PART 45: BEAUTIFUL FREAK/BLOODBUZZ YEOVIL/LIVING FOR THE CITY

Easter Saturday, 5th April 1980 found the title-chasing Robins making their debut at Bath City’s Twerton Park stadium in their penultimate away fixture of the 1979/80 Alliance Premier League (APL) season.

After completing 31 league games, Bath City were occupying 17th position in the APL table on 23 points, 18 of which had been accumulated from their preceding 16 matches on home territory, where they had only suffered defeats versus Barnet; Worcester City and Boston United respectively. Indeed, Alty had cause to be profoundly indebted to the Romans, who had augmented the Robins’ chances of becoming the inaugural APL Champions to a significant degree by executing a league double over Alty’s principal rivals in the league title race, Weymouth, who were currently lying three points adrift of Tony Sanders’ team.

Prior to their engagement with the Robins, the Somerset side had endured a dismal sequence of 10 APL matches without a victory. Their manager, Bob Boyd, who had been appointed to the role less than a month before the club’s opening APL fixture, had recently departed and Colin Tavener had been installed as the caretaker player-manager in temporary charge of team affairs.

Alty’s talismanic captain, John King (left, seen in summer 2011), had surmounted a reported back injury, thereby allowing Tony Sanders the luxury of naming an unchanged line-up for the fourth successive game. Meanwhile, the ongoing proposed transfer of Bath City’s promising 18-year-old striker, Dave Wiffil, to Malcolm Allison’s Manchester City, in a deal reputedly worth up to a sum of £50,000, denoted that he was probably making his valedictory appearance for the hosts.

On a sunny afternoon, Alty enjoyed the advantage of kicking down the Twerton Park slope during the opening 45 minutes and John Rogers found the side-netting with a header from a corner kick after seven minutes. Shortly afterwards, a close range header from the Robins’ leading goalscorer, Barry Whitbread, elicited a fine save from the home goalkeeper, Martin Bennett.

The Robins took the lead in the 29th minute with what can only be described as a freak goal from their right full back, Stan Allan, which owed a great deal to the conditions that afternoon. Allan launched a hopeful and innocuous-looking punt from inside his own half but as Bennett ventured out of his goal to collect the ball (and with John Rogers simultaneously turning around to lambaste his team mate for overhitting the intended through ball!), he misjudged its trajectory and it promptly bounced up off the hard, dry pitch and sailed over his head before continuing on its inexorable route into the vacant net.

Alty devotee, Paul McGee, was present at Twerton Park on that particular date but, as he relates here, he inadvertently failed to witness this outlandish incident: “Alas, I had popped to the gents and as I returned to the terrace behind the goal, I was greeted by a scene of cheering Alty fans. All that way down to Somerset and I manage to miss a rare and remarkable Stan Allan goal!”

Curiously, the only other goal that Stan Allan scored during that entire season also transpired against Bath City, coming as it did in the Robins‘ 4-0 APL conquest of the Romans at Moss Lane on Saturday, 13th October 1979.

The hosts drew level after 40 minutes when their leading marksman, Martin Wheeler, profited from an uncharacteristic error of judgment by Mal Bailey. The normally reliable central defender opted to attempt a backpass to John Connaughton rather than clear the ball away to relative safety but, alas, in doing so, merely enabled Wheeler to intercept and exploit this gift by duly netting his side’s equaliser, much to the delight of the home fans amongst the gate of 1,014.

The second half saw Bath City assume command of the contest on a bumpy, sun-baked surface. However, notwithstanding their dominance of proceedings, the Romans were thwarted by John Connaughton, who was once again demonstrating his splendid calibre between the sticks, and Alty were ultimately content to escape from Somerset having snaffled another precious point.

The afternoon of Easter Monday, 7th April 1980 saw the Robins pitted against another Somerset team in the guise of Yeovil Town, who were making their bow at Moss Lane. In the only previous meeting between the two clubs back on Saturday, 22nd September 1979, Alty had succumbed to a 3-2 reverse on the notorious sloping pitch at the Huish ground.

