A record attendance, 31,200 who paid £800, saw West Ham Reserves lose their most vital match of the season at Upton Park. The game decided the Championship of the London Combination. And at the close the silver cup was handed to the Arsenal captain by Mr. F. Bearman, a director of Tottenham Hotspur.
The only goal of the game came within five minutes after the interval, and West Ham hardly ever looked like recovering. The Arsenal were faster on the ball, swung it about more, and finished better. The game was of a scrappy, scrambling character, with the defences on top.
West ham commenced with confidence, and a brilliant spurt by Ruffell, who put his centre over for Simpson to shoot wide with a left drive. Dell then saw an overhead drive sail over the crossbar following a corner, and play was quickly transferred for Compton to beat Barrett for speed and force Conway to concede a flag kick which was cleared. Arsenal then settled down to a period of sustained attack, but the West Ham defenders were cool under pressure, and there was little to excite the big crowd. Little was seen of the Hammers attack, and the nearest they came to scoring was from a free-kick, which Walker put over the crossbar. Arsenal's goal soon after the change over was the sequel to a delightful bout of passing between Cartwright, Griffiths and Lewis, which enabled the centre-forward to drive between the backs from close range, giving Conway no chance of saving. West Ham were unlucky, when Simpson sent Dell away, and taking the ball in his stride, he sllipped at the vital moment of shooting, and was robbbed for possession. The Swindin raced out to take the ball practically from the foot of Kirkcaldie, and Ruffell forced another fruitless corner. Following these incidents West Ham were again forced upon defence, and the final thrill was in their goalmouth, where Walker kicked away, standing on the goal-line, with Conway yards out of position.