CITY 0 CHELSEA 2
Canon League Second Division
4th May 1984
attendance 21,713
Scorers Nevin(63), Dixon(70)
Ref Alan Saunders
City Williams, Ranson, Wilson, Bond, Power, McCarthy, May,, Baker, Parlane, Smith, Tolmie – sub Johnson(77)
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Chelsea Niedzwicki, Lee, ]ones, Pates, McLau hlin, Bumstead, Nevin, Spackman, Dixon, Speedie, Thomas – sub Canoville(45)
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…lt was City’s first and only time so far to provide the nation with a full live football match on television, a BBC event, hence the fixture switch from the traditional Saturday schedule to Friday night.
City, in fifth place and rank outsiders to clinch a promotion place by this stage of the season, were playing for pride as much as anything else. Chelsea, with two games to go after this encounter, soon found it wasn’t going to be an easy passage.
The visitors were stretched when Graham Baker and Paul Power, back in action after five games absence with knee ligaments trouble, made promising breaks, but City’s finishing was once more erratic. A cracking 30th minute drive from Baker was deflected over the Chelsea bar by Mickey Thomas’s outstretched boot and a Mick McCarthy header was cleared from the Chelsea line by Colin Pates 5 minutes later.
Ray Ranson had sent a earlier shot whistling over the bar and Gordon Smith also had an attempt deflected as Chelsea played second fiddle for long periods of the goalless first half.
When Chelsea re-organised through the loss of Joey Jones with a hamstring injury, they also revealed a greater determination and there was more decisiveness in their play. John Bumstead moved into the back-line, Nigel Spackman and Thomas worked energetically in midfield and winger Paul Canoville had a vital part to play in his sub’s role.
The half-time substitution put more dash into the Chelsea attack and the flank men soon started causing problems. Little Pat Nevin, who had looked in vain for a first half penalty when he stumbled after a Clive Wilson tackle, got his revenge. He collected a flicked-on header from leading scorer Kerry Dixon and skated past Wilson. Nevin looked up and drove a fierce low shot past Alex Williams into the opposite corner of the net.
City visibley sagged. The cheering of Chelsea’s 4,000 followers had hardly died down when Wilson was again beaten on the right flank, this time by Canoville, who showed some sparkling footwork. The winger sent David Speedie clear and Dixon rose to meet the cross that followed and head it past the left hand of Williams.
…And City boss Billy McNeill aptly summed it up: “You can see why Chelsea are going up. They compete right up to the final whistle”.
FROM AN ARTICLE IN THE CITY PROGRAMME, PUBLISHED 5TH OCTOBER 1985
City, in fifth place and rank outsiders to clinch a promotion place by this stage of the season, were playing for pride as much as anything else. Chelsea, with two games to go after this encounter, soon found it wasn’t going to be an easy passage.
The visitors were stretched when Graham Baker and Paul Power, back in action after five games absence with knee ligaments trouble, made promising breaks, but City’s finishing was once more erratic. A cracking 30th minute drive from Baker was deflected over the Chelsea bar by Mickey Thomas’s outstretched boot and a Mick McCarthy header was cleared from the Chelsea line by Colin Pates 5 minutes later.
Ray Ranson had sent a earlier shot whistling over the bar and Gordon Smith also had an attempt deflected as Chelsea played second fiddle for long periods of the goalless first half.
When Chelsea re-organised through the loss of Joey Jones with a hamstring injury, they also revealed a greater determination and there was more decisiveness in their play. John Bumstead moved into the back-line, Nigel Spackman and Thomas worked energetically in midfield and winger Paul Canoville had a vital part to play in his sub’s role.
The half-time substitution put more dash into the Chelsea attack and the flank men soon started causing problems. Little Pat Nevin, who had looked in vain for a first half penalty when he stumbled after a Clive Wilson tackle, got his revenge. He collected a flicked-on header from leading scorer Kerry Dixon and skated past Wilson. Nevin looked up and drove a fierce low shot past Alex Williams into the opposite corner of the net.
City visibley sagged. The cheering of Chelsea’s 4,000 followers had hardly died down when Wilson was again beaten on the right flank, this time by Canoville, who showed some sparkling footwork. The winger sent David Speedie clear and Dixon rose to meet the cross that followed and head it past the left hand of Williams.
…And City boss Billy McNeill aptly summed it up: “You can see why Chelsea are going up. They compete right up to the final whistle”.
FROM AN ARTICLE IN THE CITY PROGRAMME, PUBLISHED 5TH OCTOBER 1985
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