Sheffield Daily Telegraph – Monday 13 November 1911

Excitement at Mexborough.

Mexborough Town 2 Grimsby Town Reserves 2

Mexborough football is of more than average uncertainty. On Saturday against Grimsby Reserve the Don Valley players gave a series of first half disappointments by frittering away opportunities of scoring. They allowed Grimsby, with fewer chances, to take a clear two-goal load, and, then, just as everybody was prepared for defeat, they went to work with such a will as to snatch a draw. Tompkins first scoring and Wathey pulling the game out of the first in the last minute of time.

The game again demonstrated the present loss of form of Connelly. While he remains in effective the Mexborough attack will lack in scoring essentials. Murray was once more the best of the home backs, and the half backs were always hard workers. Wathey, considering the fact that he had to do his own foraging, was the pick the forwards, and if this light winger only had a capable and strong partner to nurse him, he would do exceedingly well.

As for Grimsby. Shaw, their new goalkeeper, was wonderfully smart, and he never made single mistake. Fullgames, the centre-half, and Hampton. Bell, and Huxford, of the forwards, also showed up well.

Denaby Down Again.

Sheffield Utd Reserves 5  Denaby United  0

On the form shown during the first half at Bramall it was hard to realise that United—once very formidable opponents of the Sheffielders—were the side that possessed a defence which had an average of nearly five goals per match against it for eleven games. The whole team surprised both the spectators and their opponents, particularly the latter, seeing that at the first meeting United had scored seven times in the initial half. So even were the exchanges up to the interval, which found the visitors one goal down—and this a very doubtful point—that all expected that a close finish would seen.

However, this was not the case, and though United certainly improved after the change of ends, the feature was the surprising manner in which Denaby deteriorated. Forwards which had been good became very bad, with idea of progress, and it was left to the once famous ex- Bury custodian—Thomson, who operated for the ‘’Shakers” when they won the English Cup without a goal against them—to keep the score down to five.

Peake and Simons were the best forwards.