March 16, 1930 – Fall River 1:1 aet Bethlehem Steel, National Challenge Cup at Polo Grounds ‘One of the greatest games’

This U.S. Open Cup match at the Polo Grounds “was one of the greatest games ever seen here,” according to the Boston Globe report. Attendance announced at 15,000, including 3,000 arriving from New England (the New York Giants averaged less than 12,000 attendance in both the 1929 and ’30 seasons at the Polo Grounds).

A replay was set at New Bedford next Sunday “by the committee of the National Cup.” Bethlehem Steel scored on an R. McAuley own goal after 12 minutes of the second half. “Stark had almost connected with Dick’s great center and McAuley’s lunge at the ball caused the deflection.” At 27 minutes, Alex McNab deadlocked.

McAuley went on to play for Glasgow Rangers and Chelsea, earning two caps for Scotland. Teammates Billy Gonsalves, 21, and Bert Patenaude, 20, led Fall River in scoring with 22 goals that season. In July, Gonsalves and Patenaude went on to start for the U.S. in the first World Cup, Patenaude becoming the first player to complete a hat trick in the competition. Patenaude was 20 years, 8 months, 7 days old when he scored three goals in a 3-0 win over Paraguay in Montevideo July 17, 1930. Only Pelé (17) and Germany’s Edmund Conen (19) were younger than Patenaude when they scored hat tricks in the World Cup.

Walter Dick played for Providence and the Pawtucket Rangers, competing for the U.S. in the 1934 World Cup.

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