Sol y Futbol: Barnsley Robbo starts fight back - Just too Late

Our Man from Arrecife,Ian Lane, reports for Sol y Futbol

LANZAROTE 3 REAL MADRID B 4

30th November 2009

As customary it was another scorching hot day as the Rojillos (reds) found themselves two goals down before the half hour mark. At 1-4 down and with only 10 men Lanzarote made an extraordinary fight of it and were only a whisker away from stealing a point.

It wasn’t an ideal start for the Rojillos with central defender Francis being carried off in the opening two minutes with an ankle injury. Manager Carmelo Hernández had the unenviable job of restructuring his already fragile defence with the game in its infancy.

Seconds later and a swift move from the youth of Real Madrid saw the ball thunder off the underside of the bar and the defence of Lanzarote desperately scrambled the ball away to safety giving Lanzarote ample warning of things to come.

The future superstars of Real Madrid looked impressive with their fast, accurate passing and off the ball movement that had the Conejeros (locals) chasing shadows and it looked inevitable the breakthrough for the all whites would come soon.

In the 15th minute a corner whipped in low and hard was met by youngster Luis Hernández and his glancing header at the near post combined with the pace of the ball left the Lanzarote keeper with no chance and the B team of Real Madrid were 0-1 up. Once again horrendous defending from set pieces have left Lanzarote with the worst defensive record in the league conceding 39 goals in only 15 games.

In fairness Lanzarote began to gather their composer and started to join the tempo of the match. In the 22nd minute a cross swung in from the left was powerfully headed by Lanzarote’s big striker Rosmen but unfortunately his effort flew inches over when he really should have done better.

In the 28th minute Lanzarote lost possession in the centre of the park to the goal scorer Luis Hernández, his defence splitting pass released striker Juan Carlos who rounded the Rojillos keeper and coolly slotted the ball home giving his side a comfortable 0-2 lead.

Ten minutes before the break and the Rojillos were handed a lifeline when midfielder Maikel Padrón was brought down by defender Nacho just inside the box and the Catalan Ref ordered a spot kick. Rubén Rodriguez blasted home and the Rojillos were back in the match as the score remained at 1-2 till half time.

Just under10 seconds into the second half and the hope from Lanzarote’s faithful was shattered. Striker Juan Carlos immediately broke through the dormant defence of the Conejeros, and with the echo of the Refs whistle still ringing in our ears stroked the ball wide of the Lanzarote keeper and into the corner of the net restoring his sides two goal cushion at 1-3.

Things got worse. In the 53rd minute Lanzarote’s temperamental winger Toñito reacted to some shirt pulling and raised his hands to the face of his opponent and as customary in Spanish football the boy fell quicker than a sack of spuds. The Ref showed Toñito red and Lanzarote were forced to play with the remainder of the match with only 10 men.

Four minutes on and the mountain Lanzarote already had to climb exploded with volcanic force as the B team of Real Madrid scored their fourth of the day. Madrid striker Cristian beat off a weak challenge from centre back Faruk and neatly placed his shot wide of keeper Floro to give his side a 1-4 advantage.

Battling away in midfield for Lanzarote was Captain Vladi and his never say die spirit winning challenges egged on his team mates and forced Madrid to retreat. In the 69th minute Maikel Padrón blasted a low drive from the edge of the area which was blocked. The ball rebounded back to the midfielder and he fired in a similar effort which made its way through the crowd of players and even though the Madrid keeper got a hand to it, it was not enough as the ball crawled over the line leaving the score line at 2-4.

Lanzarote piled on the pressure and in the 74th minute a surging run from ex Real Madrid player Jotha ended when he was tripped two yards outside the box. Dead ball specialist Rubén Rodriguez curled a left footer around the wall and into the top left hand corner making the score 3-4. A beauty! Again the impossible was on.

There is no doubt that the introduction of Englishman Ian Robinson on the hour mark when the score was 1-4 contributed immensely to this fight back. The Barnsley boy will chase everything and closes down defenders creating errors and his speed terrifies the opposition. He is a great weapon to have but the Lanzarote management must learn to shoot this weapon before their prey gets too far away to become a target.

Many of the Lanzarote supporters had left on the hour mark which was extremely disappointing. One learns from a very young age that the only time a game is over is when the Ref blows. These supporters missed a great finale and five minutes from time a cross from the left from Lanzarote’s man of the match Rubén Rodriguez found the head of sub Ayoze Pérez and the midfielder headed powerfully but only into the arms of Madrid keeper Adam. That proved to be the last effort of note for the Rojillos in the match.

It may well be a spirited fight back but there are no points gained for that. The Rojillos remain bottom and have slipped to eight points from safety. Next week Lanzarote fly to Madrid then another flight to Northern Spain to the Santander region and will play fifth placed side Torrelavega.

Stanley and Barnet Draw in F.A.Cup Tracker

Accrington Stanley 2 Barnet 2 and Barnet will have to do it all over again after this dramatic draw. The winner of the replay will entertain Gillingham in the 3rd Round (Stage 9 - SportTrades Tracker).

Accrington took the lead in the 29 minute with a goal from Bobby Grant. Barnet were level 4 minutes after the break when Ismail Yakubu equalised, within 60 seconds Stanley regained the lead when Michael Symes scored. In the 5th minute of added on time and with the help of his team mates patting down the uneven surface, John O'Flynn slotted home a penalty to take Stanley back to Underhill.

Accrington finished with 10 men after the sending off, of John Miles.

Why 'Dead' Sub-Continent Pitches Maintain Test Cricket's Negative Undertone!

After being bored to death watching two test matches between India and Sri Lanka over the last week or so, it got me thinking about how lifeless pitches and bore-draw results are not good for the game. In the last few years due to the rise of the IPL, Twenty20 cricket is now probably the most popular form of the game with lots of people claiming Test cricket is too ‘dull’. With that argument comes another view that if cricket is to have a future that Test cricket will slowly be phased out with more One Day cricket being played.

