WEST BROMWICH ALBION 3 CITY 0
League Division 1
31st January 1970
attendance 30,722
scorers Suggett(15), Astle(30), Hartford(80)
Ref H Williams
City Mulhearn, Connor, Pardoe, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Bowles, Bell, Lee, Young, Bowyer – sub Jeffries(45)
West Brom Osborne, Fraser, Wilson, Brown, Talbot, Kay, Cantello, Suggett, Astle, Hartford, Hope – sub Glover
JOHN MADDOCKS WRITING IN THE CITY PROGRAMME 10 FEB 1990
Our attempts to pick ourselves up after the Cup defeat at Old Trafford were fruitless, as a visit to the Hawthorns the following week only resulted in the same 3-0 scoreline. The game was billed as a rehearsal for the League Cup Final in which the clubs would feature five weeks later. With hindsight, City fans can say we were lulling the Baggies into a false sense of security!
The Blues were without Book and Summerbee and were to lose Pardoe after the interval with a leg injury. Even so, the team’s performance lacked conviction; there was a great deal of racing about, but the threats to Osborne’s goal were lightweight. Even more worryingly the defence continued to leak goals regularly. Albion scored twice in the first half (15 and 30 minutes) and it could have been more. After 60 seconds Hartford, set up by Astle, skied a clear chance over Mulhearn’s bar – a trait which Asa would display in later years in our colours with some regularity, as he himself would admit!
The first goal came from Suggett after Hope and Hartford had paved the way, the second through Astle after he had evaded Connor’s presence. The second half was of a similar pattern and ended with Hartford atoning for his earlier miss as he scored Albion’s third with a ground shot.
