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Match Report
The Irish News, Monday, 5 March
1894 |
On Saturday one of the largest assemblages of
spectators ever seen at Solitude assembled to witness the international
between a picked team representing England and an Irish, composed
exclusively of Belfast players. The greatest interest possible was taken in
the match, and the utmost enthusiasm prevailed. Punctually at 3.30, the
teams having undergone the photographing process, lined out. The
Englishmen won the toss, and Holmes, the captain, chose the mountain goal,
with the sun on his back and the wind—what was of it—in his favour.
Stanfield started the leather, and England immediately assumed the
aggressive, the ball going into touch. From the throw out, Reynolds, after
a header from Chippendale, shot behind. Milne, from the kick out, rushed
well, but the defence was too strong. Chippendale again brought the
leather up, but Stewart was able for him; but shortly afterwards he made a
slight mistake, and Chippendale looked dangerous, but Torrans was on the
alert. Stanfield had a neat chance spoiled by one of his own men, and
Dalton barely missed scoring by a few inches. A corner proved resultless,
and a foul was given against Ireland, but Stewart, by a good bit of play,
neutralised the advantage. The English forwards were playing well at this
stage, but Johnston and Milne were there and everywhere. Dalton and
Gaffikin brought relief by some nice passing, but Reynolds cleared
skilfully. Daton being hurt necessitated a short delay, and when play was
re-started, a foul given against Gibson gave the visitors a fine opening,
which they availed of, and pressed hard. Torrans saved when Chippendale
and Whitehead were looking very dangerous, and the Irish forwards began to
act on the aggressive. Milne put in a fine shot, in saving which Reader
was fouled by Stanfield, and slightly hurt. A fine shot by Johnstone was
spoiled by a misunderstanding between Gibson and Barron. Some fast play
followed, and a swift shot from Chippendale hit the post, the ball going
out. A combination between Dalton, Gaffikin, and Gibson was followed by a
good shot from the last named, but Reader saved. Milne gave England a
corner. From the kick out, the ball went into touch, and Milne took a foul
against Crabtree none too well. The Irishmen began to press, and Reynolds
was kept pretty busy. Relief was brought by the forwards, who got away,
and a shot from Chippendale went behind. In the kick out, Stanfield and
Barron broke away, and what appeared to be a fine chance of scoring was
somehow or other lost. A shot from Hodgetts hit the Irish crossbar and
went behind, and another rush by the homesters followed on the kick out.
Johnston stopped a rush by the opposition forwards, and Scott saved, in
excellent style, a shot from Devey. Gibson spoiled a nice chance, and Holt
passed to the forwards, which was followed by Devey scoring for England,
from a fine combination with Hodgetts and Spikesley. This gave the English
heart, and the play was faster and better. Before half-time Stanfield sent
through off a centre from Dalton, but the goal was disallowed as the
whistle had previously blown for a foul against England. No further score
took place before the whistle blew for half-time.
Devey re-started for
England, and Scott was forced to send behind to save from Chippendale and
Whitehead. England was pressing hard at this time, but Gaffikin relieved
by passing to Barron, who parted to Stanfield, but the latter missed a
most favourable opportunity by sending the ball high over the bar. Torrans
cleared a rush by the English left, and shortly following a foul was given
against England. Whitehead dribbled, but was robbed by Burnett. The Irish
invade, Stanfield in particular working very hard. Spikesley and Hodgetts
got away again however, and the former scored a second goal for England
from the outside left. Ireland was nerved to do better by this reserve,
and the English had their hands full. After some ups and downs, Dalton got
well away from the melée and centring to Stanfield, the latter sent the
leather through and scored the first goal for Ireland, a feat that was
received with the utmost enthusiasm. From the kick-ff Ireland got away
again but the venue was soon changed, and Scott got plenty of work from
Devey and Spikesley. The Irish worked all they knew to equalise, but the
passing was not good and this did them a great deal of harm. Holt took the
ball from Stanfield, when the latter would almost to a certainty have
scored, and Barron and Gibson showed up well in attacking Reynolds. Devey
put in a fine run but Johnston stopped him, and this was followed by a
good dribble and shot on the part of Stanfield. Holt was very useful in
stopping Irish rushes, and the Irishmen playing with great spirit and
determination had the hardest of luck in not scoring. It looked as if
another was about to be added to the already long series of English
victories, but immediately before the whistle blew Gibson ably backed up
by Stanfield got the ball through and equalised, the match ending in a
draw. This score hardly represents the play accurately for Ireland the
better of the match.