Although I’m a fan of Twenty20 cricket and the fact that it makes batsmen have to play their shots and that its all action every ball, I do feel that Test Cricket on its day is still the best the game can offer. Why would I say this? Well firstly test cricket requires a lot more concentration and tactics than the ‘bash-bash’ version of Twenty20. It’s also the purest version of the game and requires different kinds of play according to the game situation. Of course we love to see fine centuries and teams getting 350 runs on the first day of the test, but equally there’s something mouth-watering about a team trying to save a test match.

Of course in both situations you can have dire periods of play with there being nothing in the pitch for the bowlers and the batsmen being more worried about what variety of drink they’re be having a the next drinks break rather than worrying about the pace of the bowler. Equally it can also be dire to watch a team that has no chance of winning a game, just making sure that they don’t get out – only playing defensive shots when they need to. But still if the situation requires that, then credit to the batsmen for putting it in action, it’s not pretty but it’s effective..

Going back to the India/Sri Lanka test series that has been going on over the last week or so. The first test started well for Sri Lanka and they were on top early on grabbing 4 early wickets early on in first day’s morning session. Good batting from Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni got India back to terms with a score of 426 in their first innings.

Sri Lanka then went out and scored a mammoth 760 in reply with Tillkeratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and the lesser known Prasanna Jayawardene hitting centuries. India’s response was good and they saved the game by scoring over 400 as the match was called a draw.

The second test started great for India this time, and they had probably their best ever first day of a test match as they scored 417-2 wickets with both their openers Gambhir and Sehwag hitting centuries followed up. It was pretty easy batting for the hosts as they treated the likes of Murali and Ajantha Mendis - 2 of the best spinners currently in cricket – as if they were batting against my gentle off-spin in my back garden!

There was little in the pitch for either bowler and incredibly Herath grabbed 5 wickets as the Indian batsmen ‘collapsed’ at the end losing 6 wickets in the space of no time. It wasn’t a collapse as of such, as with the score over 600 there was basically no chance of a Sri Lanka win so the pressure was firmly of the Indian tail enders. At the time of watching the end of the Indian innings, I really couldn’t see the point of them batting as surley it would have made sense for Dhoni to declare as soon as the team reached 600 and try and get more time to bowl against the Sri Lankan batsmen who I feel wouldn’t struggle on the pitch.

To my surprise I was wrong as the pitch suddenly came to life with the Sri Lankan batsmen playing some poor shots and after being dismissed for a poor 229 followed on and lost the game with Harbajan Singh amongst the wickets. However even with this test having a ‘result’ unlike the boring last one, I couldn’t help but feel cheated with the state of some of the cricket pitches on the sub continent.

There was a little bit of criticism this summer during the decisive Oval test of this year’s Ashes series. Some Australian’s felt that it was slightly unfair that the usual flat batting-track pitch at the Oval was slightly ‘over baked’ in the sense that the pitch was set up in order to get a result. Whether that was the case or not, i don’t feel that England did anything wrong in that situation because they wanted the game to end in a result, and not just a bore-draw which is usually the case. Yes the pitch was a lot more difficult than it could have been, but that’s what test cricket is about – testing batsman out in conditions which they shouldn’t find easy. Making them work for their runs, according to my dad and the same should apply for bowlers..

..Which is sadly the case in some of the pitches in the sub-continent which have been doctored for batsman and the game only comes to life if you’re lucky by the fourth day of the test. It’s not just on the sub-continent in Asia where there some pitches that are dead, it’s in the Caribbean as well and there have been some really lifeless pitches, which has been highlighted in some ridiculously high-scoring draws in recent memory.

Cricket gets bad press because some periods of play cannot be exciting and Twenty20 obviously is great because it’s fast paced and you only have to wait a maximum of 3 hours to get a result. However it has been argued that there has been too much Twenty20 cricket played and where it was a nice luxury to have, in some situations the longer form of the game is being targeted because of poor games of cricket. It was good to see Sachin Tendulkar come out the other week and say that for him test cricket is still what motivates him.

Hopefully the future of the sport which is being heavily influenced from decisions made from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will be marked and controlled by the ICC, will make sure Tests are still valued highly. ODI’s and Twenty20 forms of the game do have their place and it’s good for the game to expand into other countries and make the sport stronger. The ICC need to keep the standards of the game up and the only way of doing this is to make sure that there are rules in place that kill these dead pitches once and for all.

Posted by Adam Dennehey - SportTrades Report Manager

Chelmsford Ice Updates With Pete Lewis

As ever on Sports Trades Report, we start the week with Pete Lewis's Ice-Hockey updates with the two Chelmsford teams, the Chieftains and the Warriors! Chieftains had the long trip to take on the Cardiff ENL Devils on Saturday night before hosting the Oxford Stars on Sunday. The Warriors were away againgst the Basingstoke Buffalo. Anyway i'll let Pete do the talking and as ever if you want to comment, please do!

SportTrades Pete Lewis Reporting:

Saturday night saw the Chieftains make the long trip to South Wales to take on rivals the Cardiff ENL Devils. Goals were exchanged early on and the first period break saw the score tied at 3-3 with the Chieftains goals coming from Sean Easton, Danny Wright and Richard Whiting. The referee from the start annoyed both sets of players by alloweing a large number of clear infringements to go unpunished early on, causing tempers to burn into the second period of the game.

Referee Riddell was at the centre of controversey midway through the second period when he awarded the Chieftains net minder Andy Moffat a 10 minute penalty for asking Riddell why the team was not allowed an ‘equipment time out’ to fix the protective equipment that had broken on Moffat’s pads.

Some time was spent getting the pads fixed, but not to Riddell’s liking and he forced back up net minder Ben Clements in goal for a few minutes while running repairs went on off the ice on Moffat’s pads. It was a strange decision to say the least and caused lots of head scratching in the crowds, who could not understand the decision.

