SPORT IN BRIEF September 9, 2009 Durham close in on second titleCRICKET: Durham closed in on a second successive LV County Championship division one title yesterday after making a flying start in their crunch match with closest rivals Nottinghamshire. Durham need just 11 points to win the title with two matches to spare. Michael Di Venuto smashed a magnificent unbeaten 219 [...]
DJOKOVIC POWERS THROUGH September 9, 2009 NOVAK DJOKOVIC battled his way to a third straight US Open semi-final after overcoming a tough encounter with Fernando Verdasco, of Spain. Djokovic, seeded four, saved two set points in the first set before winning the opener on the tie-break. Verdasco stormed back to take the second set 6-1, but was eventually out-gunned out by [...]
Five-star England qualify in fine style September 9, 2009 ENGLAND (5) vs CROATIA (1) FABIO CAPELLO hailed the “best performance” of his reign as manager after his England side booked their ticket to the World Cup finals in South Africa next summer in emphatic style. Two goals apiece from midfield duo Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard and a fifth from Wayne Rooney put the [...]
Fabio’s walking on water after finding right formula September 9, 2009 FABIO CAPELLO can seemingly do no wrong. Suddenly, not even two years into the job, the Italian has at his disposal a strong 23-man squad who can all but book their flight to South Africa next summer, and probably nine members of his starting line-up who can claim shirt numbers one to eleven. His biggest [...]
Double dose of defeat leaves hopes in tatters for suffering Scots and Irish September 9, 2009 SCOTLAND’S World Cup dreams were left shattered last night, as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat against the Netherlands at Hampden Park. George Burley’s men needed a win to have any realistic hope of snatching a play-off place but Dutch substitute Eljero Elia stepped off the bench to hit a late winner and break Scottish [...]
‘Thank you Mr Bilic, that is my perfect team talk’ September 8, 2009 ENGLAND boss Fabio Capello yesterday laughed off Slaven Bilic’s attempt at playing mind games – instead thanking the Croatia boss for providing his with his team talk for tonight’s crunch World Cup qualifier. Victory at Wembley tonight will ensure Capello’s men will qualify for South Africa next summer, possibly even at the expense of a [...]
Powerless Murray is sent crashing by Cilic September 8, 2009 WORLD No1 Andy Murray admitted he was powerless to stop big-hitting Marin Cilic ending his US Open dreams at Flushing Meadows last night. The Croatian 16th seed proved just too strong for the British No1 as he blasted his way to a 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 victory in two hours, eight minutes. Cilic showed his dominance [...]
One-Day shambles a far cry from Ashes win September 8, 2009 FOR all the meticulous organisation that went into England regaining the Ashes in the recent Tests, it strikes me that we are playing this one-day series on a wing and a prayer. Sadly, we are a shambles right now. For years now I have advocated the need to employ different set-ups for each form of [...]
Burley urges Scots to up the tempo to keep dream alive September 8, 2009 GEORGE BURLEY is calling on his players to “perform to their maximum” to keep Scotland’s World Cup play-off dreams alive. Victory over the Netherlands at Hampden Park tonight will secure second spot for the Scots, but manager Burley believes his team will have to be at their best to beat the runaway leaders of Group [...]
Quins to face no further action September 8, 2009 RUGBY UNION: Harlequins will not face expulsion from this season’s Heineken Cup, after the ERC decided to take no further action following the fake blood scandal. Quins were fined an unprecedented €300,000, while coach Dean Richards received a three-year ban, but the ERC has confirmed no further punishments are expected. Meanwhile, Quins lock George Robson [...]