FA Cup games at PortVale

This one says 3-0 as well

 

and yet this one says 3-1 ??

 

the "bible" says 3-1 so thats it !! ©Dennis Daykin Hyde

 

Which Monty Python sketch is this?

 

Oh there’s no doubt it was 3-1. This was the time of the Thomas/Evans revolution and I remember it well. I went to the home game and was disappointed we only got the 1-1 draw but knew we’d beat them in the replay.

That Southport win in the first round was a fantastic game and such a contrast to the doom and gloom we had suffered before Geoff Buckle and Ernest Dennis made their modest £10,000 investment that enabled us to go out and get those two strikers. It was like someone had turned the lights on after a long period in the dark.

We’re going to beat Vale again tomorrow!

 

Ps to my last . 21,000 turned up for that Cardiff Third Round tie and it was an unbelievable turnaround from earlier in the season. Apart from Johnny Evans scoring for us I remember their keeper had an all white strip which was very unusual as this was the time of green jumpers with the same colour shorts and socks as the rest of the team.

 

I saw two of those games - the one on the 1967 cup run to the third round and the 1976 defeat at Vale Park. The 1967 one was a win at Vale Park after a 1-1 draw at Oakwell. Vale were one of my most hated sides in those days because, along with the likes of Halifax Town, they used to come and stick ten players behind the ball in the hope of getting a streaky break-away. We battered them at Oakwell and it was only thanks to an outstanding keeping display by Stuart Sharratt in the Vale goal that we didn't walk it. He was just brilliant and made save after save. Typical of the dark arts which followed that Vale performance, they took the lead through a very controversial goal from ex Blackpool and Scotland international, Jackie Mudie. Vale won a first half free kick about twenty-five yards from goal. Mudie weighed it up, but, when the ball was in the air after he had struck it and before it hit the net, there was the sound of a referee's whistle. I recall that Ray Wood was in goal for us and he just left the ball. Whether he could have got to it was a different matter, but the Reds players were incensed. I heard the whistle, but couldn't work out if it had come from the referee, which I thought it must have done, or whether it was some joker in the crowd. Either way, 0-1 and a strong feeling of grievance all round Oakwell. We kept battering away at the ten men behind the ball. I recall Eric Brookes hitting a beauty, which Sharratt tipped superbly over the cross bar. Finally, the ball fell loose on the left side of the penalty area and Dick Hewitt smote it brilliantly home from his left half position. Justice barely done, but a reply at Vale Park, which I did not see, but we won 3-0 with goals from Bettany, Hewitt and Parker (wow! It must have been about the only goal Bob Parker scored for us, as he was a right back). I seem to recall that Barrie Thomas was out injured for the replay and that we played Barry Swallow as a makeshift centre-forward, but the records show that Thomas played. I can recall the Chronicle account describing Evans, Bettany and Barton ' snapping away at the Vale defenders' heels' and not letting them settle. We dominated that game, apparently, from start to finish.

The 11th December 1976 second round game at Vale Park was a waste of money and time as a Reds fan. We were never at it on an icy pitch. We were 1-0 down at half time and 3-0 down at the end. All I can recall of our performance were some mazy runs by right-winger Graham Felton, ex-Northampton Town, but none resulted in anything and I don't remember anything to cheer. Peter Springett did make one world-class save from a shot from Vale's Terry Bailey. He was off his line and had to get back to tip over as the ball was dipping just under the bar.

Ah! The smell of the woodbines again!

 

I remember the Cardiff City game as well. Truth was that Cardiff outclassed us for much of the game. It was played on a rock-hard pitch and I seem to recall Ronnie Bird giving Cardiff a deserved lead. I also recall their centre forward, Bobby Brown, heading a cross so hard into the rock hard Oakwell pitch that it flew up and hit the underside of the cross bar - lucky escape. Best memory of all has to be deep into stoppage time when we won a corner on the left. George Hamstead hurried over to take it before the final whistle. It was delivered into the heart of the six yard box and only half cleared by the Cardiff defence. Barrie Thomas must have got a clear shout from Johnny Evans, as he let the ball go through his legs, rather than taking a shot, so it fell for Evans in space near the penalty spot and he struck it home. That was the last kick of the game - no time to kick off again. I can remember Evans racing up to the referee to find out if the final whistle had gone before, or after the ball entered the net. Thankfully, it was after and it was back to Ninian Park where we were beaten 2-1 with Barrie Thomas netting our goal. Woodbines again!

 

I'm pleased you have posted this. It exactly matches my recollection of the match, which I attended on a Monday night. I seem to recall that Dick Hewitt had a great game. I also remember that the coach journey back from Vale Park took a bit longer than I expected, which I used as an excuse for my being late for school next morning. Not that that was anything new. I have always found punctuality to be something of a problem.

 

Dick Hewitt "smote it"! Are you quoting an old newspaper cutting?!

 

I think we had around 11,000 for the Southport game. Bearing in mind that that was not long after our League crowds had slumped to around the 2000 mark, that was a great turnout and an indication of how the modest cash injection from Dennis and Buckle had given us long-suffering fans renewed hope for the future. And who could forget "O-level Evans", as he was referred to by one national newspaper, after netting our winner in one game? He was apparently nicknamed "The Prof" by his teammates, because he had passed 5 subjects at GCE O-level (the forerunner of GCSE), a relatively rare achievement by a professional footballer in those days, if not exactly justifying the nickname!

 

3-1 not 3-0!

 

We were a long way down the pyramid compared to Cardiff so it was a great achievement to take them to a replay

 

Yes that five-figure crowd created a marvellous atmosphere for the match against the division’s league leaders at the time. Southport had big Jim Fryatt at centre forward and must have fancied their chances against the lowly Reds. They obviously hadn’t tuned in to the Thomas/Evans effect though and we steam rollered them.

 

No. Honestly, I am literate enough to have invented that one. He was in a very cramped and crowded Vale penalty area, so had to get the shot away with minimal time and back lift. He did it to perfection. He definitely 'smote' it. Hewitt got rave reviews after those two games against Vale and Plymouth Argyle were reported as making a £15k bid, which was a lot in those days. It came to nothing, however, a Dick left for York City probably on a free. Good player, though, in several positions - left wing, or wing half.

 

Which one's you?

 

Yes I was on that bus, freezing all way back as many windows were broken and it was snowing. Came back over Woodhead and many people wanted to dump him up there, he was a soldier I believe home on leave, about 21 years old. He was put in a seat near the driver and looked terrified. I remember 3 or 4 people took him into the police station up church fields and came out without him. Don't know what happened to him after that. Took me days to thaw out!!
Chuff me just realised it was 48 years ago, my god I'm getting old!!!

 

Jeez! Doesn't seem 48 years ago!
It was a cold day in Burslem that day. Obviously why rival groups were running about in the car park.

 

Dick was a slimmer version of Neil Redfearn. One of my favourite players of that time, known as a utility player. We seem to have had lots of those over the years

 

I think if that happened today he’d definitely be kicked off the bus at the highest point of Woodhead. Would have been a better punishment than the (possible) caution the police gave him.