On this day in 1973 Sunderland progressed to the Quarter Final of the FA Cup by beating Manchester City at Roker Park in a replay. Billy Hughes scored a brace and Vic Halom got the other one.
The previous two rounds of the FA Cup had both been settled through replays for Sunderland.
In the Third Round, Dave Watson scored with just over ten minutes to go away to Notts County to see the game finish 1-1 and in the subsequent replay at Roker Park second half goals from Watson and Dennis Tueart booked our spot in the next round.
We were drawn at home to Reading (managed by Charlie Hurley) and once again we had to find an equaliser after we fell behind, albeit this time at Roker Park. Tueart was the goal scorer this time around with the game ending in a 1-1 draw. The replay turned out to be a bit of a fun evening for SAFC with Watson and Tueart once again both scoring in the FA Cup that season inside the first 15 minutes. Bobby Kerr got our third and we travelled back up to Wearside knowing we’d be in the Fifth Round following a 3-1 victory.
The team we drew would be Manchester City, who at the time were a pretty solid First Division outfit so going to Maine Road as a struggling Second Division side and progressing would be a massive task. Tony Towers (who would join Sunderland the following year) gave Man City the lead within the opening 20 minutes but we would fight back and find an equaliser before the break through Mick Horswill. Just over 20 minutes remained on the clock when Sunderland took the lead via Billy Hughes but the upset wouldn’t be on the cards for very long as just four minutes later Jimmy Montgomery scored an own goal to make it 2-2. There was a nervy finish for the home side though, as seven minutes from time Towers was shown a second yellow card, but we couldn’t take advantage of this.
Just four days later Sunderland stepped out onto the pitch at Roker Park with a huge crowd 51,782 in attendance (what would be our highest attendance of the 1972-73 season) for the replay.
This was our lineup on that day:
Jimmy Montgomery
Dick Malone
Ron Guthrie
Mick Horswill
Dave Watson
Richie Pitt
Bobby Kerr
Billy Hughes
Vic Halom
Ian Porterfield
Dennis Tueart
(plus Brian Chambers as our single substitute)
In the 15th minute we took the lead with Kerr playing the ball to Halom on the right side of the box before the striker fired towards goal, the ball struck the left-hand post and then bounced into the back of the net. This was actually his first goal for Sunderland, what a game to do it in.
Nine minutes later, Hughes produced a moment of magic to double our advantage. His first shot was blocked by the City defence but the future Scotland international then got round a sliding Man City player and unleashed the ball into the far side of the goal.
The visitors almost had a goal back before the first half came to a close, when Rodney Marsh somehow failed to capitalise on a rebound after the ball was blocked by the Sunderland defence. They did eventually halve the deficit early on in the second, with Francis Lee profiting from a ball headed into the six yard area.
Montgomery pulled off a great save to prevent a City equaliser. Colin Bell got past Hughes on the right wing and sent a ball into the box but the man who would go on to become our record appearance maker would deny Lee’s effort that resulted with his legs.
We guaranteed we’d not succumb to an equaliser later on though; Tueart had an initial effort saved and the ball rolled across the face of goal and Hughes was there to strike it home for 3-1.
Full time and we had completed a great upset in the FA Cup but it would be far from our last as we defeated Luton Town 2-0 in the Quarter Final and then Arsenal at Hillsborough in the Semi-Final to warm up for the greatest upset of them all in the final which we of course won 1-0 against Leeds at Wembley. Our form in the league would also pick up after this as we rose up the table from 17th to 6th.
