by s1ty m » Fri Apr 08, 2016 7:04 am
We drew 2-2 with The Rags on the Saturday, at The Swamp. Arthur Albiston got a cheeky OG late on and was celebrated at Wembley for his efforts. My Dad and I went on the Sunday for the final and it was appalling for most of the match, going 5-1 down with the giant David Speedie heading in as Nixon flapped. TBF, he was great in the air for a small bloke. I believe we saw the real Eric and knew he was not going to make it at the top. Decent crowd too, 67k.
Things went 'a bit City' in the last 5 minutes and as we all know it got back to 5-4 and I am convinced that if there was more time, we'd have equalised such was the amazing momentum swing. In earlier rounds, I had got into Maine Road using the free for the last 10 minutes rule when they opened the gates. Crowds were tiny but I do recall 1 game going to ET and pens, where Eric Nixon was the emerging hero so I got value for nothing that night; I lived in Rusholme in a slum on Dickenson Road as I was in Manchester at college, so it was a stroll to the ground and in, like the tight-wad student I was. The Kippax was funny at those games, kind of semi-serious stuff but noisy when it got nervy with pens. Leeds got a 6-1 spanking too, which is always nice.
On our way back, we stopped at a service station just north of London. Some lads had a van and were sat looking disconsolate. We reckoned they'd left way earlier than us to get as far up the motorway as this. 'How did it end?', one of them asked. 'What was it when you left, lads?', asked my Dad. '5-1'. Dad then reeled off the story of the last 5 minutes and their faces were a picture. 2 from Lillis, one a penalty and an own goal. I think we thought Lillis had scored a hat-trick at the time.
Good day out.
After the ball was centred, after the whistle blew...