1946
Saturday, 01 March 1947
London Senior Cup - 2nd Round
 
Sutton United
0 - 4
Wimbledon
Pat Edelston (2), Sandy Jones, Tom Laker

Almost 5,000 turned up to watch these two local rivals compete to take on either Metropolitan Police or Hendon in the next round. Sutton had been a force before Christmas, having won 14 of their 18 games, but the loss of several players â€" including their amateur international forward Charles Vaughan â€" had depleted their ranks considerably, and their only victory in the New Year had been against Wood Green Town in the previous round. There was only one change for the Dons, S. Jones for Lemmer at left-half.

The big thaw had finally arrived, however this left a pitch of mud with a rock hard surface a couple of inches below, but Wimbledon coped well with the conditions and dominated the first half to the extent that Haydock only had one save to make. The forward line were imperious, Stannard scheming brilliantly, Nash running Whistler ragged and Edelston eluding the vigilance of the Sutton skipper, Pettitt, by moving along the line until he found space to pounce. The result was never in doubt, with the halves and inside forwards taking a grip on the game from the start which they never relaxed. On the rare occasions they did make a break they ran into the faultless defending of Cousins, Wallis and Clark. Laker almost gave the visitors the lead in the first minute, but he slipped when Nash’s centre presented him with an open goal, but with 20 minutes on the clock, after considerable pressure, Nash’s free-kick found Edelston to head in the first. Haydock then made his one save of the half, smartly catching the ball inside the post from Scott’s shot. Up the other end again and Nash’s shot hit a defender with the keeper prone, then Carr dived bravely at Stannard’s feet to gather it off his toe. Another Nash cross resulted in another Laker slip in front of an empty goal. The second score came a minute before the break, Head receiving a corner and laying it across for Jones to score with a long shot, the keeper apparently dazzled by the sun.

Five minutes into the second half and good work from Nash set Stannard away, his cross found Edelston with space to head in the third. Sutton had a go back and a centre found Dodd unmarked, but his hesitation allowed Haydock to smother, then a header from the same forward sailed inches over, but the home effort soon petered out and Austin almost headed an own goal clearing under pressure. A drive from Head scraped the bar and Stannard hit the upright before Laker sealed the game with five minutes remaining, hooking a cross from Edelston on the right wing into the top of the net, the goal of the game.