Borussia glad to be back for MFA Golden Jubilee

WHEN the Munster Football Association met to organise the centerpiece of what was to be their 50th Golden Jubilee celebration in 1972, they had little hesitation in inviting double West German champions Borussia Moenchengladbach to Cork.

Gladbach had previously played at Flower Lodge as recently as September 15, 1971, in a first-round European Champions’ Club Cup tie against Cork Hibernians. On that occasion, the visitors romped to a convincing five-nil victory in a dazzling display that many observers still reckon to be one of the finest exhibitions in the competition by foreign opposition on home soil.

The Germans needed just 40 minutes to secure the tie after Jupp Heynckes accelerated beautifully into space to set up Wloka for the opener in the seventh minute. Eleven minutes later a slip by Tony Marsden in his own half allowed the dynamic Gunter Netzer in to put Heynckes in for a second. 

In the 31st minute, Herbert Wimmer and Heynckes tormented the home defence to such a degree that Wloka drifted in unnoticed to rifle past Joe Grady for number three. With Netzer pulling the strings at the heart of every move in the middle, the mesmerised home-following hadn’t long to wait for goal number four to come along.

Netzer and Wimmer began the move for Heynckes to back heel the ball impudently for Danish international Ulrik Le Fevre to coolly head home after his first shot hit the post. Le Fevre was on hand to make it 5-0 before half-time with a thundering left-footed shot into the far corner of the net.

Bill George in his match report in the following morning’s Cork Examiner observed that 'they cut Hibs apart with clinical efficiency in just 40 minutes that the entire exercise could have been called off right there. I don’t envy Hibs their task in the second leg.'

Many who attended the game certainly felt the same way but must have been surprised that the next goal in the tie would come not from a Gladbach player but from Cork’s own local hero Miah Dennehy.

Having held their opponents goalless in the second half at the Lodge, Hibs stunned their hosts in Germany two weeks later by taking the lead through Dennehy in the 32nd minute. After a bout of passing between Dave Wigginton and Tony Marsden, Dennehy finished the move by slipping the ball past a bewildered Kleff. 

The visitors tired as the hosts woke from their slumber to register goals from Sieloff and Wimmer to go through 7-1 on aggregate.

And so, the German champions’ return to Flower Lodge the following May 28 was against the best that Munster could muster. Included in the home squad’s 12 were four of Waterford’s title-winning team and five of Hibernian’s cup-winning starting 11. Borussia were without the injured Netzer but still managed to go in one-up at half-time through Le Fevre.

To their credit, Munster rallied to score twice through Cup Final hat-trick hero Dennehy and substitute Johnny Matthews. Borussia’s flair was put to the test and they didn’t disappoint, Le Wittkamp rapping in the equalizer in the 85th minute after Le Fevre had earlier rattled the crossbar. 

Rainer Bonhof took Zoppke’s back heel in his stride to beat Thomas for what proved to be the winner in the 88th minute confirming what the 10,000 home support suspected all along that class would always win out at the finish.

Munster Selection: Peter Thomas (Waterford); Dave Bacuzzi (Cork Hibs, c), Richard Brooks (Cork Celtic); Al Finucane (Limerick), Martin Sheehan (Cork Hibs); Sonny Sweeney (Cork Hibs), John Lawson (do), Jimmy McGeough (Waterford); Alfie Hale (Waterford), Carl Humphries (do), Miah Dennehy (do) (Johnny Matthews (Waterford)).

Borussia Monchengladbach: Wolfgang Kleff : Heinz Michallik, Hartwig Bleidick, Jan Suran, Hans-Jürgen Wittkamp; Bertie Vogts (Siegfried Zoppke), Herbert Wimmer (c), Jupp Heynckes; Rainer Bonhof, Dietmar Danner, Ulrik Le Fevre.

Referee: Derry Barrett. Assistants: Sammy Spillane and Frank Casey.

RISE 

Referee Derry Barrett had quickly risen through the ranks of UEFA by the time he was appointed to take charge of the much anticipated friendly. His outstanding performances in the 1970 FAI Cup Final and replay catapulted him onto the European scene where he went on to garner eighteen appointments. 

Within the space of a couple of months, he took charge of the second-leg European Cup tie between Swizz champions FC Basle and eventual winners Ajax at the St Jakob Stadium. A 2-1 win for the visitors wrapped up the tie 5-1 on aggregate but it was the performance of a certain Johann Cruyff which caught Derry’s eye. 

'If Georgie Best was reckoned to be the best player in Europe, how would one possibly rate this player..? 

'The crowd kept calling him Christ!' 

It wasn’t until afterward that Derry learned his name. 

Other high-profile matches followed including the infamous European Cup Winners’ Cup first-leg semi-final between PSV Einthoven and Real Madrid on Wednesday, April 14, 1971. A can of beer thrown by an Einthoven fan felled the Cork official. 

His discharge from hospital two days later was well received by the Einthoven public. He continued to impress on the international stage till his retirement in 1975 before going on to officiate on the local scene and work tirelessly for the promotion of refereeing until his untimely passing in 1998.