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2.0 Schools 3.10 "The Four Jacks"
3.35
England v. Ireland
4.30 Wednesday Matinee "Unprotected Spinster" 5.0 Children's Hour 5.55 Weather
Wednesday, 5 November 1947
Home International Championship 1947-48 (53rd) Match


England 2 Ireland 2 [0-0]
 
 
Goodison Park, Goodison Road, Walton, Liverpool, Lancashire
Kick-off (GMT): 2.45pm.

Attendance: 67,980.



Players lost since last match
Harry Hadley (22 October 1947) 69
Henry Wace (this day) 94
unknown kicked-off
   

[0-1]
Wilf Mannion penalty 70
 kick saved by Eddie Hinton
(Vernon fouled Matthews)

[1-1] Wilf Mannion 84
 from a Billy Wright pass
[2-1] Tommy Lawton 87
 15-yard half-turn shot from a Stan Matthews' centre
[0-1] Davy Walsh 54
from a Peter Doherty pass





[2-2] Peter Doherty
header 90
threw himself at full length to head in an Tommy Eglington centre.
"It was the last kick of the game"
second half live on Radio Home Programme - Commentator: tbc
 

"LAST MINUTE GOAL SAVES IRELAND" Daily Mirror

Officials          England

UK ruling on substitutes

Ireland
Referee
Peter Fitzpatrick
Glasgow
 
Linesmen
tbc tbc
 
England Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 3rd to 4th
Colours The 1946 home uniform - White collared jerseys, blue shorts, red socks.
P 11t of eighteen, W 8 - D 2 - L 1 - F 43 - A 10.

Captain
George Hardwick Manager Walter Winterbottom, 34 (31 March 1913), appointed as FA national director of coaching/team manager on 8 July 1946;
11th of 13, W 8 - D 2 - L 1 - F 43 - A 10. P 11th of 139, W 8 - D 2 - L 1 - F 43 - A 10.
Team chosen by Selection Committee headed by Arthur Drewry, on Thursday, 29 October, following the trial match between FA XI and RAF XI at Highbury.
England Lineup
  unchanged from the previous match league position (29 October)  
  Swift, Frank V. 33
314 days
26 December 1913 G Manchester City FC (FL 12th) 11 10ᵍᵃ
2 Scott, Lawrence 30
196 days
23 April 1917 RB Arsenal FC (FL TOP) 11 0
3 Hardwick, George F.M. 27
276 days
2 February 1920 LB Middlesbrough FC (FL 8th) 11 0
4 Taylor, Philip H. 30
48 days
18 September 1917 RHB Liverpool FC (FL 13th) 2 0
5 Franklin, Cornelius 25
285 days
24 January 1922 CHB Stoke City FC (FL 19th) 11 0
6
Wright, William A. 23
272 days
6 February 1924 LHB Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL 5th) 11 0
7
Matthews, Stanley 32
277 days
1 February 1915 OR Blackpool FC (FL 3rd) 23 9
8 Mortensen, Stanley H. 26
163 days
26 May 1921 IR Blackpool FC (FL 3rd) 4 6
9
Lawton, Thomas 28
30 days
6 October 1919 CF Chelsea FC (FL 10th) 19 20
the third player to reach the 20-goal milestone (9yrs 14dys)
10 Mannion, Wilfred J. 29
173 days
16 May 1918 IL Middlesbrough FC (FL 8th) 11 8
¹
11th penalty missed (21st taken overall)
     
11 Finney, Thomas 25
214 days
5 April 1922 OL Preston North End FC (FL 2nd) 9 8
reserve: Harry Johnston (Blackpool FC (FL 3rd)).
 
2-3-5 Swift  -
Scott, Hardwick -
Taylor, Franklin, Wright -
Matthews, Mortensen, Lawton, Mannion, Finney.
Averages: Age 28 years 206 days Appearances/Goals 11.2 4.4
oldest post-war team so far most experienced post-war team so far
 
Ireland Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 30th to 27th
Colours "green-shirted forwards"
Captain Jackie Vernon Selection Selection Committee
on Thursday, 23 October 1947
Ireland Lineup
  Hinton, Edward G.A. 25
169 days
20 May 1922  G Fulham FC, England 4 3ᵍᵃ
2 Martin, Cornelius J. 24
230 days
20 March 1923 RB Leeds United AFC, England 3 0
also has three appearances for Éire
3 Carey, John J.  28
255 days
23 February 1919 LB Manchester United FC, England 4 0
also has thirteen appearances for Éire, and two goals
4 Walsh, William R. 26
158 days
31 May 1921 RHB Manchester City FC, England 2 0
also has a single appearance for Éire
5 Vernon, John J.  29
40 days
26 September 1918 CHB West Bromwich Albion FC, England 5 0
6 Farrell, Peter D. 25
81 days
16 August 1922 LHB Everton FC, England 4 0
also has two appearances for Éire
7 Cochrane, David A. 27
83 days
14 August 1920 OR Leeds United AFC, England 7 0
8 Smyth, Samuel 22
253 days
25 February 1925 IR Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, England 2 2
9
Walsh, David J. 24
191 days
28 April 1923 CF West Bromwich Albion FC, England 4 1
also has two appearances for Éire
10
Doherty, Peter D. 34
153 days
5 June 1913 IL Huddersfield Town FC, England 13 3
11
Eglington, Thomas J.  24
294 days
15 January 1923 OL Everton FC, England 4 0
also has three appearances for Éire
reserves: Bud Aherne (Belfast Celtic FC) and Alex Stevenson (Everton FC).
records: This is the first time Ireland have avoided in thirteen attempts against England.
 
