THE year of 2004 has been a good one for striking sporting moments and to pick out one, above all th (From Warrington Guardian)

THE year of 2004 has been a good one for striking sporting moments and to pick out one, above all th

With Mike Parsons

But to ask readers to select their fondest occasion and not come up with one myself would be like a politician ducking the hard questions.

Watching Great Britain Rugby League team captain Andy Farrell climb the Elland Road steps, to lift the inaugural Gillette Tri-Nations tournament cup, should have been my favourite memory of the year but it didn't work out that way.

Thanks again, Australia! So, instead, I've chosen something of a fairytale, as I like a story with a happy ending.

It really was Roy of the Rovers stuff when Martin Gleeson touched down his scintillating 13th minute try in Great Britain's opening game of the Tri-Nations

this year.

So much had been written about whether or not Gleeson was fit enough to play after spending almost five months, four of them for being suspended, on the sidelines.

One stupid moment, of betting against his own side (St Helens at the time) to lose at Bradford Bulls on Easter Monday, ended up putting him through a personal hell.

There was national and international media backlash for him to contend with and some hatred from opposition terraces. An investigation finally led to a Rugby Football League disciplinary hearing, a four months ban and a heavy fine followed by a fine from his club and being banned from training.

He had to come to terms with how a season that had promised so much had suddenly turned so sour.

Midway through his ban came the shock transfer to Warrington Wolves, where he was able to train among his new teammates but suffered the frustration of knowing he could not play alongside them until 2005 - because by the time his ban was complete, the club season would be over.

The chink of light at the end of the tunnel for him was the possibility of gaining a place in the GB team for the Tri-Nations. He worked his socks off at Wolves training but by the time of the Tri- Nations his match fitness was going to be low and, despite his undoubted world class talent, this left a question mark over his selection for the Lions' battle with Australia at the City of Manchester Stadium at the end of October.

Great Britain's head coach Brian Noble did give him the nod and from that point, as a follower of Warrington Wolves' fortunes, I had my fingers crossed that everything would go well for him.

The pressure was on. The media spotlight was on him, the game was being shown live on television on both sides of the world but there were nearly 40,000 people inside the City of Manchester Stadium roaring on the nation and he rose to the challenge.

He got on the end of a breathtaking move, shoved off one tackler and carried two more over the try line with him in a display of immense skill and strength.

But the moment that will remain with me the most is the point of touch down, when the jubilation on his face and the salute to the crowd said: 'I'm back.'