Old Etonians won 1–0, the only goal scored, according to most reports, by William Anderson,[1] although another, questionably, gives Reginald Macaulay.

Blackburn included England internationals, Fred Hargreaves and his brother, John, and Jimmy Brown.

[3] The Old Boys dominated the early stages of the match but Rovers defended well until, according to the match report in Gibbons' "Association Football in Victorian England", "following an expert through ball by Dunn, Macaulay steered the ball between the Blackburn goalposts to secure a well-deserved half-time lead".

[4] However, a tribute in The Times (1937) states Macaulay was fond of recalling he outpaced the Blackburn players and helped towards the goal, without claiming to have scored it.

Other reports identify the scorer differently: Bell's Life in London, The Field and The Times stated it was Anderson, the first two detailing the ball had been successively passed to him by Macaulay and Dunn, while The Sporting Life stated the ball was centred "to the front of the posts" by Novelli before it was kicked "out of a brief and loose bully" (i.e. a scrimmage) by an unnamed player.