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greatest game memories


Anita Bath

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11 hours ago, Excolt 1 said:

Is that when Stuart Whitehead scored a length of the field try? 

No that was another game. I was stood in that large stand behind the goals at the other end to the double decker stand. It was really foggy that day and we could only see to just beyond the half way line. Play was out of sight in our half when I heard a loud roar. A second or two later Whitehead came sprinting out of the fog and straight towards us. He was quick for a prop and gobbled up the ground for a great try.

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9 hours ago, Anita Bath said:

with nothing else to pass the time I thought i would find the details of these games and tidy up a few matters.

 

Always difficult identifying wins at oldham . . .there have been so many?

Two different oldham games there, both Xmas time

The one where whitehead got the try was 26 Dec 1973 (won 15-11)

There one with Chamberlain kicking was 27 Dec 1971 (won 8-2) 

 

As I said...so many to choose from!
 

The fev game I selected ended 17-17. Fogarty, brophy and halmshaw scored the tries...what glorious players they were.  13 Jan 1974. We had won our previous 8 games, including the JP QF v Leeds with the Holliday drop goal (30 Dec 73) and the Bramley SF 14-2 6 jan 74, but Starkey wasnt at the club. he left around 1970 I think)

We then went on to win the next 3 games to make it 12 games unbeaten but then lost the John Player Cup final to Wire.

 

The leigh cup game - 25 Jan 69 It was 13-4 (they didnt cross our line) and yes starkey scored all 13 points. We then played Bramley away in second round and drew 7-7 winning the replay 7-4 and going on to the Wakefield tie in the QF. 10-10 away and lost 15-2 in the replay. That was Dale’s promotion season and I missed the away game to watch Dale. My brother was there (puggy) and we were both at the replay.

 

Hull KR cup game in1960s...8 feb 1964 drew 12-12 away and lost 22-7 in replay. The other HKR cup game was 29 Jan 1989 we lost 24-28.

Now to saints games

The earlier saints game mentioned was (i think) 23 march 1970 lost 0-10. Not many teams kept that saints team down to 10 points. Earlier in the season at their place we scored 10...but they scored 63 (sixty three).

 

The remarkable win over saints was 30 oct 1969  13-2 at athletic grounds.

 

 

the post strike game was 5 sep 1976, despite Hodkystwo tries we lost 21-24.

 

The dewsbury game was 17 april 1974 won 13-11 with 10 changes to the starting line up from the previous game. Dewsbury were champions the previous season with two stevos....mick and Nigel. That took us into the end of season play off which as mentioned was a disaster with the first ream players back in...lost at Widnes 31-5

 

The Hull FC game was 14 March 1976 we won 6-5 with three John Maloney goals

 

Finally the famous wigan cup semi final was 29 March 1958....what a day. Closest to wembley we have been in the 62 years since was the Wakefield QF in 1969.

 

I havent mentioned the  play off final win (against who else but ...Oldham) submitted by the collector since its probably reasonably fresh in our memories. I do remember the smile on Puggies face that day. When the collector was kind enough to join me in seeing Puggy in his coffin the night before his funeral he was wearing his Hornets shirt and the smile was still there.

 

Whats remarkable about these submissions are many games that we actually lost...but each one was testament to the fighting hornets spirit. I am glad nobody mentioned that 63-10 loss at saints!

 

I hope some of you enjoy these memories as much as I have tracing the records.

 

Who knows what lies ahead in these difficult times but what we all have is our cherished Hornets memories and wherever we may end up they will always be with us.

 

Keep em coming and keep well

 

 

I remember the 13-2 win over Saints very well, we scored two great long distance tries down the main stand side. I think Norman Brelsford and David Taylor scored them. Now that was a great win, nobody gave us a prayer and we won very convincingly.

Regarding the Dewsbury game I recall they got really frustrated with the resistance Hornets put up and their prop Harry Beverley ended up getting the early bath.

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It wasnt his first early bath either!   