The Glovers had commenced their APL campaign auspiciously, gaining 18 points out of a possible total of 28 available from their opening 14 fixtures and ascending to second spot in the league table on Saturday, 21st November 1979. However, by the time that they arrived in Cheshire on that bright but blustery Bank Holiday afternoon, they had slumped to 16th place with a tally of 25 points from their 29 league matches. Moreover, seven games had elapsed since their last league victory; they had not achieved a win on the road since a 4-0 success at AP Leamington on Tuesday, 13th November 1979 and they had managed to lose seven of their preceding eight away fixtures in the APL.

Tony Sanders was obliged to introduce one change to the side which had registered that 1-1 draw at Bath City just two days earlier. Mal Bailey was an enforced absentee due to a calf injury, so Graham Tobin duly deputised at No. 4.

In a contest refereed by Keith Hackett of Sheffield, who would go on to officiate at the following year’s FA Cup Final at Wembley between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, a crowd of 2,038 watched the Robins attacking the Chequers End in the first half. Indeed, the home side should have established a lead in only the third minute but Barry Whitbread somehow contrived to miss a ’sitter’ from point blank range. Having been teed up by Jeff Johnson, the erstwhile Lancaster University student had elected to place his shot rather than simply blast the ball home and his eventual mishit effort had trickled straight into the grateful arms of the visitors’ former Arsenal goalkeeper, Brian Parker.

Just four minutes later, it was to be the Glovers who would open the scoring. A through ball delivered by Joe Scott (a £5,000 acquisition from AFC Bournemouth) located Steve Morrell in the clear and he raced into the Alty penalty area before striking home a shot which gave Connaughton no chance.

The Robins manufactured an equaliser after 13 minutes courtesy of Jeff Johnson’s 10th goal of the campaign and his fifth in the APL. After winning possession of the ball in midfield via a typically robust challenge, the imperious Graham Barrow had then supplied a pass to John Rogers, who promptly unleashed a vicious 25-yard drive. The curly-haired Parker, who had recently been named as a member of the 1980 England Non League International team’s provisional squad, had been unable to hold JR’s ferocious shot and he could only succeed in parrying the ball into the path of the onrushing and assiduous figure of Johnson, who followed up to net the rebound from close range.

Throughout the second half, Yeovil’s efficient and uncompromising defence successfully repelled the Robins’ sporadic forays, as the Glovers belied their lowly position in the league table. A John Rogers effort did hit the post but it proved to be one of few clear cut chances fashioned by the hosts.

In fact, it was the Somerset team who almost snatched a shock victory in the final minute of this encounter. Malcolm Gold hit Altrincham on the break and the Robins were yet again beholden to the in-form John Connaughton, whose resultant impressive save preserved Alty’s unbeaten record in the 15 APL fixtures that had been staged at Moss Lane to date.

Thus, Yeovil Town had become only the third side to have gained a league point at Moss Lane that season. Indeed, the Glovers recorded a somewhat obscure but nonetheless notable accomplishment by being the sole APL team that Alty failed to defeat in any competition during that monumental 1979/80 season.

After ruminating on the outcome of the Robins’ Easter programme, Tony Sanders issued the following caveat: “The games against Bath City away and Yeovil Town at home proved how costly little mistakes at the back can be and it only goes to show how competitive a league the Alliance has become when one such mistake can result in such a punishing finish being applied.”

Whilst Alty had been registering two consecutive 1-1 draws, second-placed Weymouth had garnered maximum returns from their Easter schedule by means of home victories over Bangor City (4-2) and Barrow (1-0) respectively. Consequently, the gap between the two clubs at the crest of the APL table had been narrowed to merely a solitary point with only five games each remaining.

“One of our most important games of the season” was Tony Sanders’ pre-match depiction of the debut at Moss Lane of third-placed Worcester City on Saturday, 12th April 1980. The reigning Southern League Premier Division Champions lay three points behind the Robins (though having played one game more) and still harboured outside hopes of securing the APL title. “We are in the driving seat but the pressure is on us not to drop any more points at home. A win will virtually kill off Worcester” declared the steadfast Alty boss.