Chieftains went ahead from a wonderful goal from Aaron Connoley which simply flew past a stationary Mike Brabon in the home goal. However the visitors were not in the lead for long and just six minutes later the game was back to 4-4. Luke Piggott finding a gap in the home defence before slooting past Moffat who had returend to his goal. Deep into the third period the winner came for the Devils. A great pass from Brent Pope sent in Steve Fisher, who skated past two Chelmsford defenders before shimmying the puck past Moffat to score the winner. Thanks to Tim Bowers for the photo of Chieftains #61 Blaho Novak which was taken in the Chieftains defeat at Cardiff over the weekend.

With memories of the defeat in Cardiff still fresh in the Chieftains minds they knew that they needed to bounce back againgst Oxford the next night. The Stars were determined in their play and came back from 4-0 down to end the first period only 4-2 down. Chieftains scorers were BT Williams, Darren Brown and Danny Hammond who hit 2. The Stars battled back into contention in the second period and Nick Oliver scored for Oxford to poise the game nicely at 4-3 going into the final period; not that Chelmsford's support would have wanted it that way!

The third and final period was very tense and Oxford were delighted when they equalised on 54minutes, through a fine strike from Ken Forshee. That goal set the game up for a frantic final 6 minutes and amid a few scraps on the ice, Jerry Pavlus popped up out of nowhere to grab a goal minutes from the end to win the game. A great goal from Pavlus who is certainly one of the names to watch over the coming season. The game was also special for Richard Whiting who became the all-time highest apperance leader for the Chieftains with a staggering 490 games under his belt.

Also last Sunday the Warriors returned to action after a few weeks breaks and struggled in Basingstoke after showing some early promise. After Sean Martin netted for the Warriors in the first period, it was pretty much one way traffic afterwards as the Buffalo steam rolled the Warriors to win 11-3. Craig Metcalf joined Martin in scoring consolation goals for the visitors. It may have been a bad result, but hopefully it's one that the Warriors will learn from.

Sol y Futbol: Rojillos Still Without Away Win

SOL y FUTBOL Ian Lane reports

LEGANÉS 2 LANZAROTE 1

U.D. Lanzarote once again fail to increase on their solitary point picked up on their travels this season despite a gutsy performance in Madrid.

The Rojillos began the game well. A long pass from Rúben Rodriguez was neatly controlled by Toñito, the winger then beat his marker but his shot fell straight into the arms of the Leganés goalkeeper Raúl Moreno.

The Madrid side then began to use both wingers on either flank which opened the defence of the Rojillos. In the 10th minute ex Rojillo Anibal Zurdo fired in a shot from the edge of the area and Rojillos keeper did well fisting away to safety.

Minutes later and Lanzarote had a great shout for a penalty. Striker Rosmen controlled the ball inside the box and a Leganés defender handled but unfortunately the official was unsighted and waved play on.

In the 23rd minute the home side was in front. Following a series of poor clearances defender Faruk tracked Carlos Martinez and the midfielder seemed to slip. The Ref surprised all the players and the 1500 crowd by ordering a spot kick. The midfielder rose from the deck and converted the penalty to send his side into a 1-0 lead.

The Rojillos heads did not drop as has happened in previous matches and began to enjoy the majority of the ball. In the 26th minute Toñito broke down the left wing but again his strike was too weak to test the Leganés keeper.

Five minutes later and the Rojillos deservedly drew level. A corner from the left was swung in and the Madrid defence seemed reluctant to clear, the ball fell kindly to striker Echedey who made no mistake blasting in his first goal for Lanzarote.

Moments later and the Rojillos could have been 2-1 down. A long ball was hoisted deep into Lanzarote territory and Lanzarote keeper Floro hesitated for a moment which allowed midfielder Juli to reach the ball first, he succeeded in chipping over the advanced keeper but fortunately for the Rojillos his effort also cleared the bar sparing the blushes of Lanzarote´s number one as the score line remained at stalemate one apiece going into the break.

Man of the match Carlos Martinez looked the most influential for Leganés. On the hour mark a good strike from distance by the danger man flew just wide. Five minutes on and the same player centered a cross to team mate Gustavo Miguel but his effort was easily saved by Floro.

The Madrid team enjoyed the majority of possession without causing much threat but in the 75th minute Carlos Martinez crossed in from the right and the ball was headed into the far post by Sub Quini leaving Floro flat footed and with no chance of saving the well angled header and Lanzarote found themselves 2-1 down.

A few minutes later a superb run by José Manuel flying threw various defenders ended with the winger crashing down inside the box. The Ref ignored the pleas of all of the Lanzarote players for a penalty as Leganés drew a sigh of relief.

With two minutes left on the clock the home side was reduced to ten men as striker Iván Zarandona received his second yellow card. From the resulting free kick the ball was passed short for Ayoze Pérez who struck the ball with venom only to see his effort fly inches wide as did Lanzarote´s chances of getting anything from the game.

Next Sunday Lanzarote play their most attractive game of the season against the B team of Real Madrid in Arrecife at 11am. The all whites have been struggling recently and have only won once in their last nine outings and this always seems to be an encounter which produces goals.

Guadalajara remain top following a 1-3 away win and Alcorcon spurred on by their demolition of Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey move up into fourth position occupying the final play off spot after a 0-1 away win against Tenerife B.

Dream Pairing At McLaren For 2010

One of the key talking points of this week other than the Thierry Henry handball that broke Irish hearts was the revelation that broke earlier in the week. The news that I am of course talking about is Jenson Button’s move to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, which means that the new world champion will be partnering the 2008 World Champion in Lewis Hamilton. It truly is a mouth watering prospect and the British Media already are hyping this as the best driver pairing in recent memory along with the Aryton Senna / Alain Prost pairing at McLaren in the late 1980’s.

As an F1 fan, it’s a move that i hope will work out wonders. Hopefully the 2010 season will be just as exciting as the second half of this year’s championship was with good competition amongst the cars throughout the whole grand prix weekend. McLaren ended last season well, partly due to the fact they were running KERS whilst everyone but Ferrari hadn’t bothered with it the whole season but also due to the fact the overall package had been improved. The second half of the season saw Hamilton produce some fine performances including two wins at Hungary and Singapore and a dominating performance in the season finale at Abu Dhabi before retiring whilst leading due to a brake problem.

