Date: Sunday, 17th May 1987.
Venue: Boundary
Park, Oldham.
Competition:
Second Division Playoff Semi-Final Second Leg.
Score: Oldham
Athletic 2 Leeds United 1 (a.e.t.).
Scorers: Oldham
Athletic: Williams, Cecere. Leeds
United: Edwards.
Attendance:
19,216.
Teams:
Oldham Athletic: Goram; Irwin, Barlow;
Henry, Linighan, Moore; Palmer, Ormondroyd
(Cecere), Wright, Milligan, Williams.
Leeds United: Day; Aspin, McDonald;
Aizlewood, Ashurst, Ormsby; Stiles (Edwards), Sheridan, Pearson, Baird, Adams.
Referee: Mr. G.
Courtney (Spennymoor).
Around
6,000 Leeds fans obtained tickets for the
Sunday lunch-time showdown and packed the Rochdale Road end at Boundary Park for the winner-takes-all tie, but
it all looked like going wrong. Garry Williams opened the scoring for the hosts
before Mike Cecere added a second in the dying minutes.
At 2-0 and with seconds remaining, Oldham were through and Leeds were on their way out. Billy Bremner's dream of leading the side to promotion looked
over. But enter Keith Edwards, Again.
As the Oldham players and fans celebrated their second, and apparently decisive goal, Leeds re-grouped for one last push. A
long, hopeful, ball was delivered forward and there was super-sub Edwards to
grab an all-important away goal. Confusion reigned about whether or not the tie
would go to extra time and when the whistle finally blew after thirty added
minutes in Lancashire the travelling
Yorkshiremen erupted. Royle
blasted the FA for changing the rules and questioned how a side that finished
so far behind his own should have a better chance of promotion. Of course, he
was probably right, but no one in Leeds cared. Rules were rules. A five-year exile in
the Second Divison was nearly over. Charlton Athletic
had beaten Ipswich Town in the other Semi-Final and only
the top-flight strugglers stood between Leeds and the First Division.
Alternate
Reports: (Courtesy Mark Ledgard)
Leeds substitute Keith Edwards robbed
Oldham Athletic of a place in the play-off final with an astonishing goal just
thirty seconds from the end of normal time. Only seconds earlier, Oldham’s own substitute Mike Cecere had made it 2-0, and 2-1 on
aggregate with what seemed like a certain passport to the final. The Oldham fans, and players, were still doing
a jig when Neil Aspin crossed for John Pearson to
head down to Keith Edwards who kept his head to score the vital away goal and
send this pulsating tie into extra-time. It was an incredible repeat
performance from Keith Edwards, who came off the bench to score United’s eighty-ninth minute winner in the first leg the
previous Thursday night. With the aggregate level, all Leeds had to do was survive the last half
hour, which they did with few alarms. Edwards said afterwards, “We didn’t have
time to think after they scored. We knew there were only seconds left but they
were still celebrating. It was the most vital goal I have scored. I keep saying
that!” Oldham set the tie alight after seventeen
minutes when Gary Williams headed home to level the aggregate score, but their
concentration failed when they had done all that was necessary. Billy Bremner’s troops now had to meet Charlton Athletic over two
legs over the following weekend to decide who would play in the First Division
in the following season. Oldham manager Joe Royle said, “The League has
become the longest Cup competition in the world. Just think, forty-four games
and we go out on an away goal.
From the
YEP: When they were seconds from another season in the Second Division, Keith
Edwards rescued Leeds United in this game and now, in theory, they stood just
one hundred and eighty minutes from their dream of a return to the First
Division. In a frantic final ninety seconds at Boundary Park, Oldham edged into what seemed a decisive
2-0 lead before Edwards, again fresh from the substitutes’ bench, snatched the
goal that sent Leeds
into the final for a place in Division One. Edwards goal levelled
the aggregate scores at ninety minutes, but after extra-time the away goal
counted double and Oldham, who had been in the top three in the Second Division
all season, took the cruelest of knock-out blows. Edwards, who just won three
successive games for Leeds
coming on as substitute, stroked the ball home from twelve yards, after Baird’s
drive had been blocked. Oldham had momentarily lost concentration in their joy of their goal. That joy
was to turn to tears for many of their side just over thirty minutes later,
when the ten thousand Leeds
followers in the 19,216 crowd were celebrating.
