Mexborough & Swinton Times, October 20
Dour Grimsby
Victory of a Grim Defence
Denaby Storm in Vain
Denaby Utd. 1, Grimsby Res. 2
Denaby United had a bitter experience on Saturday when they suffered their first home defeat at the hands of Grimsby Town Reserves, who were one of the two clubs to conquer at Denaby last year. The result on Saturday went clean against the run of a very hot encounter, Grimsby were a big lot with combined weight and skill. There were matches in the game when they were distinctly the cleverer combination, but, on the run of the ninety minutes Denaby certainly did it. There were periods especially toward the close, then it seemed impossible that the Grimsby defence should survive Denaby´s storming tactics.
The game was for the most part pleasant and full of incident. Minor casualties were fairly frequent, but those were due rather to the strenuous nature of the encounter that to any deliberate roughness.
Unhappily, in the last few minutes Charlie Taylor was rather badly hurt. He was jumping up to head in when he and Miller, the Grimsby left back collided heads, and Taylor came down awkwardly. Miller was up in minutes, but Taylor´s case was more serious. A posse of Ambulance men carried him behind the Grimsby goal, where he lay oblivious to the tumult and shooting as his comrades battled desperately a few feet away. When the game was over he was carried to the dressing-room still unconscious and apparently suffering from concussion.
Grimsby made a couple of changes from the side that lost at Blundell Park the previous week after leaving Notts County 2-0. Jacobson took the place at right back of Ackroyd, the Scunthorpe back who was off injured and the amateur centre-forward, Would was replaced by Casson. Denaby relied on the side that put Wath out of the English Cup. Although the weather was mild and inviting the match did not attract a very satisfactory “gate”, the attendance being under 2,000.
Denaby were set to face the declining sun, which was rather bothersome in the early stages. Still the home team had distinctly the better of the opening half. Josh Godfrey, who, taken all through played a fine game, opened rather unpromisingly, by clumsily lobbing out a perfect centre by Scriven. Denaby´s best work at this stage was done on the left wing, the combination between Shaw and Scriven being delightful. Scriven was too fast for Wilson and Jacobson, and he found the middle from some very awkward angles. Grimsby also piled their left wing first and Dent was the outstanding player of the game, first the Denaby defence vey cleverly to release his winger, Flannigan whose shot was a touch light.
Miller, the Grimsby left back, did some fine work in the first half-hour, and this was mainly due to his skill and anticipation that the Denaby right wing was kept quiet and ineffective for so long. His clearances all well-judged, all of a length and never wild or hasty, however Denaby came from that quarter at last. The game was thirty minutes old when Hamilton found a way round Miller, though he had to go to the flag, to do it, and he put in a fast centre just at the right height Chambers nodded at it and missed, It came past for GODFREY, however and he was able to pick his spot.
In the next five minutes Denaby came near to putting in couple more. The home team pushed up straight from the kick-off, and the Hamilton-Godfrey manoeuvre was almost exactly repeated, with the important difference, Godfrey this time headed just outside. Archibald had hardly got over this scare when he had a nasty high centre from Scriven to negotiate and completely missed the ball which bounced off his chest and rebounded clear as Godfrey tackled him.
Grimsby got the equaliser five minutes from the interval. Casson and Dent cleverly exploited a slight misunderstanding between Taylor and Coope, Casson parted at the right instant and DENT left clearly through on the left coolly lobbed the ball over Bromage´s head as the Denaby keeper rushed out to clear up the mess. Just on the interval there was a quaint incident just on the Grimsby goal mouth, Godfrey had made one of his big rushes, and had been left sprawling under the bar as the ball was flung out to the right, when Hamilton snatched it and put it back, Joby still recumbent kicked it in with his heel and it was a clever case of offside, and Denaby got nothing out of it with a rueful laugh.
The second half was introduced with dull aspects, and a great deal of desultory midfield play. The first serious offensive come from Grimsby. Casson set Flannigan going and the winger found the net with a very low strike but the whistle had gone for offside before the ball arrived. Casson and Kitchen came very heartily to grass in one swift raid Matt Taylor upsetting them both, and the game had to be halted It had hardly been resumed when Godfrey was laid out by a vigorous charge from Gillow, and had to be helped off, but he was fit again in a few minutes.
At first Grimsby prevailed and only the brilliance of Bromage kept them out. He had to deal in rapid succession from the shots from Flannigan then Dent and Kitchen. He came triumphantly through the next ordeal when a penalty kick was awarded for a foul on Casson by Coope. Kitchen took the kick and seemed certain to score, but he shot straight at Bromage, although very powerful the keeper stuck to the ball and got it clear.
This encouraged Denaby who stuck hard at it and the tide seemed to turn. Grimsby however raised the siege, rushed away to the right and forced a corner, DENT lying a little back timed the flag kick perfectly and drove hard into the net with Bromage helpless in goal.