Brawn on the other hand had a much harder end to the season, but when it really mattered Jenson got the results that he needed and rightfully claimed this year’s driver’s title. However towards the end of the season there were small rumours emerging that his future at Brawn was not 100% certain. Mercedes had obviously noticed the potential of the team and probably due to the controversies surrounding McLaren over the last couple of years (Spy-gate and Lie-gate notably) said that they would be thinking about investing in Brawn for 2010.

Obviously they were not just thinking about investing slightly into Brawn and giving them precedence over McLaren! After buying 75.1% of the team from Ross Brawn and Nick Fry earlier in the week it was announced that the team would be rebranded Mercedes Grand Prix. This is big move for the German manufacturer and is a clear intent that they want to go head to head with Ferrari to see who the best manufacturer is in the sport. Also it’s been rumoured that the powers that be at Mercedes want two German drivers running in the team. Nico Rosberg having left Williams is 99.9% certain to be one of the drivers for the team. Nick Heidfeld could be an option for the second seat and even today there’s talk that Michael Schumacher could come out of retirement to race for the team. Whether that’s true or not no-one knows, Eddie Jordan seems to think it could happen so it shouldn’t be ruled out at first.

But back to Button, why Mercedes wouldn’t want to keep him and have the Number 1 on their car seems abit strange as it would work wonders to have the World champion in their car alongside the improving Rosberg, but that’s F1 for you. It’s not about the money as supposedly Button is earning less at McLaren than he would at Mercedes as he claims he’s moving there for the challenge to go there and beat Hamilton at his own job. That challenge is being questioned by former F1 greats such as Jackie Stewart and John Watson who claim that it will be awfully difficult for Jenson to beat Lewis over the course of the season, because Lewis has such a good relationship with the team.

I can fully understand their views and it’s easy to think back to 2007 and how Fernando Alonso’s relationship with the team turned sour after Lewis matched him throughout that season. However Button is a different character to Alonso and is more laid back and down to earth than the Spaniard. That’s not to say that Alonso isn’t the better driver as i think he is, but the fact that Jenson and Lewis appear to get on well should hopefully mean that there are not any problems like that for 2010.

Hamilton appears to be pleased that Lewis has moved to the team. In a way it will bring out the best in him and I think it will make him a better driver having got the new darling of the grid alongside him. Button will match him for pace and I think could surprise Lewis early on in the season if he gets a chance to. Hamilton learnt much as a driver and as a person during 2009, after starting the year badly due to the ‘Lie-gate’ scandal and having to drive a poor car, he improved as the year went on and was probably the guy to beat towards the end of the season. As a person he’ll know that some parts of the media will want there to be a breakdown at McLaren next season so I’m sure he’ll just do his talking in the car where it really matters. The same applies for Button who has a good relationship with the media and has always been praised for his smooth ‘old-school’ driving that was so fluent at times this season.

In conclusion, it’s a great move for British Motorsport which puts our best two drivers in F1 head to head in one of the top teams in the sport. McLaren as I’ve said before ended the season well and should be challenging for race wins next season. It’s a challenge for Button who will be in a different environment to the one at Brawn/Honda where he was familiar with and the move to McLaren will bring pressure to him. The pressure of being the World Champion, the pressure to perform to win races and the most important pressure to beat Hamilton over the season and prove the doubters wrong. As a big fan of F1 and both drivers, it should be interesting to see how they do next season and how McLaren manage the two drivers.

If you were to ask me which driver I think will finish higher in the driver’s standings, I would say Hamilton but I don’t think it will be by much and think both drivers will do well next season. Whether either will win the Championship or not is another question as I feel that a rejuvenated Fernando Alonso at Ferrari - who will themselves will be looking to bounce back after a poor season – is probably the favourite for the title next year as he aims to put himself back on the top of the sport.

Posted by Adam Dennehey, SportTrades

Sean Yates Joins Team SKY

The new British Pro-Cycling team Team Sky who are bound to turn some heads in the 2010 Cycling season have announced that Sean Yates, a respected and well known figure will join the team in the New Year as Sports Director.

The 49-year old Englishman rode for Peugeot, Fagor, 7-Eleven and Motorola in his 14-year pro career and was a team mate of Robert Millar and Lance Armstrong. He became the third Brit to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, in 1994, and rode 12 Tours during his career. Sean Yates has previous experience as a sports director heaving held the role recently at Astana since 2008 and before that was at Team Discovery Channel and Team CSC.

Sean Yates said; “I’m extremely excited to join Team Sky. Obviously for me, to be part of a British team at the highest level is something truly special. I have a lot of experience in a winning team and I look forward to helping Team Sky to fulfil its goals. The scope and the ambition of the project is unique and I think we have put together a great team. I really believe we can be contenders on all levels in the future and I’m proud to become part of that.”

Dave Brailsford, Team Principal for Team Sky, said: “Sean brings a wealth of experience and we’ve been very keen for a long time to bring him on board. He’s well known as a hard-working sports director with a deep understanding of the sport and good connection to his riders and staff. He will be a true asset to our management team and a great colleague for the other Sports Directors we have signed.

“Our ambition is to have our Sports Directors collaborating with the best available expert knowledge on all the relevant aspects of sport and we believe that it will provide Team Sky with a unique fundament to perform and win. Sean and the other Sports Directors will be working in a performance driven team where I’m convinced we can bring out the very best in the riders.”

Yates will join Team Sky in the New Year as Sports Director. He will join Scott Sunderland, Steven De Jongh and Marcus Ljungqvist, the other Sports Directors for the team.

Team Sky will compete from the start of 2010, beginning with the Tour Down Under, and hopes to gain an invitation to next year’s Tour de France. The initial squad of around 25 riders will be supported by a team of coaches, technicians and support staff drawn from across the cycling world, many of whom work throughout the year with British elite and developing riders.

