Sunderland were well and truly entrenched at the bottom of the First Division as they stepped into this game against fellow strugglers Bristol City at Roker Park. Eleven games without scoring a goal and fourteen
games without a win had seen confidence on the terraces and in the dressing room plummet.
The purchase of Mick Docherty in late December had seen incremental improvement in performances but not results. Adamson was not sure where the next goal was coming from, never mind a win!
Bristol City arrived at Roker Park as one of the candidates for the drop, but a quick look at their squad gave them at least a fighting chance. With Tom Ritchie and Chris Garland up front, the aggressive Gerry Gow in midfield alongside Peter Cormack and the evergreen Norman Hunter and Don Gillies marshalling the defence, there was enough quality to suggest they would be no pushovers.
Sunderland would be without Mick Docherty for this game; Mick Henderson would deputise.
The young trio of Elliott, Arnott and Rowell would feature in this game, with Arnott coming on from the bench. Hopes were high for these three youngsters, but the pressure-cooker tension of a relegation battle was not the best circumstances to be blooding youngsters.
There were weather warnings in place going into the weekend. This game had been rescheduled to Friday night to accommodate the Tyne/Tees derby that was scheduled to take place the next day. That game was postponed, despite the weather improving the next day. Whilst Roker Park looked in pristine condition, St James’ Park resembled a cabbage patch.
As the game kicked off in the freezing rain, it seemed to match the mood on the terraces, especially as it quickly became apparent that the Robins had come to ‘park the bus’ and steal a point!
The game quickly turned into a turgid slog-fest, with a simmering undercurrent. However, Sunderland were arguably the better team by virtue of their attacking efforts, which were not full throttle but at least were attempted, in comparison to the visitors!
It took until thirty-five minutes and a stonking Holden drive that Shaw in the City goal took two attempts to control to register a meaningful attempt. But this did trigger a bit of excitement as Holden again was found by Bobby Kerr eight yards out. The big striker got a thunderous contact on the ball but smashed it straight at Shaw who gratefully held on.
There was encouraging if not rapturous applause as the Lads trooped off at half-time.
The second half had been going ten minutes when Tom Ritchie managed to escape his marker and plant a goal-bound header that Siddall did well to save. This was City’s first meaningful attempt, but it set anxiety levels racing in the stands, given what had passed at Roker Park this season.
On fifty-eight minutes, Bobby Kerr broke away down the right wing and sent over a cross that looked as if it was going to sail over the top of Mel Holden at the back post. With a bit of a back-peddle and straining every sinew, ‘Super Mel’ somehow got his head to the ball and directed it goal-bound and into the net from an acute angle. An inch either way and this would not have been a goal as it crept in at the post. There was a split-second of almost stunned silence in Roker Park (it had been sixteen hours and fifty-five minutes since our team had last scored a goal) before the ground erupted!
The goal forced Bristol to consider a more adventurous approach, as they ventured over the halfway line with a bit more intent.
The goal also triggered an increase in some ugly challenges and niggly exchanges that referee Eric Garner was struggling to control.
On sixty-two minutes future Sunderland forward Tom Ritchie was lucky to stay on the pitch as his frustrations at how well policed he had been by Jackie Ashurst and Jeff Clarke spilled out. After taking a hard challenge from Clarke, Ritchie went behind him and aimed a vicious kick that connected. It was a particularly nasty kick out and seen by most in the ground. As the stands erupted, skipper Tony Towers hurtled ten yards to grab Ritchie and in the coming together of a number of players, a Sunderland player threw the ball at Ritchie.
Both Towers and Ritchie were booked, though both might consider themselves lucky to be on the pitch. Shortly after this, Towers was replaced by Arnott, who fairly quickly found himself in the referee’s book as he reacted to another naughty challenge on the night.
The game was played out with what seemed like a constant awarding of free-kicks and confrontations. Jeff Clarke and Norman Hunter should have been booked for blatant fouls and long before the end a cacophony of whistles from the home support was urging the referee to curtail the agony.
The final whistle did bring an end to the slog-fest. It had been a very poor game but a long-awaited victory meant that we were able to applaud our team off the pitch.
I felt that Bristol City got what they deserved for the manner of their performance. Apart from Towers and Arnott, Bristol’s Gow, Whitehead and Ritchie were booked by a referee who had not had a particularly good game.
We had garnered four points from our last three games but were still at the bottom of the table. Jimmy Adamson told the press “we played with big hearts but no brains” in what seemed like a back-handed compliment.
As I descended the steps at the back of the Fulwell End and out into the dank and wet night, I reasoned that if this was the kind of performance that was going to bring the wins that would keep us in the top tier, then so be it. Little did I know what was about to come!
Division One | Date – 11.02.1977 | Venue – Roker Park | Attendance – 21,407
Sunderland 1 – 0 Bristol City (Goal scorer – Mel Holden 58 mins)
Sunderland – Siddall; Henderson; Bolton; Clarke; Ashurst; Kerr; Elliott; Towers (Arnott 80 mins); Rowell; Lee; Holden.
Bristol City – Shaw; Gillies; Merrick; Sweeney; Hunter; Collier; Gow; Cormack; Garland; Ritchie; Whitehead. Sub – Tainton.
