CITY 1 DERBY COUNTY 2
League Division 1
28th December 1974
attendance 40,180
scorers
City Bell(62)
Derby Newton(21), Lee(64)
Ref Mr W Gow
City Corrigan, Hammond, Donachie, Bell, Doyle, Oakes, Horswill, Royle, Marsh, Hartford, Tueart – sub Henson(unused)
Derby Boulton, Webster, Nish, Rioch, Daniel, Todd, Newton, Gemmill, Davies, Bourne, Lee – sub Hinton
FROM THE PRESS BOX
LEE COMES UP SMILING
BILL ELLIOTT WRITING IN THE DAILY EXPRESS 30TH DECEMBER 1974
For the 40,188 fans at Maine Road the most poignant moment of Saturday’s game came in the 64th minute when one Francis Lee defied the wind and the attention of three Manchester City defenders to score a wonderful winner for Derby County.
But for me the real poignancy came exactly one hour later.
Lee, after battling through a posse of admirers, was relating how good it felt to score that goal when City assistant manager Ian MacFarlane appeared on the scene and the script for the next few seconds was straight out of a boys’ magazine.
Asked Lee: “Will it be all right if I come in tomorrow for some treatment on my knee, Ian?
Replied MacFarlane: “Certainly, Franny. I’ll fix that up for you right away.”
So City, whom Lee brought to their knees with one moment of individual brilliance, proved once more that they are big enough to accept defeat with a rare grace.
And while Tony Book spent yesterday preparing an inquest into his side’s 2-1 defeat, Maine Road physiotherapist Freddie Griffiths was massaging life back into Lee’s left knee.
Both Derby’s goals were brilliant, but both were against the run of play, and Henry Newton’s volley for their first in the 21st minute ruined what chance the crowd had of seeing an open, two-way match.
Instead they were treated, for this was still an exciting game, to a City side forced to ever-more-frantic efforts to find a way through Derby’s back four.
City at last equalised in the 62nd minute as Asa Hartford found Rodney Marsh, who slipped a superb right angled ball for Colin Bell to hammer home.
The game was surely now City’s for the taking. But I reckoned without the super competitive Lee who fashioned a goal out of nothing just 90 seconds later, by cutting in from the left to shoot the winner.
