Blues made all the early running with Villa keeper Sims making fine saves from Jimmy Harris and Ken Leek, and then a Harris effort which was deflected onto the crossbar.
On 14 minutes Blues struck a cracking goal. Malcolm Beard and Terry Hennessy set up Harris who sprayed a perfect pass to Bertie Auld on the left wing. When the ball was centred Leek came steaming in and slammed his effort past the helpless Sims.
Jimmy Bloomfield then took a knock which hindered Blues for a while and during this period Villa undeservedly levelled through Bobby Thomson, who was to later sign for Blues.
Many thought that Blues, considering their wretched season, would now crumble. They were wrong! Just seven minutes after the break Auld set up Leek who whipped a low drive into the corner of the net.
Blues were now well in charge again and goal number three came on 66 minutes when Bloomfield ghosted between two static Villa defenders to meet Harris’s right-wing cross.
And, there could have been more goals with Leek (twice) and Auld both coming close.
As it was the 3-1 scoreline was ample enough as Blues went on to lift the trophy four days later with a 0-0 draw in the second leg at Villa Park - the final in these days being played over two-legs.
Line up: Schofield, Lynn, Green, Hennessy, Smith, Beard, Hellawell, Bloomfield, Harris, Leek, Auld.
Just The Two Results On This Day In Blues History:
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| Overall playing record for 23rd May: Played 2, Won 1, Drawn 1, Lost 0, Scored 5, Conceded 3 | ||||||||||||||||||