Flashback - Everyone laughed at me, until before the final kick of the game.

Everyone has an opinion at a rugby league match. Every man, woman and child thinks they can coach England to a test series win against Australia, something that hasn't been done in 37 years. Every Warrington fan thinks they can coach their side to Super League glory. And everyone thinks there is no chance of any match ending in a draw. And they're right. Which is why on 29th June 2008 I placed £2 for Hull FC V Warrington to end in a draw after 80 minutes. At 16/1 it would return £32 providing enough money for a match ticket for the Huddersfield away game three weeks later (which turned out to be nerve wrecking as we only won 19-18). I was ridiculed right until kick off, with laughter coming from people I had never even met. I had also put £3 on Danny Tickle to be the first try scorer at 20/1.

But there was a very simple reason for betting on an unlikely draw. Both teams were going through a rough patch of form. Warrington had won two out of their previous five games, including a 52-14 thrashing in the south of France the week before. Morale between the fans and players was at a season low after an elderly woman had abused the team before the flight back to Manchester in Perpignan airport. Nonetheless, enough fans travelled to Hull to witness one of the most thrilling games we'd seen all season. Hull meanwhile, had only won one game in five and were having their worst season since the club's merger with Gateshead Thunder at the end of the 1999 season. Ladbrokes (who had occupied the stadium's betting stands since Hull City started to win games in the Football League) couldn't really separate the two teams, giving Hull FC a two point start on the handicap coupon.

The match started well... for Hull. Shaun Berrigan dived in close to the touchline ruling out my bet for first try scorer. Warrington's fast paced winger, Kevin Penny, scored during one of our few attacking opportunities all half while Berrigan scored his second try of the day soon after. Paul Rauhihi was sin-binned seconds before the half time interval ending a dismal half for James Lowes side being 12-6 down. While things looked grim, mathematically we weren't out of the running yet. The only thing putting doubt into our minds was our awful performance.

Lee Briers opened the scoring early on in the second half next to the posts to level the scores 12 all. Jodie Broughton on-loan from Leeds gave Hull another four point lead until Penny scored his second after Gareth Carvell, playing against his future club, knocked on and the speedy winger took advantage. After Chris Hicks knocked over a penalty making up for his earlier conversion failure, Kirk Yeaman looked to have won things for Hull giving the hosts a 22-18 lead with five minutes remaining.

But then Warrington did something their fans haven't in a while. They refused to give up. In the final minute Matt King burst through the inexperienced partnership of Tom Briscoe and Broughton to level the scores 22 points a-piece. Then the full time hooter blew. But Warrington still had to take the conversion five metres from touch.

My bet of £32 looked dead certain to come through, as Hicks had been a little inconsistent from the sidelines all season. For the next sixty seconds I was sitting on the fence in a no-lose situation. I was back in that catch twenty-two situation when betting against my own team. Miss the conversion and I'm in the money. Score the goal and I, with a few hundred others, celebrate one of the finest Warrington fight backs seen in recent years. From my vantage point, the ball would come directly towards me if the attempt was successful. In fact, I'm pretty sure Hicks used me as a target to hit the ball with. It was a beautiful kick that split the posts in two, and as the touch-judges raised their flags to signal a goal, all though of 'what might have been' was erased as we celebrated a heart stopping victory.

On the coach journey back home, I was further ridiculed. Although I did put forward the argument that the scores were level directly after the final hooter. But I threw my betting slip away. I doubt Ladbrokes would let me redeem my bet under the circumstances.

Picture taken by thepurpleempire at www.flickr.com
 Match report seen at www.sportinglife.com