 

Our season sort of petered out after the John Player Cup Final so this really was a win out of the blue.

 

That was without doubt my favourite season...absolute top quality players playing under a maestro coach.

 

Also memorable was the game against the aussies on the 1967 tour....played in a november blizzard. Any other game would have been postponed in those conditions. Looking at the names in the australian team it was an honour to have seen them play in Rochdale. And of course Hornets Malcolm Price played centre for GB in the tests.

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The thing with the 63-10 defeat at Saints was we scored first and last Steven. I have many great memories, maybe things have to jog my memory these days. Do you remember doing the scoreboard on the hill or carrying the half time draw around and your bothers knitted jumper in the current Hornets design ( and best). Travelling all over to watch Hornets with Ian Coupe, Stuart Mclurg, Derek the meat pie man and many more. 

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Yes I still have an old photo of him in the scoreboard, sticking his head out ofthe hornets try ‘window’ and those names ring many bells. I think he used to get a shilling for carrying that half time draw board around the dog track off ‘half time’ Jimmy.

And there was the other Jimmy...jimmy cotton, who passed away a few years ago...he could recite the fixture list from memory...even if he did get some of the team names slightly wrong ( “going to goosbry’). Jimmy worked at Turners at the same time as our dad.

Our mother knitted that jumper ...as much her pride and joy as it was his. He later had a motor cycle leather jacket made up in the same colours and design.

And yes, now you mention it, you have jogged the memory, first and last and ###### what happened in between them two tries. 

Keep the memories of great games coming everyone. 

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A game I remember was in 1965 when we beat Leigh 19-0  at the Athletic  Ground in the semi final of the Lancashire Cup. Johnny Noon was player coach. He played when he was ineligible because of suspension.  Hornets had included a second team cup competition match as one of the matches counting towards his ban . He had played too many first team matches to be eligible to play in the second team cup  so it could not count. Luckily  the RL didn't disqualify us.  Mick Baxter made a superb break for one of the tries.  Unfortunately we lost to Warrington in the final at St Helen's on a Friday night. 

The pack was quite formidable at that time with a front row of Stan Owen, Kevin Ashcroft, Peter Birchall.  Behind them were Apesai Toga, Ken Parr and Mick Baxter. Many clubs complained at the hard approach adopted by Noon's team and I have to admit we seemed to appear in front of the disciplinary panel fairly often. 

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I remember going to a few games as a kid in the seventies and eighties, but didn't have a clue who was playing or what  the score was. My first memorable game was the Boxing day '89 win. That same season we went to York and played in a wind tunnel. Lost a close game, but a certain Mr Dave Watson had a great game for York that day.

Some one should compile all these into a booklet that could be sold as a fundraiser.

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6 hours ago, Pedro said:

A game I remember was in 1965 when we beat Leigh 19-0  at the Athletic  Ground in the semi final of the Lancashire Cup. Johnny Noon was player coach. He played when he was ineligible because of suspension.  Hornets had included a second team cup competition match as one of the matches counting towards his ban . He had played too many first team matches to be eligible to play in the second team cup  so it could not count. Luckily  the RL didn't disqualify us.  Mick Baxter made a superb break for one of the tries.  Unfortunately we lost to Warrington in the final at St Helen's on a Friday night. 

The pack was quite formidable at that time with a front row of Stan Owen, Kevin Ashcroft, Peter Birchall.  Behind them were Apesai Toga, Ken Parr and Mick Baxter. Many clubs complained at the hard approach adopted by Noon's team and I have to admit we seemed to appear in front of the disciplinary panel fairly often. 

My first ever game. I'd recently broken my leg playing football and watching soccer was just too frustrating as I was dying to start playing again. A pal of mine had been nagging me about watching Hornets but I kept laughing him off. Anyway he persisted and I went to the Leigh game. One game and I was hooked. it was a sunny evening and the ground looked a picture, the 'nets played really well. Even though I started playing football again after that I was a Hornets and rugby league fan.

