Manchester City v West Bromwich Albion 1968/69
Date Published
CITY 5 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1
League Division 1
23rd November 1968
Attendance 24,867
Scorers
City Young(2 & 80), Bell(15 & 69), Doyle(53)
West Brom Brown(68)
Ref Arthur Dimond
City Dowd, Kennedy, Pardoe, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Lee, Bell, Summerbee, Young, Connor - sub Bowles(unused)
West Brom Sheppard, Fraser, Wilson, Brown, Talbot, Keys, Rees, Collard, Astle, Hope, Hanford - used sub Williams
The scoreline itself was really to do with the story of two goalkeepers, the brilliance of Harry Dowd and the uncertainty of Rick Sheppard. Dowd made outstanding saves from Tony Brown and Jeff Astle, in addition John Kaye and Ron Rees hit the City woodwork.
In contrast, with John Osborne under the weather with flu, Sheppard was brought in by Albion and was put through the mill by City. In the second minute Neil Young converted a pass from Colin Bell, who headed home the Blues' second in the 15th minute. The third goal was added by Mike Doyle in the 53rd minute, with a neat chip beyond Sheppard. Brown pulled one back for Albion in the 68th minute. But a minute later Colin Bell scored City's 4th courtesy of an error from the hapless Sheppard. Young finished off the scoring in the 80th minute.
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