In the days of double fixture scheduling, Sunderland knew all about their opponents Cardiff City, having only just met them in Wales a week earlier.
The long trip had been a success, with the Lads completing
a 2-4 win and having seen his side play so well, boss Robert Kyle stuck with the same eleven for the Roker return — although it was a very different story for the lowly Bluebirds, who in response to a continued run of poor form opted to make seven changes.
Their recent performances were obviously a concern — not just for club representatives and staff — but also for a group of marketing executives who prior to kick off had arranged for the Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette to be included in a large-scale advertising campaign for Wrigley’s chewing sweets, which were supposedly going to help readers stay “as fit as a fiddle”.
The large advert on page five included quotes and recommendations from a series of eminent football trainers of the time, including Cardiff’s coach George Latham, a decorated veteran of the Second Boer War and World War I, yet going off the evidence witnessed by the Sunderland faithful, it would’ve been of little surprise had sales in the County Durham region ended up going down rather than up.
In fairness to Cardiff, Sunderland appeared to be as equally low on energy in a sluggish opening, even though the game was being played in almost perfect conditions and on a beautifully-maintained surface.
Things then got harder for the hosts when after taking a boot to his chest, Arthur Hawes was forced off with less than twenty minutes gone, and there was another blow when a ‘goal’ was ruled out for a marginal offside call on Jock Paterson.
City did try to kick on and make the most of their numerical advantage in the second half but too often they tripped themselves up.
On the rare occasions they did pull something semi-dangerous together, home custodian Ted Robson was able to repel them, with one stop causing spectators to “gape with surprise” according to the following morning’s Sunday Sun, but more often than not poor finishing did the job for him and when Cardiff did finally hit the back of the net, it was in shambolic fashion and crucially, at the wrong end of the pitch.
Failing to spot that his goalkeeper had come off his line to try and meet the same through ball, Fred Keenor hit a looping back pass towards what was in fact an open goal to give Sunderland the lead. Although Charlie Buchan had been applying some pressure, the incident magnified Cardiff’s struggles whilst simultaneously lifting the ten men they were up against — and the situation only worsened when Buchan got himself onto the scoresheet with a header.
Two down, the visitors did at least try to battle on and a late consolation Ken McDonald from distance did give them some reward, but it was a clear case of “too little, too late”.
Robson had been ably supported by those in front of him, with the side looking like they could still go up another couple of gears if they’d needed, but once Hawes was withdrawn, it was all about getting the job done with the minimum of fuss and securing a league double that saw them finishing the afternoon fourth in the table.
Cardiff, meanwhile, now sat second bottom, and while they did pull well away from danger in time and actually finished the campaign as Division One’s top scorers, it was going to take more than chewing gum to give them the balance they needed to trouble the very top spots. Sunderland would also eventually fall short, albeit we ended up as the “best of the rest” with reigning champions Liverpool holding onto their crown and the Rokerites claiming second spot.
Placing as runners-up was thanks in no small part of Buchan’s feats in front of goal.
Unfazed by seeing a teammate carried off and his own workload increasing as a result, his winner against Cardiff had taken him to nine for the season already, with his tally eventually reaching a mightily impressive thirty and marking him out as the top scorer in England — the perfect spear for any side.
Saturday 14 October 1922
Roker Park
Attendance: 35,000
Football League Division One
Sunderland 2 (Keenor (og), Buchan)
Cardiff City 1 (McDonald)
Sunderland: Robson, Cresswell, England; Hunter, Parker, Poole; Donaldson, Buchan, Paterson, Hawes, Ellis
