Match Summary

Ireland Team

England Team

Fully 8,000 people gathered on Saturday at Cliftonville Grounds, Belfast, to witness the annual encounter between the Rose and the Shamrock. The weather was discouraging, frequent showers of hail and rain falling previous to the kick-off. The ground was rather soft, and falls were frequent, the players finding it difficult to keep their feet on the treacherous surface...

Shortly before the end of the first half Devey was enabled to score England's first goal, Scott having left his charge in the meantime. About this time Holmes got hurt, and had to retire...

...Holt and Reynolds gave the visitors' left wing an opportunity which they were not slow to avail themselves of, and as a result of a magnificent run by Hodgetts and Spikesley the latter was given an opportunity of scoring, and he promptly beat Scott by a long oblique shot, making England's score two goals to nil...

Twenty minutes from time remarkably good play by Milne gave Dalton an opportunity of getting away, and the latter eluding Crabtree and Howarth had no difficulty in getting in his centre, from which Stanfield scored Ireland's first goal...

...but close on time Gibson beat Reader and equalised amidst tremendous cheering. There was some doubt about this goal, but the referee promptly decided in favour of the Irishmen, although the visitors claimed it had never passed through...

The first half was undoubtedly in favour of the Englishmen, whose combined play was a feature of the match, but in the second half the Irish team played an irresistible game. - Monday 5th March 1894, The Manchester Guardian

Although it was the first time Ireland had avoided defeat against England.... England did play seventy minutes with only ten men, and Ireland's equaliser did not pass between the posts, the equivalent to the side-netting.

Division One Table 3 March 1894
Team	P	Pts
Aston Villa	26	37
Blackburn Rovers	24	30
Sunderland	24	30
Wolverhampton Wanderers	26	30
Burnley	24	29
West Bromwich Albion	27	28
Sheffield United	27	27
Derby County	22	25
Nottingham Forest	22	25
Stoke	25	25
Everton	26	25
The Wednesday	27	22
Bolton Wanderers	24	20
Darwen	25	17
Preston North End	26	17
Newton Heath	21	9

ASTON VILLA 2-3 BOLTON WANDERERS
Chatt 2 (Cowan OG, Dickinson, Cassidy)
8,000 at Wellington Road, Birmingham
Villa were without Devey (who scored), Hodgetts and Reynolds, who were playing for England in Belfast.

NEWTON HEATH 2-4 SUNDERLAND
Peden, McNaught (J.Hannah, Miller, Campbell, Hyslop)
 8,000 at Bank Street, Manchester

PRESTON NORTH END 3-1 WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Ross 3 (McLeod)
  5,000 at Deepdale, Preston
Preston were without Bob Holmes, who was injured playing for England in Belfast. whilst West Brom were without Josiah Reader, who was in goal for England.

SHEFFIELD UNITED 3-2 BLACKBURN ROVERS
Hammond, Howell, Needham pen. (Campbell, Anderson)
  9,000 at Bramall Lane, Sheffield
Blackburn were without Chippendale and Whitehead, who were playing for England in Belfast.

STOKE 3-1 EVERTON
Robertson, Naughton 2 (Southworth)
  7,000 at victoria Ground, Stoke
Everton were without Holt and Howarth, who were playing for England in Belfast.

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 1-0 BURNLEY
Malpass
  4,000 at Molineux, Wolverhampton
Burnley were without Jimmy Crabtree, who was playing for England in Belfast.

Villa's first home defeat gave their rivals the opportunity to close the gap, but the defending champions, Sunderland, aiming for a historic hat-trick of titles, still had seven points to make up.

Division Two Table 3 March 1894
Team	P	Pts
Liverpool	22	40
Notts County	23	33
Small Heath	23	32
Newcastle United	24	29
Burslem Port Vale	24	27
Burton Swifts	22	24
Grimsby Town	23	27
Woolwich Arsenal	23	24
Lincoln City	21	23
Middlesbrough Ironopolis	24	20
Ardwick	21	16
Crewe Alexandra	22	15
Walsall Town Swifts	22	13
Rotherham Town	23	12
Northwich victoria	23	5

 


CREWE ALEXANDRA 0-0 WOOLWICH ARSENAL
2,000 at Alexandra Recreation Ground, Crewe

GRIMSBY TOWN 2-1 SMALL HEATH
Rose, McCairns (Mobley)
 3,000 at Abbey Park, Grimsby

LIVERPOOL 3-1 BURTON SWIFTS
McLean, Worgan 2 (Ekins)
  8,000 at Anfield, Liverpool

MIDDLESBROUGH IRONOPOLIS 2-1 NORTHWICH victorIA
Adams, Hunter (Guest)
  500 at Paradise Ground, Middlesbrough

Liverpool were still unbeaten in their first season and now secured their place in the end-of-season test matches to challenge for a First Division place.

 

 

 

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

It was on 3 March 1894 that Britain's oldest ever Prime Minister, 84-year-old William Gladstone resigned and was succeeded by Lord Rosebery.

Source Notes

Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats/Alan Gooden
Original Newspaper Reports
TheFA.com
Rothman's Yearbooks
FA Yearbooks 1950-60
Ancestry.com
____________________

CG