GIMH
Norwood's on Fire
Was just thinking about this. The League Cup Final makes me a little...emotional...every year when i think about 2000 and Tranmere playing in it, can't actually believe we got to a cup final looking at where we are now. And then the greatest british manager thread had me thinking about some of my favourite moments in football.
For me, the greatest match i've ever been to, though, wasn't one of our sensational cup wins under King or Aldo, it was a league victory that at the end of the season didn't really mean anything.
it was December 4th 1999, and we were playing Bolton (spit) away, hate them so much, and that was the height of the rivalry, as Aldo and Allardyce also hated each other vehemently (still do by all accounts), and I had sstill never seen us win away at this point.
It was my first visit to the Reebok, hate the stadium, piece of **** that it is, but the thing was, it was cold and rainy, and the cement was lifting at the front. A bit like if anyone has ever been in blackpool's "temporary" away end. Well anyway, we played some good football, and managed to go in at the break one up. In all reality, as much as I hated Bolton, they were clearly a better side than us on paper and you'd have been mad not to take a point, so going in at the break ahead was fantastic.
It kept getting colder and colder but we would soon forget about that as Dave Challinor scored to put us 2-0 ahead, I think with about half an hour to go. We went effing mental, what a great moment! Three points, in the bag, thank you, good night.
They went up the other end and got one back, straight away though. So, all is still to play for. Then, Gareth Roberts, our left-back, well he got sent-off for a second yellow. Poor decision, anything goes against Bolton tbh (he got sent off against them the following season as well, might well be why i loved him so much). So it's 2-1, we're down to ten men, the momentum is clearly with Noblot. And, lo and behold, it didn't take too long for them to make it 2-2. By my reckoning, there were 15 minutes to play, we had squandered a two goal lead and were down to ten men. Nightmare, dreams evaporating everywhere.
So it's pretty obvious what happened next. Scott Taylor had come of the bench. We had signed him from the scum, and it was pretty obvious that he was up for it. About the only games he ever was up for tbh, but I'll take that. On 79, he gets the ball outside the box, hits one with the outside of his foot that stays low and goes into the bottom corner right in front of where I was stood (should have been sat, naughty naughty). i was on the front row, a few of us were, and my god did we go mad, it was mega.
The next ten minutes were awful, painful. They piled the pressure on, Joe Murphy, our keeper, he was worked so hard, made about 3 or 4 fingertip saves in the last 5 minutes. When the whistle went, what joy. Aldo ran onto the pitch pumping his fists everywhere, the delight on the players was amazing. Gareth Roberts came back out to greet the fans, they ain't supposed to do that!! i think reyes did it when Arsenal won the cup in 05 mind...
In the following couple of months, we beat West Ham and Middlesbrough, both good premiership sides back then (West Ham had Ferdinand, Cole, Lampard, Boro had some stars as well), and we beat the scum again over two legs to get to League Cup final, but this game is one I always remember, for my own reasons, as being the best of my life. I remember being at my Dad's the next morning and watching goals on Sunday, what a feeling.
Share your best ever match with us
It doesn't have to be football, it could be any sporting event that you have been at that was your best ever!
For me, the greatest match i've ever been to, though, wasn't one of our sensational cup wins under King or Aldo, it was a league victory that at the end of the season didn't really mean anything.
it was December 4th 1999, and we were playing Bolton (spit) away, hate them so much, and that was the height of the rivalry, as Aldo and Allardyce also hated each other vehemently (still do by all accounts), and I had sstill never seen us win away at this point.
It was my first visit to the Reebok, hate the stadium, piece of **** that it is, but the thing was, it was cold and rainy, and the cement was lifting at the front. A bit like if anyone has ever been in blackpool's "temporary" away end. Well anyway, we played some good football, and managed to go in at the break one up. In all reality, as much as I hated Bolton, they were clearly a better side than us on paper and you'd have been mad not to take a point, so going in at the break ahead was fantastic.
It kept getting colder and colder but we would soon forget about that as Dave Challinor scored to put us 2-0 ahead, I think with about half an hour to go. We went effing mental, what a great moment! Three points, in the bag, thank you, good night.
They went up the other end and got one back, straight away though. So, all is still to play for. Then, Gareth Roberts, our left-back, well he got sent-off for a second yellow. Poor decision, anything goes against Bolton tbh (he got sent off against them the following season as well, might well be why i loved him so much). So it's 2-1, we're down to ten men, the momentum is clearly with Noblot. And, lo and behold, it didn't take too long for them to make it 2-2. By my reckoning, there were 15 minutes to play, we had squandered a two goal lead and were down to ten men. Nightmare, dreams evaporating everywhere.
So it's pretty obvious what happened next. Scott Taylor had come of the bench. We had signed him from the scum, and it was pretty obvious that he was up for it. About the only games he ever was up for tbh, but I'll take that. On 79, he gets the ball outside the box, hits one with the outside of his foot that stays low and goes into the bottom corner right in front of where I was stood (should have been sat, naughty naughty). i was on the front row, a few of us were, and my god did we go mad, it was mega.
The next ten minutes were awful, painful. They piled the pressure on, Joe Murphy, our keeper, he was worked so hard, made about 3 or 4 fingertip saves in the last 5 minutes. When the whistle went, what joy. Aldo ran onto the pitch pumping his fists everywhere, the delight on the players was amazing. Gareth Roberts came back out to greet the fans, they ain't supposed to do that!! i think reyes did it when Arsenal won the cup in 05 mind...
In the following couple of months, we beat West Ham and Middlesbrough, both good premiership sides back then (West Ham had Ferdinand, Cole, Lampard, Boro had some stars as well), and we beat the scum again over two legs to get to League Cup final, but this game is one I always remember, for my own reasons, as being the best of my life. I remember being at my Dad's the next morning and watching goals on Sunday, what a feeling.
Share your best ever match with us
It doesn't have to be football, it could be any sporting event that you have been at that was your best ever!
