Red Rose can build on fine form by passing Dublin test February 7, 2013 ENGLAND meet Ireland at the Aviva Stadium for the second round of Six Nations matches after a memorable opening weekend that featured an impressive defeat of Scotland by the Red Rose and another significant step forward for Italian rugby as they edged out France. Stuart Lancaster’s decision to trust a number of younger players was [...]
Spurs and Man United in tough home ties February 7, 2013 HAVING had a frustrating few months with a leaky defence, it’s now in attack that Tottenham find themselves struggling. Spurs are likely to line up tomorrow lunchtime without a recognised striker on the pitch. Jermain Defoe is ruled out through injury and Emmanuel Adebayor has just returned from the Africa Cup of Nations. No one [...]
The Road to Cheltenham February 7, 2013 WWW.STARSPORTSBET.CO.UK 08000 521 321 PLENTY of races at this year’s Cheltenham Festival have a far more open feel to them than usual. The markets for the Gold Cup and World Hurdle currently resemble handicaps, while the Neptune Novices Hurdle is shaping up to be one of the races of the week. One race that doesn’t [...]
England locate rhythm in Brazil win February 6, 2013 INTERNATIONAL ENGLAND 2 vs BRAZIL 1 MANAGER Roy Hodgson heaped praise on Jack Wilshere after the midfielder marked his first international start for 20 months with a man-of-the-match performance in last night’s friendly victory over Brazil. Wayne Rooney’s 33rd England goal and what threatens to be Frank Lampard’s last, either side of Fred’s equaliser, earned [...]
Football broker Harris lining up rival bid for stricken Portsmouth February 6, 2013 CITY financier and leading football deal-broker Keith Harris last night emerged as the face of a possible rival bid for embattled League One club Portsmouth. The south coast side, who are £60m in debt, had been expected to be sold to the Portsmouth Supporters’ Trust (PST), who were appointed preferred bidders by administrators PKF in [...]
Hamilton shaken by nightmare first test February 6, 2013 BRITAIN’S Lewis Hamilton admitted suffering a “pretty heavy” impact after he crashed just 15 laps into his first testing session with his new Formula One team Mercedes yesterday in Spain. A braking failure left Hamilton unable to prevent the car hurtling headlong across the gravel and into a tyre wall, and brought to a premature [...]
Door not closed on Armstrong criminal charge February 6, 2013 DISGRACED former cyclist Lance Armstrong may yet face criminal charges in his native America, despite an attorney’s suggestion to the contrary, following his doping admissions. Armstrong is under investigation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who could probe allegations he obstructed justice and intimidated witnesses, according to US media. Attorney Andre Birotte dropped a [...]
Hodgson finds magic formula in midfield trio February 6, 2013 LLAST night offered an exciting glimpse of exactly how I think Roy Hodgson wants England to play, a nervy 20 minutes aside. The midfield was very good indeed, with some terrific link-up play and great movement between Steven Gerrard, Jack Wilshere and Tom Cleverley. Gerrard looks very comfortable in front of the back four, while [...]
Wrangling over sums threatens top clubs’ vote February 6, 2013 ENGLAND’S top football clubs are today expected to take a historic vote on so-called financial fair play (FFP) measures, but agreement could yet be scuppered by differences over exactly how strict they should be. Representatives of all 20 Premier League clubs have discussed two different ways of reining in spending: restricting year-on-year wage bill rises [...]
Broad’s men in Twenty20 blow February 6, 2013 ENGLAND cricketer Michael Lumb insists they will not underestimate New Zealand after suffering defeat in their final warm-up match for the Twenty20 series. Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan both hit half-centuries as England reached 170-5, but captain Stuart Broad’s 3-24 could not prevent a New Zealand XI claiming a three-wicket win off the final ball. [...]