Media should lay off England night out September 19, 2011 SATURDAY’S match at home to Cornish Pirates was a mixed affair. Losing 23-25 to team of their calibre is no disgrace, but we didn’t start the game with our usual intensity, so we were down at half-time. However, I was immensely proud of the way we dragged the match back into our control during the [...]
Murray refuses to rule out prospect of strike action September 19, 2011 BRITISH No1 Andy Murray claims he would give serious consideration to taking strike action should calls for a change in the scheduling of the sport fall on deaf ears. Leading players have voiced their concerns over a punishing schedule which, for example, last week saw world No2 Rafael Nadal asked to play three matches at [...]
London 2012 set for tickets scramble September 19, 2011 LONDON 2012 organisers are set to provoke a late scramble for tickets by holding back more than a million extra seats until next year. The first batch of tickets for next summer’s Olympic Games sold out in the summer – with the exception of the football competition. But thousands more spaces are expected to be [...]
Gomes set for Spurs return September 19, 2011 FOOTBALL: Out of favour Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes will return to the starting line-up tonight for the first time since being relegated to third choice against Stoke in the Carling Cup. The Brazilian has fallen down the pecking order since the summer arrival of Brad Friedel. “I don’t think he is happy here, we don’t [...]
Trio set for Arsenal debuts September 19, 2011 FOOTBALL: South Korean striker Park Ju Young, Japanese forward Ryo Miyaichi and fellow 18-year-old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are all expected to make their full debuts for Arsenal in the Carling Cup against Shrewsbury tonight. Meanwhile, skipper Robin van Persie believes Arsenal still have time to turn their season around despite the club’s worst league start for [...]
Real announce record turnover September 19, 2011 FOOTBALL: Spanish giants Real Madrid have claimed a new football world record for annual revenue with the release of its financial figures for the year ending June 30, 2011. The side managed by Jose Mourinho reported that turnover, before the transfer of players, increased from £385.5m 2009-10 to £418.4m in 2010-11.
Back down to earth September 18, 2011 ENGLAND (41) vs GEORGIA (10) Boss and Haskell blast team after big score fails to mask sloppiness ENGLAND manager Martin Johnson warned his side they face an early World Cup exit if they do not improve drastically, despite yesterday’s six-try victory over Georgia. Much-maligned centre Shontayne Hape and swallow-diving wing Chris Ashton both scored two [...]
Williams saves Wales September 18, 2011 WALES (17) vs SAMOA (10) Gatland’s men on course for Ireland clash after dodging World Cup upset WALES captain Sam Warburton dedicated victory to the families of the four miners killed in last week’s accident in Pontardawe after his side took a major step towards the World Cup quarter-finals. An upset loomed after Samoa went [...]
United open gap as Torres shows best and worst September 18, 2011 MANCHESTER UTD (3) vs CHELSEA (1) CHELSEA manager Andre Villas-Boas defended embattled striker Fernando Torres after his missed open goal helped condemn them to defeat at rivals and early-season pace-setters Manchester United. Torres squandered a golden chance to reduce the deficit to just one goal in the second half when he sprung the offside trap [...]
Adebayor finds love at the Lane at last September 18, 2011 TOTTENHAM (4) vs LIVERPOOL (0) TOTTENHAM striker Emmanuel Adebayor believes he’s already won the battle to win over the White Hart Lane faithful after his two goals decorated an emphatic win over nine-man Liverpool. Luka Modric’s thunderbolt capped a terrific opening spell for the home side before Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel were both dismissed [...]