Nobody connected with Burnley Football Club will ever thank you for reminding them what happened at Turf Moor on Saturday. After the immediate post-match inquests have been held, discussion of nine-man Sunderland’s 2-1 victory will be taboo in these parts. Both clubs need to do some soul-searching about the way they played. Sunderland because their shameful first half tactics had all the appearance of a “grudge match”. Burnley because their inability to defeat nine men was nothing short of embarrassing. The match was the craziest, most illogical mind-boggling soccer event you’re ever likely to witness. And, sadly, for Burnley there can be no excuses about the way it ended. How did they fail to gain even a point against such depleted opposition? That’s a question that takes a great deal of explaining.
Sunderland were the villains and the heroes. Motivated to the limit by the ex-Burnley trio of manager Jimmy Adamson, his assistant Dave Merrington, and captain Mick Docherty they let their determination run riot in the first half, only to channel it to remarkably good effect when reduced to nine men in the second half. Docherty was one of the central figures in the match. He withstood some hostile haranguing from the crowd plus some personal feuding with both Leighton James and Steve Kindon to give an outstanding display.
Trouble started in the 2nd minute when James and Docherty clashed on the touchline, resulting in a booking for the Welsh winger. The Sunderland trio of Mick Henderson, Joe Bolton and Shaun Elliot were then cautioned in quick succession for fouls and it was obvious that the match was in danger of exploding. The explosion duly happened in the last five minutes of the first half. Henderson brought down Ingham and, having already been booked, was sent off. Kindon then felled Docherty and was booked. Trainer Ken Knighton came on to treat his injured player, said something to the referee, and he too was booked. Then, in the most bizarre incident of all, Bolton, already booked, jumped in to Tony Morley as if asking to be booked, and the referee duly obliged. With Billy Rodaway and Docherty booked in the second half, the final countdown of mayhem read eight booked, two sent off. Add to this an accusation by Burnley Manager, Harry Potts, that a Sunderland player had also spat in the face of Tony Morley.
The bitterness subsided after the interval and Sunderland set about winning the match. Their first, in the 60th minute, was created by Brown, who turned Rodaway inside out near the corner flag before sending over a pin-point cross for Rowell to head in. A strong run by Entwistle in the 69th minute ended when he was brought down by Thomson and Rowell obliged from the spot. Burnley started to look better in the last 20 minutes and were rewarded when Morley thumped in a fine goal from 25 yards, after a free kick by James had been charged down. Billy Ingham missed two half chances in the goal mouth and then Malcolm Smith shot wide from the best opportunity of the match.
Mr Potts said after the match “No team of mine has ever or would ever play like that. I would rather pack it in than sink to Sunderland’s level. It’s a man’s game and you’ve got to go in hard for the ball, but they went for the man. As a match it was a shambles. I was disgusted with the way Sunderland went about it.”
For the record, the statistics were 8 booked, including the Sunderland trainer and 2 Sunderland players dismissed.
Attendance 12964.

Teams
Burnley - Stevenson, Scott, Thomson, Rodaway, Hall, Noble, Ingham, Morley, Smith, Kindon, James. Sub Robinson (not used)
Sunderland – Siddall, Henderson, Cody, EWlliott, Bolton, Docherty, Chisholm, Rostron, Brown (sub Greenwood), Entwistle, Rowell.