Spurs defeat delights lucky gambler

Tottenham Hotspur's second-half collapse in their FA Cup fourth round tie to Manchester City brought despair to the home fans…

Tottenham Hotspur's second-half collapse in their FA Cup fourth round tie to Manchester City brought despair to the home fans but one lucky gambler was delighted as he picked up £25,000 sterling (€36,699).

With Spurs leading 3-0 at halftime and City down to 10 men after Joey Barton was sent off, a William Hill customer from Scotland staked £100 on a City victory at 250-1 and was rewarded when they staged an amazing comeback to win 4-3.

Another Hills client shared the disbelief of the Tottenham faithful after staking £10,000 on Spurs to win when they led 3-1 at odds of 1-25 on and then betting another £8,000 pounds on the home side at 4/11 on with the score at 3-2.

"We cannot recall quoting any team at longer odds than 250-1 at halftime before," said a Hills spokesman, "but Spurs do have 'previous' in situations like this, letting punters down badly a couple of seasons ago when they were 1-100 to hold on to a 3-0 lead over Manchester United and failing to do so."