O’Hare and Hector led way for Rams as they spiked Gunners at BBG
THE early months of 1970 were great times for Derby County supporters.
Back in the top flight for the first time since the Coronation Year of 1953, the Rams were making remarkable progress under Brian Clough and Peter Taylor.
So much so, in fact, that when Arsenal arrived at the Baseball Ground in mid-February, Derby had just embarked on an unbeaten run that would take them to the fringes of the title race.
True, Arsenal themselves might have scored a couple more in what turned out to be a 3-2 win for the Rams but, as George Edwards commented in the Derby Telegraph, “in one 30-minute purple patch the Rams could have approached double figures and still missed a few”.
After the first four matches of the season, Derby sat fourth in the table behind Everton, Liverpool and Wolves.
Any lingering doubts that they were in a false position were swept away in September when the Rams completed five straights wins, including a 2-1 defeat of Everton, and, best of all, a 5-0 hammering of Tottenham Hotspur before a record Baseball Ground crowd of 41,826.
The win over Spurs left the Rams in second place, a point behind leaders Everton, who had played the same number of games.
When they lost at Hillsborough on September 27, Derby were the final team in the First Division to taste defeat.
Then came the match everyone had been waiting for: on October 4, there were 40,724 at the Baseball Ground to see Manchester United beaten 2-0.
United had their revenge in midNovember, winning a fifth-round League Cup replay at Old Trafford, and by now the Rams had slipped after home defeats by Coventry City and Manchester City, and defeats at Leeds and Arsenal. In between, though, had come the glorious 4-0 home win over Liverpool
The Rams went into 1970 still in contention and on February 11, the day Terry Hennessey made his debut following his £100,000 transfer from Nottingham Forest, Derby drew 2-2 at home to Chelsea.
It was the start of a remarkable run that would see the Rams go through the rest of the season unbeaten.
The visit of Arsenal was the third game in that 12-match run, yet it was a match the Rams had to win twice after falling behind.
Indeed, early on, Arsenal looked capable of winning almost as easily as their 4-0 victory at Highbury in November, and it was no great surprise when they went in front after 13 minutes when John Radford’s volley beat a bemused Les Green, who might have been unsighted.
But if it was a mistake, it was not as bad as the one by the inexperienced John Roberts which enabled Kevin Hector to score a brilliant equaliser seven minutes later. Roberts, a former railway fireman, tried to turn the ball back to Bob Wilson but mishit it and Hector, darting in quickly, drove a terrific shot just inside the far post from what seemed an impossible angle.
The Gunners were back in front after 35 minutes when their first corner of the match eluded Green, the ball was forced back across goal by Bob McNab and Roberts made amends by turning it into the net.
The Rams laboured unconvincingly until the interval, when whatever was said by Clough and Taylor certainly had the required effect.
George Edwards described what happened next: “Almost from the kick-off, Hinton crossed from the left, Hector headed the ball down beautifully and O’Hare, in an almost unbelievably huge space, took it on and toe-ended it past Wilson.
“A minute later came the winner – another odd goal for which Wilson, otherwise highly convincing in the air, must take most of the responsibility. When Mackay lofted in an angled centre, Carlin ran in and tried to head the ball. Wilson took his eye off it and it curled gently into the net, despite the effort of Storey to keep it out.”
Further goals, however, would not come and Arsenal occasionally broke menacingly but the Rams rocked and finally wrecked the Gunners with a tremendous comeback highlighted by brilliant displays by O’Hare and Hector.
In those final 12 matches, the Rams won eight and drew four to finish fourth.
Only the stunning blow of being found guilty of being grossly negligent on their administration robbed them of a place in the UEFA Cup.