THOR AKUREYRI 0 CITY 5
Friendly
11th August 1981
attendance 3,000
Scorers Scorers Boyer(55 & 81), Bennett(57), Henry(63), McDonald(86)
City Corrigan. McDonald, Ranson, Reid, Power, Caton, O’Neill, Henry, Boyer, Bennett, Reeves – used subs Kinsey(60), Hutchison(70)
FROM THE PRESS BOX
PETER GARDNER WRITING IN THE MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS 13TH AUGUST 1981
… Tueart’s quality was desperately needed against Thor, especially in a disastrous first half when the Blues again were embarrisingly out of touch.
City were streets ahead of the poor local opposition in class and ability, but struggled simply because they fell into the trap of doing difficult things.
Only when they got back to basics and started adopting a more simple approach did they find an essential blend that initially brought them three goals in an eight minute sprint shortly after the break.
The Blues then took another breather before scoring twice in five minutes near the end, although a total duoble the eventual margin would not have been out of the question.
Said John Saity: “I believe we could have had at least a dozen. But the main thing was that we were creating the chances, and that’s important. It’s when you stop making the openings that problems can mount up.”
… The continuing improvement of Phil Boyer is also a significant factor. He scored twice last night… Bobby McDonald’s distribution was at times dreadful, although, he at least never stopped trying and as rewarded with a typical goal near the end.
Ray Ranson often struggled to make an impression in the game that could early on have proved yet another City nightmare.
Had the home side scored as they threatened to do when giving Joe Corrigan some unexpected overtime, one more embarrassing outcome could have been on the cards.
But Thor fell into a trap of their own making by switching goalkeepers at the break, and mishandling handed City at least two, possibly three of their goals.