|
Status: Friendly
Date: 1 July 1920
Venue: Loton's Park (Perth Oval), East Perth, Western Australia
Western Australia: Alec Marr, Tom Nicholls, Martin Pope, Davie Johnston, Jock Warden, William Davies (c), Jim Cutmore, Andy Gordon, Jimmy Gordon, Wally Gardner, Bart Nesbit
Australian Naval Fleet: Cains, A.MacKenzie, Ashton, T.Paris, W.Ferguson, M.Young, F.Stanton, J.Thompson, R.Jones, W.Bendell, Ellison
Referee: Mr Simpson
Western Australia’s first outing after the end of World War Two was a comfortable 7-0 win over the Australian Naval Fleet, whose side consisted of players from the visiting HMAS Sydney and HMAS Encounter ships. Jimmy Gordon led the way with four goals as Jim Cutmore, Bart Nesbit and captain William Davies also found the back of the net in front of around 2,000 spectators. “The standard of play was not quite what one would wish nevertheless, there was at times some splendid passages during the match particularly by the local men who eventually proved too strong for the navy men” (1) reported the ‘Western Mail’ newspaper.
The Naval Fleet got the ball rolling but it was Western Australia who threatened first with Jimmy Gordon heading high a cross from Cutmore. It didn’t take long for the home midfield to assert themselves and on 12 minutes Cutmore again got down the flank before centring for Jimmy Gordon to tuck into the after an error by A.MacKenzie. The Naval Fleet responded with some good possession play during which W.Ferguson placed wide after being teed-up by Davie Thompson. Western Australia soon enough resumed control with good chances on goal coming the way of Jimmy Gordon, Wally Gardner and Nesbit. The goal they sought arrived five minutes from the break via Jimmy Gordon, albeit from an offside position.
Cutmore twice went close to further increasing the gap early in the second half, the attacker thwarted by both goalkeeper Cains and the upright. The Naval Fleet were by this stage showing clear signs of tiring so it came as no surprise when Jimmy Gordon completed his hat-trick. The floodgates were now opened and in quick succession Nesbit sent the ball into Cains’ net, then Cutmore danced past three opponents to put away goal number five. A splendid long-range attempt by Davies was parried by Cains, who was beaten with the follow-up by Gardner. It was Jimmy Gordon who put the icing on Western Australia’s cake by scoring his fourth of the afternoon.
Back to the www.footballwa.net State Team Index
This page was last updated on the 28th December 2012