2-3-5 Hinton -
Martin, Carey -

W.Walsh, Vernon, Farrell -
Cochrane, Smyth,
D.Walsh, Doherty, Eglington.
Averages: Age 26 years 241 days Appearances/Goals 4.7 0.3
 
        Match Report by Mike Payne

Appropriately, there were plenty of fireworks in this explosive match which saw Northern Ireland almost pull of an astonishing victory. During the first half hour of the game, England were well on top and a couple of fine chances went begging. But although England had the edge, they were not firing on all cylinders.

Stanley Matthews was not as prominent as usual but Tom Finney was playing well and gave Martin a troublesome afternoon. Wilf Mannion was also performing well and was consistently the best of the England forwards. However, Ireland came more into the game as the first half wore on, playing with their customary passion. A lot of effort was put into the half by both sides but, alas, no goals.

Nine minutes into the second half came the almost unbelievable - Ireland took the lead! Dave Walsh, taking a pass from Doherty, upset the form book by putting Ireland 1-0 up with a good shot past Frank Swift. It could have been worse for England shortly afterwards as Ireland nearly went two up. First Eglington and then Smyth came very close to breaching the shaky England defence.

Ireland were playing like men inspired but with 20 minutes left, it seemed that all their good work was for nothing as Matthews was sent sprawling in the area. Mannion took the penalty kick but Hinton saved.

Ireland, everyone thought, now surely had to win; but England also knew how to fight and they rose to the challenge superbly. With only seven minutes left they equalised. Billy Wright, up with his forwards, gave Mannion the chance to make amends for his penalty miss and this time the 'Boro man made no mistake.

Amazingly, the match then took a new twist. Mannion sent Matthews away down the right. Over came a perfect cross and Tommy Lawton volleyed a magnificent shot past Hinton from 15 yards.

It would have been a travesty if Ireland's spirited display had ended with nothing to show for it. Happily, justice was done in the dying seconds. Indeed, it was the last kick of the game when Eglington put over a superb cross to find Doherty throwing himself at the ball. The former Glentoran man was injured in the process but the important thing was that the ball nestled in the bottom of the net. The final whistle sounded immediately and Doherty was carried from the field by jubilant Irish supporters, the hero of the day.

Vernon, Doherty, Farrell and Bill Walsh were the cornerstones of a fine team performance by the Irish.

  

        Match Report by Norman Giller

Three goals came in the last eight minutes after Northern Ireland had battled to hang on to a 54th minute lead given to them by West Bromwich Albion centre-forward Davie Walsh. 'Peter the Great' Doherty headed a last-minute minute equaliser for the Irish following goals in quick succession for England by Wilf Mannion and Tommy Lawton. Mannion had a penalty saved in the 70th minute by Fulham goalkeeper Eddie Hinton. The roar that greeted the save from the predominantly Irish crowd could have been heard back in Belfast. It was the first time in 13 meetings with England that the Irish had avoided defeat, and the game had a suitably explosive finish for Guy Fawkes Day. It would have been an injustice had Northern Ireland not got a draw from this game. They were often the superior side, with Peter Doherty pulling the strings and playing with the skill that made him one of the world's outstanding inside-forwards. He was carried off at the end by jubilant Irish supporters, who counted this as a victory. There were 68,000 shoe-horned into the Goodison ground, and most of them seemed to be shouting for the Irish who must have felt it was like a home game.
    

        Match Report as reported in the F.A. Yearbook 1948-49, pages 23 & 24

In direct contrast to the match with Wales the result of England's next International, against Ireland at Goodison Park, Everton, on Nov 5, remained undecided until the last kick of the match; three of the four goals were scored in the last seven minutes. The result was a draw, 2—2, a fair reflection of the equality of the teams and the coolness and vigour of Ireland in face of the England eleven's reputation. The English team was the same as in the match against Wales, but for once the left was more in evidence than the right wing; The first half was largely taken up by attacks by England, Ireland's half-back line showing great strength and opportunism, continually breaking up the smooth movements of the English forwards and forcing them to fight for possession of the ball.
Nine minutes after the interval D. Walsh, snatching up a pass from Doherty, suddenly scored for Ireland. England tried again and again but were unable to equalise; a demoralising factor was a penalty kick, taken by Mannion after a foul on Matthews, which was saved the Irish goalkeeper. Thus until seven minutes from the end, Ireland held their 1—0 lead.
Then came the chapter of surprises. First Mannion, from a pass from Wright, equalised. Next, taking the ball from Mannion, Matthews was off down the right wing and centred to Lawton, who put in a perfect shot from 15 yards out. England were now the apparent victors at 2—1, but Ireland was not to be defeated while even a minute remained and made one last great effort. Eglington centred and Doherty threw himself full-length at the ball; while he lay hurt on the ground the ball lay in the England net, the final whistle blew.

 

      In Other News....
It was on 6 November 1947 that a belt of thick fog covered the southern half of England and caused major disruption on the roads and railways. Five people died in two separate train crashes in south London, two hours apart, and there was another collision with only minor injuries at Euston, plus a number of road traffic accidents.
  
        Source Notes
 
TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats
  Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record

Norman Giller, Football Author
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