SUNDERLAND 2 CITY 0
League Division 1
12th November 1981
Attendance 23,387
Scorers Arnott(54), Cooke(80)
Ref Peter Richardson
City Corrigan, Ranson, McDonald, Booth, Power, Reid, Gow, MacKenzie, Hutchison, Tueart, Reeves – sub Bennett(16)
Sunderland Turner, Whitworth, Bolton, Arnott, Elliott, Hindmarch, Rowell, Buckley, Cooke, Robson, Cummins – sub Marangoni(49)
FROM THE PRESS BOX
PETER GARDNER WRITING IN THE MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS 13TH NOVEMBER 1980
Dennis Tueart’s premature departure proved a significant factor in Manchester City’s disappointing Roker Park defeat.
Yet even injury to the Blues’ in form marksman cannot mask the deficiences of a team all to easily lulled back into old bad habits.
Angry John Bond summed it up in a nutshell when he said cuttingly: “Sunderland wanted to win in the last third of the field more than we did.”
City failed to compete on a night when salt was rubbed into the open wounds of a 2-0 setback, with the second goal coming from Salford-born John Cooke, a self-confessed Manchester United fanatic!
But City’s troubles began long before the 80th minute points-clincher by Cooke.
Once Tueart went off with hamstring trouble after 17 minutes, the major threat to Sunderland had gone.
Excited at the prospect of returning to the stage he once graced with such distinction, Tueart tormented his former club in the spell before his injury.
A goal then, and it was on the cards, would have left the Blues poised to maintain the five match unbeaten run that followed Bond’s appointment.
However, the longer the game went without a City breakthrough, the more confident Sunderland became.
And City did not help themselves by carelessly conceding possession, and holding off at the back.
The result was that the gap between midfield and the front runners became too big, and without Tueart there was no-one capable of scoring.
Kevin Reeves had another miserable time, with Bond again ultra-critical in saying his England striker “couldn’t burst a paper bag.”
… The blow of losing such effective figures as Tueart and Caton in successive matches is a major one, although Tommy Booth’s return helped to stabilise things at the back.
Gerry Gow is taking time to settle, but Tommy Hutchison continues to impress, with his splendid close control, always a threat to opposing defences.
However, the Blues needed a “killer” in front of goal, and Reeves, in particular, badly needs the impetus of a scoring breakthrough to help him through a personal crisis of confidence.