South Yorkshire Times, December 8th 1933
Stalemate At Mexboro’
Mexboro’ 0, Sheffield University 0
The irresistible force met the immovable object at Hampden Road and one got the impression that however long the game might have to have been permitted to go on no-one would have scored.
In the first half Mexboro’ threatened to swamp a shaky defence but received early intimation that, however unsure the University backs, Holroyd and Cotton, there was one member of the defence who was by no means shaky. H. C. H. Hill, the tall, cool goalkeeper, who has played in the northern amateur trial, and for Sheffield United Reserves, showed his quality very quickly with a swift onehanded parry of a well-judged header from Gott which appeared certain to convert one of the numerous centres from Rogers.
For a time, the left wing of the University defence was over-run. Rogers was at his liveliest and had Shepherd been able to shake off the half-back’s tendency to hang back the tie might have been settled in the first twenty minutes or so. Gott, the new centre-forward from Grimsby. showed direct actionist tendencies, and the line worked fairly smoothly. But the early chances were missed, and the University defenders settled down; probably heartened and given confidence by Hills excellent example. His was one of the steadiest heads on the field, and he had, too, a sure pair of hands backed by first-rate anticipation.
In the second half Cotton got the measure of Rogers. and the Mexboro’ attack suffered in consequence. Towards the end the University did a considerable amount of attacking, and looked as likely to score as anybody—but that wasn’t VERY likely. The outstanding performance of the game, apart from Hill’s, was that of Wilbourne, who is finding a new power and polish now his conversion from wing forward to full-back has been completed. He never put a foot wrong on Saturday. True he was not often hard pressed, but after making all due allowance his positioning. Kicking and tackling marked him out as yet another back of promise.
The Mexboro’ club have had luck in one direction at least in the last season or two: the discovery of backs of more than average ability. Wilbourne, or. Saturday’s form, is the latest and not the least of these discoveries. The old half-back formation got into effective working order again, but the forward display was disappointing one wondered “how they managed it” at Bradford. The small crowd watched with some interest in the work of the Allinson brothers on the University left wing, but the pair were generally well held by Ralph Burkinshaw and Winstanley. It was the defences day all round.