Mexborough and Swinton Times March 23, 1928

Mexboro’ A Stage Further
The Might of Liverpool – And the Mite of Mexboro’.

Mexboro’ 4, Liverpool 0

Mexboro’: Stubbs; Lawrence, Hardy; Hallam, Street, Boulton; Burton, Gittins, South, Beard, Parker.

Liverpool: Dunks; Halliwell, Howard; Soo, Carter, Roberts; Duff, Bradlshaw, Casey, Smith, Ashcroft.

Referee: D. E. Price, Rotherham.

More than 3,000 persons enjoyed on Saturday one of the best games played on the Hampden Road ground this season. All that was promised of this replay between two of the country’s cleverest elementary; school teams was fulfilled —and more.

It was a 70 minutes match there from start to finish; and the score gives a misleading suggestion of one-sidedness. Mexborough Mayoress HR not so bad have not been so thoroughly tested this season as they were on Saturday and the 3,000 spectators went away with almost as much admiration for the Liverpool team as for the one thqt championed their own town’s cause and credit. On balance of play hardly a goal margin came between the teams; the issue was decided by Mexboro’s more penetrative forwards, by Gittins, the match-winner, and by Stubbs—the tiniest figure on the field but the greatest! Some superlative other qualities were required to justify the Mexboro’ Association’s unusual course of making their goalkeeper the smallest lad in the team: the justification was Stubbs’s extraordinary powers of anticipation startling agility and the courage of ten lads his size.

Three Great Lads.

The journey from west to east did not affect the Liverpool boys as the journey from east to west affected the Mexboro’ boys a fortnight earlier.Perhaps the Liverpool boys were more seasoned travellers; or perhaps there is more than certain medicos will allow in the theory about climate’s effect on physique and mentality.

Anyhow, the story of the match must be divided into two distinct parts: the one covering the first half in which pretty even territorial distribution of the play was discounted by Mexboro’s ability to finish of their schemes and get through a good defence, alongside Liverpool’s inability to do so, the other comprising the second half in which a team that appeared at half-time well beaten, with a three-goal lead against them on “foreign” ground, fought back so magnificently that for 35 minutes they were the better team except in two particulars—finish in attack and invincibility in the last line of defence.

Stubbs (picture) was unbeatable: had he not been I am afraid Mexboro’s three goals would not have been sufficient. The Liverpool halves in this half fully justified my view, expressed when I saw them at Liverpool, that they must be the finest set of school half backs playing. Carter was the weaker of the three —and he was one of the half dozen best players on the field! Roberts was magnificent: he cannot have got anywhere near that form in the England trial game or his international cap would have been as good as got, and on the other wing Soo, the Chinaman, won a permanent place in the hearts of the football-loving Mexboro’ crowd.

Yet, with all the will in the world to impartiality, almost every one of the 3,000 odd finally fell for the greatest little hero of all: Stubbs. One save alone in that stirring second half would have been a good afternoon’s work: the deflection of a blazing drive at short range by Ashcroft with Stubbs on the greasy ground a second after holding up a shot from the other direction. Mexboro’s memories of Roberts and Soo will die hard: but the memories in a few Liverpool heads of Stubbs will die harder yet.

A Match Winner, And –

From the start it was a game to cheer about. One felt doubtful when one saw the mess that Saturday morning’s rain and made of a ground already sodden by the week’s late snows; on such a treacherous surface veteran would be puzzled to produce first rate football, what could new boys do on it?

But no match scarred veterans could have mastered the conditions more remarkably than did the two teams of elementary school boys on Saturday. Both set up a tearing pace immediately, and played downright good football at the same time. The contest of craft between Soo and Mexborough’s brilliant left wing developed at once and throughout the game remained one of the main sources of interest, excitement and delight. And it was, Parker who slipped through to bring, about the first goal. The game ran perfectly even for 13 minutes: then Mexboro’ set up a battering assault on the Liverpool goal. Three or four lads tried shots before the ball was diverted to Parker. He drove in a shot that looked a scorer but SOUTH gave the ball a flick with his head as it passed him. Even then the ball hit the upright and spun along the goal; but was ruled to have been over the line before Danks rescued it. Except to people on the spot it was a doubtful goal but Mr. Price was well up with the play and he did not hesitate.

The game still ran on evenly for 15 more minutes: then another determined Mexboro’ attack once more shook the Liverpool defence and SOUTH’s opportunism once more turned the moment to account.

The two-goal lead represented sheer opportunism alone, for apart from that Mexboro’ could claim little advantage in the play. But just before half-time came an incident that demonstrated Mexboro’s real pull in the game — and Liverpool’s fatal lack. GITTINS, resisting a tackle well away from goal, took a sudden decision. exerting his, speed to round half and back, and from not many yards inside the touchline and at an acute angle whipped in a shot the accuracy and strength of which left Danks and everybody else flabbergasted and put Mexboro’ three up. It was a glorious goal. Liverpool had no match winner, real or potential, as Mexborough had in Gittins: and perhaps that, after all, made the difference.

