1903 - BRANTFORD REPEAT
Anticipation for the upcoming season had never been greater. In May a
rumour circulated throughout Brantford that Albert Dade and Tack Hendry
were about to arrive from Montreal. Twenty-five enthusiasts rushed to
the T, H & B Station to meet the train. When the Montreal Express
arrived without either star all of the waiting men were quite ashamed.
Some claimed to be expecting an aunt, while others went to check the
luggage. None of the fans dared return straight to town, instead they
took the most circuitous routes home. Naturally all denied ever having
been there.
Interest was also high in Port Hope and Oshawa. Both towns had gone to
great lengths to give themselves a senior team. Port Hope recruited
John White(from Cornwall) George Donaldson(Ottawa) plus Toronto veteran
Billy Kelly. Oshawa's acquisitions included Eddie Hagan(St.Catharines)
Bob Degan(Cornwall) and the much sought after Donald Cameron. Along
with the Cameron Derby, most teams had spent the spring courting
Orillia's Mickey Connor. He chose to play Intermediate for Galt.
Brantford was still the team to beat. The defending champs helped
themselves to Ottawa's Pat Murphy, like they needed another goal
scorer! He chipped in a dozen markers as the Telephone City crew
sailed to another pennant. Both Dade and Hendry suffered from
irregular attendance. When they were in the line up they were
devastating. Bert Henry was around for every game and ran away with
the scoring championship.
It was a confusing C.L.A. year. A double round robin was originally
scheduled, totally 8 games for each club. Yet interest was so high by
July that the clubs decided to double the schedule. Only Port Hope
passed on the second half. Surprising as they'd posted a respectable
4-4 record. Even more amazing, in an August exhibition contest they
upset Brantford 5-4, thanks to Pennock's hattrick. Still senior
lacrosse had a short life span in Northumberland County. Port Hope
Ontarios joined the Trent Valley Intermediate League the next season.
The chief threat to Brantford's title came from St.Catharines. Boosted
by youngsters George Kalls and Charles Lowe, they split four meetings
with the champs, handing them their only two defeats. It was a bitter
rivalry. In the first showdown Tack Hendry viciously slashed an
Athletic across the face. Prior to the second encounter, a threatening
letter was sent to the Brantford star. It was written in black ink,
splatter with red ink(supposedly blood) and signed Ironeater. Tack
missed the game in St.Catharines, supposedly, Brantford claimed, to
rest his sprained wrist. He did make it to the Garden City for the
third meeting. Hendry further endeared himself to Double Blue fans by
breaking William Elliot's nose! The final meeting took place in
Brantford on a hot August afternoon. During the contest a lady fainted
from the heat. As the crowd stepped back to give her air, they noticed
she was wearing St.Catharines' colours. Everyone cheered her
misfortune.
To the east, Montreal A.A.A. were the most improved club. They vacated
the basement with a 5 win 5 loss effort. Tom Leahy deserved much of
the credit. Fresh from his Woodstock sojourn he hammered home a league
leading 23 goals. Montreal's french were far from improved. A 7-5 win
over Toronto was their only positive result. They really were awful.
Their worst beatings included: 13-4 to Toronto, 9-3 to Shamrocks and
15-0 to Ottawa. Frank McLaren scored six in the Toronto game. The
Queen City squad were not much better. A 3-7 record, though they did
score as many goals as they gave up. Cornwall was the other slacker,
posting a 5-5 mark.
For the second year in a row Shamrocks had to cope with serious off
season losses. Percy Quinn and Frank Nolan retired, plus John Currie
and Jim McKeown only played sparingly. Harry Hoobin even missed three
games! Yet the irish rose above it all. Defenders Jim Kavanaugh and
John Howard must have drawn lots before each game to determine who
would tend goal as the pair split the duty. Joe 'Spike' Hennessy
arrived on the scene to contribute 15 goals. Other newcomers were
junior Jim Hogan and defender Shaun O'Reilly.
The pennant run was a two horse race. The green shirts won their first
seven. Capitals were right on their heels. They'd added Dolly
Durkin(14 goals) to compliment Ed Murphy(15) and John Powers(12 in only
5 games). After an initial 5-2 loss to Toronto, Ottawa responded with
seven straight wins, capped by a 6-5 thriller over Shamrocks. Powers
played and counted two along with three assists. Durkin's pair
cancelled out Jack Brennan's brace and Harry Westwick bounced home the
winner. The following Saturday disaster struck. Cornwall upset Ottawa
3-2. Durkin had another deuce but it wasn't enough. Colt goals by
Shiner Eastwood, Bob Madden and John Broderick drastically altered the
championship race. Shamrocks took advantage of the Capital blunder,
just barely. They slipped past the Winged Wheels 4-3 on the strength
of Hennessy's hattrick. Thus Ottawa headed to Montreal needing a win
in order to tie for first. It didn't happen. Two from Jack Brennan
and two more from Ed Robinson as the irish won 7-0. Jim Kavanaugh
earned the shutout.