Nobby Clark’s Worcester City side had inflicted the first ever APL defeat on the Robins back on Saturday, 1st September 1979 at their own St George’s Lane headquarters, where only Kettering Town would accomplish an away league victory all season. When they emerged at Moss Lane, they boasted the best away defensive record in the APL and the statistics on their travels read as follows: played: 16; won: five; drawn: five; lost: six; goals scored: 19; goals conceded: 17 and points accrued: 15 out of a potential tally of 32.

For the second successive match, Moss Lane was graced with the presence of one of the country’s foremost referees, namely Pat Partridge, a farmer from County Durham who had been the official in charge of the 1975 FA Cup Final at Wembley between West Ham United and Fulham and who, only the previous Saturday, had handled the First Division heavyweight clash between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford in front of 57,342 spectators.

Tony Sanders effected one amendment to the Alty side which had been held to a 1-1 stalemate by Yeovil Town just five days earlier. Mal Bailey had recovered from his leg injury and was accordingly restored to central defensive duties alongside John Owens at the expense of Graham Tobin.

On a bright, sunny afternoon, the two teams were greeted by a crowd of 2,676, which would represent the Robins’ highest home league gate of that 1979/80 season. Attacking the Chequers End, Alty proceeded to click into gear almost instantly and they virtually extinguished the visitors’ rather remote and lingering title aspirations within the opening quarter of an hour.

After merely four minutes of this pivotal confrontation had elapsed, a pinpoint right wing cross from Barry Howard was expertly headed home by John Rogers, whose 23rd goal of the season signified that he was now the Robins’ joint leading goalscorer alongside Barry Whitbread.

Nine minutes later, Rogers meted out some further punishment to the visitors. Alty’s skipper, John King, flighted a free kick into City’s penalty area and JR stole in unmarked at the far post to direct a deft header back across goal beyond the reach of the Worcester goalkeeper, Chris Ward, and into the opposite corner of the net. This comprised his 24th goal of the campaign in all competitions and his 17th in the APL to date, whilst also constituting the fourth APL goal that he had scored against the St George’s Lane club. Indeed, Worcester City would continue to elicit the best from JR in subsequent encounters, most prominently on the occasion when he scored five goals in the Robins’ 6-3 vanquishing of City in an APL fixture enacted at Moss Lane on Monday, 5th April 1982.

Rogers had the opportunity to complete his hat-trick on the half hour but he steered the ball just over the crossbar from close range. However, within two minutes, the visitors reduced the arrears when they were presented with a potential lifeline courtesy of a blunder by Barry Whitbread. His careless crossfield pass inside his own half rolled straight to Gary Wright, who gleefully capitalised on this unexpected largesse by drilling the ball past John Connaughton and into the Alty net from outside the penalty area with commendable aplomb.

Midway through the second half, the below-par Whitbread almost atoned for his costly oversight but his effort only found the side-netting. Shortly afterwards, the out-of-sorts striker was withdrawn from the fray and replaced by Graham Heathcote, all of which prompted a tactical revision that entailed midfielder Jeff Johnson being moved up front in order to partner John Rogers.

After a tense but absorbing second half, in which both sides had been embroiled in a war of attrition to gain midfield supremacy, the Robins finally secured those two vital league points in the 90th minute as the result of a truly exceptional individual goal by Jeff Johnson. The Robins’ enterprising and increasingly influential midfielder ran half the length of the pitch, bisecting the Worcester City defence in the process, prior to slotting the ball adroitly past the advancing goalkeeper with his left foot to record his 11th goal of the season.

Meanwhile, down in Hertfordshire, Weymouth had perpetuated the status quo at the upper echelon of the APL table by overcoming Barry Fry’s Barnet side via two goals from their leading goalscorer, Tom Paterson. So, with just four APL fixtures each remaining, the Robins still possessed their single point advantage over the Dorset club.

