A look back to a happier time : Mon Jul 01, 2013 1:25 pm  

In this period of austerity for we supporters of the famous Saints I wondered if anyone else had been remembering their favourite Saints game. Mine was this one.

Championship final 22nd May 1971 at Station Road Swinton in front of over 20,000 fans.

Final score Saints 16 Wigan 12 The youngest player was the substitute back Ken Kelly at 18 and the only player over 30 was the prop Graham Rees, in fact the percentile was 25 years across the 15 players. I remember Wigan being classed as the favourites and the Wigan support being ultra confident on the day. It all seemed to be going to script and I thought it would be an unhappy journey home when whoosh up and under it was from Kel I think, and Billy Benyon playing on with a severe arm injury caught it and went over. Offside cried our pie munching friends no said the officials good try to Saints and with time up we had done it. The cinder banks at Station Road rose with the smell of delirious Saints fans skidding down to the retaining wall and the two stands which ran down either side bellowed with cigarette smoke from the nervous people sat on the premium benches. It seemed to deflate Wigan as a club for a long time after that the team was broken up and they seemed to throw money at the problem without finding solutions. However that young team of ours had around seven glorious years in a very competitive league at the time. Leigh won the cup and Dewsbury the championship in that era so it was far more open than we see nowadays. Happy days which made me smile as a Saints fan and look forward to our next trophy.

Re: A look back to a happier time : Mon Jul 01, 2013 2:12 pm  

Was that the game it bounced off the crossbar into Billy Benyons hands and he scored under the posts to win the game for you, I was there in the old wooden stand I used to love the old Station Rd ground, went home sick as a pig mind.

Re: A look back to a happier time : Mon Jul 01, 2013 2:48 pm  

Jeez - don't get Rogues started on that game

Re: A look back to a happier time : Mon Jul 01, 2013 2:49 pm  

If there was ever a case of daylight robbery then that was it.

Wigan were leading by one point and the ball was thrown BACK to Johnny Walsh for a drop goal (two points) The only Saints player behind him was the fullback.

The ball sailed well wide but bounced over the head of Colin Tyrer who was limping heavily into the arms of Billy Benyon

Benyon came into the Stork in Billinge a few months later and we asked him if he was offside. His reply with a big grin "The referee said I wasn't"

Bill Ashurst was outstanding that day, but Eric Ashton made a big mistake persevering with Tyrer who was clearly unfit.

Re: A look back to a happier time : Mon Jul 01, 2013 3:09 pm  

Just too add to that. We're out for a meal on Wednesday with Dave Robinson who played in that game and his wife along with Alex Murphy with his wife. We meet up every few months and it always leads to "lively" debate as you can imagine.

Re: A look back to a happier time : Mon Jul 01, 2013 4:39 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

Colin Tyrer who was limping heavily into the arms of Billy Benyon

All sounds a bit strange if you ask me.

However, I do remember going to a premiership/play off final there a few years after that against Warrington I think with my dad. There were thousands of us in a horrendous crush outside the ground trying to get in and the police eventually just opened the huge wooden gates and let everyone surge in. Fortunately there were no Hillsborough type consequences. It was a warm sunny day and when we got in we could see there was a pitched battle going on at the far end of the ground on a big sort of slag heap that passed as the stand. You could see bottles glinting in the sun as they flew back and forth between the battling sets of fans. Not RL's finest hour but not uncommon with Wire fans at the time.

Definitely not my favourite game.

Re: A look back to a happier time : Mon Jul 01, 2013 5:34 pm  

I've watched this match on dvd recently (2nd half only).The camera angle isn't good but Benyon looked level when the ball was kicked.Anyways some of us remember Ellery's grid iron pass at Old Trafford in 1990 so you could say one each.

Re: A look back to a happier time : Mon Jul 01, 2013 5:44 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

If there was ever a case of daylight robbery then that was it.

Wigan were leading by one point and the ball was thrown BACK to Johnny Walsh for a drop goal (two points) The only Saints player behind him was the fullback.

The ball sailed well wide but bounced over the head of Colin Tyrer who was limping heavily into the arms of Billy Benyon

Benyon came into the Stork in Billinge a few months later and we asked him if he was offside. His reply with a big grin "The referee said I wasn't"

Bill Ashurst was outstanding that day, but Eric Ashton made a big mistake persevering with Tyrer who was clearly unfit.

It's interesting that you tell us that Tyrer was limping heavily, but omit to mention that Benyon had been playing with a serious shoulder injury for over an hour and that John Mantle had been sent off with the score 12-6 to Wigan. If you cant beat 11 men, you don't deserve to win!

Re: A look back to a happier time : Mon Jul 01, 2013 5:57 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

If there was ever a case of daylight robbery then that was it.

Wigan were leading by one point and the ball was thrown BACK to Johnny Walsh for a drop goal (two points) The only Saints player behind him was the fullback.

The ball sailed well wide but bounced over the head of Colin Tyrer who was limping heavily into the arms of Billy Benyon

Benyon came into the Stork in Billinge a few months later and we asked him if he was offside. His reply with a big grin "The referee said I wasn't"

Bill Ashurst was outstanding that day, but Eric Ashton made a big mistake persevering with Tyrer who was clearly unfit.

I love debate and thanks for your slant on events. However you slated Saints no 1 fan for having the audacity to question the selectors of a test team but you are quite happy to question match officials, and Billy Benyon by the way told me it was well onside. Thanks for the point about Johnny in the midst of time I thought Kel had launched it. It is funny perception I always loved Station Road with the railway station and big car parks it seemed huge to at the time a ten year old.

Re: A look back to a happier time : Mon Jul 01, 2013 6:22 pm  

Loz wrote:

I love debate and thanks for your slant on events. However you slated Saints no 1 fan for having the audacity to question the selectors of a test team but you are quite happy to question match officials, and Billy Benyon by the way told me it was well onside. Thanks for the point about Johnny in the midst of time I thought Kel had launched it. It is funny perception I always loved Station Road with the railway station and big car parks it seemed huge to at the time a ten year old.

Old Rogues is expert at biased views