CITY 0 LEEDS UNITED 1
League Division 1
26th December 1975
attendance 48,077
scorer Madeley(73)
Ref H Davey
City Corrigan, Clements, Donachie, Doyle, Watson, Oakes, Barnes, Booth, Royle, Hartford, Tueart – sub Power(20)
Leeds Harvey, Reaney, F.Gray, Bremner, Madeley, Cherry, Lorimer, Clarke, McKenzie, Yorath, E.Gray – Sub Hunter(unused)
I felt we deserved a better fate against Leeds…We hit the woodwork twice, Dennis Tueart had one cross-shot blocked on the line and had two more fiery efforts pushed aside by the fingertips of David Harvey. In comparison, Leeds did not give our goal a serious testing, yet they made the strike that mattered when Paul Madeley headed in the second half winner.
adapted from Tony Book’s Programme notes 3rd January 1976.
All good things have to come to an end, and so it was inevitable that someone, in this case Leeds United, would end City’s unbeaten run which had stretched to 18 League and Cup games.
It was a Boxing Day present that the Blues didn’t want and it has to be said that the visitors had the benefit of any luck that was going. Leeds were being tipped for the title – they would finish in fifth spot – and their star-studded line-up looked capable of reaching the summit.
City had a major setback when Peter Barnes had to leave the game with a cracked shoulder-blade, so effective wing-play had to come from one side, where Dennis Tueart was in good form. He brought two flying saves from David Harvey after Duncan McKenzie had put a shot past Joe Corrigan’s goal.
A suspicion that the “lucky” sweets had been handed out unfairly came when Joe Royle got on the end of a Tueart centre and gaped in disbelief as his header hit Harvey, then bounced off the opposite post straight into the ‘keeper’s arms.
Asa Hartford was next to suffer, a shot skimming an upright before a header looped over the ‘keeper and dropped against a post. Next, defender Paul Reaney saved the day for Leeds as he headed a thundering Tueart drive off the line.
Peter Lorimer (“the man with the most ferocious shot in soccer,” said the programme notes) took free kicks which
Neil Pointon scored an own goal against Palace five years ago.
kept Corrigan on his toes, but Leeds found it difficult to draw a clear sighting on City’s goal.
But at last it came. After 72 minutes, Frank Gray and Lorimer worked a short corner and slipped the ball through to Eddie Gray. He darted through the defence before clipping the ball in from the bye-line, and there was Paul Madeley to head powerfully past Corrigan.
It seemed in the remaining minutes that Kenny Clements might have rescued City when he put a curling centre over Harvey’s head, but the ‘keeper just got his fingers to the ball as he fell backwards.
ADAPTED FROM AN ARTICLE BY JOHN MADDOCKS IN THE CITY PROGRAMME 23RD DECEMBER 1995