KASPER EVOKES MEMORIES OF MONTY’S MAGIC
JIM MONTGOMERY knew what to expect in the minutes after Kasper Schmeichel’s Wembley heroics had secured the FA Cup for Leicester.
It is 48 years since the Sunderland legend’s double save to thwart Leeds helped Bob Stokoe’s underdogs win one of the most memorable finals in cup history.
But that moment, now etched in Wembley folklore, has become the template by which every subsequent goalkeeping display is compared.
Montgomery, now a sprightly 77-yearold, admits he is still flattered whenever his greatest moment is brought up.
Second-tier Sunderland stunned all-conquering Leeds by taking a first-half lead through Ian Porterfield, but they were hanging on when Montgomery flung himself to his right to keep out Trevor Cherry’s diving header before somehow recovering to push Peter Lorimer’s stinging volley on to the bar with commentators already hailing the equaliser.
So what is his verdict on Schmeichel’s own goalkeeping masterclass, with his superb stop from Ben Chilwell’s header and his magnificent block with his left hand to
DOUBLE VISION
turn around Mason Mount’s fierce half-volley.
“Well, I’ll reply with another question,” Montgomery said yesterday. “Which save was the better?
“And for me, the save from Ben Chilwell’s header was better than the one from Mason Mount’s volley. Yes, he hit it sweet as a nut but it was at a great height for a keeper. What was really impressive was that he got such a firm hand on it, the ball almost went out for a throw-in.
“A lot of keepers might have got a floppy hand to it so the ball would still have been in a dangerous area.
“Ask any keeper and they’ll tell you it’s the saves low down which are the most difficult and Schmeichel had to take a
couple of sidesteps before flinging himself to his right for Chilwell’s header – and even then he diverted the ball onto a post with the tips of his fingers.”
Montgomery was watching his grandson play cricket for Durham League Crook Town and might not have seen the cup final had the match not finished early. He said: “I got home just in time to watch with my wife. My name invariably crops up and it always makes me chuckle.
“We’re coming up to the 50th anniversary of Sunderland winning the cup and there aren’t too many saves since that are remembered as well. It’s very nice.
“Perhaps Dave Beasant’s penalty save from John Aldridge when Wimbledon shocked Liverpool in 1988 is the only one that compares. Both those games ended 1-0 as well so maybe Schmeichel’s will be recalled in the same way.”
Montgomery, who went on to win a European Cup winners’ medal as Peter Shilton’s understudy for Nottingham Forest in 1980, will not have too many complaints if the Leicester man’s deeds are mentioned in the same breath as his
own. “I always say that goals may win matches but saves save them,” he said.
“When your team goes one up, you know that a clean sheet will win you the game and that will have been Kasper’s mindset once Leicester broke the deadlock.
“It was a special goal which won the cup but Schmeichel was every bit as much a hero as Tielemans.”