Strauss hits out as sloppy England toil September 6, 2009 ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss lamented his side’s poor batting display as Australia opened up a 2-0 lead in the second one-dayer of the seven-match series at Lord’s. Chasing 250 to win, England looked comfortable at 74-0, only for four top order wickets to fall for just 23 runs. Paul Collingwood tried his best to recover [...]
Redpath hails Robinson as Gloucester claim derby win September 6, 2009 GLOUCESTER chief Bryan Redpath hailed debutant Nicky Robinson after he put Bath to the sword in the west country derby at Kingsholm. Wales fly-half Robinson contributed 14 points in a convincing 24-5 victory as Redpath’s men made an impressive start to their Guinness Premiership campaign. “Nicky has got a reputation for being a calm and [...]
Richards’ bloodgate ban was savage, says lawyer September 6, 2009 THE LAWYER representing shamed Dean Richards has broken the silence on the former Harlequins’ rugby director’s three-year ban, describing the punishment as “savage” and “excessive”. Richards was banned from any form of coaching by Heineken Cup organisers, the European Rugby Cup, for his part in the now infamous ‘bloodgate’ scandal which has cast a shadow [...]
Castleford ease to play-offs September 6, 2009 RUGBY LEAGUE: Joe Westerman scored a hat-trick of tries as Castleford secured a Super League play-off place with a 48-0 thrashing of Harlequins at The Stoop. Quins have now lost 10 of their last 11 matches but can still qualify if they win their final game at Warrington and both Bradford and Catalans lose. Bradford [...]
England reach Euro final September 6, 2009 WOMEN’S FOOTBALL: Jill Scott’s header in the second half of extra time helped England to a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands and sent them through to the European Championship final in Finland. Kelly Smith earlier opened the scoring for England before the Dutch hit back three minutes later.Germany and Norway play each other tonight for [...]
England must do it Chelsea style, says JT September 6, 2009 CAPTAIN John Terry insists England will need to adopt Chelsea’s physical approach if they are to secure their World Cup qualification on Wednesday night. Fabio Capello’s England entertain Croatia at Wembley knowing victory will guarantee their place in South Africa next summer. The Croatians adopted an aggressive style in their last visit to Wembley back [...]
Clijsters causes Venus shock September 6, 2009 KIM CLIJSTERS celebrated her biggest win since coming out of retirement last night when she defeated third seed Venus Williams in the fourth round of the US Open. Playing in her first Grand Slam for two since hanging up her racket, the Belgian showed a combination of her brilliant best and nerves of steel to [...]
Injured leaders kept on their toes by McIlroy’s 64 September 6, 2009 RORY MCILORY fired a magnificent final round 64 to keep up the chase in the $16m Race to Dubai jackpot. The Northern Irishman fired eight birdies and an eagle to shoot up the leaderboard at the European Masters in Switzerland and steal a share of seventh place. Victory would have handed the 20-year-old the outright [...]
Lee: Ashley plans don’t ring true September 6, 2009 FORMER Newcastle captain Rob Lee has questioned owner Mike Ashley’s desire to sell the fallen north-east giants and accused him of deliberately stalling on the appointment of Alan Shearer as manager. Ashley put Newcastle up for sale in May after a turbulent season culminated in their relegation from the Premier League. But despite reports of [...]
Prudent Lee learns to leave behind netbusters and focus on net gains September 6, 2009 ROB LEE knows what financial mismanagement looks like. He witnessed the recklessness of England team-mates at the 1998 World Cup, who thought nothing of betting £5,000 a hand on card games. More recently he has seen his beloved Newcastle United relegated from the top flight while embattled owner Mike Ashley runs up personal losses of [...]