SPURS
In the next round Dundalk got a fairytale draw in the next round against
Spurs. The Londoners were far from happy with Oriel Park and what they
described as inadequate crowd control arrangements and for protection of their
multi—million squad they hired the services of a private detective and some karate
experts. Glen Hoddle typified Tottenham's insecurities when he mentioned the
game in his book. He described Oriel Park as the worst pitch he played on and
he was also concerned a special an announcement made over the loudspeaker
just before the kick-off. The announcer said Hoddle said he was sure the
announcer was going to say there was a bomb scare or something like that and
as he and his team-mates stopped in their tracks they heard that Bovril would
be served at half-time". A crowd paying gate receipts of around £60,000 saw
Dundalk get of to a flying start with Fairclough and Carlyle giving the Spurs
defence a torrid time. After 63 minutes Spurs took the lead when Crooks who
looked suspiciously offside ran on to score. Dundalk were not to be denied and
eight minutes from time Mick Fairclough's shot went under Ray Clemence. Some
say the roar of the crowd could be heard in Bridge Street when Dundalk equalised.
Alan Thompson of the Daily Express summed it up perfectly when he wrote.
"Sorry Spurs you were outplayed, out fought and out thought and eventually
out lasted by Dundalk's part-timers. The scoreline credited them with a draw
but the story is one of incredible luck and unbelievable defensive slackness that
could have ended in overwhelming defeat for Spurs. When they managed to get
a lead it was quickly nullified by a man who 5 years ago was told he would never
play again.
In front of their new £4 million stand the fluid Spurs machine was expected
to steamroller Dundalk in the 2nd leg but a performance of true character held
Spurs to one goal and earned a standing ovation from the 34,000 crowd including
a large following from Dundalk who were easily heard above the home crowd
throughout the game.
Dundalk had stayed unbeaten at home in Europe for 6 seasons under the
guidance of Jim McLaughlin so when the record finally went it was only right
that it would go to the best team in Europe at that time Liverpool. Dundalk
were comfortably beaten 4-1 at Oriel Park in the first leg. Probably the best goal
of the night from Leo Flanagan was missed by a lot of people as he beat Bruce
Grobbalaero with a superb free kick on the stroke of time. Many worried that
history would repeat itself in the second leg and Liverpool would score another
10 goals but those fears were not realised as Dundalk turned in their now almost
annual classic European performance and they only went down to an 85th minute
deflected goal by Ronnie Whelan in front of Anfields lowest crowd for 19 years,
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As we look back it's difficult to classify Dundalk's best performance. Some
will say Vasas because of the quality of opposition, others Zurich for its historic
significance. Mary would argue in favour of Linfield in Haarlem pointing to
the tension of the occasion or great nights when we played and matched tne
best in Britain. The arguments cold go on for ever. We can only hope that our
tie with Ajax will be the start of another great era in Europe for Dundalk F.C.
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