A Match Saver.

Mexborough three-goal lead began to look a poor thing early in the second half. Roberts, playing a captains game and giving a captains lead, held up Mexborough’s right-wing almost completely, with the able backing of Howard, and kept forcing the game forward by position play and ball distribution of startling shrewdness. Again and again he thrust the ball through accurately to the feet of the best placed forward at the moment and his play and tactics wrested the initiative trom Mexboro’ and gave it to Liverpool.

It was then that Mexborough, having in the first half revealed a match winner, next made known their possession of a match-saver. Even though the Liverpool forwards failed in penetration the strength of their halves kept them so persistently on the offensive that chances inevitably came. Some of them were seized—but Stubbs was on the spot every time. It was an amazing display. He made the Liverpool lads’ good shots look tame: he got to their best-directed ones with a speed and sureness that baffled detest. Half a dozen time a midget figure—no more than a flash of white—darted across the goal as quick as eye could travel to turn the ball out, round an upright: everywhere but at, the itching feet of striving Liverpool forwards. Once a quick low shot had to be gathered at full length at the foot of the post and a bare second later the tall Bradshaw was there eager to bundle ball—and goalkeeper, too, if necessary !—over the line; but quicker still, as quick as the expert in sleight-of-hand., Stubbs had juggled the ball outside the post and with apparently the same movement wriggled clear of the bodily danger from an eager advancing forward. Then, later, when Smith made his best effort of the match—a header directed high towards the net from a flying right wing centre–Stubbs leaped up at a speed greater than that of the whizzing ball to make a two-listed save that sent the coolest watcher dancing and semi-hysterical between pride and amassment

Grit !

The Liverpool lads were admirable. In face of every bitter disappointment of this kind: when their most deserving attempts ended in failure this that in ninety-nine instances in. the hundred would have been success — even when, dead against the run of play, Mexboro’ burst through and GITTINS scored a real footballer’s goal (picture)—they kept hard at it, fighting time, fortune and a skill strained to its uttermost limit of achievement to meet the needs of a critical time. It was a critical tune for Mexborough. At any moment till the last ten minutes began to tick away, there might have begun an avalanche to swept Mexborough even behind the rocky harrier of a 4-goal lead, clean from their moorings. It was Mexboro’s supremo tests; that they rose to it and conquered intensifies the already strong hope that this team will actually achieve the great feat, and give the town the signal honour of possession of a national trophy,

‘Though every lad did well from Liverpool’s eleven I must pick out four for special distinction: Roberts. Soo, Howard, Ashcroft. I don’t expect to see two better wing halves than Roberts and Soo—even though Mexboro’ do get to the final round. Howard played a cool and calculating game, especially in the second half, that would have done credit to an older player. He had fairly often to cut across to the right to help cope with Beard and Parker; and practically every time he did it effectively. Ashcroft was easily the best of the five forwards. He again and again outpaced Hallam and Lawrence. His footwork and ball control were classy, and he centred well; but except on one occasion he failed as a shot.

The other forwards played nice football and kept the game open when they did get possession. The line was improved by the substitution of Duff for Rabbitt. The new little winger caused a lot of trouble to the Mexborough defenders. But the whole line failed in finish. Liverpool lacked a forward who could get goals — a match winner like Gittins, for example.

Eleven Good Men.

The main strength of the Mexboro’ team was vested in Stubbs, Hardy, Street, Gittins, Beard and Parker. That is not to say the rest were failures—merely that all were very good but that some were not quite so good as others. Lawrence’s work was not, quite so sure and strong as Hardy’s; neither Hallam nor Boulton was quite as shrewd and effective as Street (picture) ; Burton and South were not quite so clever in ball control or so forceful as Gittins, Beard and Parker. But Lawrence, Hallam, Boulton, Burton and Southall played much better than they did at Liverpool. The serious half-hack weakness that developed in the second half on the Fairfield ground never showed on Saturday. Hallam and Boulton worked unceasingly against nippy forwards who were all the while getting wonderful support from a brilliant set of homes. They were often beaten but at least as often they held their own.

Lauren showed considerable improvement but still has that little failings; hesitancy in making his tackle. Burton did much good work, but in the second half he made little headway against Robert and Howard. Burton needs just a little more snap in his play to make him a former forward. South has not the ball mastery of Beard and Parker; he has courage, opportunism and patience. He never shirked a tackle on Saturday and he was on the spot to snap two chances.

Gittings again tried to do the work of two or three. With a team playing as Mexborough played on Saturday it is a doubtful whether his roving policy really worked out to his side’s advantage the end you might get a lot more out of Burton and thousand he kept his position a little more dash though because one of my is his determination to pull his side out of the tightest corner unit it means doing it all himself.

Mexborough folk may now have further opportunities of seeing this team, and after Saturday’s game they will not miss those opportunities. It was a grand game, grandly played, grandly one – and grandly lost.