DERES' TOP 100 GAMES - No 43
Posted by Brian Spurrell on 21 September 2020
Erith & Belvedere 14 Bedford 6, ????????
Epsom Town 1 ?
South East Combination, 13 February 1943
Continuing the series counting down the 100 most memorable games in our history. Today, our record league win, although we know very little about it.
Circumstances of history and geography combined to make 1941-42 unique in the Deres’ history, with three trophies won by a side kept together by virtue of its players largely being involved in essential war work rather than being called up. The following season was less spectacular, as we did have a few call-ups and weren’t able to defend our South East Combination title – but it did include a league win that was bigger than any the previous season. In fact it’s our biggest league win ever, although “officially” that title goes to a peacetime game ten years earlier which we’ll see a few places further up this list.
There wasn’t even a full match report for this game. Club secretary John Bell’s notes in the local paper said only this: “Epsom Town, who arrived 20 minutes late on Saturday, were no match for us in a South-Eastern Combination fixture and the final result was 14-1 in our favour. Lew Bedford, who took the centre-forward position in the absence of Len Scott, scored six of the goals.”
Deres: Ken Skegg; Stan Aldous, Pat O’Hara; Charlie Sargent, Stan Randle, J Morrice; George Young, Bob Collins, Lew Bedford, Harold Gurr, Jack Urpeth.
Charlie Sargent in particular was counting his blessings turning out that day. A fortnight earlier he’d been playing in an away London Senior Cup tie at Walthamstow Avenue when his workplace, the Woolwich Arsenal, took a direct hit in an air-raid and several of his colleagues were killed.
We went on to finish third in the SEC, just behind Sutton United but a long way behind Tooting and Mitcham, who with 3 points dropped in 16 games were almost but not quite as dominant as we’d been the previous season.