The Team Sky riders announced to date are; Geraint Thomas, Steve Cummings, Pete Kennaugh, Chris Froome, Ian Stannard, Russell Downing, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Thomas Löfkvist, Kurt Arvesen, Simon Gerrans, Juan Antonio Flecha, Kjell Carlstrom, John Lee Augustyn, Greg Henderson, Lars Petter Nordhaug, Morris Possoni, Michael Barry, Serge Pauwels, Chris Sutton, Sylvain Calzati, Nicolas Portal, Mathew Hayman, Dario Cioni and Davide Viagno.

When we hear more news on Team Sky, we'll let you guys know.

Drug Abuse, Cheating and Technology. A SHOUT Special

This is a Special Edition of Shout, the main postings for this feature will begin on the 4th December. Rashid Ramzi the Gold Medal holder of the Olympic 1500 will be stripped of his title by the IAAF. The move has been welcomed by the Vice President of the organisation, Lord Coe.

The advancement of technology for testing of drug abuse has been significant. The detection in Mr Ramzi of Cera, a blood booster, was evident when the tests were repeated. Ramzi has been requested to return his medal and the record books accordingly rewritten. Mr Ramzi is currently challenging the decision and has lodged an appeal with The Court of Arbitration in Sport.

This leads us nicely onto Mr Andre Agassi.

Agassi has long passed the time limit when tests can be checked, there were not any in the first place. Mr Agassi has taken the route of guilt and conscience, to declare to the world that he took performance enhancing drugs. Possibly a publicity exercise to increase sales of his book that is just me being cynical. We are unaware of the competitions exactly this cheating took place in, however, why don’t we strip him of all titles during the timescale of his abuse, cheating. He can also return the competition money won and for good measure a life time ban on attendance of future tournaments. I suspect the money will hurt most.

This is flowing smoothly, drug abuse to cheating, we can not let this special posting of Shout be complete without a comment on Mr Thierry Henry and cheating.

Should there be a replay? Well no, not without overturning the injustice of other incidents that took place in previous matches and within the actual finals not just qualifiers. There should be clear guidelines included within the competition rules before any tournament starts, covering evntualities and situations. We would be arguing forever otherwise and be constantly prone to knee jerk reactions. Should we include technology? Why not, football at this level is so soulless and far removed from reality we might as well. Just leave real football (Championship to Grassroots)alone, let us have our debates in pubs, clubs and living rooms. In introducing match technology, I believe the negatives are greater than the positives.

Let us briefly look at the match. Ireland were fantastic throughout. The performances of Liam Lawrence and Sean St Ledger were impressive. Richard Dunne, Shay Given, Kevin Kilbane and John O’Shea produced the consistency almost expected of them. Robbie Keane, for me, was Man of the Match, he was everywhere.Ireland, however, had opportunities to settle the play-off Damien Duff and Robbie Keane missed golden chances in the second half. Let’s fast forward the build up to controversy. The cross that preceded the incident, there was an offside, and then the ball was allowed to bounce by McShane instead of clearing it, then the incident.

The referee was solid, he was confident in his decision making and correct, but then we got to extra time. He perhaps had a restricted view; the ball was also on the blind side of the Assistant. The Official on the Goal line would spot it, but please let’s not go there. So we get down to the human instinct. Put yourself in poor Thierry’s place, what was going through his mind ‘I’ve handled it, Billy has scored, we’re probably through to the finals of the World Cup, the ref didn’t spot it, the President of UEFA is French, Ireland has voted yes in the Lisbon Treaty’. It comes down to the pure act of Sportsmanship, the best a man can get.

Robbie Fowler had it, but the officials still made him take the penalty. Thierry claims he advised the Ref he handled it and immediately confessed in his post match interviews. Should Officials be encouraged to listen to players confessions and act accordingly or do we open up a whole new can of worms. My next statement is not connected to Thierry or any player or official in the France v Ireland match. News is coming out from Germany regarding match fixing, officials reacting on players confessions during matches could alter the outcome and benefit the minority of unscrupulous people within the game. Officials have their hands tied, technology will without question go along way to solve this, but it is such a remote occurrence is it necessary? It will disrupt the flow of a game and eradicate the essential components of post match debate and intrigue. These are as much a part of the game as the playing itself. Ireland has certainly been unlucky and their performance deserved more. Perhaps like Mr Ramzi the FAI can take their appeal to the Court of Arbitration in Sport, but don’t ask Roy Keane to be a character witness

Onwards to South Africa. Fifa will bring in CCTV FA, we will have a team of 8 match officials in striped uniforms and flags and life will be good. Opinions will be redundant because we will know without reasonable doubt; the game will have enough breaks to fit in about 2 adverts while decisions are made. Those of you who watch Super League will know that not every replay is conclusive and even the commentators call video feed back wrong.

People fear that without match technology being made available, there are concerns about future Sponsorship and funding for the game. Sit down and think, your company tag is visible at the point of the incident, it will be shown across the world time after time, or you sponsored the match that had a momentous controversial moment that will be mentioned time after time. Priceless!

This article is full of contradictions, highlighting the difficulties in producing a uniformed formula to police all sports from performance enhancing drugs and cheating. Technology in sport, regarding supporting decision making, is inevitable whatever your beliefs. First, however, it is important that all sports have a framework detailing pre tournament rules and conditions, no matter of the status of the offender within individual sports.

Clear guidelines must be agread before any compettion, covering all posibilities that can occur and the procedure to be followed. It is obviously impossible to predict all situations, so exceptional rulings may be required from time to time. The three incidents mentioned in this article are all far too common and a pre tournament agreement on structure of rules and procedures would be beneficial. So before technology, let sport agree to its terms and conditions, its frameworks and guidelines, let it make clear the punishment for drug enhancement, cheating and other wrongs and adhere to them.

