South Yorkshire Times, April 29th, 1944
Semi-Final
Denaby Upset the Leaders
Frickley 1 Denaby United 2
Denaby entered the final with a well-deserved 2-1 victory over Frickley, before an £11 “gate” at South Elmsall on Saturday. For Frickley, at the head of the league after consistent play throughout the season. It was a grievous disappointment to fail almost at the last hurdle, but none could deny Denaby the merit of success. From the outset they were more convincing. Their forwards, with Gibbs shining at inside-left, were more virile, and their half-back line, in which Williams on leave from the Army was a dominant figure, was far better than that of Frickley, which was far below its usual standard.
Cyril Shepherd was a powerful right-back for Denaby, while Jones and Vardy (backs) and Rasburn, who deputised in goal for Wildman, were the only Frickley players to distinguish themselves. The Frickley attack, from which the driving force of the absent Wipfler was missed, was very ragged and rarely looked like overcoming the Denaby defence.
What few thrills there were came in the first half, in which all three goals were scored. A mix-up in the goal mouth ended in Guest giving Denaby the lead after ten minutes. A powerful drive by Higginbottom, a youngster on trial at outside-left, put Frickley on level terms after 20 minutes. Denaby were the more impressive and two minutes before the interval, Newton dropped in a high centre which Larkin headed in to restore the lead. Apart from a first minute thrill when Larkin, from close range, crashed the ball against the bar, the second half was colourless, with neither set of forwards holding out much hope of scoring.