Whilst the Robins had been subjugating Worcester City 3-1, Alty partisan, Nic Seller, had been involved in his own rather more personal match of the day, as he now recounts: “Well, Saturday, 12th April 1980 was a momentous day for me. In order to remove any risk of the Worcester City game being available to me on our wedding day, the nuptial kick-off at St Mary's Church on Harboro Road was set at 3.00pm. But first some important background information…..

“The bride-to-be, Elaine, had become a fully fledged Alty fan back in 1976, when we had met in the most bizarre of circumstances, namely in the River Dane by the footbridge; in early February (freezing cold and very wet) and not more than 100 yards or so from the home of fierce rivals, Northwich Victoria FC. It was Rag Week and students from all over Manchester had descended on that most unremarkable town in Mid Cheshire (that's all very polite, isn't it…?).

“Such was the draw of our beloved AFC as the 1979/80 season approached its climax on that April day, that despite us having a large number of Robins fans as close friends, only one or two actually attended the wedding ceremony and the afternoon meal at The Woodlands Hotel in Timperley, just about half a mile away from Moss Lane as the crow flies. Far more went to the match, thereby saving my father-in-law a good number of pounds on reception expenses.

“Anyway, one of my abiding memories of that day was that at about 5.10pm we had reached the time for speeches and, unbeknown to me, Elaine's Dad had acquired his own match report (remember that there were no such devices as mobile phones back in 1980) and he set out to be the bearer of the glad tidings of Alty's great win. Sadly for him, I had usurped him, as within just a few minutes of the final whistle having been blown at Moss Lane, my first Alty messenger had actually arrived and quietly delivered the marvellous news to me, a good 15 minutes before the speeches! So, as he began to announce the details, I just couldn't restrain myself from shouting out: "I know already, we won and will now be Champions!"

PART 46: FIRST WE TAKE BARROW/LET LEAMINGTON SHAKE/THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD VICS DOWN

As the denouement of the engrossing 1979/80 Alliance Premier League (APL) season approached, the race to become the inaugural Champions had evolved into a straight duel between the Robins and Weymouth. With merely four fixtures each remaining, Alty enjoyed a single point advantage over their rivals from Dorset and, consequently, the destiny of the league title lay firmly within their own hands. Further ammunition to fortify any acutely anxious Robins’ supporters could be derived from the salient statistic that three of Tony Sanders’ men’s quartet of outstanding matches were scheduled to be staged at Moss Lane, where Alty still remained undefeated in the APL.

The first of this trio of home games comprised the visit of Barrow on Monday, 14th April 1980. This contest had originally been earmarked to take place on Saturday, 23rd February 1980, only for both teams’ participation in the FA Trophy Third Round to preclude it. The subsequent rearranged fixture on Monday, 17th March 1980 had then fallen victim to a postponement due to a waterlogged pitch.

Since their failure to survive the ballot for re-election to the Fourth Division of the Football League at the finale of the 1971/72 season (when they were replaced by Hereford United), Barrow had fulfilled a total of seven Northern Premier League (NPL) fixtures at Moss Lane, where their abject record read as follows: won: zero; drawn: one; lost: six; goals scored: three; goals conceded: 18 and points accrued: just one out of a possible tally of 14.

When the two sides had crossed swords at Holker Street earlier that season back on Saturday, 10th November 1979, the Robins’ eventual 3-1 victory had condemned the ailing Bluebirds to 19th spot in the APL table, having gleaned only eight points from their opening 13 league fixtures. The following month had witnessed the sacking of manager Brian McManus and the appointment of Mick Taylor as the Cumbrian club’s player-manager. Their fortunes had duly revived, including a run to the FA Trophy Quarter-Final culminating in a 3-1 reverse at Woking, and by the time that Barrow arrived at Moss Lane for the return league fixture, they had accumulated 28 points from their 31 APL games to date and were now occupying 15th position in the division’s table.