Let us not forget that FIFA allegedly changed the rulings on World Cup play-off seeding for Europe, once the teams involved were confirmed. So before we start this World Cup and other tournaments around the world administrators must make the rules, conditions, and procedures clear, they must punish those who without reasonable doubt cheat or illegally enhance performance. I believe Thierry Henry is not a bad person and a mixture of instinct and the occasion got the better of him, Mr Agassi was pure greed and Rashid Ramzi the pressure of failure. Before technology sport needs to be guided by a framework of substance and clarity, before we call for the heads of officials, coaches and players lets look at the suitability of the administrators.

Shout was written by Rob McAvoy,SportTrades

Some of the Fantastic Deals Available at SportTrades

SportTrades have a number of fantastic opportunities to sponsor or advertise at sport organisations and clubs.

Girls in Football: An organisation that promotes women's football, the fastest growing participation sport in the UK. 1000 of clubs follow the organisations website to keep in touch with other clubs and to promote tournaments and competitions. The website is also used to advertise a variety of services and products. We have agreed with Girls in Football to create a number of groups that include clubs at a wide range of levels. The organisation will be responsible to distribute the sponsorship to the clubs, providing them with kit and finances that will help cover operational costs of each club. Each group is available for sponsorship and the kit for all the clubs within, will feature the corporate identification of the sponsor. The sponsor will receive significant press coverage once agreement has been reached.

Hainault Buldogs: The Bulldogs, Essex's premier Rugby League side, are seeking a main sponsor for season 2010. The club will wear the Sponsors logo on Match Kit and also the possibility that the leisure wear will include the sponsor logo. Hainault will play they home games at Dagenham RFC in Central Park for next season and beyond. Secondary Sponsorship is available, logos can be positioned on the back and on the sleeves of the match kit. Hainault Bulldogs have made their home in Dagneham and so a name change will be made in the future. They will keep Bulldogs within there title however Team naming rights are available e.g SportTrades Dagenham Bulldogs or simply SportTrades Bulldogs. Prices for all are upon request.

Braintree Town: The Irons play in the Blue Square South, and have made an encouraging start to the season. We have very competitive rates for perimeter and match operation advertising and also Stadia Marketing available. The price to display a board at the ground for 12 months is considerably cheaper than 2 months of local media advertising and more effective than solely website advertising. Call us for more details regarding the price or if you are interested in joining us on a pre Christmas game on Tuesday 8th December and meet the staff, send us your details and we will forward an invite for you to join us.

Plymouth Argyle: The Green Army are seeking sponsors to help fund their Centre of Excellence. You will receive local and regional press coverage and be offered first team incentives to entertain your clients and staff. You will also receive promotion of your company from the club and in the stadium. We also have partnerships available, for example Official Supplier of Insurance to the club, you will also receive corporate hospitality deals with first team matches and promotion of your company via the club and regional media.

Please contact us at info@sporttrades.co.uk for further information regarding all of the above deals.

Thumping Win For The Cheiftains In Peterborough!

Back in the 1970’s a certain Elton John once sung about why Saturday’s are great! This was certainly the case this past Saturday for the Chelmsford Chieftains as they romped to a 13-1 win at the Peterborough Islanders. It was a great win for the Chieftains who kept up their unbeaten run this season after this game. SportTrades Pete Lewis reports on the action for us.

Chelmsford lined up for this game without key players such as Rudi Dzurko and Alex Green who were ill and on holiday respectively. Making his debut for the team was Adam Copland - who shouldn’t be confused with the WWE’s wrestler Adam Copeland (aka Edge) – who got a deal with the team after impressing in a tryout recently.

The Chieftains withstood abit of pressure in the opening moments, however once the first goal went in for Dean Birrell’s men the floodgates well and truly opened and it was very much one-way traffic after that.

First to get on the score sheet was Ross Brears on a good shorthanded effort at 10.57. Exactly Eighteen seconds later and Jerry Pavlus doubled the lead also shorthanded. Pavlus notched a second minutes later. There were 3 more goals in the first period with goals from BT Williams, Danny Wright and Richie Whiting making the score 6-0. Game over essentially with two periods of the game left!

Chelmsford didn’t stop there and scored five goals in the second period to really push the margin of victory home. Pavlus scored the first of those goals to round of his hatrick, whilst Whiting and Brears doubled their tally for the day. Ayling and Copland rounded of the scoring going into the final break in play.

The third period was abit of a shock as it took Chelmsford a staggering ten minutes to get a goal, with the twelfth goal of the night for the visitors going to Blaho Novak. Peterborough got a consolation goal moments later through Ross MacKintosh but it was too little too late. To round of a memorable night for the visitors Pavlus notched his fourth of the net with seconds left on the clock.

Coach Birrel was immensely proud of his team’s performance: ‘The boys dominated the game for long periods, we had a job to do tonight and we did it in fine style. We can take alot of positives into our next game which will be a difficult trip to Cardiff to play the Devils’. The Cheiftains travel to Cardiff next week and will be looking for a win against opponents who will be challenging for the league this year.

Get UD Lanzarote merchandise for Christmas

Sunday Teguise Market

If you are in Lanzarote why don't you visit the Official stall for U.D. Lanzarote products at Teguise market every Sunday (on the square near the public toilets). Here you can purchase home and away kits, scarves, caps, T-shirts etc.

The stall is run by our very own Sol y Futbol's Ian and Anna Lane. They will be more than happy to see you.

Merchandise can be bought online at Mercancia Lanzarote, but for more details email them at info@mercancialanzarote.com.

Sol y Futbol: Lanzarote Win After 1000 Minutes Of Football

Ian Lane reports from a very hot Arrecife for Sol y Futbol

LANZAROTE 2 ALCALÁ 1

16th November 2009

Lanzarote have won. It may have taken over 1000 minutes of football but finally that 12 game streak without a win has finally been broken.

On another scorching November day with temperatures peaking at around 30 degrees the Rojillos (reds) went about their business in a determined manner. A solid defensive back four with an imaginative midfield and a tireless frontline, combined with a major impact from the two substitutes, gave the Rojillos a deserved victory.

