Arsenal A 1
Stevenage Athletic 2
Metropolitan League Autumn Shield (Group Stage)

Match report written by Stevenage Gazette, 5th September 1968

Stevenage Athletic took revenge for their only defeat of the season when they beat Arsenal 'A' on Tuesday evening. A couple of weeks ago the Gunners defeated them by the only goal of the game, but in this Autumn Shield game it was the Athletic who called the tune.

At first though, it looked as if Arsenal would again prove Stevenage's bogey side for they were a goal up almost before the game had started. However, this Stevenage side is nothing if not determined and they immediately set about wiping out this deficit.

Within ten minutes they were on level terms through a goal by Bernie CULLERTON and in their next attack, Bobby SAMUEL was on the spot to hit home number two. And once they were in front, the Athletic never looked like losing their grip on the game.

In some matches Stevenage have tended to fade after the interval but before the match manager Jimmy Briscoe drilled it into them that they must adjust their work ratio for 90 minutes and consequently Stevenage were always in command. Unfortunately though, they are still not accepting as many goalscoring chances as they should.

However, one cannot grumble at the start the Athletic have made to their first ever season, for at present they stand in second place in the Metropolitan League with seven points. They are only one point behind Spurs 'A' and when you consider that Stevenage have played all their games away from home, this is a remarkable achievement.