4-0 v Boston United - 7 January 1956 - Home

Spurs faced Boston United in the Third Round of the FA Cup at White Hart Lane and beat the Pilgrims 4-0 in front of a crowd of 46,185.

Special train services were run from Lincolnshire to White Hart Lane and the big crowd contained 10,000 Boston fans, who ended up disappointed when Len Duquemin, Bobby Smith (2) and George Robb scored the goals to take Tottenham through to the Fourth Round of the competition.

The non-league club had set a record in beating a league side in Derby County 6-1 in the previous round, so it was no surprise when the Pilgrims started the match quickly, with their players using their pace to unsettle the Tottenham defence on a pitch with a slippery top. With Spurs just three places off the bottom of the First Division, Boston fancied making the most of this tie.

Reg Howlett was the first to test Ron Reynolds, with a shot that the keeper did well to keep out, before Johnny Birkbeck saw his shot evade Reynolds, but roll agonisingly across the goal and wide of the far post. With 30 minutes gone, Spurs started using the firmer ground on the wings and Bobby Smith, signed two weeks before the match, was on the spot to turn the ball into the net, reacting quickest to Johnny Brooks’ shot that came out off the foot of the post.

Minutes before the interval, Brooks provided Len Duquemin with the ball and the forward fired a shot that beat the goalkeeper from 18 yards out.

Following the re-start, Boston attempted to get back into the game and won a string of corners, but could not make anything from them. They fell further behind, when a free-kick routine saw Duquemin step over the ball, leaving Blanchflower to square it to Micky Dulin. His cross picked out Bobby Smith’s head and he put it out of Middleton’s reach to make it 3-0.

George Robb completed the scoring in the 78th minute, but the visitors came close to a deserved goal as the match reached the final minute, when Reg Harrison crashed a shot against the crossbar.