We battered Leigh that night, Toga was unstoppable. That was a really aggressive pack, I reckon not many teams fancied playing us.

I think that game was in late 1966 because I broke my leg in August just after the football World Cup.

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The Hornets v Leigh Semi was played on Thurs 23rd Sept 1965 and the final was Friday 29th October 1965.  

Wikipedia gives Hornets team for the final as R Pritchard, A Pratt, G Starkey, J Chamberlain, G Unsworth,  M Garforth, J Fishwick,  P Birchall, K Ashcroft, S Owen, K Parr, A Toga, M Baxter.     V Drui came on as a sub.

Graham Starkey scored all Hornets points.

Two substitutes had just been allowed but only for injury. I think you could only substitute in the first half in those days. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

 

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54 minutes ago, Pedro said:

The Hornets v Leigh Semi was played on Thurs 23rd Sept 1965 and the final was Friday 29th October 1965.  

Wikipedia gives Hornets team for the final as R Pritchard, A Pratt, G Starkey, J Chamberlain, G Unsworth,  M Garforth, J Fishwick,  P Birchall, K Ashcroft, S Owen, K Parr, A Toga, M Baxter.     V Drui came on as a sub.

Graham Starkey scored all Hornets points.

Two substitutes had just been allowed but only for injury. I think you could only substitute in the first half in those days. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

 

Thanks for that Pedro. Obviously my grey cells are diminishing !

Regarding George Parkinson, he was an experienced and very tough character who came to Hornets towards the end of his career. I remember him keeping Alex Murphy very, very quiet one night when Murphy was playing for Leigh. He gave Alex a " quietener " early on and he was a bit off the pace after that.

 

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Thanks to ever body for some great memories , the 1965 Lancashire cup final is one , Toga ripping the Leigh defence apart in the Athletic ground mud in the Lancashire Cup  semi final and winning at Featherstone under Deryk Fox.

None of these resulted in silverware but 2013 a different story against Oldham made it so much sweeter after over 50 years of watching waiting for a cup we finally had one.

I still miss the Athletic Grounds it's later years a bit  run down but it was Home.

Alan you are right we have some great laughs on Ellen Smiths when we were kids , again we had as always we had more defeats than wins kept the faith.

ONWARD HORNETS ONWARD 

 

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Jogging the memories a little more regarding some of the games mentioned:

Lancashire Cup run 1965

1st rd Blackpool Borough (a) 14-9 T: Unsworth, Parr,  G: Starkey 3, Noon

QF Swinton (h) 4-0 G: Starkey 2

SF Leigh (h) 19-0 T: Baxter, Pratt, Toga G: Starkey 4, Noon

Chamberlain, Pratt, Noon, Starkey, Unsworth, Garforth, Fishwick, Birchall, Ashcroft, Drui, Ken Parr, Toga and Baxter

Final  Warrington (at Saints) 5-16 T: Starkey G; Starkey

Pritchard, Pratt, Starkey, Chamberlain, Unsworth, Garforth, Fishwick, Birchall, Ashcroft, Owen, Ken Parr, Toga and Baxter

After winning the semi final we lost 4 of the next 5 games leading to the final.

 

John Player Cup run 1973-4

JP 1 Huddersfield (h) 18-2 T: Butler 2 Hodgkinson Birchall G: Holliday 3

JP 2 York (h) 11-0 Butler, Brelsford, Whitehead G: Holliday

JP QF Leeds (h) 7-5 T: Whitehaed G; Holliday 2 (including THAT drop goal!)

Crellin, Brelsford, Brophy, Taylor, Aspinall, Butler, Gartland, Holliday, Harris, Whitehead, Hodgkinson,  Sheffield, Halmshaw

JP SF Bramley (h)  14-2 T: Butler 2 G: Holliday 4

Crellin, Brelsford, Brophy, Taylor, Aspinall, Butler, Gartland, Holliday, Harris, Delooze,  Sheffield, Fogarty, Halmshaw

Bramley were having great season and won the BBC floodlit trophy, that was played on a Tuesday afternoon because of the power workers strike.

