March
Despite the postponement of the game at Bournemouth City were able to get in a bit of match practice on the Monday night with a benefit match for midfielder Terry Heath who had been forced to retire through injury 18 months earlier. A crowd of over 5,000 turned up at Sincil Bank to see the Imps beat an Ipswich Town side currently mid-table in the First Division by 1-0.
The PFA awards were now announced, with City having no less than five players named in the Fourth Division team of the year – something not previously achieved by any other club. Peter Grotier won for the second year in a row, and Ian Branfoot for the second time in three years. Sam Ellis and Terry Cooper made it three out of the regular back four with only Dennis Leigh missing out. Fifth player included was John Ward, and the only surprise to many was the exclusion of any of City’s midfielders, particularly Dennis Booth, with Huddersfield player Geoff Hutt, normally a left back, preferred ahead of him.
City were at home again the following Saturday with the visit of mid-table Crewe, with Graham Taylor warning it could be one of the hardest games of the season. The only change from the win against Southport was the return of the fit again Alan Harding with Tony Woodcock left out of the squad and Dick Krzywicki, also fit again, on the bench instead of Fleming. City took the lead midway through the first half when Bert Bowery did well to get in a shot which was blocked for Ward to score from the rebound. Dave Smith’s fifth goal of the season was then enough to ensure the points for City with an uninspiring second half from both teams. City remained in second place a point behind Northampton as they had won at Watford but now had four games in hand over them. Reading and Tranmere both lost at home to give some hope to Bournemouth, back in fifth place but still three points adrift of the top four.
The following midweek’s visit to Swansea saw one change with Dick Krzywicki coming in at centre forward and Bowery on the bench. In an even game City took the lead with a Branfoot header from a Dave Smith corner before the Swans quickly turned the game around. A late goal from John Ward earned a point, but with Northampton recording an excellent 4-0 win at seventh-placed Doncaster they were now two points ahead of the Imps. A win for Huddersfield moved them above Bournemouth into fifth place, eight points behind Lincoln
Including the second leg of the League Cup tie with Chesterfield the Imps only lost seven games all season and it was my luck to be there for five of them. The last came at 18th-placed Brentford the following Saturday with the only team change being Tony Woodcock now partnering John Ward up front as Dick Krzywicki was left out. But the Imps could never get going and it was only thanks to a good defensive performance that the defeat was not heavier than 1-0. Northampton had been held to a draw at home by Tranmere the night before so their lead over City was only stretched by one point to three. Reading also drew so fifth-placed Huddersfield’s 2-0 win over Swansea meant they were now only goal average away from a top four place and were just six points adrift of City.
But the next game was the big one, the ‘Battle of the Giants’ as it was billed, or the match to decide the championship, as Northampton were the visitors to Sincil Bank the following Wednesday night. This attracted a bigger crowd than for the match with Stoke City, and 13,880 was the highest attendance since a top of the table clash with Scunthorpe almost exactly four years before. A setback for City the day before the match had been the admittance to hospital of Dennis Leigh with appendicitis and an operation which would rule him out for the rest of the season. However, with Phil Neale able to slot in seamlessly at left back the performance of the team was not affected. Fortunately, John Fleming was now able to return on the right of midfield and his seventh goal of the season got City off to a flier in the first minute, heading in a Dennis Booth corner. Dick Krzywicki, recalled up front with Woodcock dropping to the bench gave a man of the match performance, putting City 2-0 up before half time. Early in the second half Dave Smith scored direct from a corner to put City well in control with Paul Stratford’s late goal for the visitors only a consolation.
The win of course put City back to only a point behind Northampton while Reading’s goalless draw with Barnsley meant there was now a six-point gap to third place with three clubs all level on points.
Then came a visit to Scunthorpe, and in a crowd of over 10,000 – three times that for the Irons’ last home game – there were evidently too many Lincoln supporters to be accommodated behind the goal and some of us watched the game from the old cantilever stand. It was an unchanged team for City against the side fourth from bottom and they got off to a great start with something of a fluke goal when Sam Ellis’s 45-yard free kick, floated into the penalty area, was missed by defenders and attackers alike and went into the net. After John Ward made it 2-0 with his 25th goal of the season midway through the first half, apart from Peter Grotier being called on to make a breath-taking save in the last ten minutes the Imps were always in control.
Ward’s goal was City’s 80th in the league and beat the 79 scored the previous season (and was in fact the highest total since 1951/52). Graham Taylor, again the previous May: “We want more points, we want to score more goals, we want to reach the Fourth Round of the FA Cup and the second round of the League Cup.”
Third box ticked.
Following the win at Scunthorpe City were still in second place as Northampton, showing no reaction to their defeat at Sincil Bank had thrashed Bournemouth 6-0, the south coast side now having slipped out of the promotion reckoning. Reading also had a big win, beating Darlington 4-1 to remain in third place, but Huddersfield in fifth lost at home to Barnsley to put City eight points clear of them.
It was Huddersfield who were the next visitors to Sincil Bank in a game postponed from the FA Cup Fourth Round day. It was being played on the Tuesday night as City had one of their scheduled Friday night games that week. At last it was one of the games in hand on Northampton being made up, but as with so many of the games in hand that were rather City’s downfall the previous season it produced only a point. City were unchanged from the last two games although Percy Freeman was now fit to return on the bench to the exclusion of Woodcock. Another five-figure crowd turned up at Sincil Bank, although a couple of thousand down from the Northampton game, as the Imps couldn’t find a way through a tightly-marking Huddersfield side. However, while the goalless draw meant it was only the second point dropped by City at home all season the point gained did put them back on top of the table on goal average and still with three games in hand over Northampton.
Perhaps disappointed by the lack of goals, or perhaps with some having chosen to go to just one match during the week the attendance dipped to below 9,000 for the visit of mid-table Watford on the Friday night. Percy Freeman, who had come off the bench on the Tuesday night now changed places with Dick Krzywicki and starred with two goals as City really turned it on with a 5-1 win. Further goals came from Fleming and Smith, while Ian Branfoot’s typical near post header from an in-swinging Booth corner to make the score 4-1 was City’s 100th goal of the season in all competitions. Northampton won 1-0 at Crewe the following day to remain behind City only on goal difference, but Reading’s draw at Stockport meant the gap to third place was now eight points while Huddersfield’s 4-1 defeat to Exeter, the team immediately below them, saw the gap to fifth place widen to ten points – and there were not many games left for that gap to be closed.
As usual I went to another game the following day, making the short trip to the Baseball Ground for Derby County’s First Division clash with Birmingham City, the home side being currently third in the table and fielding such players as Archie Gemmill and Leighton James.
The following Wednesday night saw another of the games in hand fitted in and this time City made it count in a big way with a second 5-1 win in a row, away at Bradford City. Also for the second game in a row, Percy Freeman led the way with two goals, taking him to 20 for the season, and there were also goals for Harding, Neale and Ellis (penalty). However, the win which put City two points clear at the top, only came after a goalless first half and a 47th minute penalty save from Peter Grotier before the goals began to flow with four in ten minutes. This brought the points total to 59, two more than had been achieved the previous season so the last box had been ticked on Graham Taylor’s wish list. He now set his sights on 70 points, which would be a record for the division, and 100 league goals. As it was, the 59 points and 90 goals to date were both the highest achieved since the 1951/52 promotion season.