CITY 1 SOUTHAMPTON 0
League Division 1
8th November 1969
attendance 27,069
scorer Bell(13)
Ref K Howley
City Corrigan, Book, Pardoe, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Summerbee, Bell, Lee, Towers, Bowyer – sub Jeffries(unused)
Southampton Martin, Kirkup, Byrne, Fisher, McGrath, Gabriel, Paine, Channon, Davies, Walker, Sydenham – sub Hollywood
COLIN BELL SCORES TO GRAB BOTH POINTS FOR CITY
It was difficult for either team to put in a good performance on such a rain sodden Maine Road pitch, but City did enough to take the two points and make it 13 out of 14 in Manchester.
The performance was more ‘hard work’ than the usual flair seen from The Kippax. Peter Gardner in The Manchester Evening News wrote “Manchester City for once did themselves a favour by failing to reveal their true flair and authority against inferior opposition. For their watching European opponents were doubtless lulled into a false sense of security and left Maine Road 10 minutes before the end… convinced that the Blues are not a power in English football. Lierse, whom City meet in the Cup Winners’ Cup in Belgium on Wednesday, were completely unimpressed by the performance on a day when conditions and pitch were against good football”
City’s attack clearly struggled without Neil Young, however at the back City never really looked in trouble as Mike Doyle produced another Man of the Match performance, marshalling the defence alongside the ever improving young Tommy Booth.
It was left to the majestic Colin Bell to provide the genius to take the two points. Paul Fitzpatrick in the Guardian wrote “There appeared to be no danger in the thirteenth minute when Bell received the ball some thirty yards from the Southampton goal. The move had been immaculately constructed. Corrigan threw a short ball to Pardoe who moved it on to Oakes who. in turn transferred it to Bell. Bell, given space by Southampton’s defence, had any amount of alternatives but few, and certainly not Southampton, expected him to shoot. But shoot Bell did and with such savage power and accuracy that Martin in the Southampton goal might as well have saved himself the dive. A great goal”