JP Final (at Wigan) 16-27 T: Brelsford 2, Brophy, Taylor G: Holliday 2

Crellin, Brelsford, Brophy, Taylor, Aspinall, Butler, Gartland, Holliday, Harris, Whitehead, Fogarty, Sheffield, Halmshaw

Coach Myler was preferring the ball playing Nipper Harris at hooker to Peter Clarke, who was a magician at ball winning. Harris got dominated in the scrums by who else but Kevin Ashcroft, who won man of the match.

Harris kept his place for the next 2 games, both heavy losses, and never played again. Clarke went on to play another 3 seasons at hooker.

After winning the SF we won 3 and drew 1 of the next 4 games leading to the final. After the loss in the final we  lost 9 drew 1 in the next 10 games then won three of the last 5 ( and yes one of them was v Biffos who were relegated!)

I suppose you could say the draw was kind to us in both these cup runs, only 1 away game.

But always the bridesmaid, never the bride!

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On 26/03/2020 at 06:03, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I remember the 13-2 win over Saints very well, we scored two great long distance tries down the main stand side. I think Norman Brelsford and David Taylor scored them. Now that was a great win, nobody gave us a prayer and we won very convincingly.

Regarding the Dewsbury game I recall they got really frustrated with the resistance Hornets put up and their prop Harry Beverley ended up getting the early bath.

1971-2 BBC Floodlight Trophy 

1st round was 2 legs. then 2 home and 2 away games, including the final which was at Saints, where we havent won since 1948! 

1st Round Oldham (h) 28-2 (a) 14-16 

2nd Round Salford (a) 17-15

QF. Widnes (h). 6-5

SF Hull (h) 30-8

F. St Helens (a) 2-8

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I remember all those games. The clincher in the Hull game was Norman Brelsford picking up a really tricky loose ball right off the ground on the run and then going the length of the field to score. Norman's handling could be a bit iffy at times and I was expecting him to knock on but he picked the ball up perfectly.

In the final we managed to keep Saints try less at home ! How was the final not played at a neutral ground I never could figure out.

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3 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I remember all those games. The clincher in the Hull game was Norman Brelsford picking up a really tricky loose ball right off the ground on the run and then going the length of the field to score. Norman's handling could be a bit iffy at times and I was expecting him to knock on but he picked the ball up perfectly.

In the final we managed to keep Saints try less at home ! How was the final not played at a neutral ground I never could figure out.

Probably because the final was already set down for Knowsley Road John. Think Eric Prescott scored the only try in a pretty dour game. Never mind,just getting to the final and playing in front of the BBC cameras was enough. From memory the Hull game was a bit iffy kicking off for some reason,probably incessant rain or summat,but Hornets really turned it on.

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5 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I remember all those games. The clincher in the Hull game was Norman Brelsford picking up a really tricky loose ball right off the ground on the run and then going the length of the field to score. Norman's handling could be a bit iffy at times and I was expecting him to knock on but he picked the ball up perfectly.

In the final we managed to keep Saints try less at home ! How was the final not played at a neutral ground I never could figure out.

Competition played on Tuesday evenings so it was always played on one of the participants grounds to try and boost attendence. It was all done according to the draw so Saints got lucky. The draw was made early in the season, a bit like Wimbledon, so you knew who you were likely to face as you won games.

 

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2 hours ago, DiddyDave said:

Probably because the final was already set down for Knowsley Road John. Think Eric Prescott scored the only try in a pretty dour game. Never mind,just getting to the final and playing in front of the BBC cameras was enough. From memory the Hull game was a bit iffy kicking off for some reason,probably incessant rain or summat,but Hornets really turned it on.

You are hallucinating Diddy!  Too many Tui Beers!

 

It was all goal kicks, Coslett 4 chamberlain 1

 

If only we could hold saints to goalkicks now

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