On This Day (19th March 1973): Billy Hughes bags a brace as Preston succumb!

03/19/2025 02:00 AM

Sunderland were just two days from their victorious FA Cup quarter final against Luton, but for Bob Stokoe there was to be no let up in the battle to preserve second division safety and these games were coming fast and hard! 

As I headed down to Deepdale I was nervous about this game. The FA Cup run had been such a fantastic ride and I had not missed one game, I was completely swept along by the rise of my team with Stokoe at the helm. Looking back on this period I have described in a previous article, the dichotomy of the fantastic Cup run versus the relegation battle. The regularity of these games every three to four days, in a schedule that would be laughed out of court these days, gave the whole period a massive adrenaline shot and as a totally hooked fourteen-year-old I felt my head was going to spin round three times and come flying off.

Preston, like Sunderland had relegation worries. They also had not won a game at Deepdale since the turn of the year.

Jim McNab who had been part of our legendary half-back line alongside Hurley and Harvey/ Anderson in the sixties was in the autumn of his career at North End and I was especially looking forward to seeing him again as he had played in my very first game at Roker Park.

Preston's squad contained a mix of experience and youth. Hugh Mcllmoyle, like McNab in the veteran stage of his career, had scored goals everywhere he had played and had often been a right handful whenever he played against Sunderland.

Tony Morely was a young nippy winger who was attracting a lot of attention (he would go on to be a key part of the exciting Aston Villa team that would win the league title, European and European Super Cup between 1980-82). Alex Bruce was another youngster who was quietly fashioning his craft as a goalscoring forward, he was a player I held a high regard for and coveted him for Sunderland for many years. Sadly it would be Newcastle who would snap him up less than a year after this game.

John Bird was a big hard centre half who could play a bit too, he and McNab were the hinge of this current Preston defence, (his transfer to Newcastle in 1975 prompted the resignation of manager Bobby Charlton).

Up front was a lanky Scot who within the year would become a Sunderland player. I can still remember reading in the papers that Bob Stokoe was hoping to buy a Preston forward and being mightily disappointed when it was Mel Holden and not Alex Bruce. However Mel Holden won me over with his awkward but whole-hearted style, he really did rule the skies.

Bob Stokoe throughout this period had consistently said that preserving our status in the second division was the priority and true to his word played his strongest team throughout, in every league game, irrespective of upcoming cup games. The team that was selected that night for Deepdale, was the team that would contest the semi-final against Arsenal and the final against Leeds (the only change being Young for Chambers on the bench).

My worries about this game were tempered to a degree by an early goal from the flying Billy Hughes, he was in great fettle and his form really did make you wonder how he had not had a crack in the Scotland team!

On four minutes Jimmy Montgomery had aimed a long kick from hand that Vic Halom got his head to. As a defender tried to control the knock-down, Hughes was on him in a flash, whipping the ball away and firing a well placed shot past goalkeeper Brown into the far corner of the net. What a start, just what we needed and loudly celebrated by a sizeable away contingent given that it was a Monday night.

The game quickly swung from one end of the pitch to the other, but the Lillywhites were definitely not out of this contest and served notice when nineteen-year-old Alex Bruce crashed a fine shot off our bar, from outside the box three minutes after we had taken the lead.

On twenty-two minutes Bruce scored a cracking goal. Dave Watson had got his head to a Morely cross and headed it well clear of our box, there looked to be no danger as Bruce controlled the clearance. But in one of those 'slow-mo' moments, the young Scot blasted a 'rip-snorter' of a shot past an almost stationary Montygomery to bring the score level. Despite the loss of a goal, there was a good bit of acknowledgement amongst the away contingent that Bruce's strike was a thing of beauty.

The game resumed its end-to-end flow, with McNab having a stormer for Preston in defence, with Tueart, Hughes and Halom very lively in this phase of the match.

The game continued to be a well-balanced contest until the sixty-fourth minute, when, crucially for Preston, an ankle injury to Jim McNab saw him leave the field (to a fine ovation from all in the ground). Alex Spark took his place.

Four minutes later Sunderland were back in front but not before the recently arrived Spark was booked for a desperate tackle on Tueart, and it was Tueart who was the architect of our second goal as he weighted a beautiful pass into Billy Hughes' path. The flying Scot was a sight to behold in full flight, with an ability to go inside or out and hammer the ball left or right footed. He left two defenders in his wake and rounded Brown to slide the ball into the back of the net. It was a fine piece of skill and a great example of what both these players were about at this time.

The game was sewn up two minutes later as Hughes slid a pass on to the galloping Dick Malone, he made for the bye-line and then turned a peach of a cross to Vic Halom, who side-footed in from close range. As a contest the game was won, we saw it out fairly comfortably, with Porterfield and Kerr adept at keeping the ball and slowing the pace of a game down when it was required.

It was a good win on the road and we would follow it up with another victory at Fulham five days later to ease our relegation worries. As our form continued on an upward curve we would finish remarkably in sixth position come the the end of the season.

Preston would also survive, finishing on thirty-four points in nineteenth place. One point less would have seen them relegated.

For our lads, it must have been difficult to get the semi-final on April seventh out of their thinking in this spell. If any were distracted it was not apparent, we won three and drew one out of the four games scheduled before disposing of Arsenal at Hillsborough to march on to Wembley.

Division Two; Date 19.03.1973; Venue - Deepdale; Attendance - 7,636

Preston North End 1-3 Sunderland (Goalscorers - Hughes 4 & 68 mins; Halom 70 mins/ Bruce 22 mins)

Preston - John Brown; Dave Connor; Graham Hawkins; John Bird; Jim McNab (Alex Spark 64 mins); Tony Morely; Alan Lamb; Alex Bruce; Hugh Mcllmoyle; Mel Holden; Dave Wilson.

Sunderland - Jimmy Montgomery; Dick Malone; Ron Guthrie; Richie Pitt; Dave Watson; Bobby Kerr; Mick Horswill; Ian Porterfield; Billy Hughes (Brian Chambers 83 mins); Vic Halom; Dennis Tueart.