in controlling his shot).
In the ninth minute POULSON, who looked like having every chance of offside being given against him, hit the ball into the Mansfield net from an oblique angle. It counted, and Denaby were two up.
To the 44th minute it was a battle royal. There were Denaby misses and there were Mansfield misses – with some excellent work by Williamson – and make no mistake about it, there was absolutely no monopoly of the ball. It could have gone either way. Then, with seconds to go to the half-time whistle MORGAN pulled one out of the bag for Denaby like a magician producing a rabbit.
Came the second half. In the 47th minute the early Denaby move was repeated almost move for move – by Mansfield. Murray crossed the ball and it was LEE who scored 3-1.
In the 50th minute MURRAY himself scored (3-2), and in the 57th minute LEE registered again to make it 3-all. Three goals in 12 minutes – and the Denaby lead gone with the wind.
But only for three minutes! In the 60th minute FLYNN made it 4-3 and when in the 67th minute Mansfield left half LAMBERT attempted to nod away a shot from Morgan which White would normally have gathered, the slight deflection beat the Mansfield goalkeeper, and this ‘own goal’ made it 5-3.
For 11 minutes so it remained, then in the 78th minute Denaby forced a corner on the right. Flynn took it, goalkeeper WHITE punched away one close-in shot, but in endeavouring to punch away another he turned the ball into his own net – and there was United’s three goals’ lead back again.
Centre-forward GASKELL got Mansfield’s fourth goal eight minutes from the end and one minute later Holmes was brought down on one of his power ‘drives’ down the left wing. Morgan was entrusted with the penalty kick-out but he failed to convert.
And that was it.
That was the first missed penalty conversion in the senior side this season. Jones scored from a penalty earlier in the season and Flynn scored from the other Denaby have been awarded. So far they have profited from five ‘own goals’. Poulson’s goal gave him 10 to date. Duggan has scored eight and Holmes seven.