In the opening minutes both sides were nervous and instead of passing short balls, the Hoof up the field proved to be the preferred option. Lanzarote were the first to threaten. A fine ball from midfielder Maikel Padrón to the left wing was met by the ever alert Toñito. The winger skinned his full back and cut the ball back from the byline neatly to the young striker Echedey. The 21 year old did well to find the space but his scuffed effort was easily dealt with by the Alcalá keeper Rubén Martín.

The visitors best opportunity of the first half fell to centre back Joselou. The defender found himself with a free header from a corner just past the half hour mark that narrowly flew past the far post. The Rojillos main threat was down whichever flank Toñito was. In the 35th minute the winger, this time, roasted the left back and blasted the ball low into the danger zone only for a defender to slide in and guide the ball away to safety with Echedey waiting to pounce inside the six yard box.

Lanzarote´s priority for this first half was not to let the opposition score, a feat they have only completed once this term which was on the opening match of the season in a game they went on and secured their only other win.

The game remained scoreless at the break and the home fans egged on by the clubs Mascot (a huge rabbit) felt positive about the second half.

Fifteen minutes after the restart and that positiveness flew straight out the window. A corner for the Madrid side was swung in from the left and following a goalmouth scramble the ball was eventually blasted home from close range by sub Moya.

In the 68th minute the game was going to change with the introduction of the Barnsley boy Ian Robinson. The striker didn’t give the Alcalá defence a second to dwell on the ball winning possession in the opponents final third and gave the ignition that the Rojillos were so desperately searching for.

In the 73rd minute a cross from the left by Vladi destined for the head of the Englishman as he made his run into the six yard box took the tinniest of deflections and unfortunately for Robbo, the ball had too much pace on it to adjust his position in time and the chance went begging.

Two minutes on and Lanzarote were level in spectacular fashion. Robbo stole the ball in the midfield and fed fellow sub Ayoze Pérez on the left wing. The local lad then turned his defender one way then the other and unleashed a dipping swerving shot from 20 yards which smashed the underside of the bar and settled into the back of the net.

With the score now 1-1 Lanzarote were intent on victory. Five minutes from time and Robbo was in the thick of things again. A ball swept in from the left was controlled by the Barnsley lad leaving the defender to launch into an unfair challenge. The referee was ready to blow for a penalty but the official waited a moment and what a good decision it proved to be. So often the hero, Lanzarote´s Captain Vladi came thundering in with a volley beating the Madrid keeper and sending the home fans into unfamiliar territory by taking the lead in a match.

A nervous five minutes plus added time awaited the Rojillos but at the final whistle the relief from the players and fans was hugely evident. No change in the table for U.D. Lanzarote, they are firmly rooted to the bottom but have reduced the deficit for safety from relegation from eight to five points.

Next week Lanzarote travel to Madrid and face Leganés followed by the biggest game of the season at home versus the B team of Real Madrid. Unfortunately I will not be able to produce a report of the match next week due to me being a kind and generous human being as well as one of life’s true romantics. I have purchased my wife a ticket to see her family in Sweden for her birthday and she is the computer wizard of the family and uploads the website. Myself and two Children will remain here where I shall be learning the art of modesty.

Ian will be able to post his Sol y Futbol report with us next week - hopefully.

George Burley Leaves Scotland Job - What Now For Scotland?

SportTrades Adam Dennehey Writing:

In the wake of Scotland’s disappointing 3-0 defeat to Wales in Cardiff on Saturday, George Burley has again come under pressure from the SFA and we've learnt that he's now lost his job as Scotland Manager. The SFA and fans could probably just about take missing out on the World Cup but losing to a below-par Wales in such disappointing style could be the last straw. But in truth could Burley really have done better with the current crop of players. In this article, i’ll give my view on George Burley’s position as Scotland manager and the current state of the Scottish team. If you’d be kind to leave your comments that’d be great!

The Scottish football team at the moment are a side that is lacking in inspiration and one that’s lacking any real sustained class throughout the team at the moment. It could be argued that the ex-Ipswich manager has taken the team as far as they can currently go anyway and that the SFA have finally lost patience. That’s not a reflection on Burley but the fact that the Scottish game is struggling and this is being reflected in the teams performances.

Since taking over the job Burley has won only three of the fourteen games that the team has played. In those games the team has scored only 8 goals. Four of those came in 2 wins against Iceland in the World Cup Qualifying Group. Aside from those wins against Iceland, Burley has only tasted victory once more and that came against Macedonia at Hampden. The fact that the team aren’t scoring enough or creating enough chances hasn’t helped the team out. Rangers’s striker Kris Boyd has been left out of the international set up partly due to the striker not making himself available, but surley Burley could have done more to include the striker in the team.

When Burley took over there was much optimism that the side could target at least second place in their world cup qualifying group as long as they could edge out Norway. Under Walter Smith and Alex McLeish the team almost qualified for Euro 2008, being pushed into third on the final night of the group qualifying with a brave 2-1 defeat at the hands of Donadoni’s Italy at Hampden in November 2007. It was a glorious ‘failure’ for the Scots, whose performances were nothing short of exceptional. Had it not been for a poor performance in Georgia and some poor officiating in Ukraine the Scots could have possibly won the group.

With McLeish moving onto Birmingham City, a new manager was needed. There was talk of Graeme Souness, Mark McGhee and even George Graham taking over but the SFA went to Burley with the aim of getting the team to the 2010 World Cup. At the time of his appointment, many people believed that Burley wasn’t the first choice for the job with candidates, but that he could slowly move the team forward.

