Date:
Venue:
Competition: First Division.
Score:
Scorers:
Attendance: 21,169.
Teams:
Referee: D.A.
Webb (
Newcomer Derek Parlane
became an instant hit with
Injury-hit United had gone into the game with
centre-half Keith Parkinson at left-back. Paul Madeley
returned after injury to the centre of defence in
place of the injured Neil Firm and Kevin Hird was
switched from left-back to right-back because of the absence through injury of
skipper Trevor Cherry. The captaincy was passed on for the day to Paul Hart,
who happened to be making his one hundredth appearance for United since his
signing from Blackpool almost two years ago to the
day, and then went on to play the key role in the defeat of the Saints.
Hart, who a week previously had earned high
praise from a great goal-scorer of the past, Jimmy Greaves, for his display at Tottenham, scored the all important opening goal when he
headed in off the shoulder of England centre-half Dave Watson after twenty-six
minutes. Eddie Gray had provided the cross from the left and when the Scottish
midfielder repeated the effort eleven minutes later, Hart was there to
challenge again and this time provide the opening for Derek Parlane
to crack in the second goal albeit at the second attempt, after he had miscued
with a hurried first effort.
“We were second best to Hart and it cost us
the points,” said Saints boss Lawrie McMenemy. The YEP were promoting a “Get behind United”
campaign at the time and McMenemy quipped, “We joined
the campaign to encourage United by giving them two goals and entertained the
public so, from a Leeds point of view you can’t ask for more than that,”
United’s win was their first at home in more than two months and they put plenty
of effort into their work, though they were not convincing winners and it was
not difficult to understand McMenemy’s disappointment
at his side’s failure to take even a share of the spoils from what was an
entertaining and interesting contest. His side had played some forceful and
admirable soccer and United were hard pressed to hold out at times. The result
might have been different had the Saints been able to finish off some good
approach play. On two occasions when the ball did end up in John Lukic’s goal, Referee Derek Webb brought sighs of relief
from United fans by disallowing both. The first a
header from Mike Channon after eight minutes, looked
good but the referee said he ruled it out for a push on Hart. In the closing
stages when Phil Boyer hammered the ball in from the narrowest of angles it was
disallowed for offside against Channon. Adamson
agreed that his side had been fortunate to come through with a win. “Luck was
on our side for a change but with all our injuries we deserved it,” he said.
Match Action: (Photos courtesy of Mark Ledgard)
Paul Hart climbs high to beat Dave Watson and
score
United’s first goal
Teams:
Inset: Brian Greenhoff.
Back
Row: Byron Stevenson, Neil Firm, Paul Hart, John Lukic, Paul Madeley, Derek Parlane.
Middle
Row: Dave Merrington
(Assistant Manager), Syd Farrimond
(Coach), Terry Connor,
Alex Sabella, Eddie
Gray, Martin Dickinson, Alan Curtis, Peter Hampton, Jimmy Adamson (Manager).
Front
Row: Arthur Graham, Brian Flynn, Jeff Chandler,
Trevor Cherry, Carl Harris, Kevin Hird
Players:
Paul Hart got United’s
opening goal
Derek Parlane got
Jeff Chandler got a rare start Paul Madeley
returned to replace the injured Neil Firm
Centre-half Keith Parkinson had to play
left-back
Kevin Hird switched to right-back for the injured Trevor
Cherry Ray Hankin was another absent
injured
Eddie Gray’s accurate crosses gave Dave Watson
and his defence problems Mike Channon and
Phil Boyer both had ‘goals’ disallowed