CITY 3 BLACKPOOL 0
League Cup 3rd Round Replay
10th October 1978
attendance 26,213
scorers Owen(53 pen & 68), Booth(86)
Ref Trelford Mills
City Corrigan, Clements, Donachie, Booth, Watson, Kidd, Palmer, Owen, R Futcher, Hartford, Barnes – sub Bell(unused)
Blackpool Hesford, Gardner, Pashley, Thompson, Suddaby, McEwan, Chandler, Ronson, Spence, Davidson, Hockaday – sub Weston(unused)
FROM THE PRESS BOX
BARNES STORMS THROUGH TO SET UP VICTORY
REPORT FROM THE GUARDIAN 11TH OCTOBER 1978
Manchester City will play at Norwich in the fourth round of the League Cup, having successfully concluded their replay with Blackpool at Maine Road last night. A second goal, scored with immaculate timing by Gary Owen, City’s nimble midfield player.on the hour and a firmly headed third goal by Kidd four minutes from. the end tidied up a match that had, swung City’s way only by virtue of a debatable penalty decision.
Blackpool who early in the game found City’s defence so thinly populated that for a moment one wondered if some players had lefl the field, were justified in querying the upsetting award by referee Trelford Mills eight minutes lnto the second half. Kidd, turning with the ball, was judged to have been felled by Suddaby but the challenge appeared to be a legal one.
Protests by Ronson and Chandler were ignored, and Owen’s smooth conversion left Blackpool reflecting sadly about their other piece of ill luck in the seventh minute when. Chandler’s cross was helped on by Spence and Ronson headed the ball against an
upright. ‘
Without raising their play to the level reached when the teams met at Bloomfield Road last week, Blackpool made City toil for their victory. With Channon, Power, and Viljoen injured, Palmer and Ron Futcher joined‘Barnes in the attack and Kidd linked with Hartford and Owen in midfield.
Barnes. who was brought off the field much to his annoyance in the first match, eventually wore down‘ Blackpool’s resistance. He tested them on both flanks and made an irrepressible run through the middle to create an opening for Hartford shortly before
half time.
It was Barnes whose persistence brought City’s impressive second goal. Twisting and turning, he unhinged the Blackpooll defence before crosslng from the right. Futcher headed the ball to Owen whose perfect shot from an angle defied interception. Owen might have completed a hatrlck had Futcher not blocked his shot. Futcher, who could not be faulted for effort tended to feud with his markers and was booked for fouling Suddaby in the 54th minute.
The match ended, appropriately, with another splendid run by Barnes and an excellent save by Blackpool’s promising goalkeeper, Hesford.