IPSWICH TOWN 2 CITY 1
League Division 1
24th November 1973
attendance 19,143
scorers
City Leman(46)
Ipswich Whymark(10 & ?)
Ref H Williams
City MacRae, Pardoe, Donachie, Doyle, Booth, Towers, Barrett, Bell, Summerbee, Leman, Marsh – sub Carrodus(unused)
Ipswich Best, Hammond, Mills, Morris, Hunter, Beattie, Hamilton, Viljoen, Johnson, Whymark, Lambert – sub Woods(52)
FROM THE PRESS BOX
CITY FALL BUT STILL IMPRESS
RICHARD YALLOP WRITING IN THE GUARDIAN 26TH NOVEMBER 1974
Peter Swales, the Manchester City chairman, must seem like Prince Charming to Ron Saunders just now. After more than a year fighting to rise above mediocrity in the sleep provincial town of Norwich he awakens to the glamour and skill, albeit somewhat faded, of Manchester City.
No matter that their first game under his direction was lost: “It would have been nice to get a point, but it’s better in a way like this, it gives you more to work on.” His first impressions were favourable: “They’ve got a tremendous amount of ability. They competed well and I thought we did enough to get a result, we just gave away two goals.”
The City players must have felt it was the last day of the school holidays. All frivolity to one side, with an apprehensive eye towards the first class on Monday. Summerbee played with all the experience and command of the head boy. He was always combative and the most effective of City’s weapons in attack. Bell was defensively subdued and Marsh physically out of tune, back-heeling into touch, chased out of possession with ease. Towers directed things in the middle, changing direction well until the need to overlook the wonderfully constructive Viljoen subdued him in the second half.
Ipswich played with the compact, well drilled style they have developed over the past two seasons. There is now toughness to match their skill. Johnson and Whymark especially showed what an intelligent pair of forwards can achieve, both mounting and finishing an attack. Beattie was outstanding, tackling ferociously and setting up attacks with speed and imagination. He made Hunter’s booted clearances look very clumsy. England are fortunate to have both he and Colin Todd waiting in the wings.
City’s equaliser a minute into the second half, came when Summerbee reverted to his most penetrating position, on the right wing, lost Mills, and passed inside to Leman, who beat Best convincingly. It took Ipswich a while to restore their rightful advantage. Then Doyle made a poor clearance, Morris pushed forward to Viljoen, who hared for the goal line, crossed perfectly, and Whymark glided in once more, timing his run perfectly…