Guest d990030 Posted January 24, 2004 Report Share Posted January 24, 2004 well,bieng a new follower,i can only really comment on this season,but stoke reading had to rank up therestoke needing a 5-1 for victory.schott and pickering against readings guests,bird and their own rider,smith.pickering leading,schott heading bird for 2nd place,all looks good,until pickering slides off trying to give schott some more room.schott holds off bird for the final lap and stoke lose,44-46.painful memories Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted January 25, 2004 Report Share Posted January 25, 2004 (edited) There is no doubt that, for me, the best last-heat decider came on 14 August 1965. It is a match that, even after nearly 40 years, I can still vividly remember. It was the third round of the Knock-Out Cup. West Ham had been very lucky to draw at home to Wimbledon the previous Tuesday when Wimbledon's Reg Luckhurst's bike blew up in the last heat. If that hadn't have happened the Dons would have won. So, Wimbledon were favourites for the replay on their own track. But there was even worse news for West Ham supporters when we arrived at Plough Lane. Two of our heat leaders were out. Sverre Harrfeldt had been injured the night before and Norman Hunter had a long standing engagement to be at his friend's wedding. There were no guests. Tony Clarke was thrown in for his first-ever match and Dons' junior Geoff Hughes was recruited as reserve. After the first six heats, the Dons were winning 21-15. Ken McKinlay was brought in as tactical substitute with Malcolm Simmons and the Hammers fought back with a 5-1. After that there was no stopping Simmons. At that time, it must be remembered he was just a young fairly average second string with an average of round about 5 points per match. But he then went on to beat Dons' skipper, Olle Nygen twice and Reg Luckhurst once. With one heat to go the score was 45-45. The atmosphere between these two local rivals was electric. The Dons had Keith Whipp and Reg Luckhurst out, while the Hammers tracked Ken McKinlay and Malcolm Simmons. Once again it was Simmons who shot away from Luckhurst and with McKinlay taking third place, the Hammers had pulled off the impossible and won by 49 points to 47. For good measure Simmons went on to win the second half final from Olle Nygren and then, in a special race in which Simmons was handicapped 10 yards behind Nygren, he won again! From that meeting on, West Ham did not lose another official fixture all season and went on to take the treble of Cup, League and London Cup and Simmons went on to be a star. As I said, it is a meeting I shall never forget. Edited January 25, 2004 by norbold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyMac Posted January 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2004 Sean, I'm sorry, you're right - that was an epic Hawks recovery at The Shay and I wished I'd have been there to witness it. We always got hammered there when I saw us, so I possibly decided to give that one a miss. Fool, because you should never have underestimated Zenon and Thommo. Norbold, that sounds like another unmissable night. Super Simmo in the making... Hackney, West Ham.. I've gotta sign off now, this is too much to bear... C'mon Northampton! Tony Mc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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