CITY 1 NORWICH CITY 2 FA Cup 5th Round 16th March 1963 Attendance 31,217 Scorers |
City Dowd, Betts, Kennedy, Benson, Leivers, Oakes, Hayes, Dobing, Harley, Hannah, Wagstaffe.
Norwich Kennon, Kelly, Staton, Burton, Ashman, Mullett, Mannion, Bryceland, Allcock, Hill, Punton
Norwich a mid-table Second Division side, shook First Division City and they did so with ten men for the last 17 minutes.
The Canaries played forwards in defence and their methods were much more effective than ·City’s new, sophisticated 2-5-3 formation.
Gerry Mannion and Bill Punton were well suited to their jobs for Norwich. Although the Blues worked furiously in the first-half to make their system work, John Benson and Alan Oakes ran themselves into the ground and David Wagstaffe got through a mountain of work it was all in vain.
Norwich soaked up a tremendous amount of pressure in the opening period and they took a surprise lead inthe 41st minute. Punton lofted a long pass to the opposite wing for Jimmy Hill (no relation to B.B.C’s Jimmy). Hill crossed a low centre for Terry Allcock, in an unmarked position, to side-foot home from close- range.
City stepped up the pace and set up countless attacks, but they failed to penetrate the Norwich defence because, more often than not, there was only Peter Dobing up front. Wagstaffe and Joe Hayes were back in defence and George Hannah often arrived on the scene after a long run from the back, too tired to give ample support.
City changed their tactics in the second-half and even Bill Leivers joined the attack. But Norwich, with a goal in the bag, defended well. Then they broke away to increase their lead. Mannion floated over a high centre from the right and Allcock rose above City’s defenders to head into the net over Harry Dowd’s outstretched hands.
…Alex Harley pulled a goal back for City two minutes later when he was left with the simple task of tapping in from one-yard range after Dobing centred from the dead ball line.
Seventeen minutes from time Mannion was sent off following a tangle with Wagstaffe and City piled on the pressure. Oakes hit the crossbar and Hayes missed a sitter. But the East Anglians held on for a surprise victory, their first in history at Maine Road.
TAKEN FROM AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE CITY PROGRAMME 24TH JANUARY 1981
that was my first game at City at the age of 6. Rarely missed a home match at Maine Road after that. Dad had been watching since the 30’s. Losing to a lower league club in either cup was a recurrent theme for the blues until the “proper” money came in in 2008.
Norwich didn’t win again at Maine Road until 1997 (ish) when the hapless City side that was destined for the third tier succumbed to an mediocre Norwich side, but good enough to beat City !!