CITY 0 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0
League Division 1
2nd February 1974
attendance 24,652
Ref W Gow
City MacRae, Barrett, Donachie, Doyle, Booth, Towers, Pardoe, Bell, Leman, Oakes, Carrodus – sub Henson(unused)
Spurs Jennings, Evans, Naylor, Pratt, England, Beal, McGrath, Perryman, Chivers, Peters, Coates – sub Dillon
FROM THE PRESS BOX
DEPLETED CITY BOGGED DOWN
TOM JACK WRITING IN THE GUARDIAN 4TH FEBRUARY 1974
The match at Maine Road, played on what had the makings of a swamp, was no test of subtle talents. It was a burlesque, abeit a genial one, of a sport, because the cluster of groundsmen, who in the deluge before the match were forking away earnestly in the dark pools on the field like anglers digging for worms on the seashore, had as little success as a newt in the business of water moving.
Not that this denied the 24,000 customers their large helpings of excitement, especially in the goalmouth. Both goalkeepers, Macrae and Jennings came off caked in glory and mud, though the Scot was still showing a proneness to the half error, but luckily never as fatal as those that brought about the fall of his predecessor, Joe Corrigan.
For Tottenham, Coates was the first to take the measure of the mire, spinning his more delicate threads on the green havens at the corners of the marsh. Peters lay in wait upfield, bravely seeking scoring chances from balls coming his way half-drowned. Success was almost his in the second half as he gathered an opportunity only a ball’s width (or length for that matter) from the goal, only to have the ball picked from his toes by the falling Macrae.
Chivers, picking his way through the puddles as Queen Elizabeth I might have done but for Raleigh’s cloak, was effective enough when he deigned to put an elegant foot into the preceedings. But his was too intermittently, and he naturally had the driest shirt in sight…