FA Cup 4th Round Replay at Oakwell 4th February 1998, 23 years ago today, we beat Tottenham 3-1 with 3 excellent 2nd half strikes into the Ponty end goal. What a brilliant evening that was We then went on to beat Man U in the next round after another replay. What great times they were
What a goalie Dave Watson was! And how good were the goals? Memories of Danny Wilson's Barnsley are probably the most precious after family and personal achievements.
Neil Redfearn. His contribution, just in that 5 minute clip, is amazing. The cross for Ward's goal: the ball is bouncing in front of him, running away from him, but he doesn't feel the need to keep his eye on it, he's looking across into the area to see who he can play it to and with his left foot on the half volley he picks out Ward's head so he doesn't even have to move. It's an astonishing bit of football. Then the pass for Barnard when he hit the post, the finish for his own goal and (finally, Barnard had been stood out on the wing waiting for the ball for 10 minutes) setting up Barnard for the third. And he did this stuff every week. And gave opposition midfielders a good kicking. And my memory was he wasn't even our stand out player that night: Bullock, Barnard and Ward were unplayable. Supposedly it was like watching Brazil. It was better than that.
Redfearn was immense. If only our current midfield would pop up out wide and supply a cross like that. The guy was everywhere all the time. Legend.
Watty was a superb keeper - such a pity about his injury. Nice moment after the double save - pat on the back from Klinsmann.
The clearance off the line from Chris Morgan was crucial and influenced the eventual outcome - we went straight down the field and scored to give a crucial two goal cushion. That Spurs side had some players though - with Ginola the best in any team I saw that season
How did Redders never get a sniff of an England cap? There wasn’t many better box to box midfielders that season. Rob Lee and David Batty went to the World Cup! I suppose he was unlucky that he was around at the same time as Beckham, Scholes and Ince.
Was the highest scoring English midfielder that year in the prem and should have got a call up. Was 10 times the player David Batty was and wouldn't have missed that penalty against the Argies
That’s the confusing part! Even without reds tinted glasses on he was better that season than Lee and Batty. He could do everything, scored goals, tackle, pass and seemed to have 3 lungs!
Bullock was another enigma, absolutely terrifying for defenders with his pace and directness but never really kicked on after that season.