Matches – 16 January 1915 – Hull City 2 Leeds City 6 Second Division – Anlaby Road – 5,000 Scorers: McLeod 5, Sharpe Hull City: Hendry, Betts, Morgan, Edelston, Deacey, Wright, Mercer, Cameron, Stevens, Halligan, Lee Leeds City: Hogg, Blackman, Affleck, Law, Lamph, Foley, Bainbridge, Jackson, McLeod, Speirs, Sharpe After a thoroughly depressing run through the autumn of 1914, the turn of the year brought a promising upturn for Leeds City. On 12 December, the Peacocks hammered Leicester Fosse 7- 2; a week later they lost at Barnsley but then recovered to beat Glossop twice over Christmas, 3-0 on each occasion. A 3-1 defeat at home to Stockport demonstrated the brittleness of their nascent revival, but when City won 2-1 at table topping Derby County in the first round of the FA Cup on 9 January they confirmed an undiminished ability to mix it with anyone on their day. The Leeds Mercury reported the Cup victory thus. “On returning to Leeds from Derby on Saturday evening, I met a jubilant City supporter. „When I saw the score was one each at half time,‟ he said, „I was immensely pleased, and when I saw they had won I could not believe it.‟ “There is not the least doubt that the result would be a surprise to 99 per cent of the football community. It is true Leeds City had beaten Derby County at Derby, in October, by exactly the same score (2-1), but that stood as Leeds City‟s solitary away victory of the season, and since then Derby County had played fourteen games without suffering defeat, winning eleven and drawing three, whereas Leeds City had played thirteen games, and won only five of them, against five defeats. “Leeds City are to be congratulated on thus confounding the critics. They played well, undoubtedly, but Derby County gave an astonishingly weak display, a display that would not have done credit to a Midland League side, and the surprising feature about the game was not that Derby County were beaten, but that Leeds City did not win a lot more easily. The Yorkshire Post of 11 January 1915 reports City's sterling Cup victory at Derby two days earlier www.mightyleeds.co.uk - Matches – 16 January 1915, Hull City 2 Leeds City 6 1 “There was some excuse for Derby County. Eadie, their centre half-back, was absent, as he is under suspension, and at the last moment it was found that Leonard, the crack centre-forward, and Baker, the outside-left, were unable to take the field owing to influenza. Three reserves had therefore to be called upon, but this alone does not explain the poor display of the side. The regular members of the team must be suffering from the strains of their struggle to keep the leadership of the League. There was not much fault to be found with the forwards, but the half-backs and backs were unaccountably weak, and were largely to blame for the downfall of the side. Their kicking and placing was very poor, even allowing for the heavy ground and the greasy ball. “Leeds City were vastly superior in defence. Hogg was very safe in goal, but had a very easy time of it in the second half. Blackman was not quite steady in the early stages of the game, but he improved as time went on and was very sound in the second half. Affleck was in good form all through the piece. He was daring in his tackling, but he got there, and he kicked with power and judgement. “The half-backs were also very effective. Law in particular played well, and Peart and Foley worked very hard, Peart making up for his lack of inches by his pluck and grit. He was a good substitute for Hampson, and it is rather singular that Peart also played in the match against Derby County in October.” City had started to edge away from the Second Division re- election zone and the nature of their victory at the Baseball Ground left them in great heart for a Yorkshire derby at Hull City‟s Anlaby Road on 16 January. Previous clashes will Hull had usually been hotly contested affairs, though Leeds had won only once in the League since October 1910 and had never won at Anlaby Road, where they were hammered 6-2 in November 1912. However, they could recall with pleasure the memory of beating Hull on 11 November Reserve centre-half Harry Peart, formerly of Bradford City, played well in the Cup-tie to win the West Riding Cup for the first time in their history. victory at Derby Yorkist in the Leeds Mercury: “For the first time on record Leeds City have beaten Hull City in a Cup-tie, the final of the West Riding competition at Elland Road yesterday, resulting in a win for the home team by a goal to nil. “What had given promise of being a very interesting contest was almost entirely ruined by wretched weather. Heavy