Queens Park Rangers vs Reading

HOOPS
tight game, obviously the lads did very
well and Peter Hucker had a fantastic
match in goal. I know Spurs scored but
we were well in the game. From a
throw-in and a flick-on, Terry Fenwick
nodded our equaliser and all of a
sudden, it was game on again. We
went back to the hotel knowing that
we had a replay to look forward to on
the Thursday evening – another
chance of a victory.
When did you realise you would be in
the starting line-up for that replay at
Wembley?
I was obviously hoping to start
because I had played quite a chunk of
the first match when Clive came off,
but I didn’t know for sure until a couple
of days before the replay. I was thrilled
that I was going to be involved and I
just loved every minute of the game,
apart from the result, which was
devastating. It is among my favourite
memories from my football career. I
am so proud nowadays to say that I
played in an FA Cup final.
We did everything but score in that
1-0 defeat…
Quite early on, Tony Currie brought
down Tottenham’s Graham Roberts in
the box. Glenn Hoddle converted the
penalty for them and it looked like we
were up against it. But we played really
well and I thought I had equalised
when I shot home from close range. A
free-kick came in, the ball went up in
the air and I half-volleyed it into the
net. As I struck the ball, I did hear the
whistle but naturally I carried on.
Regrettably, the ref gave a free-kick
for Spurs and, to this day, I don’t really
know why my goal was disallowed.
We’ll never know! We had lots of other
good chances and John Gregory hit
the bar with a volley, a great effort
from him! I think we were the better
team for the replay despite being
Division Two underdogs. It was just
one of those games where it didn’t go
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