Anyway, as for the Bournemouth game it's funny as we were talking about it at the match on Saturday when we went 3-0 up against Palace. I told my mates it was 28 years to the day since we'd thrown away that 3 goal lead so we couldn't be certain of the 3 points. There was even a mini version of that famous beach ball being passed around the South Stand on Saturday while I was reminding my mates of the Bournemouth game ;)
As it happens, I wasn't even at Maine Road that day. It was just before I started attending games regularly but it's indelibly marked on my brain. I'd just started my first office job in Hazel Grove the month before and had been at the Palace 1-1 draw 5 days earlier on May Day. I would've gone to the Bournemouth game if work hadn't organised a stock take for that weekend with all staff being called in, so I had to make do with Brian Clarke's radio commentary. From memory, we left work with City 3-2 up well into injury time. I got a lift to the bus stop as the final scores were being read out on the radio in the car. I was utterly convinced we'd won the game so imagine my shock and despair when our result was read out. IIRC, the bloke giving me a lift didn't support anyone in particular but he found it utterly hilarious the fucker!
I could be mistaken here but the following week against Bradford while we needed a point to be absolutely sure, a 1-0 defeat would've meant Palace had to win their game by 5 clear goals. They were 4 up against Birmingham inside something like the first 30 minutes then that City fan got on the pitch to tell Paul Lake that they were 5-0 up, meaning we needed to equalise. As it happens, Palace weren't 5-0 up and their game ended 4-1 so a 1-0 defeat would've been enough after all. Not that the players would've known that at the time!
