Denaby Utd – Denaby 1 Mansfield Town 1 – Champions Hard Pressed – Robbed of Victory

April 1926

Mexborough and Swinton Times April 2, 1926

Champions Hard Pressed
Denaby Robbed of Victory In Last Minutes

Denaby United 1 Mansfield Town 1

Great interest was taken in the meeting at Denaby in the champions on Saturday, and the attendances were a big improvement on previous “gates.” The extent to which Mexborough were concerned, as probable champions, was indicated by the fact that three busloads of supporters came from Mexborough. There must have been many of the Mexborough followers there because the usual Denaby crowd could never have made the noise that Saturday’s crowd did when Denaby went ahead with only 15 minutes to go.

The weather and ground where favourable when Mansfield kicked off. Even exchanges went on for about 15 minutes. Denaby found difficulty in carrying out manoeuvres near goal owing to the fact that Mansfield packed well. However, this did not prevent Thompson putting across some excellent centres which deserve better use. This winger could have done more useful work if his partner, Pearson, had not been so handicapped in height. The inside right really got the better of him. He was much taller, and so much of Thompson’s work was undone. Kelly saw the difficulty and not infrequently tried long shots.

But this was but sparring, and Mansfield were equally aggressive, giving Bromage some anxious moments. They had a weak right wing. Sheldon never being up to much, but Heathcote was always conspicuous, besides forcing the first corner he brought Bromage to his knees with a swift drive. There was a trying incident when Taylor shot in. The ball glanced off the leg of a defender and ran across the goalmouth. Before damage could recover Sharp returned the shot.