and Irish's coastal tour Alan Cunningham and Colin Irish maintained their south coast links during the rest of their careers. Together with Steve Nelson and Mike Spaid they formed the core of the Worthing Bears' top tier title winning side in 1992–93. They also found the secret to winning major knockout competitions, with three playoff titles and a National Cup before departing in 1996. Having played to the east of Portsmouth for Worthing, they then went west to Eastleigh in 1997, taking Solent to a third tier championship in 1997–98 and a second tier title in 1998–99. Irish made his last competitive appearance for Solent in a 63–80 second tier playoff final defeat against Teesside Mohawks at Wembley Arena on 6 May 2000, and his final game in England before moving to the United States came at the Mountbatten Centre on 30 May 2000, when he scored 15 points in a 103–100 overtime friendly victory for a Portsmouth Pirates Select side against the University of Gettysburg. Cunningham, who scored 38 points in that game, had been due to retire too, but when Solent struggled with a young team the following season he made a comeback. His last game, at the age of 47, came in another second tier playoff final against Teesside, this time at the Coventry Skydome on 12 May 2002. Solent lost 117–127 in double overtime but Cunningham played superbly, scoring 29 points, and in a fitting end to his career he had the ball in his hands as the final buzzer sounded. League tables 1984–85 1985–86 (Crystal Palace were deducted one point) 1986–87 (One of the Hemel v Bolton fixtures was not played and Bolton were deducted one point because of this) 1987–88 Competitive results 1984–85 (Results and fixtures are incomplete for the Telford Turbos era but are complete from the start of the Portsmouth FC era on 19 January TEL – Home match while still Telford Turbos FP – Fleming Park Leisure Centre HLC – Havant Leisure Centre WRC – Winchester Recreation Centre) 1985–86 (AVLC – Aston Villa Leisure Centre) 1986–87 (*Recorded at as 105–97 HLC – Havant Leisure Centre AVLC – Aston Villa Leisure Centre RAH – Royal Albert Hall WEM – Wembley Arena) 1987–88 (*Later renamed Crystal Palace RAH – Royal Albert Hall GH – Granby Halls AVLC – Aston Villa Leisure Centre WEM – Wembley Arena) Statistics – league games only 1986–87 1987–88