St. Albans City 2 Leavesden 0
Saturday 21st February
The Citizens have, after a considerable interval, again qualified for the final of the Herts Senior Cup, in which they will oppose Barnet, who, somewhat unexpectedly, ousted Hitchin Town, the holders, at Hitchin, in the penultimate round on Saturday. St. Albans' semi-final tie with Leavesden, despite the difficult conditions, produced a fast, entertaining game which, although keenly contested, lacked nothing in good sporting spirit.
Both sides were stronger in defence than attack. Leavesden, who had the advantage of the wind and slope in the first half, tried to keep play open and to make full use of their wingers. but Vale and Gurney were generally well held by Crossley and Reid, while the inside men could make little headway against the strong tackling and well-timed interceptions of L. Hall, who played another sound game for St. Albans at centre-half. Although Leavesden had slightly the better of the exchanges in the first half and forced a number of corner-kicks, Powell, in the St. Albans goal, was seldom hard pressed.
Kirkham and Wright worked hard in support of the Citizens' forwards, while Robinson and McCoy made many good manoeuvres in midfield, but there was a tendency to keep the ball close when within shooting range and to rely almost entirely upon Ron Burke, to do the shooting. The Citizens' centre forward, a former Leavesden player, was, however, very closely marked, and Jones, the Leavesden custodian, who assisted St. Albans last season, had few difficult shots to deal with in the first half. One from Burke beat him, but curled wide. Pipe had a great chance to open the score, but drove the ball across the goal when a straight shot must have been a winner. Wright made a fine attempt to beat Jones from a free-kick awarded on the edge of the penalty-area, but the goalkeeper effected a brilliant save, turning a powerful shot over the crossbar.
St. Albans attacked hotly early in the second half and secured the lead within five minutes of the resumption. Burke, accepting a pass from Saunders, tricked Glover and then delivered a fast, low shot. Jones, diving at full length, reached the ball, which he pushed out to the left, where PIPE, standing unmarked, shot high into the net before the custodian could recover. The Citizens did the bulk of the pressing after that, but could not increase their lead until three minutes from the end. Leavesden defending well, with Glover, Hook, Pearson and Jones all playing soundly. There were times when Leavesden threatened to equalise. Vale and Gurney made some neat runs, but their finishing was not good. Fuller had one easy chance to score from a pass by Vale, but dallied and was cleverly thwarted by Powell.
St. Albans' second goal was the outcome of a capital bout of combination on the right wing, Robinson and Saunders made a nice run and Wright, following up, gathered, a back pass from Saunders to lift the ball across the goalmouth to Pipe, who made a quick return into the centre, where BURKE seized the chance to crash an unstoppable shot past Jones from short range.
St. Albans City: H. P. Powell: E. Reid, H. Crossley; W. Wright, L. Hall, S. Kirkham; W. Saunders, T. Robinson, Ron Burke, J. McCoy, B. Pipe.
Leavesden: W. E. Jones: J. Hook, J. Pearson, Priestley, C. Glover, R. J. Burke; R. Vale, S. Spurr, E. Fuller, S. Heilling, L. Gurney.
Referee: Mr. A. Barratt (Enfield).