St. Albans City 3 Finchley 2
Saturday 6thSeptember
The Citizens opened their programme in the Herts and Middlesex League with a good win over Finchley, at Clarence Park , on Saturday. Play was fast and entertaining. Both sides combined well and there was no lack of excitement, but St. Albans. because of their more accurate finishing, established a three-goal lead which they retained until the last fifteen minutes, when Finchley, taking advantage of a certain easing up in the St. Albans rearguard, responded twice.
Finchley, who had the advantage of having played a previous game, in which they defeated Barnet, were the better together at the outset and the stronger at half-back, where W. A. Masters, the former London Caledonian, and C. D. Milne, a player with fine constructive ideas, excelled. But it was not long before St. Albans settled down to play attractive football, in which R. W. Wells. who figured in a new position at left half-back, was outstanding. His tackling was sound and he plied his forwards with some ideal passes.
Jack Richardson, despite a nasty gash over the eye, sustained in a collision with an opponent, and Earle were the schemers in the St. Albans attack. Allen. an artilleryman appearing at centre-forward in place of R. Burke. who has joined Luton Town, was a forceful leader. SAUNDERS did well despite the close attention of Withers, a really sound and nippy back. After twenty-one minutes' play the right-winger, fastening on to a grand pass from Earle, rounded Withers in a clever move and opened the scoring with a splendid low cross-shot - a first-timer, delivered with the left foot, which had McCann guessing.
St. Albans defenders, while playing well individually in the first half, with Goldsack very sound, did not always cover each other effectively, and Finchley's good forward movements created some favourable openings. Their finishing was, however, erratic, yet at times deadly enough to give H. Powell, the former Ware and Hertford Town goalkeeper, who was making his initial appearance for St. Albans, the opportunity to demonstrate his skill. He brought off a number of really smart saves.
Both sides continued to play attractive football in the second half. Within three minutes of the resumption Wells cleverly paved the way for Francis to centre to RICHARDSON, who netted with a well-placed low drive, and twenty minutes later Earle, by deft footwork, created an opening for ALLEN to dart through to add St. Albans' third goal with a swift ground shot.
The fast pace continued and Finchley appeared to last it better than the Citizens. They pressed hard at times. A miskick enabled, HIVES to reduce the deficit with fifteen minutes to go, and five minutes from the end a delightful dribble by Milne ended with Cooper centring for A. NEARY to score. Both Finchley's goals were notched by unmarked players from close range and Powell had no chance with either.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable game and the Citizens gave promise of developing into a useful aide. The attendance was larger than at the opening fixture last season. If the Herts and Middlesex League continues to provide such attractive fare, it should not be long before the club gets a much larger measure of support.
St. Albans City:H. Powell: G. Martindale, L. Goldsack; R. Franklin. E. Cook, R. W. Wells; W. Saunders, S. Earle. W. Allen; J. Richardson. E. Francis.
Finchley:R. McCann; J. Young, C. Withers; W. Smith, W. Masters, C. Milne: A. Cooper. A. Neary. D. Hives. E. Neary. A. George.
Referee:Mr. L. F. Cadwallader (Pinner).