Posted by... quigs eraofthebiff - on ... Tuesday, May 15, 2012
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Tony Lewis
Sydney
Australia
Western Suburbs Magpies
.. is the club I follow
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Search for Players - games or your own previous entries.
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Tonys great website is Kelly's
Kids, honouring Noel Kelly and the Western Suburbs
Magpies 1966-1969
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I'd nominate a Wests player for your Biff section? When
I was a kid playing on the wing he was the player I
modeled my game on his name is Mad Mick Alchin....do
you remember him?? Right winger came down from Newcastle
very fiery...was sent off the night that Wests played
France at Lidcombe Oval in 1968...he hated refs. He
also played for East's then captain/coached Wentworthville
in second division...very tough bloke loved to fight.
Last I heard of he was training horses up Cessnock way.
Tony
the pup, and a mad west supporter .....
BELOW IS AN ARTICLE FROM TONY'S GREAT WEBSITE..... CLICK
THE LINK ABOVE TO VISIT.
What
a Game!! - St George vs Wests
Kogarah Oval - Sunday 14th July, 1968
Who can remember this great game between Western Suburbs
and the star studded St George. Were you there? I was
and so was the 'web master'. I went to school at Marist
Brothers Kogarah right in the heart of Dragon country
so it was a chance to catch up with a few schoolmates
who followed Saints. A kid I played football with at
Arncliffe Scots was the St George ball boy. It was played
at Kogarah Oval on the 14 July 1968 on a cold but fine
Sunday afternoon. Saints had 8 internationals playing
for them that day. Also 2 players who made history that
year. Stan Gordon the winger scored 28 tries in 1968
making him the leading try scorer and Dennis Preston
who beat Graeme Langlands to become Saints leading points
scorer for 1968. West’s had beaten St George in
the first round, which was played at Lidcombe Oval on
24 th April. The score that night was also in the Magpies
favor 22 – 6 but that is another What a Game!!
The West’s team was not per program they had 2
of their in form players out with injury’s Jim
Cody and Rod Smith. Johnny Baker and Johnny Armstrong
replaced them. This was Johnny Bakers first run in First
Grade since he had come down from the Lithgow area.
West’s had a few rookies playing in this game.
Tim Murphy at the age of 19 was playing only his second
game in the top grade and also aged 19 Big Steve Winter
had only played a few games since he had come from sunny
Tamworth and lets not forget the old hard heads like
Ken Stonestreet, Alan Allison and Dave Barsley. One
of my favorite players made quite an impact in this
game as he did most weeks…. Mick Alchin. He scored
a classic wingers try plus his defense was punishing
to say the least. Speaking of big tackles I have just
looked at the video of the game ( tenth time I think)
just now and I saw Alan Allison almost knock Johnny
Raper onto the Princess Highway at Carlton.
Mad Mick Alchin
Anyway lets get on with the game…. West’s
were at the southern end of Jubilee Oval and Saints
were defending the Rockdale end. Saints kick off straight
to Mick Alchin…for some reason they did this 10
or 12 times during the game. West’s scored first
with a long-range penalty taken by Fred Ford who almost
kicked it on to the car park of the recently opened
Rockdale Plaza. Then Barry Glasgow the boy from Tullibigeal
landed a 40-yard field goal. West’s 4 Saints 0.
West’s defence is rock solid….. some extra
strong tackles by John Elford helped keep Saints out.
Then after many sets of 4 tackles Graeme Bowen goes
over next to the posts, Dennis Preston converts and
it's now Saints 7 West’s 4. Are the 'webmaster'
and I worried - a big NO. Steve Winter receives a caution
for telling the Touch Judge that perhaps he should go
to Gibb and Beman on Monday. Dennis Preston has got
his kicking boots on today Saints 9 West’s 4. West’s
keep attacking and at last Mr. Laurie Bruyeres gives
West’s a well-deserved free kick. A. Ford kicks
one more.
Half Time score Saints 9 West’s 6.
In the second half, West’s come out firing on all
cylinders…Tony Ford lands 2 more penalties and
the score is 10 –9 in the Magpies way. Mick Alchin
slips a Saints player a shot to the head and old radar
boot Preston makes it Saints 11 West’s 10. Then
it happened...I don’t know what but it did. West
scored 3 unanswered tries.
Try number one went like this….Murphy passes to
Baker on the St George side of half way Baker then slips
it inside to Glasgow who brilliantly draws 2 defenders
and passes the ball to Alchin who runs 20 yards to score.
Tony Ford misses one and the score is West’s 13
Saints 11.
Second try… Langlands kicks to Alchin he catches
the ball 10 yards out from his line takes the tackle
then after many passes Tim Murphy passes what they now
call a flat pass to Steve Winter who scores near the
posts.This was to be Steve’s only try in first
grade for West’s over the next 5 years. Ford puts
the ball between the posts and onto Jubilee Avenue.
Now it is West’s 18 - Saints 11.
Try number 3….this try was the one that broke Saints
and also the best try seen at Kogarah Oval for many
years. Langland’s kicks from the restart of play
to yes that’s right Alchin who, with much skill,
stops it from going into touch and takes the tackle.
Armstrong is dummy half passes the ball to Allison who
is tackled. Baker at dummy half passes to Armstrong
he runs straight and hard nice pass to Alchin who accelerates
down the right wing beats 2 tackles makes 20 yards basketballs
it inside to Barry Bryant who quickly passes it to Ken
Stonestreet who passes it back inside to Bryant who
looks for support sees the ex threequarter Johnny Armstrong
looming on his inside.. passes to him… Armstrong
puts the foot down and scores adjacent to the uprights.
Ford then converts. It's West’s 23 - Saints 11
and the game is as good as over. Big smiles all round
on the hill. West’s won plenty of good ball from
the scrums thanks to a great front row and a first rate
hooker named Ken “Nebo” Stonestreet. Ken played
for N.S.W in1969 and scored a try in that match to boot.
West’s had one more try to score a simply wrap
round between Bruce Beer and rookie lock John Baker.
Final score West’s 28 - St George 19. This was
only the second time in 14 seasons that Saints had been
beaten on their home ground the first time was West’s
in 1966 when they beat Saints 12 to 9. Also the crowd
of 16,205 was the second biggest ever at Kogarah Oval.
As luck would have it I ran into two mates from school
after the game and I heard their usual excuses why the
Mighty St George had lost. It was a good day to be a
young Magpie fan. If you have any memories of this day
please send me an email or perhaps you would like to
nominate another What a Game from the Kelly Kids era.
The Era of the Biff highly recommends a visit Tony Lewis
and Greg Willis great Western Suburbs Magpies website,
Kelly's Kids, honouring Noel Kelly's time at the helm
at the Magpies.
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