Sunderland played eight times during their April 1982 programme and whilst results at either end of the month were alarming, what happened in between was a lot more positive.
A poor showing against Middlesbrough on April 3 left Sunderland bottom of Division One and seemingly in dire straits, but in the days that followed, a conversation between striker Colin West and his boss Alan Durban proved to be the catalyst for a remarkable recovery.
Things were rounded off with a heavy loss at Coventry City
on the twenty seventh admittedly, but the general situation had improved greatly during the intervening period, as with West on form, a crucial six-game unbeaten run hauled the squad out of the relegation zone.
Goals against Ipswich Town and Birmingham City had helped the young prospect become one of the first names on the team sheet, but his next outing would certainly provide a serious test of his emerging skills.
During a hectic schedule, the Lads were due to take on Tottenham Hotspur barely forty eight hours after their Birmingham win, and even though confidence was growing, the trip to London was going to be far from easy.
FA Cup holders Spurs had another Wembley showpiece to look forward to as their defence continued, with Queens Park Rangers set to meet them in what would be their second final of the season — the Lilywhites having already been beaten by Liverpool in the Milk Cup decider.
The side were also half way through a glamorous two-legged UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final with Barcelona, but they were by no means a cup team only; riding high in the table, earlier in the campaign they’d come up to Wearside and taken the points quite comfortably.
That first clash had actually been West’s senior debut but left new manager Durban searching for answers.
Only one league win had been secured thus far, but whilst points remained hard to come by as the months rolled on, there were one or two encouraging signs along the way, and by the spring, all that was needed was a focal point up top. West’s return provided that, and gave the team the ability to line up in a 4-3-3 formation at White Hart Lane.
A more adventurous 4-2-4 formation had been used last time out at Roker but this game called for some caution behind West — a pragmatic move that made the side a little more compact yet able still to attack when it was right to do so.
Even then, it was a hard day at the office and it appeared for a while as if Sunderland would go under on what was to be a controversial evening peppered with refereeing disputes.
Spurs took an early lead when Tony Galvin put the ball through Chris Turner’s legs and with half an hour gone, Glenn Hoddle slid home after the keeper was unable to cut out a low cross from Garth Crooks, but whilst the hosts were good value for the lead, a string of subsequent decisions soon had the Lads fuming.
Strikes from West, Rob Hindmarch and Nick Pickering were all ruled out despite the man in the middle — Martin Bodenham of Sussex — having no obvious cause to do so, although it must be said that his sharp-eyed award of a penalty did help spark a late comeback.
Tottenham boss Keith Burkinshaw was initially left perplexed when Galvin was penalised for kicking Stan Cummins but having reviewed the footage afterwards, he admitted that his ire had turned towards his own player, whose swing after the ball had gone was so late that most people in the ground missed it entirely — some of Galvin’s teammates included, who were so angry at the time that Gary Rowell was forced to wait over two minutes to take the spot kick whilst they were brought under control.
Ray Clemence meanwhile made the most of this period of confusion by trying to intimidate Rowell but it was of course to no avail. Undeterred by the surrounding pandemonium, he gave Sunderland hope with a trademark low drive.
Rowell was then involved in another hotly-disputed call when despite seemingly being in an offside position play was waved on and Loek Ursem, making what proved to be his final appearance from the bench prior to his loan ending, had a shot parried by Clemence and turned in by Pickering at the end of a mad scramble.
A dramatic finale and one that brought a much-needed point for Sunderland, who at times were able to produce play of a much higher level than their league placing would have had people expecting.
Things could’ve been even better had Pickering not seen a tight offside call go against him as he burst through in the last seconds, but whilst that judgement was understandable at least, there was little weight behind claims from the home supporters that things had been evened up by the build up to Pickering’s leveller.
Few observers could fathom why they’d been denied three goals prior to that, with Hindmarch’s header — which seemed to have been comfortably over the line before Clemence hauled it back — feeling the most egregious.
On the plus side however was the never-say-die attitude that was coming to the fore under Durban.
The Lads had come to play, not just spoil, and gave one of the best sides in the country a proper match. The performance helped build towards a couple of huge wins over Everton and West Bromwich Albion also, with Colin West and co making the most of their jam-packed April diary.
Wednesday 14 April 1982
Football League Division One
White Hart Lane
Attendance: 39,898
Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Galvin 7’, Hoddle 31’)
Sunderland 2 (Rowell (pen) 77’, Pickering 85’)
Sunderland: Turner, Hinnigan (Ursem 78’), Munro; Hindmarch, Chisholm, Elliott; Buckley, West, Rowell; Pickering, Cummins
