On This Day (13th October 1928): Sunderland come back fighting when it’s needed most

The 1920s remain Huddersfield Town’s ‘boom period’, and having won the FA Cup and three league titles earlier in the decade, they were expected to provide Sunderland with some tough opposition on this day ninety six years ago.

Sunderland, meanwhile, had also been in the mix in recent years but we’d never managed to get our hands on any silverware. Indeed, during the 1927/1928 season, we needed a final-day victory over Middlesbrough to preserve our top flight status.

The visitors, meanwhile, were runners-up, and although there were now fears that their best days were behind them, the writing still appeared to be on the wall when they took an early lead.

Following the previous season’s relegation battle, the Lads had started 1928/1929 in somewhat mixed fashion under Johnny Cochrane, and having suffered four successive defeats, you would’ve thought that the last thing we needed was to fall behind after only five minutes.

However, although that would usually have been the trigger for a collapse, it geed the Lads up and they came back strongly.

Although waning a touch, the Terriers, for whom former Sunderland forward Bob Kelly was playing, still possessed some real quality and clever work from Billy Smith and Alex Jackson saw the latter making it 0-1, but instead of being able to sit on the lead, they quickly found themselves subjected to return fire.

According to the following morning’s Sunday Sun, Cochrane’s side performed ‘like men possessed’. The team spirit and work rate on show was superb and many individuals stood out.

Charlie Parker was seemingly the pick of the bunch and provided a lot of inspiration, but his teammates backed him up with effort and togetherness. The display wasn’t faultless and Parker did give the ball away on several occasions as he sought to make things happen, but when he did get it right, Town were unable to handle him.

Len Hargreaves also caught the eye, scoring after half an hour, although by then the turnaround was already well underway.

Dave Halliday wormed his way through the defence to set him up with a chance so easy it was almost impossible not to score, and by duly tucking away his first of the campaign, Hargreaves brought the game to 3-1.

Halliday, who was in the thick of it throughout, had already levelled the game and in between the two strikes, Billy Clunas also hit the target.

This was Clunas’ second major involvement, as his clearance from a set piece had initially set Halliday away for the equaliser.

Sunderland’s hotshot striker took up possession by the halfway line and strode forward before finishing tidily, slotting the ball through the legs of goalkeeper Hugh Turner from a tight angle as his markers desperately tried to catch up.

Turner was then beaten again when Clunas got himself on the scoresheet with an ‘oblique’ free kick that went past a three-man wall, and Hargreaves’ effort followed seconds later, to leave Huddersfield devastated.

The Lads had gone from being behind to being in total control, and whilst the pace did drop off after a breathless first half, we still managed to force a string of openings following the break.

The reaction to recent results had been rather damning, with the suggestion being that some members of the side hadn’t been putting enough effort in, and this newfound formula of ‘willpower, determination, and grit’ was proving to be the perfect response, ensuring that we were always the better side.

Had the perceived lack of commitment continued much longer, the situation wouldn’t have been tolerated and the players knew it.

Kelly and his teammate George Brown did get a couple of half chances for the opposition, but the crowd were appreciative of what they were now being served up by their improving heroes, and could also sense an improved attitude.

Halliday was the victim of several flagrant fouls that the officials chose to ignore, yet he still kept coming back for more punishment, whilst new signing Bobby McKay grew into things on his first home appearance.

He endured a couple of near-misses and then played a part in the final goal, which came from the spot after he’d closed in on goal and forced the ball to be handled inside the area.

One of the highlights of the previous season had been a 3-0 success over Town on Wearside and a similar margin of victory felt fair this time around, with Clunas ensuring just that as he put his penalty well out of Turner’s reach.

The points set the Rokerites off on a strong run of form, bouncing back from the early losses in a similar way to how they’d reacted to falling behind to Huddersfield.

It was now the Yorkshiremen’s turn to struggle, and they would eventually finish closer to the drop zone come the end of the season.

Sunderland, meanwhile, finished in an encouraging fourth place as Cochrane continued to lay the foundations for what would be his own glory days in the 1930s.