CITY 3 SHEFFIELD UNITED 2
League Division 1
7th December 1974
attendance 29,675
scorers
City Hammond(61), Bell(85), Marsh(87)
Sheff Utd Currie(62), Field(89)
ref Pat Partridge
City MacRae, Hammond, Donachie, Henson, Doyle, Oakes, Daniels, Bell, Marsh, Hartford, Tueart – sub Summerbee(64)
Sheffield United Brown, Badger, Hemsley, Colquhoun, Eddy, Franks, Woodward, Speight, Dearden, Currie, Field – sub Bradford
Rodney Marsh scores City’s 3rd
FROM THE PRESS BOX
PAUL FITZPATRICK WRITING IN THE GUARDIAN 9TH DECEMBER 1974
Jim Brown probably needed no telling that the goalkeeper’s lot is not always a happy one. But that truism was forcibly brought home to him in Saturday’s match at Maine Road. For an hour the Sheffield United goalkeeper seemed unbeatable. Then an error of judgment cost his side a goal and put Manchester City on the way to their tenth home win of the season.
Three times in the first half Brown made outstanding saves, first from a thunderous free kick by Daniels, then from Henson and Bell. His trapeze-like ability was not all, a cool nerve, courage sharp anticipation, and sound judgement marking him as the complete goalkeeper. His fall from grace was, therefore, all the more startling.
In the 61st minute Hammond sent in a shot from long range and watched with delight and probably no little astonishment as the ball sailed into the net past a static, badly positioned Brown. Within seconds all Brown’s previous good work had been undone.
Sheffield equalised within a minute through Currie, and Brown’s error diminished somewhat, but the fact that Brown had been exposed as vulnerable seemed to have a greater effect on City than Currie’s equaliser had on Sheffield. Indeed flaws began to appear throughout the Sheffield defensive fabric: gone was the earlier convincing defensive work which had contained the activities of Bell. Tueart, Marsh and Daniels. Bell struck Brown’s right hand post and at once Daniels hit the other post and Sheffield’s decline was in earnest.
Bell scored a fine goal in the 85th minute; Marsh, direct from Macrae’s goal kick, made the score 3-1 two minutes later, and although Field’s goal caused a few flutters for the home team and their supporters it had really arrived too late to alter the outcome. It was a gesture, no more…
