SOUTHPORT 0 CITY 3
League Cup 2nd Round
3rd September 1969
attendance 11,215
scorers Lee(5), Oakes(63), Bell(83)
Ref Vic James
City Corrigan, Book, Connor, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Summerbee, Bell, Lee, Bowles, Bowyer – sub Towers(unused)
Southport Wraith, Pearson, Clarke, Peat, M Russell, Harrison, McCarthy, Redrobe, Andrews, A Russell, Pring – sub Field
FRANCIS LEE OPENS THE SCORING AFTER 5 MINUTES
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FROM THE PRESS BOX
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If the result… went as expected, the manner of its achievement proved less predictable at Haig Avenue last night.
Not until Oakes, an inspiring wing half, lashed home the second goal after 63 minutes could City begin to relax in a boisterous, sometimes contentious League Cup tie.
City fans had chanted “Easy, easy,” when England star Francis Lee shot the FA Cup holders into a five minute lead.
But the jeers turned to anxious obscenities, which must have burned the Salvation Army bandsmen, as Southport retaliated with a mixture of skill and sheer strength sufficient to unsettle Manchester’s suspect covering.
The hard stuff erupted into a fists-raised confrontation between Lee and Malcolm Russell, which ended with both being booked by Mr V James of York, a referee who frequently punctuated play when it seemed advantage might be allowed.
Southport came close to scoring in the first minute of each half. From the kick off, Redrobe raced through to hit a tremendous 20 yard drive that almost caught Corrigan off guard. And immediately after the interval, McCarthy, a winger Southport should have used more frequently, was only inches wide with a fine header.
Eventually class told and Bell, unusually subdued, netted the third following a thrusting run by Bowyer, but it was a reasonably entertaining cup tie for the crowd of 11,215
TAKEN FROM ALAN PINCH’S MATCH REPORT IN THE LIVERPOOL ECHO 4TH SEPTEMBER 1969
Not until Oakes, an inspiring wing half, lashed home the second goal after 63 minutes could City begin to relax in a boisterous, sometimes contentious League Cup tie.
City fans had chanted “Easy, easy,” when England star Francis Lee shot the FA Cup holders into a five minute lead.
But the jeers turned to anxious obscenities, which must have burned the Salvation Army bandsmen, as Southport retaliated with a mixture of skill and sheer strength sufficient to unsettle Manchester’s suspect covering.
The hard stuff erupted into a fists-raised confrontation between Lee and Malcolm Russell, which ended with both being booked by Mr V James of York, a referee who frequently punctuated play when it seemed advantage might be allowed.
Southport came close to scoring in the first minute of each half. From the kick off, Redrobe raced through to hit a tremendous 20 yard drive that almost caught Corrigan off guard. And immediately after the interval, McCarthy, a winger Southport should have used more frequently, was only inches wide with a fine header.
Eventually class told and Bell, unusually subdued, netted the third following a thrusting run by Bowyer, but it was a reasonably entertaining cup tie for the crowd of 11,215
TAKEN FROM ALAN PINCH’S MATCH REPORT IN THE LIVERPOOL ECHO 4TH SEPTEMBER 1969
FROM FRANCIS LEE, TRIUMPH, TREACHERY AND TOILET ROLLSIn the first week of September we made the short trip to unfashionable Southport on a miserable wet night for a League Cup tie. Our spirits were low, owing to our mixed fortunes in the League. You know the old saying about big teams not liking it on a cold night in Stoke? Well just insert ‘Southport’ so far as we were concerned. And Southport, who had an old Bolton team-mate of mine, Eric Redrobe, up front, gave us a fright all right.
Redrobe was a lad who could have gone further in the game with a little more development at Bolton. He almost put them ahead with a thumping 20-yard drive in a fiery opening. Joe Corrigan, who’d now come into goal for us, twice made smart stops. I helped settle our nerves with the opener after five minutes and we weathered the early battering to run out 3-0 winners. The city fans chorused ‘easy, easy’ after my goal, yet it was anything but. We certainly needed Alan Oakes’s Second goal, just after the hour, before Colin Bell wrapped up the scoring late on.
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WRAITH IS WELL BEATEN BY ALAN OAKES STRIKE TO MAKE IT 2-0
