A FREAK GOAL

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 48, 26 February 1938, Page 8

A FREAK GOAL

ARSENAL’S FORTUNE BETTER SIDE LOST IN THE LAST FEW MINUTES A hundr;d-to-one chance goal landed Arsenal in the fifth round of the Association Cup in the battle ot the giants at Molineux, a triumph which must rank among the greatest in the club’s wonderful cup history of the past 10 years, states the Daily Telegraph o’ January 24. With 10 ninutes to’go, and ever> Arsenal sup porter breathing hard in the hope of a replay, Kirchen, put through by Drake, took the ball to within a couple of yards of the backline and lefi; himself with an impos-sible-looking angle for a shot. Goalkeepei- Scott, anticipating ths orthodox centre, advanced a few yards to cut off the ball —and then Kirchen, as he explained later, took his big gamble. Instead of centering, he aimed for the narrow space between the goalkeeper and :he net. The ball struck the astonished Scott on the hands, and, before he could grip it, glanced into the nel. A freak goal if ever there was one—and it meant thousands of pounds to Arsenal Football Club, Limited. Lucky Arsenal? Very. To be the first team to win at Wolverhampton since November, 1936—and in a cuptie of all games—must rank as an exceptional test, but the record crowd of 61,268 present at the match were full of sympathy for the Wolves. They knew that the better side lost. The appeal of cup football is truly wonderful. In this season’s competition all records are likely to be smashed. Starting with the first round, there have been 123 ties tc date, and they have been watched by 2,256,916 people, which exceeds the previous record of four years ago. The receipts are also up, the total now standing at £145,858. In the fourth round the 16 ties attracted as many as 658,084 spectators, and never before has this total been equalled. They are prodigious figures, beyond conception even 20 years ago.