Alty’s key midfielder, Jeff Johnson, had shaken off a reported groin injury, thereby allowing Tony Sanders to field the same starting XI which had overcome third-placed Worcester City 3-1 on home turf on the preceding Saturday.

In front of an attendance of 1,837, Alty struggled to get the upper hand over a resilient Barrow outfit during a tense first half and it wasn’t until 36 minutes had elapsed that they finally broke the deadlock by means of John Rogers‘ 25th goal of the season. Barry Howard’s precise left wing corner was flicked on at the near post by Graham Barrow and the Robins’ leading goalscorer promptly pounced to head the ball home.

The second half saw the Robins effectively kill the game off in the space of six minutes, courtesy of a virtuoso performance from their ingenious winger, Barry Howard. In the 68th minute, he unleashed a beautifully struck 25-yard shot, which was still accelerating as it rocketed into the Barrow net, rendering the visitors’ transfixed goalkeeper, Kevin Thomas, as merely an interested spectator.

Howard’s second goal on 74 minutes crowned a fine individual display, whilst demonstrating that he possessed finesse as well as power. After being put clear by Barry Whitbread’s slide-rule pass, he executed a delicate chip over the head of the onrushing Thomas and thereby registered his 15th goal of the campaign.

Two minutes later, the Bluebirds claimed a consolation goal via their recent signing from Newcastle United, Jim Pearson, who shot home through a melee of players after a goalmouth scramble had developed. Before the referee, Kevin McNally, restarted the encounter, he opted to book both Pearson and the Robins’ captain, John King, the pair of whom had been engaged in a running battle all evening. Incidentally, Pearson had been a member of the Everton side that had contested those two memorable FA Cup Third Round ties versus Alty at Goodison Park and Old Trafford respectively back in January 1975.

This second successive 3-1 home triumph had increased the Robins’ lead over Weymouth at the zenith of the APL table to a margin of three points. In his post-match analysis, the sanguine Alty boss, Tony Sanders, succinctly commented: “Now that we have opened up a gap, the pressure is off us and on everyone else. They have it all to do, yet they’ve still to rely on us to drop points.”

One prospective cloud on the Robins’ horizon, which was threatening to jeopardise their league title aspirations, concerned a potential two match ban hanging over the head of their majestic midfielder, Graham Barrow, like the Sword of Damocles. The booking which Barrow had received in Alty’s 1-1 stalemate at Bath City on Easter Saturday, 5th April 1980 had denoted that he had amassed 20 disciplinary points during that season. Thus, he was now obliged to attend the resultant FA Disciplinary Committee hearing on Thursday, 17th April 1980.

Barrow issued a plea for leniency in person, citing the fact that the majority of the penalty points that he had collected had been incurred during his time with Southport in the NPL prior to joining the Robins and highlighting his much-improved disciplinary record since his recruitment at Moss Lane. Alty diehards everywhere subsequently experienced an unexpected fillip and breathed an immense collective sigh of relief when the news eventually emerged that Barrow had escaped any suspension. Notwithstanding being reprimanded and warned as to his future conduct, he was declared free to participate in Alty’s title run-in.

The Robins’ penultimate home league game of the 1979/80 campaign on Saturday, 19th April 1980 marked the debut at Moss Lane of AP Leamington. The Brakes had endured a trying season to date and they were engulfed in what was looking increasingly like a rather futile scramble to escape the relegation quagmire. Languishing in 18th place in the APL table with just 23 points from their 35 fixtures, the Warwickshire club had only accomplished two away victories (at Wealdstone and Telford United respectively) in their previous 17 attempts.

Once again, Tony Sanders was able to select his first-choice XI with Graham Heathcote as the customary substitute. In his column in the Robins Review, the Alty manager took the opportunity to pay tribute to the tremendous contribution made by such squad players as Mickey Brooke; Ivan Crossley; Graham Tobin and, more recently, Graham Heathcote: “Not only have they come into the side and performed exceptionally well but their spirit and backing for the team has been 100%. I believe the main things which have bound everyone together at Moss Lane in such a fantastic team have been the desire and overall ambition of Altrincham FC to succeed and, hopefully, within the next week or so our efforts will be rewarded.”

