Leeds United 0-1 Sunderland

The 92nd FA Cup final was played at Wembley during its 50th anniversary year and was the only time that an orange ball has been used in history. These minor details just help add to what became a memorable cup final. The classic tale of the extreme underdog upsetting the team of superstars is a rare occurance but in 1973, division two club Sunderland A.F.C managed to pull off one of the greatest FA Cup upsets of all time over Don Revie’s Leeds United team of superstars with Ian Porterfield scoring the memorable winning goal. The match will also go down in history for arguably one of the greatest saves of all time from Sunderland goalkeeper Jim Montgomery who somehow twisted his body from the ground to divert a close range smashed effort onto the crossbar.

Despite the Leeds United team containing world class players such as captain Billy Bremner, Norman Hunter and Allan Clarke, Sunderland were the quickest to adapt to the early stages of the match which were played in heavy rain. Bob Stokoe’s side frustrated the Leeds United players who saw several of their early passes run astray.

For all of Sunderland’s bravery, Leeds had their chances. Most notably Allan Clarke of all people picked the ball up 10 yards from goal but was superbly tackled by David Watson as he was poised to shoot and the chance was gone.

However, Sunderland had failed to read the script and they scored on the half hour mark. A corner from Billy Hughes saw the ball fly out to the less than prolific striker Ian Porterfield who powerfully struck the ball past goalkeeper David Harvey to write his name into the Sunderland A.F.C history books.

As expected, Leeds launched a determined assault to rescue the match throughout the entire second half. Sunderland goalkeeper Jim Montgomery’s memorable moment arrived in the 70th minute as a Trevor Cherry header was well pushed out to the feet on the onrushing Peter Lorimar. The Leeds United striker struck the ball well at what seemed to be a gaping goal. However, Montgomery miraculously twisted his body and changed direction to deflect the ball onto the underside of the crossbar and somehow away from danger.

The first division club were still posing a huge threat but Montgomery made further saves to deny Bremner, Yorath and Cherry. Bremner had a strong shout for a penalty turned down as he was taken down by defender David Watson. Nevertheless, his protests were waved away despite the Leeds captain’s frustrated appeals.

Sunderland managed to hold on to the lead which saw manager Bob Stokoe charge full length across the pitch to congratulate his players, not least Jim Montgomery in the Sunderland goal.

TEAMS

Sunderland – Montgomery, Malone, Guthrie, Horswill, Watson, Pitt, Kerr, Hughes, Halom, Porterfield, Tueart

Leeds – Harvey, Reaney, Cherry, Bremner, Madeley, Hunter, Lorimar, Clarke, Jones, Giles, Gray

VIDEOS

Leeds 0-1 Sunderland – Highlights

Leeds vs Sunderland – A fans view