I think there is a dividing line, Stephen, between those unfortunates the Gods have some fun with and those whose demise is self-inflicted eg Lance Armstrong. I wonder if Gatting's contribution was self-inflicted in that it was a failed demonstration of arrogant over-ambition or sheer rotten luck.

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Mike Gatting with his reverse sweep in the 1987 cricket world cup? (The lunch must have been a bit small).

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Thanks for your thoughts, MC. And for the Like Stephen A.
The You Tube clip below is remarkable in that the game kicked of in brilliant spring sunshine but ended as a waterpark with rugby virtually unplayable,

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I was drawn to click on the link provided by JC and thought it
extraordinary after previous more difficult chances to score, that
the last, which couldn't have been much closer or head-on to
plant the ball between those inviting tall posts should have
been "fluffed" so disastrously by the same player. Ouch indeed. .

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Thankyou, Stephen. I think the great Roberto Duran might be in the group after his “No mas” submission against Sugar Ray Leonard. Zinedine Zidane however doesn’t seem to be too tainted.
And thanks for the Likes, Frederick, Melinda and Uilleam.

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I remember watching this final on TV, John, and your poem really brings the day back to me. Although we were from the South, BBC covered a lot of Rugby League and we always watched the floodlit game shown during the week, so we knew a lot of the teams and players well. Poor old Don Fox - it's sad when a fine sportsman's reputation is soured by one mistake. Think of Peter Bonetti or Bernhard Langer.

Thanks a lot for reminding me of those times.

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Thanks Ian. I think Poynton dodged a bullet. If he hadn’t given that penalty away at the death Fox’s miss might not have mattered.
Then again, there’d have been no restart for Hirst to score.
What if?
What if?
It is certainly among the top 10 sporting memories of my youth.

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brilliant stuff John - captures those moments perfectly. we were definitely robbed on that penalty try though - don't think there's ever been another one in the final and it would have meant the missed conversion didn't matter. "He's a poor lad". 😞

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vs0_16EdcY

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