once more. This victory set up a semi-final tie with another First Division club, Nottingham Forest, which would turn out to be one of the most controversial in the history of the FA Cup to date. The semi-final When the draw for the semi-finals was made, The Football Association decided that the Derby County vs. Everton tie should be at Wolverhampton while Southampton and Forest would go to Sheffield United's Bramall Lane. This prompted the Southampton board to formally request that the FA switch the venues, to reduce the travelling for supporters of all four clubs. The FA's response was minuted in the Southampton board meeting held on 11 March: "Letter from F.J. Wall (secretary of the FA) saying Association could not see their way to change the grounds in the English Cup semi-finals". Once again, the players were sent to Matlock Bath for a week of special training. In the match at Bramall Lane, Forest took the lead after only five minutes with a goal from Len Benbow. Following a collision with the Forest goalkeeper, Southampton's centre-forward Jack Farrell was reduced to a passenger for the remainder of the match; despite this, Southampton equalised through Harry Haynes to earn a replay at Crystal Palace. The replay on 23 March was played in a blizzard. After a scoreless first half (in which Joe Turner missed a penalty for Southampton), in the second half Saints were on top when, with ten minutes left to play, referee John Lewis stopped the match for a time and the players left the pitch. When the match restarted, according to one report: "hardly had the players taken up their positions again when the snow recommenced with redoubled fury, and the Forest, assisted by the blizzard, put on a couple of goals in the last minutes". Another account claimed that the Saints' goalkeeper, George Clawley had his eyes "choked with snow" when he conceded the two goals. All reports of the match confirm that the storm was worse when the two goals were scored than when the players were taken from the pitch. Forest's goals came from Tom McInnes and Charlie Richards, as Forest went on to defeat Derby County in the final. The Southampton board immediately lodged a protest with the Football Association, and there were numerous letters of complaint to both the national and local press. Despite the protests, the F.A. decided that the