In the second part of the 1976 FA Cup 5th round tie against West Brom we turn our attentions to the replay at the Dell.

Three days after the draw at the Hawthorns and the two teams reconvened for the replay at the Dell.

Two hours before kick off and the streets around the ground were packed as Saints fans queued for the 6pm opening of the turnstiles and eventually 27,614 would squeeze into the ground, with the gates being shut before kick off and it was the biggest crowd of the season bringing in record receipts.

Given that this was several thousand short of the official capacity and that there wasn't a spare inch in the ground, it can be considered that back in those days sometimes not everyone who was in the ground was declared, whether that was a ruse by the club to keep away some of the money from the tax man, or whether it was a turnstile man or two letting people in on the cheap through what was known as the double click is unclear, but the fact was that there was not a spare place to be found in the ground let alone a spare 3,000 places.

West Brom brought very few supporters, at least those that could be seen and heard, a small contingent in the seats could be noticed, but the Archers Road terrace was packed with Saints fans, any Albion fans seem to have decided that it was better to hide your scarves and keep quiet in those un segregated days when travelling to an away game often meant taking your life into your own hands.

It wasn't long though before the home fans had something to cheer and the clock had not yet hit the minute mark when Mick Channon opened the scoring.

But that didn't settle Saints nerves and David Peach chipped a back pass over Ian Turner who had left his line, in the ensuing scramble an Albion player used his hand and gave away a free kick to save Peach's blushes.

However on 17 minutes Saints were in the driving seat when Paul Gilchrist scored from a hooked shot to double the lead.

On the half hour mark the tie was effectively over when the Peach-Channon combination again combined to leave the number 8 one on one with John Osbourne in the visitors goal, he calmly rounded him to slot the ball home and send the crowd wild.

At the break Albion brought on teenage midfielder Bryan Robson and Albion huffed and puffed to get back into it, perhaps they would have on another day as Saints usually did not know the meaning of sit back and keep it tight as a tactic, but on this night they did, the importance of the occasion meaning that they seemed determined not to let their opponents get a sniff of getting back into the game.

With 16 minutes remaining any small hope that Albion had was extinguished and it was that man Channon again, this time the cross came from the other full back when Peter Rodrigues put in a fine ball, Cannon was pushed by John Wile and although Mick Channon was no longer the teams official penalty taker he stepped up to put Saints 4-0 up and into the quarter finals.

Saints fans now truly believed and as they awaited the result of the tie between first division Norwich City and Fourth Division Bradford City they fancied their chances, eventually it would be the lower league underdogs who would win through to host Saints and that game would be a battle on and off the pitch.

Photo: Action Images

Foz added 17:17 - Apr 28 A memorable night, and the ground was indeed completely packed. We also beat West Brom at home on the opening day of the seson, 3-0, which was a great start to a memorable campaign.
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