Appointed in 1928, Sunderland secretary manager Johnny Cochrane would eventually take the club to new heights in the following decade, yet building a team that would win the biggest prizes in England was always going to be a slow and steady process.
It wasn’t until finishing runners-up in 1934-35 that his side really looked like they could become consistent enough to claim silverware, but there were some undoubted highlights in the meantime, with the Lads taking fans along the way with them and giving some exciting hints as to what lay ahead.
The visit of neighbours Newcastle United on the 3rd of March 1934 seemed like the perfect time to give out another indication of what they were hoping to become capable of, and while form supposedly ‘goes out of the window’ on such occasions, it was clear by full time that the two sides were heading in opposite directions.
Although the match actually started with the pair separated by only three points, the visitors had been enduring a fairly rapid decline over recent months and seemed well off the pace, whereas the Lads showed their quality still, despite the poor weather, and did a much better job of handling the type of nerves often seen on derby day.
In pure footballing terms the match wasn’t the best; it was tight and scrappy for the most part, so with Sunderland’s growing assuredness and potential still able to shine through during the moments that mattered onlookers were given the sense that there was some real substance to the growing belief that the club was going in the right direction. It helped, of course, that the opposition just so happened to be the old enemy too, and given the moments of drama and controversy, plus the huge physical shift the players put in, this must rank even now as one of the most classic wins over the visitors.
Sunderland were already one goal up when Patsy Gallacher took a whack and was forced to play the remainder of the game out wide. Barely mobile, he stayed on the pitch purely to keep the visitors second guessing but was a virtual passenger – the rest of his teammates having to increase their workload to make up for it. The lead had come when Bert Davis ran on to a clever Bobby Gurney through ball and struck a shot low into the corner, the force of which appeared to take goalkeeper Bill McPhilips by surprise, and with that advantage the Lads were able to pick and choose when to push forward and when to preserve energy instead.
Although the pitch was dry, extremely strong winds made accurate passing difficult, and while Sunderland dealt with it better in the main, it was still an issue, with Bert Johnston being caught out by a cross he inadvertently handled to concede a penalty. Fortunately for him, though, Sam Weaver struck the angle of post and bar with his spot kick attempt, and the ball was quickly scrambled away. In the minutes that followed, the ball hit theback of the net at the other end – only for Gurney to be adjudged offside.
Gurney, who caused further panic when he was struck flush in the face by the ball only to skip back up immediately, had a positive afternoon and kept Jimmy Nelson and his full back partner Bob Thomson on their toes throughout. Thomson had been a former Roker teammate of Gurney prior to Cochrane’s arrival and was one of the marginally better performers for the visitors, who got an initial boost following the break when the lame Gallacher looked to be staying put in the changing room after all, only for him to then appear a couple of minutes later and continue gamely.
As if that wasn’t enough, however, trainer Andy Reid had his hands full as the game wore on. Matt Middleton, Raich Carter and Bill Murray all needed treatment before being able to play on, doing so valiantly, it must be said, for they had all taken nasty kicks, but when derby day feistiness went too far, the visitors gave up any chance they had of levelling. With time running out, another handball call was given, and whilst Harry Shaw saw his first penalty saved, he was given a second chance due to the visitors taking their protests too far and failing to notice they had overstepped their mark when he was running up. McPhillips got a hand to the retake also, but Shaw had struck it so powerfully that the ball still went into the net.
Job done then, it was now time for Cochrane and co to start looking at their next challenge. A little over two years later he guided the club to a sixth league title before then backing it up by delivering a highly sought after maiden FA Cup win, although derby wins such as this became a rarity amidst the other glories: whereas Sunderland finished 1933-34 in sixth place and were looking towards further improvement, the visitors ended up being relegated and did not return to Roker Park for senior football until 1948.
*This was not the only local clash of the day. Sunderland’s reserves were away at Chopwell Institute, who they comfortably beat 4-0 in front of the Football Echo’s ‘Scrutator’, an understudy seemingly to Argus who was on course on first team duty. A North Eastern League meeting between Jarrow and North Shields meanwhile descended into farce when following a disputed decision by the referee, a large melee commenced with several players grappling. Play had continued elsewhere on the pitch however, and Shields thought they should have been awarded a penalty, only to find that the officials were still trying to break up the fighting and so missed the incident. The arguments continued throughout the half time break and into the second half too, and following another bout of scrapping towards the end a Jarrow player had to be stretchered off the pitch. With two Shields players looking to get retribution at full time, it was only when a number of police officers arrived that things finally calmed down.
Saturday 3 March 1934
Football League Division One
Sunderland 2 (Davis 5’, Shaw (pen) 75’)
Newcastle United 0
Sunderland: Middleton; Murray, Shaw; Thomson, Johnston, Hastings; Davis, Carter, Gurney, Gallacher, Connor.
Roker Park, attendance 31 776
