Best Ever Performance by a Villa Player

[villan from luton]

Jimmy Rimmer at Anfield in a 0-0 draw, think it was 79-80, but may have been the year before. Amazing performance

[wittonwarrior]

Rimmer put in so many great performances hard to remember one special one.  Ipswich away one year we won (amazing considering  our poor record there) was one I remember.  Rimmer was a safe keeper completely different to the Aussie who was spectacular but was prone to a  mistake.

[castlefields_villan]

Nigel Spink - ECF 1982

[martin o`who??]

I've said before that the save in that cup game against Coventry is the best i've ever seen. And we should have had a penalty for a foul on Byfield. Not that it still annoys me or anything!

Thats the one I always say is the best save I've ever seen for us, but - and I know it was against us rather than for, but Grobelaars save from Withes header in front of the Holte when we went three-nil down after half an hour and pulled it back to 3-2 was the best of all time imo.

[SoccerHQ]

Benteke v Sunderland anyone...o.k stretching it to say best ever but problem best Villa performance by a striker in recent times. Everytime we crossed the ball into the box that night I expected him to score.

[Damo70]

Nigel Spink - ECF 1982

Nah. He never even came close to making a save in the first ten minutes of the game.

[peter w]

Has bosnich at Sunderland in the 4-1 been mentioned? Or in the same season, I think, the game at Tottenham where he saved 2 pens?

[adrenachrome]

David Rudge when he got the winner v Hull in 1969

0-2 down and going nowhere and came back to win 3-2. One of the games which completely hooked me and means I still believe we can come back from 2 down in matches thirty six years on!

Forty six years not thirty six years. Congratulations, you have reached an age where when you look back on life ten year chunks just all seem to merge into one big mush.

I posted the original in regard to David Rudge somewhat tongue firmly in cheek, but i also remember that particular game with fondness, as said above by Godfrey Brian we were 2-0 down aand came back to win
 3-2. I particularly remembered the celebrations from the players and how Rudge was completely mobbed by his teammates.
Many years later i was invited to the Club 82 lounge or whatever it's called now but David Rudge was invited to say a few words and i don't think a sole remembered him.
After the match he was sat on his own with his wife basically keeping himself to himself so i decided to go and chat with him about his days at the Villa, making a point of asking him about that goal and the ensuing celebration. He wanted to talk and talk and i think he loved the fact that a guy remembered him with fondness and i suppose some knowledge of him as a player, but he did mention that Villa's basic pay structure was particularly low and they all would earn a large win bonus, and remember this was Tommy Docherty's first full season in charge and after the euphoria of his coming the previous season players were contemplating a great many win bonus' to come but alas this wasn't the case and this particular game was the 10th game of the season played on Sept 20th 1969 and in the previous 9 we had not managed a win, in fact losing 7 and drawing only 2. So to finally win a game just brought out the emotions from the players undoubtedly thinking of their pay packet.
It was a good 45 minutes or so spent in David's company and at the time was still living in Torquay whom he joined i believe after leaving Hereford who we sold him to for the princely sum of £6000, i will say though he loved his time at the club and has great memories of his time with us scoring 10 goals in a little over 50 appearances. The other scorers in that game watched by 23666 of us were Brian Godfrey and Lew Chatterley,

I remember the Hull game really well. It was quite chilly for early autumn and it was the last home match before I had to go back to boarding school.

Dave Rudge was a diminutive right winger, a number 7, and was very popular up the back of the Holte. I can still remember writing his name on the back of my satchel when the fashion was to put the favoured formation for your team on the back.

[Mortimer's Bear]

Bit of a strange one, but i remember Mark Draper having an absolutely fantastic game in our 3-0 loss to Liverpool at Old Trafford in the FA Cup Semi Final the week after we won the Coca Cola Cup, cant ever remember feeling so gutted after a match as that one, the 3-0 flattered Liverpool.

Strangely, the standout performance I remember from Bosnich was when we lost 1-0 at home to Coventry in the cup.

There was one save in that game at the Holte End where Bosnich was diving to his right save a shot which was subsequently deflected diverting the ball to his left. He managed to twist around in mid-air and flick the ball round the left-hand post. It's one of the best bits of goalkeeping you could wish to see.

Astonishing save, if memorty serves me correctly the Holte End applauded that for about 20 minutes after.

[Matt Collins]

Not the best but up amongst them

Yorke hat trick vs Newcastle, hit the post or had one disallowed as well.
Yorke both goals against Arsenal away in the cup, thought he was magnificent that night.

That was the night he became a Star.

That's the one for me - on a real national stage. The Newcastle game too when we lost 4-3

Carbone v Wednesday

Merson v Leeds in the cup (motm even though carbone got a hat trick)

Benteke v QPR under sherwood

Bosnich v Sunderland in the cup

[Pat McMahon]

Not the best but up amongst them

Yorke hat trick vs Newcastle, hit the post or had one disallowed as well.
Yorke both goals against Arsenal away in the cup, thought he was magnificent that night.

That was the night he became a Star.

That's the one for me - on a real national stage. The Newcastle game too when we lost 4-3

Carbone v Wednesday

Merson v Leeds in the cup (motm even though carbone got a hat trick)

Benteke v QPR under sherwood

Bosnich v Sunderland in the cup

There was a woman on Fighting Talk this morning who answered the question " great performances on the losing side" by citing "Dwight Yorke scoring a hat trick in a mediocre Aston Villa team losing 4-3 to Newcastle". I was driving and didn't catch her name but was shouting at her to fuck off. We were far from mediocre then.

[mrbrightside]

That Bosnich performance against Sunderland is breathtaking. They absolutely hammered us, it was a one man show.

[themerse]

Merson against Leeds in the cup. That assist for Carbone's hat-trick goal was the sex.

[cdbearsfan]

No nominations for Hitchens vs Charlton yet?

[Kimaster1976]

The Bosnich performance at Sunderland was breathtaking. At one point a couple of the Sunderland players were looking at him with total bemusement on how he was doing it.

Earlier that season he did similar heroics in a Uefa cup tie away to Deportivo. Which prompted Big Ron to boldly state he may very well be the world's best goalkeeper. If he'd stayed away from the party scene and dedicated himself to football he would have been. Such a shame.