But late in
the game Leeds were hard
pressed and over the two legs they had not touched their best. Yet in the cold
and rain of the Pennines they hung on as Oldham tried to camp in their half and now
the prize was a final against Charlton Athletic starting on the following
Saturday. But Leeds, although they did not admit it beforehand, had not fancied
playing Oldham Athletic on their plastic surface and when Leeds were pinned
back for so long the reason for their apprehension was clear. Oldham levelled
the aggregate scores inside eighteen minutes when Mervyn
Day could not stop Ian Ormondroyd nudging the ball on
after committing himself. Gary Williams beat Brendan Ormsby
near the line with his header. It was fast first-time football for Oldham but Leeds battled away until Micky Adams got inside twelve yards from their goal with a
strong seventy-fifth minute header which Andy Goram
did well to parry. From then onwards they game really boiled. Goram stopped Ian Baird in full-flight and Mervyn Day fisted a Roger Palmer close-in header over the
bar. But in the eighty-ninth minute Denis Irwin, who with the other Leeds exiles Andy Linighan
and Tommy Wright had excelled, whipped over a cross from the right. Mike Cecere got goal-side of Neil Aspin
and Oldham were
ahead. Yet while they were still celebrating Leeds charged down the right, Neil Aspin crossed, John Pearson headed down and when Ian
Baird’s shot cannoned onto Keith Edwards he unerringly found the corner of the
net even though Andy Goram got a hand on the ball. As
Oldham built up their corner advantage to
18-4 there were more close calls in extra time when Kevin Moore hit the
crossbar with a header and when Mervyn Day closed
down Roger Palmer’s nudge on from a long range drive.
The YEP
also reported the details and rules for the forthcoming final between United
and Charlton Athletic. They said. “The First Division play-off between Charlton
and Leeds United is staged on Saturday. The second leg will be played ‘a week
today’. If the two sides cannot be separated after two matches, an extra game
will be played on Friday 29th May, with home advantage decided by
the toss of a coin. Here extra-time and penalties will ensure a winner.”
Match Action: (Courtesy Mark Ledgard)
Keith Edwards scores the vital away goal that
won the tie for United
Teams:
Leeds United 1986-87:
Back
Row: Andy Ritchie, Neil Aspin,
Ronnie Robinson, Mervyn Day, Ronnie Sinclair,
Peter Swan, Peter Haddock, David Rennie.
Middle
Row: Geoff Ladley (Physio), David Bentley (Coach), Jack Ashurst,
Bob Taylor,
Brian Caswell, Brendan Ormsby,
Ian Baird, Peter Gunby (Coach),
Billy Bremner (Manager).
Front
Row: Nigel Thompson, John Stiles, John Sheridan,
Ian Snodin, Tommy Wright,
Russell Doig, John
Buckley.
Players:
Gary Williams and substitute Mike Cecere scored for Oldham Keith Edwards got
the vital away goal for Leeds
John Stiles came in for Andy Ritchie on the
right flank for Leeds, while Ian Ormondroyd replaced
Mike Cecere for Oldham
Neil Aspin and John
Pearson combined to lay the foundation for the Leeds goal Andy Goram was in goal for Oldham
Ex-Leeds player Andy Linighan Ex-Leeds
man Denis Irwin and Andy Barlow were the full-backs Roger Palmer,
and Kevin Moore were in central defence
Tony Henry and Mike Milligan were in midfield
with Gary Williams Another
ex-Leeds man Tommy Wright
was a striker with
Ian Ormondroyd