A pitch that needed the considerable attentions of the mower was the cause of several passes going astray and until the Hammers got used to these conditions the play tended to be rather scrappy. However, we were two up at half-time and won comfortably by 3-0. Roger Hugo opened the score after 28 minutes after Norman Bleanch's shot had rebounded from the post; Jimmy Barrett got the second five minutes before the interval from a low cross from John Patten; and Bleanch ended the scoring in the 76th minute from close in.

Against a rather more experienced side our third-string sustained its first defeat of the season. Nevertheless our youthful XI contributed its full share to the soccer skill displayed, and maintained a steady stream of shots which we put in despite some robust tackling by the opposition. Further satisfaction for us was that Peter Reader and Tony Scott eacn came through their tests in a satisfactory manner in their first appearances of the season following close-season mishaps.
A 25-yard drive by Harry Cripps enabled us to take a 14th-minute lead, but a penalty goal four minutes later and another tally in the 24th minute put Dartford ahead; we levelled the scores ten minutes before the interval through Scott. In the 69th minute John Starkey got a good goal to give us the lead once more, but three in the last 18 minutes for the home side made the final score 5-3 in their favour; our biggest stroke of misfortune came when the score was 3-4 against us, the referee making yet another poor decision when he ignored a penalty appeal as Norman Bleanch was brought down well inside the area.