WEST BROMWICH ALBION 0 CITY 1
League Division 1
21st April 1982
attendance 11,703
Scorer Francis(31)
Ref D Vickers
City Corrigan, Ranson, McDonald, Reid, Bond, Ryan, Francis, Hartford, Kinsey, Power, Reeves – sub Hareide(61)
West Brom Grew, Batson, Statham, Summerfield, Wile, Robertson, Zondervan, King, Regis, Owen, MacKenzie – sub Cowdrill(75)
FROM THE PRESS BOX
PETER GARDNER WRITING IN THE MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS 23RD APRIL 1982
Manchester City rediscovered forgotten pride and lost passion as they ended a nightmare month without success.
West Brom, their recent record even bleaker than that of the goal-blitzed Blues, were beaten 1-0 at The Hawthorns with the sort of goal only Trevor Francis apears capable of scoring.
… There was a distinct danger that the City boss might have gone over the top with his tongue but last night his troops rallied to the flag with a performance that smacked of conviction and enterprise.
… Yet still needed was a flash of genius from Francis allied to a series of fine saves from his England colleague Joe Corrigan to steer the side to a win that could ultimately spark off a late season flurry of success.
… Apart from an initial quarter of an hour at the outset and then a desperate last couple of minutes at the end, City were in total command of a side now in acute relegation trouble.
Asa Hartford proved once again that when he can turn it on City are a far different kettle of fish.
He thrives on having good, skillful players around him and the return to form of Francis in his second comeback game following injury and suspension helped pave the way to a vital victory.
It was Francis linking with Steve Kinsey who provided the most dazzling move of the night ending with Hartford desperately unlucky to shoot a foot over the bar.