Last of The Season
FINAL CURTAIN IS RUNG DOWN ON 1931-1932

Fulham v Exeter City May 7th 1932.

FULHAM 3 EXETER CITY 1.

Stubborn Resistance by Grecians at Fulham

The final football curtain for season 1931-32 was pulled down at Craven Cottage, the Fulham, headquarters, this afternoon, with everybody smiling. Fulham, who met Exeter City, had already assured themselves of the championship, which carries with it promotion to the Second Division, and thus all the tension and anxiety was swept away. Prior to this afternoon Fulham had conceded only nine points on their own ground, and as they were represented by very nearly their best team, including Wrightson, the new forward from Manchester City, it was of course expected that the Cottagers would win their fifteenth match at home this season. Whatever happened today the City could not do better than reach fifth place in the League chart. On the other hand they could drop considerably should they lose and Brentford and Norwich City both win.

Fulham: Iceton; Birch and Tilford;
Oliver, Gibbons, and Barrett; Richards, Wrightson, Newton, Hammond, and Finch.
Exeter City:- Davies; Gray and Miller;
Clarke, Childs, and Barber; Armfield, Roberts, Varco, Houghton, and Courtney.
Referee:- Mr A.J.Attwood, of Newport.

The weather was fine and the turf in good condition. Although there was a great counter-attraction at nearby Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and West Ham there were nearly 15,000 spectators, among them being the Mayor of Fulham, and Mr M. Cadman, of Tottenham Hotspur, a member of the Football League. Fulham won the toss and Varco kicked off for the Grecians. The Cottagers were the first to make headway, but Miller cleverly checked Newton in midfield. The first free kick of the match was awarded to Exeter, for a foul, and Miller just failed to find Houghton with the ball. Varco was pulled up for offside, then Fulham retaliated and Davies made two thrilling saves from Newton and Finch. Fulham took the lead in 21 minutes when both Childs and Gray failed to get the ball away and Hammond with a fierce low volley drove it into the net, well out of the reach of Davies. After 42 minutes the Grecians made a gallant effort to draw level, and were rewarded. Roberts forced his way between Gibbons, Barrett, and Birch, and sent Armfield away. Tilford closed in to tackle Exeter's right winger, who flicked the ball on to Varco. Varco made no mistake with his shot, and Iceton was beaten all the way.
Half-time:
Fulham 1 Exeter City 1.

The Grecians were full of fight when the game was resumed. Barrett gave away a free kick by bringing down Roberts, but it brought no advantage to Exeter. But a spectacular triangular passing movement between Barber, Houghton and Varco caused a stir in the Fulham camp, and when Houghton finally slipped through the gap between Gibbons and Birch it looked odds on that Exeter would secure the lead, but Iceton made a miraculous save, pushing the ball around the post for a corner, which was unproductive.

FULHAM TAKE CHARGE.

In the next few minutes Fulham took charge of the game. Barrett drove the ball a foot over the bar with Davies badly positioned and Newton from five yards out managed to shoot wide of the goal. Barber checked a promising looking move by Richards and Wrightson.

The game was now very much in Fulham's favour, but Miller, Gray, and Childs all defended stubbornly, and Davies dealt superbly with everything which came his way. With the game exactly sixty minutes old Newton scored to give Fulham the lead, and the issue was put beyond all doubt by the scoring of Fulham's third goal five minutes from time, Newton again being the successful marksman. The championship shield and medals were presented to Fulham by Mr Cadman after the match. The official attendance was 16,000.

COMMENTS.
Although Fulham succeeded in getting the verdict their football generally failed to impress as League champions. On the other hand Exeter are to be congratulated for setting up such a stubborn resistance. Their work in midfield was excellent, but once again the forwards failed to reap the benefit of the many opportunities which came their way through lack of initiative and poor finishing. Davies has not played a better game this season, his faultless work in goal acting like an inspiration on his defensive colleagues, and he was splendidly covered by Gray and Miller, whose tackling and kicking were first-class. There was very little to choose between Clarke, Childs, and Barber, all the work of this trio being very effective. In the forward line Houghton was the shining light, his clever scheming being well above the standard generally seen in the Third Division and his ball control almost perfect. Both Roberts and Varco worked hard without a great deal of success. Armfield performed satisfactorily on the right wing, but Courtney on the other flank was out of his depth in this match.

Southern League
EXETER CITY RESERVES 9
MERTHYR TOWN 1.

There were 1,000 spectators at St James's Park this afternoon to see the last of football for the season. Merthyr had a narrow escape less than a minute from the kick off when a shot from Hurst cannoned off the bottom of the goalpost.
City Reserves: Jones; Ditchburn and Baugh; Purcell, Angus, and Robinson; Woodward, Graham, S.Hurst, Halliday, and Doncaster.
Merthyr Town: Crad Williams; Morrish and Powell; Cliff Williams, J. Phillips, and Gammon; Rees Williams, Alden, Blandford, W.Phillips, and Wilkie.
Referee:- Mr F.W.Yandle.

Purcell was responsible for clever approach work, and the Merthyr goalkeeper had to be lively to save centres from Woodward and Doncaster. The framework of the visiting goal was struck for the second time when Angus drove a shot against the crossbar. Hurst after twelve minutes created an opening from which Halliday got the first goal for Exeter. Further goals were added for the Grecians by Halliday, Doncaster, and Hurst, the last one being an amazing affair The young Tipton amateur, surrounded by about half the Merthyr team, dribbled the ball intricately round them all and ended up with a cracking shot to the top of the net which left Crad Williams helpless. At the interval the score was Exeter City Reserves 4 Merthyr Town 0.

Exeter did pretty much as they pleased in the second half. Within seven minutes of the resumption Doncaster and Halliday had brought the total up to six goals, and Graham headed in a simple seventh when accurate passing had broken down the Merthyr defence. Halliday and Hurst then scored for Exeter and Blandford for the visitors.
Final Score:- 9-1