rain had fallen all day, and continued nearly throughout the match. It was no surprise there was only a small attendance, the number paying for admission being 830 and the receipts being under £30, which would barely pay expenses. It was a thoughtful action on the part of the Leeds City management to allow the sixpenny patrons access to the shilling stand soon after the start of the game, so that all the spectators were under cover. “Despite the conditions, however, the players entered into the contest seriously, and there was a lot of interesting football. The spectators occasionally derived amusement from the mud baths of some of the players and twice in the first half Edelston, the Hull City right-half, had long toboggan journeys in a sitting posture. www.mightyleeds.co.uk - Matches – 16 January 1915, Hull City 2 Leeds City 6 2 “An unfortunate feature of the match was that Mr Sant of Barnsley, who refereed, ordered Hampson, the Leeds City centre-half, off the field in the second half for what seemed a trivial offence against Halligan, the Hull City inside-left and captain, and the former Leeds City player. “No one was more surprised at the action of the referee than Halligan, who, along with other players on each side, appealed to the referee to recall Hampson, but Mr Sant adhered to his ruling, much to the annoyance of the crowd. “It was after Hampson had been sent off that Leeds City got the winning goal and there was thus all the more credit in Leeds City‟s victory. They were the smarter side all through the piece, adapting themselves much better to the heavy ground than the lighter Hull City men. “To Speirs fell the honour of scoring Leeds City‟s goal, the ball going to him at close range after McLeod had endeavoured to force his way between the Hull City backs. The goal recalled the famous English Cup final replay at Manchester, when Bradford City beat Newcastle United. Speirs scored the goal on that occasion. He was then captain of Bradford City and is now captain of Leeds City. “Speirs, Sharpe and Bainbridge were the best of the Leeds City forwards, though McLeod and Jackson were by no means idle. The Leeds City half-backs were sound, Hampson playing well till his departure. When he left, Jackson dropped back to centre-half, and acquitted himself creditably in that position, though handicapped by lack of inches. “Blackman and McQuillan were stalwart defenders, McQuillan, in particular, giving a fine display against his old colleagues. He nearly scored in the second half with a long shot from his own half of the field, the ball bouncing awkwardly to Hendry, who could do no more than divert it over the bar. Hogg had a comparatively quiet time in the Leeds City goal. “On the Hull City side Turner was absent from the Jimmy Speirs' West Riding Cup winners medal from 1914 - centre-half position, Wright going from left-half to Speirs' goal was enough to beat Hull City in the final on 11 centre-half, with Morgan dropping back from inside- November 1914 at Elland Road left to left-half, while Lee took Morgan‟s place. Halligan and Lee were Hull City‟s best wing, though Mercer and Cameron were occasionally clever, but Stevens was not as prominent as usual in the centre. “Morgan played well at left-half, but Edelston was the pick of the line. Pattison was the better of two useful backs, but Hendry was not quite comfortable in goal, though he had no chance of stopping Speirs‟ shot. It would not be fair, however, to seriously criticise players under the prevailing conditions. “Mr Joseph Connor, the president of the West Riding Association, handed over the trophy at the close to Speirs, and presented the medals to the players of both teams.” The FA Cup-tie at Derby had marked the start of a particularly testing period for Leeds. After the www.mightyleeds.co.uk - Matches – 16 January 1915, Hull City 2 Leeds City 6 3 trip to Hull there were three successive away engagements: Blackpool, Queens Park Rangers (in the Cup) and The Arsenal, the last-named pushing hard for promotion. Later an additional game at Elland Road, against Clapton Orient, was added into the schedule the week before the game at Highbury. In the context of that run and City‟s recent form, the Yorkshire Evening Post commented pragmatically, “They have a hard row to hoe during the next four weeks… They will be cheered in their difficult task if they can but succeed in sharing the points tomorrow, as, on form, they should do.” Regular centre-half John Hampson was unavailable with a particularly debilitating bout of flu and his deputy, Harry Peart, who had played so well at Derby, was unavailable through suspension.