IT WAS England international Gary Lineker who started the comeback.

Everton, winners of Division One and the European Cup Winners’ Cup the previous season, had been given an almighty early shock by Harry Redknapp’s tenacious Cherries at Goodison Park.

Not many would have predicted the Division Three outfit would have pushed their hosts all the way in the League Cup second-round first-leg tie on Merseyside in September 1985.

But not only did Cherries do that – they emerged with the respect of English football to boot.

And yet it could have been even more.

Four days earlier at Goodison, Ian Rush had scored for Liverpool inside 20 seconds but Cherries’ Colin Clarke, a £22,500 summer signing from Tranmere, wasted no time outdoing the Welshman.

No fewer than 11 seconds had passed when Clarke beat keeper Neville Southall, the striker hammering home Ian Thompson’s cross into the box to stun the Toffees faithful. Named football of the year for 1985, Southall’s first touch of the ball to pick it out of the net.

Cherries were far from finished. Colin Russell, a former Liverpool apprentice, added another exceptional goal. The ex-Huddersfield Town man worked his way to the by-line and nutmegged Welsh international Kevin Ratcliffe, before firing hard and low off the inside of the far post.

The crowd of nearly 14,000 could not believe what they were seeing. But it was not long before Lineker turned the screw.

Everton had months earlier splashed out £800,000 on the striker and he repaid a small measure of that fee with a terrific 22nd-minute header from a searching cross by Gary Stevens.

Ten minutes before the break, the reigning Division One champions were level. Stevens again tormented Cherries and Graeme Sharp flicked his delivery on for the 19-year-old Ian Marshall to score his first goal for Everton.

Any words Cherries boss Redknapp said at the break swiftly evaporated into the ether when the visitors suffered a demoralising body blow soon after the restart.

Kevin Sheedy sent in an in-swinging corner and in trying to end the danger, Tom Heffernan only succeeded in heading into his own net.

Despite the setback, Cherries kept the scoreline at 3-2 until the final whistle, a highly-respectable result considering their sticky patch of form in the league – they had taken just seven points from their previous eight matches.

Redknapp was in upbeat mood despite the narrow loss, arguing the outcome had been the equal of the famous 2-0 FA Cup victory over Manchester United the previous year.

He said: “That was a tremendous performance and in scoring twice at Goodison Park, it must rate alongside the home win against Manchester United.

“Against that class of opposition it was one of the best results for this club and it gives us a real chance in the second leg.

“The important thing now is to keep that form going in our league games.”

Cherries had a welcome financial filip from the clash in the north west, with managing director Brian Tiler estimating the club had earned around £15,000 from the £41,000 takings.

Tickets for the return leg sold fast, with supporters forking out between £3.50 and £5 for entry to Dean Court, which included a match programme.

Regrettably for Cherries the occasion ended in a 2-0 defeat.

Lineker, one of a dozen internationals in the Everton squad, headed the away side in front just before half-time.

And Kevin Richardson marked his recall to the starting line-up by putting the tie beyond doubt midway through the second period.

Clarke, who played in both legs, went on to earn the tag of leading scorer for Cherries that season, bagging 26 goals in 46 league games.

The Newry-born frontman was capped six times by Northern Ireland while at Dean Court and impressed at the 1986 World Cup, making him the most recent Cherries player to earn match minutes at a major tournament.

Clarke started two of Northern Ireland’s three games and scored in a 2-1 defeat to Spain, but his country did not progress from the group stage.

Now living in the United States, Clarke is head coach of National Premier Soccer League side Carolina RailHawks.

Everton: Southall, Stevens, Van Den Hauwe, Ratcliffe, Marshall, Harper, Steven, Lineker, Sharp, Bracewell, Sheedy. Substitute: Heath.

Cherries: Smeulders, Heffernan, Sulley, Newson, Brown, Beck, O’Driscoll, Russell, Clarke, Thompson, Morrell. Substitute: Nightingale.