Newport County(H).19/10/63.

Eleven days after Robin Stubbs ran riot against Newport County at Plainmoor, the South Wales town's rugby club had a rather better result. They beat the All Blacks at Rodney Parade by a single dropped goal in front of 25,000. The scorer? A bloke called John Uzzell (who, admittedly, was usually known as Dick).

A Torquinian who played many times at Rodney Parade? John WIddicombe who had eight seasons with Newport RFC in the 1980s. Here's what the Black and Ambers website says about him:

JOHN WIDDECOMBEPOSITION: LOCK
Date Of Birth25/11/1955 (57)
Place Of BirthTorquay
Height193cm / 6' 3"
Weight109kg / 17st 2lbs

Joined from Torquay where he made his debut as 18yr old in 1974. Newport RFC debut Pontypridd (H) Feb 25th 1981. Made 260 apps to 1988 when he returned to Torquay (where he became captain and continued to play for 1st XV until he was 44). England trial & member of English Squad, Barbarian, Devonshire, Crawshays. One of most popular players to play for Newport. Famous for scoring “try” that never was in 1986/7 Cup Q/F at Cardiff (L 12-15). 200th app March 1986 and 250th Oct 1987. Later asst coach at Torquay and still playing up to age of 50 (on bench 2004/5) and played for 2nds in 2005/6.
Newport RFC record : 1980/1-1987/8 : 259 apps / 37t / 4c / 7p.

There he is again! Ralph Hunt is in the Newport side at number 10 and I bet he scored at least one of their goals.

Ralph scored 184 goals in his career and would have certainly have popped in a few more had he not died on 17 December 1964 when he was only 31. He never scored for his home town club Portsmouth but he got plenty of goals after he left Fratton Park, for Bournemouth, Derby, Norwich, Grimsby, Swindon, Port Vale, Newport and Chesterfield.

This tribute to Ralph is borrowed from the Norwich site "Sing Up The River End"

Ralph Arthur Robert Hunt was born on the 14th of August 1933 in Portsmouth. He joined Norwich City on the 7th of July 1955, signed by Tom Parker in his second spell as manager of the club. A lively and opportunistic centre forward, it would be hard to find any other Canary in history with greater penchant for scoring goals. He hit the net 33 times in his first season at Carrow Road - a campaign total that remains a record to this day, and in his three year stay with the club never went more than six consecutive matches without getting his name onto the scoresheet. He left us in 1958, and continued his career in the same vein with numerous other clubs.

As a teenager he signed for his hometown club Portsmouth, playing in their youth team and having time on the groundstaff. In 1952-53 he made five Division One appearances for them but was not retained, and he moved along the south coast to join Bournemouth, who were rivals of Norwich City in Division Three South. He hit seven league goals in 33 games for the Cherries - modest it has to be said by his later standards. But with Parker back at the helm, Norwich saw him as a worthwhile addition and he was duly signed. To say he took Carrow Road by storm would be an understatement. His spirited disposition meant fans needed little time taking to him, and when he quickly added goals to those characteristics, the relationship was complete. His début came on the 20th of August 1955 in a game lost 3-1 at Southend United. Ralph opened his account however four days later as the Canaries eased past Shrewsbury Town 3-1 at Carrow Road. He was up and running.

The events that followed in that 1955-56 season were historic. Hunt hit the back of the net with stunning regularity - a hat-trick against Millwall, and two goals against Watford, Swindon Town, Northampton Town, Reading, Walsall, and Southampton. In the autumn he was joined in the City forward line by Johnny Gavin, who returned for a second spell from Tottenham Hotspur. Gavin of course is always remembered as a club legend, scoring more goals for us than anyone else in history. But even he could not keep pace with Ralph. Norwich finished the campaign in 7th position place, with all the signs that once more Tom Parker had put together a team capable of a push for greater things.

What happened in 1956-57 is hard to understand therefore. After a good start, fortunes slumped. The Canaries, who were on their knees financially, finished the season in bottom place and had to apply for re-election. It cost Parker his job. But Hunt, to his great credit, had another good term in front of goal, scoring 21 times in 44 starts - some record in a struggling side.

And he kept it going during the next twelve months too. With new manager Archie Macaulay in place, the club made a complete u-turn, rising back to 8th place. Ralph continued through it all, confirming that a natural goalscorer will find success in any standard of team provided chances are made for him. 1957-58 saw another good haul - 18 strikes in 40 appearances. But he lost his place in the starting line up towards the end of the season, replaced by new signing Derrick Lythgoe from Blackpool. It was an important season for the club as that 8th position meant membership of Division Three (and not Division Four) in the campaign that followed. But either way Hunt would not be with them, for in the summer, he left for Second Division Derby County.

His final Canary appearance came on the 7th of April 1958 in the 1-1 draw at home to Watford. He left with a fabulous record of 72 goals in 132 matches in all competitions.

His career thereafter involved a number of clubs, but his gift of scoring remained wherever he played. The stay at the Baseball Ground was short - just one season, but ten league goals came in his twenty four games. The following season he transferred to Third Division Grimsby Town, and in his time there he scored 39 goals in only 53 outings. A brief time at Swindon Town in 1961 produced 13 from just 21 starts. Later that year, Norwich City legend Norman Low, by this time manager of Port Vale, forked out £3,500 for his services, the highest amount anyone ever paid for Ralph. Ironically the move did not quite work out, though he did, perhaps not surprisingly, score six times in fourteen league appearances.

Next stop were Newport County in Division Four, and again Hunt continued what came naturally. Between 1962 and 1964 he scored 37 times in 83 matches. In July 1964 he moved to Chesterfield in the same division.

Ralph Hunt was quite simply a sensational practitioner in the art of goalscoring. He more than proved that in his time wearing the yellow shirt of Norwich City, and his achievements for the club were recognised when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003. He came from a talented footballing family - his uncle Doug and brother Dennis both had good professional careers, and his nous in front of goal was admired by all who played with him, managed him, or watched him. A final Football League record of 184 goals in 374 matches says all you need to know.

In the winter of 1964, Ralph tragically died from injuries sustained in a car crash at Grantham. He had been a passenger in the vehicle, and was returning home with Chesterfield team mates who had gone to watch Peterborough United before a forthcoming FA Cup tie. He sadly passed away on the 17th of December 1964 in the Grantham & Kesteven Hospital, aged 31.
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Seeing that press cutting of the Newport game in 1963 reminds me again of finding a similar report in a derelict Sheffield church in the 1970s. I'm guessing it was the Daily Express that I picked up from a pile of strewn newspapers. And the first thing I noticed? A report of Torquay 8 Newport 3.

Given the company I was keeping that day, I'd imagine it was 1975 fully twelve years after the event. As for location it would have been one of the chapels - Anglican or non-conformist - at Sheffield General Cemetery up the hill from Bramall Lane. The cemetery took burials up until 1978 - a few of the founding fathers of Sheffield football are sure to be interred there - but the buildings had long been in a sorry state. They're now bricked up but maybe word of Stubbsy's feat lies interred inside one of them.