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Match Report
The Evening Press, Monday, 5 March
1894 |
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.
Both teams turned out as selected, with the exception of Clare, whose
position (right full back) in the English team was taken by Howarth, of
Everton. Holmes won the toss, and decided to play with the wind in the
first half, but although England had the advantage the Irishmen played up
splendidly, and twice placed Reader's charge in great danger. They
certainly shaped much better than usual, and their chances were further
increased when twenty minutes from the start Holmes, the English captain,
was injured. However, then minutes from the interval Whitehead and Devey
put in a capital bit of work, and the latter literally ran the ball
through. Previous to this the Irish goal had experienced several
near escapes, although the narrow ground appeared to bother the combination
of the Englishmen. With ten men England continued to press, and Whitehead
put in a clinking shot. Ireland had one disallowed, and at the interval
England led by one goal to none.
The second half was
rather better contested than the first. England, with their weakened
forces, only managed a slight pull. Spikesley put on a second point with a
brilliant individual effort, and the visitors appeared certain winners,
but Ireland put on a sport and Stanfield scored. A minute from time
Stanfield put in a long shot, and although Reader caught the post and
allowed the ball to go outside, the referee allowed the point, and the
result was a draw—two goals each.
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Report
Manchester Guardian, Monday, 5 March
1894 |
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. |
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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. |
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Domestic
Football Results (3 March 1894)
Teams in a silver box denotes a player representing England |
Football
Association Challenge Cup
3rd round
replay:
Notts County 4 Nottingham Forest 1
Trent Bridge, Nottingham
(12,000)
Logan, Bruce
(2), Donnelly
~ McInnes |
George Toone, Alf Shelton and Harry Daft started for
County |
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County
outplayed their neighbours and went on to become the first Second Division
club to win the FA Cup. |
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The Football
League Division One:
Aston Villa 2 Bolton Wanderers 3
Wellington Road, Birmingham
(8,000)
Chatt (2)
~ Cowan OG, Dickinson, Cassidy |
Villa were without Jack Devey, Dennis Hodgetts and Jack
Reynolds but did have Charlie Athersmith |
Wanderers started with John Sutcliffe and Davie Weir
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Newton Heath 2 Sunderland 4
Bank Street, Manchester
(8,000)
Peden, McNaught ~ J.Hannah, Miller, Campbell, Hyslop |
Preston North End 3 West Bromwich Albion 1
Deepdale, Preston
(5,000)
Ross (3)
~ McLeod |
Preston were without Bob Holmes |
Albion were without Joe Reader but did have Charlie Perry
and Billy Bassett starting |
Sheffield United 3 Blackburn Rovers 2
Bramall
Lane, Sheffield
(9,000)
Hammond, Howell, Needham
(pen) ~ Campbell, Anderson |
Rovers were without Jimmy Whitehead and Harry Chippendale
but did have Jimmy Forrest and Bill Townley starting |
Stoke 3 Everton 1
Victoria Ground, Stoke
(7,000)
Robertson, Naughton (2)
~ Southworth |
Stoke started with Joe Schofield |
Everton were without Johnny Holt and Bob Howarth but did start
with Jack Southworth, Edgar Chadwick and Alf Milward |
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Burnley 0
Molineux, Wolverhampton
(4,000)
Malpass |
Wolves started with Harry Wood |
Burnley were without Jimmy Crabtree |
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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..
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The Football
League Division Two:
Crewe Alexandra 0 Woolwich Arsenal 0
Alexandra
Recreation Ground, Crewe
(2,000) |
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Grimsby Town 2 Small Heath 1
Abbey
Park, Grimsby
(3,000)
Rose, McCairns
~
Mobley |
Liverpool 3 Burton Swifts 1
Anfield, Liverpool
(8,000)
McLean, Worgan
(2) ~ Ekins |
Middlesbrough Ironopolis 2 Northwich Victoria 1
Paradise Ground,
Middlesbrough
(500)
Adams, Hunter ~ Guest |
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. |
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TheFA
Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats/Alan
Gooden
England Football Factbook |
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Rothman's Yearbooks The Football Association Yearbook
Original Newspaper Reports
Rootschat/Ancestry.com |
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