2,653 spectators congregated inside Moss Lane on a sunny but blustery afternoon and the Robins attacked the Chequers End in the opening half with a gusty wind at their backs. The league leaders applied continuous pressure on the visitors’ rearguard but were generally struggling to master the recalcitrant conditions. In the 28th minute, Jeff Johnson rounded the Brakes’ goalkeeper, Alan Dulleston, but was then unable to pull the ball back into the path of a team mate. Minutes later, Barry Whitbread blazed a shot over the crossbar after being teed up by Johnson.

The crucial breakthrough eventually unfolded on the stroke of half-time. The strong wind propelled a lob into the AP Leamington penalty area, where Whitbread had got behind the visitors’ defence. The arch-poacher latched onto the high ball before steering it beyond Dulleston with his outstretched right foot. Whitbread’s personal account for the season now advanced to 24 and his own tally against the Brakes accordingly rose to four, as he had struck a hat-trick in Alty’s 4-1 success at The Windmill Ground back on Saturday, 20th October 1979 - the first three APL goals that he scored for the club.

The hosts virtually had the contest sewn up after just ten minutes of the second half had elapsed. Whitbread’s right wing cross was met by John Rogers and Alty‘s leading marksman promptly netted his 26th goal of the season by means of a looping far post header.

In the 60th minute, the referee, Michael Peck, awarded a penalty to the Robins after espying a needless handball by the Brakes’ centre half, Alan Jones. Alty’s three previous spot kicks during that season had all been converted by Graham Heathcote but, on this occasion, the home side’s composed left full back, John Davison, assumed responsibility. He duly claimed his fifth goal of the APL campaign by slotting his left foot shot into the net to the goalkeeper’s right and thereby established a comfortable three goal cushion for the ascendant Robins.

AP Leamington’s Tom Gorman did manage to direct the ball into the Alty net on 75 minutes. However, after a consultation with one of his linesmen, referee Peck disallowed this effort and awarded a free kick for a foul on John Connaughton. All that remained after that particular incident was for Heathcote to replace a hobbling King after 85 minutes and the Brakes’ Mick Taylor to avoid incurring any punishment despite punching Mal Bailey towards the finale of the match. Taylor subsequently found himself hotly pursued off the pitch by a somewhat vexed Stan Allan once the referee had sounded the final whistle!

For a few hours, the Robins’ lead over Weymouth at the pinnacle of the APL expanded to a margin of five points, as the Dorset’s club’s next league match was not scheduled to take place until the following day. However, the Terras (who had lately had a £5,000 bid to sign Dorchester Town’s striker, Hedley Steele, rejected) duly curtailed that gap back to three points (whilst still possessing a game in hand), courtesy of a 3-2 victory in their Sunday fixture at Gravesend & Northfleet.

The evening of Thursday, 24th April 1980 saw the Robins indulge in a brief respite from their quest to secure the league title by squaring up to the green slime of Northwich Victoria at Moss Lane in the APL Cup Final First Leg. Initial tentative plans to stage a one-off Final at Manchester City’s Maine Road stadium had been dashed by the Blues’ inability to fit such a contest into their programme of fixtures and, therefore, this competition’s climax had reverted back to its original format as a two-legged Final played on a home and away basis.

Since the inception of the NPL in August 1968, Alty’s lamentable record versus the Vics in all competitions read as follows: played: 39; won: seven; drawn: 15; lost: 17; goals scored: 50 and goals conceded 68. Discounting a 3-2 home win over the Vics in a North West Floodlit League fixture on Monday, 24th February 1975, the last occasion when the Robins had actually contrived to defeat Northwich at Moss Lane in a major competition had been that monumental 8-1 annihilation of their Cheshire foes in the NPL on Saturday, 25th January 1969.

