Confidence was high, therefore, but tempered somewhat by the absence of Hurst from the squad.
With his FA Cup, European Cup Winners’ Cup and FIFA World Cup winner unavailable, Greenwood took two of the Club’s promising young forwards as part of the travelling squad – 22-year-old Welshman David Llewellyn and 17-year-old Nigerian Ade Coker.
It was the younger, less-experienced Coker who was given the start, with Llewellyn named as the sole substitute. At the other end of the pitch, Peter Grotier kept goal with regular No1 Bobby Ferguson taken ill.
Showing no sign of nerves in the No9 shirt, teenager Coker repaid his manager’s faith within eight minutes, lashing West Ham into the lead when Harry Redknapp’s corner dropped to him off Palace’s Mel Blyth and silencing the vast majority of the 41,540 supporters inside Selhurst Park.
Billy Bonds made it two with a super header before setting up Clyde Best to make the final score 3-0. In between, Coker teased his marker John McCormick with quick feet and elusive dribbling skills that impressed newspaper reporters, television commentator Brian Moore and the great Hurst alike.
“He was told [he was starting] at about two o’clock when the team was announced, with Trevor and I not being certain,” Hurst told Moore on ITV’s The Big Match. “It was like he had seen a ghost, actually! He just sat there in disbelief for about ten minutes with his eyes wide open. He was aghast and it was rather funny!
“What a tremendous start to his league career after about three or four minutes, wasn’t it? He’s very quick and he took his goal quickly as well. It just bounced once and he took it very quickly in a crowded area. He’s got tremendous skill and is very, very sharp.”