On This Day (5 March 1988): Smith Fumes At Ref After Controversial Equaliser

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After away defeats to Bristol Rovers and Aldershot had knocked Sunderland off the top of the Division Three table, and had left the lads with just one win in six games, Denis Smith’s team looked forward to two home fixtures to get truly back on track in their quest for the Division Three title.

A midweek home game against Fulham – who included Smith’s number one target Leroy Rosenior in their starting line up – had seen Sunderland go back to the top of the league with a 2-0 win at a snowbound Roker, courtesy of goals from Gordon Armstrong and Marco Gabbiadini.

And, with Blackpool the visitors to Roker Park on this day 38 years ago, Smith was hoping his team would be able to get another three points in the bag, and maintain their number one position.

A couple of familiar faces were in the Blackpool ranks. Goalkeeper Barry Siddall had played 192 games for the club between 1976 and 1982, and, aged 32, still had a lot to offer after spells at Port Vale, Stoke, Tranmere and Manchester City. A former teammate, captain, and briefly manager, of Siddall at Roker, Mick Docherty, was also part of the visiting party.

The 37 year old had recently joined Sam Ellis’s coaching staff at Bloomfield Road, and was looking forward to his Roker return.

I only realised last week that the trip to Roker Park was coming up so quickly, but it’s nice to be going back. It will obviously be special for me. I have a great affection for the place, and I’m delighted to see them doing so well.

Smith had been hoping to add a new face to the team ahead of the game, however a move for Rosenior had been seemingly gazumped by top flight Watford, while former England international winger Mark Chamberlain, currently plying his trade at Sheffield Wednesday, was being considered too, despite turning down a loan move. A fee had been agreed for 27 year old QPR striker John Byrne, who Smith had managed at York, and it seemed a matter of when, not if, Byrne would arrive at Roker.

As it was, after changing formation against Fulham and deploying the experienced Frank Gray as a sweeper behind Bennett and MacPhail, Smith named an unchanged starting XI and subs bench for the visit of the Tangerines, with Eric Gates and Marco Gabbiadini again partnered in attack.

Blackpool were renown for being a physical, route one team, and up front they had Smith’s former York striker Keith Walwyn – a man described pre-match by Roker assistant Viv Busby as being as ‘hard as a bag of cement’.

With Sunderland kicking towards the Roker End, the game got off to a frantic start.

Firstly, Gordon Armstrong scored his second goal in a week, tapping in on four minutes after Gabbiadini’s header from a deep Paul Lemon cross had only been parried by the returning Siddall.

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But Blackpool were level just two minutes later, Mark Taylor putting past Hesford at the back post.

During his time at York, Walwyn had played alongside both Gabbiadini and Byrne, but on this occasion his partner was former Newcastle striker Tony Cunningham, who was creating all sorts of problems, testing the Sunderland defence on a number of occasions.

At the other end of the field, though, Gabbiadini’s pace was a constant threat, and on 29 minutes Gates put Sunderland back in front, sliding the ball home from Paul Lemon’s drive across the box.

In the second half Sunderland had chances through Gates and Gabbiadini to increase the lead, but both failed to convert. And as the half progressed, the game became increasingly physical, with Cunningham seeing yellow for a late tackle on MacPhail, and a number of other players being on the receiving end of ‘strong’ Blackpool challenges; indeed one from Russell Coughlin saw sweeper Gray forced off, to be replaced by John Cornforth, forcing a change in formation.

Appearing off the bench for Blackpool was on-loan Aston Villa forward Gary Shaw, who was still only 27. However, at this point, the European Cup and First Division winner was plagued by the knee injury he’d suffered a few seasons earlier, and was a shadow of his former self.

Tackles were still flying in, and Armstrong saw yellow with 20-odd minutes left for a challenge on defender Michael Davies – however when Blackpool defender Colin Methven sent Gates crashing to the ground, the referee, Philip Wright, kept his whistle in his hand – and Walwyn went on to shoot from 20 yards out, a deflection taking it past Hesford.

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The Sunderland players and staff were furious – but the goal stood, and the bruising encounter ended 2-2.

Smith – who was under pressure from sections of the fanbase who weren’t too happy with the manner of performances and some of the recent results – was furious, and clashed with referee Wright in the tunnel in the immediate aftermath.

“They only had one shot in the second half and they got a goal — courtesy of the man in black. It was a kick in the teeth.

“The referee made the decision long before the game that he was not going to give free kicks to Eric Gates and that’s wrong. A foul is a foul and Gates was fouled plenty.

“Their second goal came from the most blatant foul I’ve seen for a long time. Apart from picking Gates up and moving him, he couldn’t do much more to shift him.

“We should be two points clear at the top and we are not because someone has not done his job right. I’ll get into trouble with the FA no doubt, but it’s a fact. There is no way you can protest; the referee is God, but he has cost us two points.

“At 2-1 there was only one team going to win. I couldn’t see them scoring at all. Overall our performance was not outstanding. The type of game they play does not make for attractive football. But apart from one appalling decision we would have won.

“It’s frustrating when you work hard all week and something like that kills you.”

Smith’s counterpart Sam Ellis – who would later assist Peter Reid at Manchester City – predictably had a slightly different view.

“The trouble with Gates is that he is on the floor so often it is difficult for the referee to know what is a foul and what isn’t.

“Smithy’s a good mate; people just see things differently on the day. He came and glared at me when we scored. I told him to get back to his own box, it wasn’t my fault. But I can understand how he feels – it must be hard work at a big club like Sunderland. He’s under the sort of pressure that I’ve never been under.

“Referees get a lot of stick, and he wasn’t bad, to be fair. As far as I was concerned it was an innocuous situation. I was just pleased the defender was so tight, because he had been laying off Gates.”

The point dropped Sunderland back down to second place, and with Smith expecting a FA charge for his altercation with Mr Wright, a number of the players dealing with bumps and bruises, and a sense of injustice after a refereeing decision all but decided the game, it would be a long week to wait until the team’s next game, at Springfield Park against Wigan Athletic.

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