After naming an unchanged line-up from the one which had overwhelmed AP Leamington 3-0 just five days earlier, Tony Sanders addressed the hoodoo which had apparently been haunting the Robins in so many of their recent encounters with the Vics: “It’s something we have got to get out of our system. And there couldn’t be a better opportunity to do it than tonight.”

Notwithstanding the fact that the ex-Telford United striker, Colin Williams, and his latest acquisitions from Bangor City, Alan King and Tony Murphy, were all cup-tied, the Vics’ recently-appointed manager, Stan Storton, remained bullish prior to the clash: “I’ve more than enough talent to beat Altrincham over two legs. We shan’t go there to defend and shall be aiming to score at least one goal.”

The Alty Board of Directors had resolved to introduce crowd segregation measures and employ extra marshals for this prestigious confrontation with their antagonists from that infinitely less desirable part of Cheshire. In the end, 2,850 observers converged on Moss Lane to survey this third meeting of the 1979/80 season between these two old adversaries.

Attacking the Golf Road End, the Robins commenced in purposeful fashion and they seized the initiative after merely 13 minutes of the tie. John Davison delivered a perfect cross from the left flank; Barry Whitbread backheaded it on and then leading goalscorer, John Rogers, jet-propelled himself in at the far post to despatch the ball vehemently past the visitors’ goalkeeper, Dave “Slob” Ryan, with a potent header for his 27th strike of the season in all competitions.

Alas, the hosts failed to capitalise on their early superiority and they conceded a rather soft equaliser in the 32nd minute. >From the second of two successive corners, Paul Mayman supplied a deep centre from the right wing whilst the balding Terry Bailey decoyed two Alty players away from the incoming (and now unmarked) figure of the Vics’ towering central defender, Jeff Forshaw, who duly headed the ball forcefully beyond the reach of the unguarded John Connaughton and into the Alty net. Forshaw (who had just returned from yet another suspension) had, of course, come to be reviled as a permanent bete noire by the Moss Lane faithful as a direct result of his infamous poleaxing of Alex Stepney in that goalless APL fixture at Moss Lane on Saturday, 29th December 1979.

This setback seemed to induce a fit of the heebie-jeebies in the Robins, almost as if they yet again sensed the unwelcome return of that recurrent Northwich jinx. During this jittery spell up to the half-time interval, this collective crisis of confidence was close to being exacerbated, as John Owens nearly scored a calamitous own goal via a lobbed backpass which agonisingly evaded the reach of Connaughton but, thankfully, proceeded to drift innocuously wide of a post at the expense of a corner.

Having restored both their composure and elan, Alty regained the lead eight minutes into the second half through John Rogers’ fourth goal in the competition. After Barry Whitbread’s shot had compelled Ryan to parry the ball away for a corner, John Davison swung over the resultant right wing flag-kick to the near post, where Whitbread was on hand to flick it on into the path of JR, who was perfectly poised to ram the ball home with his head from close range.

After the visitors had lost their own captain, Ken Jones, to a shin injury on 65 minutes, his counterpart, John King, began to pull the strings in midfield and the Robins dominated the closing quarter of the tie as the besieged Vics palpably started to tire. Rogers looked set to complete his hat-trick but fired his eventual shot narrowly wide of the target and then a teasing cross from Barry Howard had to be hooked away to safety over his own crossbar by Terry Bailey. Alas, that potentially pivotal third Alty goal remained tantalisingly elusive.

Even that renowned Altyphobe, the Northwich Guardian reporter, Mike Talbot-Butler grudgingly acknowledged that the Robins had merited their 2-1 victory but he also expressed confidence that his beloved Greens would overturn this single goal deficit in the Second Leg at The Drill Field on Monday, 5th May 1980.

Meanwhile, a reasonably satisfied Tony Sanders offered his synopsis of this long-awaited home triumph over the Vics: “We could have scored another three but, on an occasion like this, we are happy with a win. We have broken through a psychological barrier and we will play more freely in the Second Leg. A 2-1 lead should be enough.”