Wolves v Manchester City, League Cup Final, 2nd March 1974 [First Half]

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• published: 22 Sep 2013
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Complete First Half footage (Second Half: http://youtu.be/6vTmasxqw6k) of the 1974 League Cup Final between Wolves and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium. In reaching the Final, Wolves had defeated Halifax Town, Tranmere Rovers, Exeter City, Liverpool (http://youtu.be/zmbzEBcIMVk) and Norwich City to reach a major final for the first time since their defeat of Blackburn Rovers in the 1960 FA Cup Final (http://youtu.be/mfiSQKZR8u8). In the weeks preceding their match at Wembley, Wolves had suffered a number of significant setbacks that made the match against Manchester City all the more difficult. Goalkeeper Phil Parkes broke his ankle a month before the final, inspirational captain Mike Bailey broke his toe, centre-forward John Richards suffered a pelvic injury and, just three days before the final, left-winger Dave Wagstaffe pulled a thigh muscle. In addition, Frank Munro had been sent off in a home match against Stoke City at Molineux on 2nd February and was initially suspended for the final, but a successful appeal allowed the influential Scottish centre-half to line up at Wembley. Despite the obvious discomfort of their injuries, Bailey, Richards and Wagstaffe all played in the final while Parkes, after a club-record run of 175 consecutive senior appearances, was replaced in goal by Gary Pierce - his 23rd birthday on the day of the final being rewarded with only his 14th appearance for Wolves since his £40,000 signing from Huddersfield Town in June 1973. To compound their problems, Wolves were in a relatively poor run of form with just one win in six league matches ahead of their match against City. Wolves manager Bill McGarry also faced a selection dilemma regarding the composition of his midfield. Barry Powell had replaced incumbent Jim McCalliog earlier in the season leaving Kenny Hibbitt to contest the remaining midfield spot with Alan Sunderland. Having been McGarry's chosen combination in the preceding three matches before the final, both Hibbitt and Sunderland were ultimately retained with Powell selected as substitute. The strength of Manchester City was highlighted by just a cursory glance at their line-up with the likes of Denis Law, Francis Lee, Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee and Rodney Marsh all underlining the size of the task faced by Wolves that day. However, although Wolves were considered very much the underdogs, the perceived gap between the two teams wasn't all that great with City, at the time, 10th in First Division, just four places and two points ahead of Wolves. In an open and even first half, Wolves midfielder Kenny Hibbitt opened the scoring in the 44th minute with a mis-hit shot (http://youtu.be/BykjTb5dffY?t=54m42s) to give Wolves a slim lead at half-time. Originally shown as networked highlights on ITV with commentary provided by Brian Moore.