Peterborough
The 23-year-old Mick Drewery was now in his third season as first-choice goalkeeper for Peterborough, while at right back Frank Noble had played around 200 games for the club after joining in 1967 from Sheffield Wednesday for whom he had made just two appearances. He was partnered by club captain Jack Carmichael who had come through the ranks at Arsenal without making a first team appearance for the Highbury club. He had joined the Posh just over a year previously and would go on to play over 400 games for them. In the centre of defence was a mix of youthful promise and experience, with the 21-year-old Chris Turner having made the centre half spot his own in the current season. He would eventually play well over 350 games for the Posh before later going into management, first with Cambridge United where he preceded John Beck. He then returned to Peterborough, taking them from Division Four to the second tier in successive seasons as manager before later becoming club chairman. The experience alongside Turner was provided by 32-year-old Brian Wright who was now in his eighth season with the club after joining from Newcastle United for whom he had made a limited number of appearances.
In the centre of midfield, former Notts County player Dennis Oakes had been an ever-present in the side since joining in the summer, while 32-year-old Ollie Conmy was in his eighth season with the club after a handful of games with Huddersfield Town. The first Peterborough United player ever to win an international cap, he had made a total of five appearances for the Republic of Ireland. Wide on the right was the diminutive Bobby Moss who had started his career with Fulham making a small number of appearances before joining Peterborough in the summer of 1969. He had scored 13 goals in the previous season but had just one this time around and had recently often been used as a substitute. On the left was former Newcastle United player Tommy Robson who had joined the club in 1968 after making around 50 appearances for the Magpies. He was to go on to play for the Posh until his late thirties and become their appearance record holder.
Peterborough’s classic ‘little and large’ partnership up front saw the 6 ft tall Richie Barker alongside Peter Price. Barker had been a latecomer to professional football, making his debut at the age of 27 for Derby County after being signed by Brian Clough from Southern League Burton Albion. He had joined from Notts County the previous September and had just five goals in the season so far. Much more prolific was 21-year-old Peter Price who had been with the club since 1968 after coming through the ranks at Liverpool. After just five goals the previous season he had now really hit form this time around with 24 goals from 29 games so far. After finishing the season as the Fourth Division’s top scorer with 32 goals he was sold by Peterborough to Second Division Portsmouth for £27,000.
Posh substitute was midfielder Mickey Darrell who had made around 20 appearances over six seasons for his local club Birmingham City plus a lengthy loan spell at Gillingham before joining Peterborough in the close season.
The Game
There was news in the match programme of Peterborough’s home game against Grimsby the following Monday night having been postponed “due to the State of Emergency imposed by the Government”. This was due to a miners’ strike, and a restriction on the use of electricity had been imposed meaning that the game with City kicked off at 2.45pm so as to avoid the use of floodlights.
Peterborough took the lead after 25 minutes when Peter Price headed in a centre from full back Jack Carmichael for his 25th goal of the season but once City had settled down, they went into the lead thanks to centre half Tommy Spencer who took his tally to four goals in five games with a brace of long-range shots following corners. When Dave Smith scored direct from a corner just after the interval it looked plain sailing for City with Frankie McMahon running things in midfield. However, the home side came back into the game when Bobby Moss pulled the ball back from the right wing and City’s Terry Branson, in trying to clear put it into his own net. Just a minute later the Posh were level when Richie Barker headed in a cross from Ollie Conmy. It then seemed the Imps had won the game five minutes from the end when John Worsdale put them in the lead again with a header from Dixie McNeil’s centre. Peterborough were not finished, though, and with 88 minutes gone left winger Tommy Robson beat two City defenders to fire home another equaliser through a crowd of players.
I was getting to be an old hand at visiting Peterborough, this being my third game there, making the fairly lengthy bus journey from Nottingham, and my memories of the game are of Dave Smith’s goal and despite it being an entertaining match, the disappointment of only coming away with a draw after twice seeming to have the game won.
Only gaining a single point worsened City’s position as although they remained in fifth place, they were now a point behind the top four promotion places. However, wins from the next two games put them up to third and they reached second place by the end of March before too many dropped points at home saw them miss out on promotion in fifth place. Peterborough, after what was their eighth successive draw, continued in the same vein with shared points in two out of their next three games. However, they finished the season strongly, and a run of four wins in a row during April contributed to a final placing of eighth.
The score-line of 4-4 is not a common one, and the remarkable thing is that it was the second time City had registered it in less than year – the home game with Aldershot at the beginning of the previous May having seen the same result. Nearly fifty years later it still remains the last time City drew 4-4 in a competitive match.