What a night on Tyneside!
We all have some special memories of supporting this club. Some games stand out as never to be forgotten and this was one of them as we met The Visitors (formerly known as Newcastle United) in the semi-finals of the Division Two playoffs — and how the powers that be must’ve rejoiced when the fixture wasn’t played as a Wembley final showcase!
Our chance to take control had slipped through our hands during the home leg at Roker Park.
The game ended in a scoreless draw, with Paul
Hardyman having his last-minute penalty saved and also being sent off. I was in the Clock Stand and to this day, I’d say the atmosphere was the most hostile that I’ve ever experienced. I couldn’t get a ticket for the return leg but I do remember vividly where I was, as my ear was glued to the radio.
So the highly tense game was set up: an evening fixture at St James’ Park.
I must admit to feeling a little sick as I really didn’t see us coming out of this one with a result. The famous ‘G-Force’ of Marco Gabbiadini and Eric Gates had other ideas, yet it turned out to not only be a wonderful and memorable win for the Lads, but also one of the most disgraceful and shameful episodes in the English game.
Denis Smith’s prediction that his young side would continue their great away form turned out to be accurate. The Mags boasted the best home record in the division, but we had the best away record and something was going to give!
Early on, a quick throw in from John Kay found Gary Owers, and after combining passes with Gabbiadini, he found Gates, who crashed the ball home in the thirteenth minute. Sunderland then enjoyed the better of the game. Young Warren Hawke had been brought in for the suspended Hardyman, and he stuck admirably to his task in only his second appearance.
Mark McGhee hit the outside of the post early on, beating Tony Norman, but on the whole, their dangerous strike force of McGhee and Mick Quinn was well marshalled by Gary Bennett and John MacPhail.
To coin a famous Jim Smith phrase: “In all honesty, Sunderland deserved to win the game”, as the Lads defended magnificently, holding Newcastle at bay as for parts of the match and towards the end, they pounded at the Sunderland goal.
We had to ride our luck at times but we held firm until the final stages of the game before hitting them on the break with a sweetly taken twenty third goal of the season by Gabbiadini less than five minutes from the final whistle. Despite all the pressure and the importance of the game, this was by far the best meeting of the four that the two teams had played in against each other this season.
However, it was to the shame of the mindless minority of home fans that couldn’t take defeat graciously that the referee couldn’t actually blow the full time whistle for another twenty two minutes — George Courtney taking the players off the field as hordes of so-called Mags fans invaded the pitch.
It was obviously a ploy and a well-organised plan to get the game abandoned, yet the hooligans that took part gave the country something that’ll be remembered far more strongly than the pain of losing a semi-final to your rivals, coming only a year after the Hillsborough disaster.
It was later revealed that Durham-born Courtney had gone into the dressing rooms and told the players that no matter how long it took, the match would be completed that night.
Moronic behaviour wasn’t going to affect that and as the thin blue line of police were spread out on the centre circle and the mindless idiots began to realise that they weren’t going to be successful, the pitch was eventually cleared.
The Sunderland fans were praised for their behaviour; of course, they had no interest in joining the hooligans on the pitch, nor in being goaded by them.
The scenes at the end were of unbridled joy. Every time a game like this comes along, it’s easy to think that these moments can’t get better — and maybe they can’t. Maybe the bad experiences we suffer only serve to highlight the delight of the good times.
The pain, then, is part of the happiness now. That’s the deal.
May 16 1990
Second Division playoffs, semi-final second leg
St James’ Park
Newcastle United 0
Sunderland 2 (Gabbiadini, Gates)
Sunderland: Norman, Kay, Bennett; MacPhail, Agboola, Owers; Armstrong, Bracewell; Hawke, Gates, Gabbiadini
Subs: Brady, Hauser
