Sporting Shocks :

[Guest saint hits the net]

Loads of Shock results in Sport over the years - here's my top five.

1: Foinavon: 100-1 outsider who won the 1967 Grand National:

2: Buster Douglas: Shocked the boxing world by knocking out Mike Tyson in Tokyo:

3: Berwick Rangers 1 Rangers 0 : 1967 again as the Ibrox side were humbled by the wee Gers.

4: Jerzy Szackiel : Either 73 or 74 when the Pole surprisingly won the World Speedway Championship - beating the legendary Ivan Mauger in a run-off. This result was totally unexpected even allowing for the fact that Szackiel had home advantage.

5: USA 1 England 0 : !950 - Some reporters at the time thought the result was a mistake and that it should have read 10-1 to England.

[Wilbur]

1. Italy 0 North Korea 1 (1966 World Cup, can't remember who eventually won the tournament) - The mighty Italians, legends in their own imagination, humped by a pishy wee team from somewhere in the Far East. How we laughed !!

2. Foinavon ?? Pah !! The greatest achievement from a 100/1 outsider came in the 1990 Cheltenham Gold Cup. The CGC is THE steeplechase for true quality horses, running off level weights, not a handicap (or a lottery) like the Aintree showpiece. Norton's Coin, a 100/1 rank-outsider and acknowledged nae-chancer owned & trained by a Welsh farmer called Sirrell Griffiths, humiliated the rest of the field. A superb ride by Graham McCourt, and probably the biggest upset in the history of National Hunt racing.

3. Sunderland 1 Leeds 0 (1973 FA Cup Final). Leeds were the greatest team of their generation - every man an international (I think), facing a bunch of journeymen from the unfashionable second division. Ian Porterfield scored the goal, but goalkeeper Jim Montgomery was the hero of the day for the Rokerites.

4. Arthur Ashe v Jimmy Connors, Wimbledon Final, 1975. Connors was unbeatable. Ashe was a decent player but it promised to be another one-sided final (Connors had humiliated veteran Ken Rosewall in the final the previous year). Ashe gubbed the younger man in 4 sets (6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4).

5. 1985 World Snooker final. The Nugget was mega odds-on to stiffen Dennis Taylor, and it was little surprise when Davis won the opening 8 frames. The rest is history.

Edited April 8, 2003 by Wilbur

[Guest saint hits the net]

2. Foinavon ?? Pah !!

It's still a sporting shock and probably the one name most racegoers would remember if asked.

[10ent]

A half decent performance on Saturday would be a bloody shock given the fact we've as good as told half the squad that they're on the dole come the end of the season.

[Howard Hughes in BlueSuedeShoes]

Here's some that I recall:-

1. Saints 0 Dumbarton 2, Scottish Cup 1981. Saints were top five in the Premier League and were a great cup team. Dumbarton were neither. Gubbed at home to a team from a league below us. Bunch of arse, mate!

2. Cowdenbeath 2 Saints 0. League Cup season 83-84. Saints were in Europe and had reached the cup semis the year before. Talent in abundance. MacAvennie missed a penalty, Cowdenbeath were in the bottom division. Ta ta Buds.

3. Forfar Athletic 5 Saints 1. Got slagged RELENTLESSLY for this one at school the next day. Saints had already dumped high fyers Dunfermline. Had also reached three Scottish Cup semis on the trot. Mid-table of the premier league and Forfar struggling in a league somewhere near the arse end. Bloody hell, this one was a stinker.

4. Saints 0 Clydebank 3. Scottish Cup 1987-88. First game in defence of the trophy at home against the Snotteries from a league below us. 0-0 half time, they rattled in 3 before full time, two of which were scored by Ken Eadie, a Saints fan. The most painful thing about this one was that in retrospect it wasn't really surprising.

5. Clydebank 3 Saints 2. Scottish Cup replay 1990. Can anyone see a pattern emerge here? Saints had gone a goal up in injury time at Love St. only for Roddy Manley to deflect it into his own net thirty seconds later. The draw for the quarters paired the replay winner against Second Division Stirling Albion. Saints had won at Castle Grayskull and would eventually skelp the Smelly Eastenders 3-0 at Boneshaker Row. On this game, though, Saints came back from 2-0 down to equalise. But that man Eadie headed home the winner in the second half and Saints tumbled out once more. Oh, this one hurt SO bad!

Others worth a mention:-

Losing 3-1 in a replay to Thistle at Love St, losing 1-0 to Second Division St. Johnstone in the League Cup at Love St the season after winning the Scotish Cup, being knocked out the Scottish Cup by Second Division Clyde 3-1 at Broadwood in '97, and worst of all lsoing to bloody Celtic this year when they can't even get by a Sh*te team like Boavista.