United took the lead in the eleventh minute with a goal from Mick Jones. Ten minutes later he made it 2-0. A defensive mistake by Paul Madeley saw him put the ball in the back of his own net seven minutes before half-time. Johnny Giles put the game beyond the home side's grasp with ten minutes to go. Shelbourne used two substitutes replacing Rossi Walsh and Johnny Campbell with Christy Wallace and Noel Quinn after seventy-eight minutes. Referee F. Boylan (Dublin). Played at Dalymount Park, Dublin to mark Shelbourne's Seventy-Fifth Jubilee.
Programme:
Match Report: From the Irish Times (Thanks to Steve Bell for Report and Shelbourne team etc)
"Leeds United, the heartbreak side of English Football last season, managed their expected win over Shelbourne in the club's Seventy-fifth anniversary celebration game at Dalymont Park last night, but who was it that said Shelbourne were crazy to oppose them with a team made up from their own playing staff?."
"Certainly, that 3-1 scoreline hardly does full justice to a courageous Shelbourne team that fought tooth and nail until Johnny Giles put the issue beyond doubt for the visitors with a third goal in the sixty-sixth minute."
"The home players may not have possessed all the skills of their more exalted opponents, but there was little doubt that Gerry Doyle possesses in this squad, eleven players who gave of their best and must prove a force before the end of the season."
"Indeed, were it not for one of the strangest decisions by the referee, Mr Frank Boylan, of Dublin, Leeds winning margin might not have been sufficient even to satisfy manaher Don Revie, for in the twenty-fifth minute, Shelbourne had what looked to be a perfectly good goal disallowed."
"At the time the visitors had raced into a two-goal lead, but far from being discouraged the gallant Shelbourne players redoubled their efforts and would have been well deserving of the goal that looked to have come their way through Rossi Walsh. A cracking shot from Johnny Campbell beat Sprake, but came back off the upright to the right winger, who slammed the ball home only to find his great effort wasted by Mr Boylan's strange decision."
"Nevertheless, Shelbourne can look back on this game with a great deal of pleasure. Leeds certainly had all the stars and there is no doubt that the midfield partnership of Billy Bremner and Giles stands out as one of the finest in the world, but for all that the young eager Shelbourne players deserve great credit for the manner in which they tried to offset the skills of the opposition by a 100% effort."
"Most teams would have been discouraged by the brisk opening of the visitors, who might have gone in front in the first couple of minutes when Giles gave Gray a chance, but the winger shot wide and it was not until the eleventh minute that Mick Jones put them in front and then in a manner that left a lot to be desired. When the big Centre-Forward took Gray's cross from the right, a linesman had his flag up, but the referee waved play on and Jones lashed a right-footed shot off the far upright."
"In the seventeenth minute, Campbell brought a great save from Sprake, but in the twenty-first minute the Shelbourne goal fell for the second time when, following a short corner, Giles put Gray in possession and from his cross, Jones headed out of the reach of Roche, a goalkeeper who will not be blamed for any of the goals that beat him and, in fact, must be offered all the praise in the world for a magnificent display."
"It was not all Leeds by any manner or means. Just on the half-hour, Campbell, who always looked dangerous, got in a shot which Sprake only partly saved and, again Walsh was in position, but this time he had his shot blocked by the Leeds goalkeeper."
"In the thirty-eighth minute, however, the huge crowd did get something to cheer about when Paul Madeley was forced into a defensive error which finished with a goal for the home side. A nice through ball from Jimmy O'Connor saw Paul Shiels challenge the visiting right full-back, who, in his effort to send the ball behind for a corner, mistimed the effort and sent it directly into his own net."
"In the forty-fourth minute, the referee made amends for the disallowed Shelbourne goal when he made a similar decision in respect of one by Allan Clarke. who took a pass from Terry Cooper and shot home but apparently Peter Lorimer was in an offside position."
"The second half opened with a Shelbourne raid which might have produced a goal. Shiels, one of Shelbourne's best forwards, cheekily beat Madeley on the left and crossed, but O'Connor failed to get the ball under control and hit it wide."
"And then in the sixty-sixth minute, when it looked as if Shelbourne might have something up their sleeve, Giles put the issue beyond doubt. He took a precision pass from Gray and sent a right-footed shot past Roche from the edge of the penalty area."
"Shelbourne's mentors decided to replace Walsh and Campbell by Christy Wallace and Noel Quinn respectively, in the seventy-eighth minute, and in spite of some fierce Leeds pressure, the home side held out to the end."
