On This Day (1st January 1991): "Ooh Bally Bally!" — Big Kev is the penalty king!
01/01/2025 01:00 AM
Six games without a win and our two first choice forwards injured, this holiday fixture was not shaping up well at all! Could we start the new year with a victory against the odds?
It poured cats and dogs on the first day of 1991. I was doubting the wisdom of my journey to this game as I travelled from my Scottish Borders home, I could have done with a hovercraft in places. Maybe the weather might level things up a bit and slow the artisan that was Matt le Tissier down a bit, as he and his Southampton team were the opposition.
Also in the Southampton team for this fixture was a young forward, a North East lad called Alan Shearer. The Saints manager Chris Nicholl had high hopes for this youngster, but what did he know?
The Saints were no one-man band — Tim Flowers was a top keeper. Neil Ruddock, Kevin Moore, Mickey Adams, and Glen Cockerill were teak hard, solid defenders. Barry Horne was a more than handy foil for Le Tissier and Alan McLaughlin and Danny Wallace were a handful for any defence on their day. Alan Shearer was beginning to attract rave reviews too.
Our team news was not good, both our first-choice forwards, Marco Gabbiadini and Peter Davenport were injured, so young Warren Hawke came in from the bench and another youngster David Rush retained his place in the starting eleven. Dickie Ord was a late flu casualty, so Paul Hardyman came off the bench to slot into defence.
The game kicked off in driving rain and within forty seconds John Kay sent in a dangerous cross that caused consternation in the Saints' defence, with Flowers eventually holding on to the ball underneath his bar.
Cockerill up in support of his attack, thundered a twenty-five-yard drive just over the bar to set nerves jangling in the noisy crowd.
Colin Pascoe, who had enjoyed a great start to the game, had a great run before firing a low shot just past the post with Flowers well beaten.
Pascoe then swept a glorious pass to David Rush on the left side of the box, his dangerous low cross was headed out by Adams.
On nineteen minutes, Kevin Moore was lucky not to be sent off. David Rush had been putting himself about with energy and physicality. Rush chased an excellent pass from Gary Owers, winning the race with Moore. His reward was to be crudely felled from behind, it was a horrible, almost petulant foul and I joined the chorus of fans calling for a red card. This was not his first foul on Rush, but referee Roger Dilkes produced a yellow card. I thought to myself Kevin Ball will be sent off for breathing on someone next week, referees are so inconsistent!
The rain had never let up as half time was signalled. We had delivered a performance of energy and grit, our eight corners were an indicator of the flow of the half and our attacking intent, but the fact was whilst Moore and Ruddock had been the busier defensive pairing, neither keeper had a save to make.
I could feel the collective anxiety in the crowd as the second half kicked off, we just needed a break, a piece of magic and composure, come on Lads you can do this!
We did not have to wait long for the key moment in the game.
On forty-seven minutes, Gary Owers stroked a pin-point cross-field pass, which was cleverly dummied by Rush to set Pascoe away in space on the left. He danced past two defenders in an exhilarating run before being felled unceremoniously by Cockerill in the box. It was one of those slow-motion moments as the crowd and players all turned to the referee and he seemed to take an eternity to indicate... thankfully he did get this one right, the penalty award was greeted like a goal amongst the crowd!
Up stepped our penalty maestro, Kevin Ball! He had scored a penna' in the previous game at QPR, could he do the same in front of his own crowd? I should not have doubted him, he smashed the ball past Flowers low and hard to his right. The keeper dived the right way, but the ball was in the back of the net before he hit the ground.
What a roar this goal got and how it triggered the crowd to get right behind the Lads.
A goal down, the Saints had to try and press further up the park. It plays on the nerves of the crowd when this happens, but it invariably creates a bit more space for our forwards and this was exactly what happened in this game. A flurry of chances at either end ensued.
Alan McLaughlin (easily Southampton's best player on the day) had a snap shot deflected just past our post, it would have been a travesty if it had gone in as young Shearer was without doubt impeding Tony Norman, right under the nose of the referee!
Shearer then had a header cleared off the line by Paul Hardyman, who had a very good game in defence and offensively.
Colin Pascoe fashioned a bit of space for himself and sent an angled drive across Flowers, from my position in the Fulwell End I thought this was goal number two and had both arms in the air to celebrate, the ball flashed just by the upright!
Then Warren Hawke, who had a very lively match, had us all with arms aloft as he sent a header a whisker past the post.
Our troops were definitely tiring, and the crowd was now doing all it could to back the Lads to hang on.
Dennis Smith resisted any substitutions. Tony Norman stood tall making two very good saves from Le Tissier and McLaughlin and Ball, Benett and Bracewell showed all their tenacity and fight as they marshalled our willing youngsters in the final phase of the contest.
We held out for our first win in six games, it was a deserved win and was met with tumultuous acclaim on the final whistle by a crowd who had also played their part.
I struggled to pick a player of the match, there had been good performances all over the park from our Lads, but Colin Pascoe got the nod for a performance of energy and stamina as well as that bit of skill and composure that can and did win this game.
I often thought Pascoe was underrated by the Roker crowd, the Welsh international won eight of his ten caps whilst at Sunderland and could turn a game on his day. His twenty-six goals in 137 appearances only show part of what he brought to the team. Had we been counting assists as diligently as we do in the modern game he would have featured highly, and his ability to link play, especially with Gates and Gabbiadini was a key factor in his time with us.
The win lifted some of the gloom and lifted us out of the bottom two, up to the dizzy heights of seventeenth in the table. This was short-lived though as we struggled to put any kind of run together. We held on to the very last game of the season, where the team and nigh on fifteen thousand supporters "emptied the tank" in a gallant defeat at Man City that sealed our relegation.
All of that was a long way off as I travelled back over the border that evening. The rain had stopped and a beautiful moon was lighting my way home, convincing me we were heading into better times!
Barclays Division One Date - 01/01/1991 - Roker Park - 19,757
Goal scorer - Kevin Ball (pen, 48 mins)Sunderland 1 - 0 Southampton
Sunderland - Tony Norman; John Kay; Paul Hardyman; Kevin Ball; Gary Bennett; Gary Owers; Paul Bracewell; Gordon Armstrong; Colin Pascoe; David Rush; Warren Hawke.
Subs - John Cornforth & Paul WilliamsSouthampton - Tim Flowers; Alexei Cherednik; Mickey Adams; Glenn Cockerill; Neil Ruddock; Kevin Moore; Matt Le Tissier; Barry Horne; Alan Shearer; Alan McLaughlin; Rod Wallace.
Subs - Francis Benali & Nickey Banger
