KYRAN BRACKEN’S PRE-MATCH VIEW February 23, 2012 SO FAR, SO GOOD England coach Stuart Lancaster should be very happy with his two wins so far because those opening games were banana skins. One loss would have been a disaster, no matter how they had played. There’s been criticism of their style but it’s a new team; they’ve only had a few weeks [...]
Spurs better than Arsenal, admits Henry February 23, 2012 ARSENAL great Thierry Henry admits Tottenham have turned the tables on their rivals ahead of Sunday’s crunch north London derby. Spurs look safe bets to finish in the top three while the Gunners are in a desperate four-way scrap to snatch the last Champions League spot. Henry said: “For years we’ve been used to being [...]
DISAPPOINTMENT FOR DIVERS DALEY AND WATERFIELD February 23, 2012 BRITAIN’S Olympic poster boy Tom Daley and his partner Peter Waterfield disappointed in front of a partisan crowd at the London Aquatics Centre last night after they finished seventh in the 10m synchronised dive at the Fina World Cup. In the women’s 3m individual springboard competition, Rebecca Gallantree secured Great Britain a place in the [...]
Stoke crash out of Europe February 23, 2012 FOOTBALL Stoke City exited the Europa League at the last 32 stage following a 1-0 defeat in Valencia last night. Jonas scored the only goal of the game midway through the first half to hand the Spaniards a 2-0 aggregate victory.
Hook to miss England crunch February 23, 2012 RUGBY UNION: Fly-half James Hook is out of Wales’ Triple Crown bid against England on Saturday with chicken pox
Carling Cup looks to be Anfield-bound February 23, 2012 CARDIFF CITY vs LIVERPOOL SUNDAY – 4.00PM BBC ONE ENGLAND might be on drought watch at the moment, but one of the country’s most high profile dry spells looks set to come to an end this weekend. The last time Liverpool won a major trophy, Steve Finnan, Djibril Cisse, Jan Kromkamp, Djimi Traore and Fernando [...]
Red Dragons have edge in Twickenham thriller February 23, 2012 ENGLAND vs WALES TOMORROW – 4.00PM BBC ONE THIS is the one many of us have been waiting for. Wales at Twickenham always gets the blood flowing, but there seems to be more at stake this year. It’s the first real test for Stuart Lancaster’s new-look England. The interim coach can be pleased to have [...]
Haadeeth and The Strig look good in Sprint Series Final February 23, 2012 THE Blue Square Sprint Series has been a tremendous initiative over the past two months and tomorrow’s £15,000 Grand Final (2.15pm) looks a cracking contest. All the key protagonists from the Series are lining up and any one of the 12 runners could quite feasibly land the prize. What seems certain is that there will [...]
BLUE SQUARE WINTER CARNIVAL February 23, 2012 AS we’ve taken a detailed look at the Blue Square Sprint Series Grand Final already, we’re going to concentrate on the rest of the card at Lingfield. The bluesquare.com Cleves Stakes (2.50pm) is a Listed contest over six furlongs and, on paper, it looks a match between PALACE MOON and Oasis Dream. I find it [...]
Blues stuck in a crisis, admits Cech February 22, 2012 Chelsea keeper says players to blame for Napoli defeat that threatens manager Villas-Boas CHELSEA goalkeeper Petr Cech admits the club is in the midst of a crisis and says “silly mistakes” were to blame for the defeat to Napoli that has nudged manager Andre Villas-Boas ever closer to the sack. Tuesday’s 3-1 reverse in Italy [...]