Wanderers 6 Chelsea 0 Division One March 4, 1959

FREDDIE Hill helped himself to a hat-trick and gave a performance that whetted the appetites of all Wanderers fans as Chelsea were hit for six at Burnden Park.

The FA Cup holders had previously rattled in six against Manchester United, but this was far and away a more convincing performance – rated by many as one of their best – as they systematically took the Pensioners apart with an outstanding team effort, littered with individual brilliance, that typified that formidable side.

Chelsea were so rattled by the second half performance that they resorted to spoiling tactics that didn’t go down well zwith the Burnden crowd. But Nat Lofthouse’s Wanderers coped with the rough stuff and and answered it in the best way possible – by playing football.

Hill, just 19 and only getting first-team football because Dennis Stevens was injured, opened the scoring after 11 minutes.

He knocked in the rebound after his back-header from a Tommy Banks free-kick had been blocked on the line.

And he doubled his tally 15 minutes later with a smart finish after taking a return pass from Lofthouse.

Chelsea threatened on a couple of occasions and there was some suggestion at half-time that they might make a game of it. But Championship-chasing Wanderers had other ideas and, despite having to shuffle things round because of injuries – Banks ended up playing on the left wing – they produced a mesmerising performance that might have ended with a double-figure score had Matthews not been in such stunning form in the visitors’ goal.

Lofthouse headed the third and fourth goals and when Hill was brought down, regular penalty-taker Ray Parry sportingly allowed the youngster to take the spot-kick and complete his hat-trick.

Parry’s generosity was applauded but he still managed to get in on the act. In fact, he drew the biggest cheer of the night when he scored what many regarded as the goal of his life. Hill might have taken the scoring honours but Parry had been the game’s most influential player and he put the seal on a magnificent personal performance eight minutes from time when he slipped one tackle after another on a 40-yard dribble, and rounded off by slamming a right-foot shot past a shell-shocked Matthews.

Wanderers: Hopkinson, Hartle, Banks, Hennin, Higgins, Edwards, Birch, Hill, Lofthouse, Parry, Holden.

l If you have special memories of a past Wanderers game against any of this season’s future opponents, write to: Memory Match, Sports Desk, The Bolton News, Newspaper House, Churchgate, Bolton BL1 1DE, or email to gsharrock@theboltonnews.co.uk.