Sadly that hasn’t been the case for Burley, as the team just hasn’t got to grips with games since his appointment. He certainly hasn’t been helped by the fact that the team is lacking talent and that wasn’t helped by the actions of Alan McGregor and Barry Ferguson who have since been dropped from the team for disciplinary reasons. Both players were rightfully dropped for their part in a late-night drinking session after Holland beat the team 3-0 in Amsterdam and for subsequent hand gestures made from the bench during the win over Iceland at Hampden. Of course players are responsible for their actions but after their actions after the Holland game, the players shouldn’t have been allowed on the bench for the Iceland game and been thrown out of the squad there and then.

Burley is a decent manager at heart, but a manager is only as good as his players. The current group of players are inexperienced overall with not alot of the squad having played European football. Darren Fletcher is doing a good job as the skipper and is players who any manager can help build a team around. James McFadden and Scott Brown aside there is very little imagination in the side and as a result the team is struggling when it really matters. This is a reflection on the Scottish game which is getting worse by the year; this is being highlighted by Celtic and Rangers performances in Europe this year. Rangers 4-1 home defeat at Ibrox to Dan Petrescu’s Unirea Urziceni was nothing short of a national embarrassment.

During and after the Wales game, the Scottish fans in attendance at the game could be heard jeering the team and calling for Burley to quit. The Tartan-Army have lost faith in Burley and although it’s perhaps harsh on the manager, the SFA are right to make a new start. The SFA have to make a decision and whoever the next manager will be, he has to be given time to build a team that can challenge for a play off place for Euro 2012. Scotland will be seeded in the 3rd spot in the team so when the draw’s made the team will be on the back foot straight away.

First things first the new manager needs to improve the fitness and team spirit of the team, which should ensure Scotland put in respectable performances and beat sides that they are expected to beat. Only then can the team move forward as it's looking more likley that it could be another decade before the team reach a major finals. My choice for the new manager would be Jimmy Calderwood who did a fine job managing Aberdeen and has the experience over the other leading contender in Craig Levein of Dundee United.

Latest From The Chieftains!

Every week or fortnight at least @ SportTrades Report, Pete Lewis brings you the latest news to do with the Chelmsford Chieftains. Here is his update for this week where he reviews how last weekend went for the Chieftains..

Last Saturday night saw the Chieftains return to the rink they opened their season at, Planet Ice rink in Milton Keyens. The Chieftains started off brightly and hit 3 early goals through Aaron Connolly, Jerry Pavlus and Ross Brears. They all benefited from poor keeping from MK’s goalie Mark Woolf. A late period goal from Thunder's Tom Roles saw the sides go into the first break at a 1-3 scoreline.

The second period was 10 seconds old when it was 2-3 as Roles thanks to some scored again past Ben Clements. This perked the Chieftains back into life and three unanswered goals from Richard Whiting and Sean Easton and a second of the night for Brears saw the second period break begin with the Chieftains 4 goals to the good at 6-2.

Thunder weren't finished yet and hit back in the third period with goals from Mike Knights and Jamie Holland to make the result a respectable 4-6 to the Essex side. Things did heat up towards the end of the game and a handbags session at mid-ice ensued after Matt Roberts took out Darren Brown with a vicious knee on knee hit which tough defenseman Reece Covington took exception to and battled with Roberts. Roberts then hit back at Covington with a stick to the face which fired up Covington but before things got out of hand the officials stepped in and cooled things down.

After the game Chieftains coach Dean Birrell had this to say "Some of the players went into this game believing it to be an easy 2 points and as MK have shown us before they give up and made us work a lot harder than we should have had to. It wasn't one of our best performances by a long shot, but I think it shows character that we could play that badly and still pick up the win."

Sunday night was a lot harder for the Chieftains as they welcomed Cardiff ENL Devils to the Riverside in what many were predicting to be a bad tempered affair. As it turned out, the Devils played a fairly gentle game by their standards and were able to control large chunks of the game through frustrating the Chieftains and their attacks. The Devils took a deserved lead on 7:29 when Dan Bowers scored past Andy Moffat in the Chieftains net. Chelmsford then took a long time to get recover and many a chance went begging as they just couldn't find their form in front of goal. That was until Hammond notched a goal at the 37:17 mark to tie the game at 1-1 heading into the third period.

Things did get scrappy in the final third and the Chieftains began to take advantage of the tiring Devils players but it was the Welsh side that took the lead again on the 47:30 mark when Moffat foolishly went after a loose puck only to be beaten by David James who slotted home into net. Less than a minute elapsed and it was back at a tied game when Hammond picked up his second of the night on a powerplay chance. Referee Matt Thompson had a fairly easy game of it in the end and dealt with the little flair ups well and kept a lid on simmering tensions.

The last few minutes had most of the large crowd on their feet willing the Chieftains to find that extra goal, but alas the game ended with a 2-2 draw, which on balance was probably fair. It may not have been a classic game by any means, but it showed the 'never say die' attitude these youngsters have and as such end the weekend 2nd in the table a point behind Invicta Dynamos. The Chieftains return to action on Saturday as they take the trip up to M11 to face bottom of the table Peterborough Islanders.

ONE SEASON, ONE DIARY

ONE SEASON, ONE DIARY

Welcome to SportTrades diary for season 2010/2011. The Diary is in line with UEFA timescales and the Football season, running from 1st July until 30th June. Handy for those fixture meetings, end of season tournaments and much more.

The diary is a classic slim style with a week to view format and allows instant access to all information. The diary can be customised to include your Organisation or Club Logo on the front and will feature information pages relevant to you.

We are pleased to offer you this introductory price for orders taken and artwork received by 18th December 2009.

Prices are listed below, based on orders between 200 – 2500. We, however, have no minimum or maximum order and are happy to quote on quantities outside this range.

BAND QUANTITY PRICE (Per Diary)
A 200 - 500 £ 3.00
B 501 - 1000 £ 2.70
C 1001 - 1500 £ 2.50
D 1501 - 2000 £ 2.20
E 2001 - 2500 £ 2.00

*Prices include the printing of the Logo, and up to 4 information pages. VAT will need to be added and postage and packaging charges depending on the quantity purchased, but advised at time of quotation. 50% deposit must be paid with supply of artwork, and balance paid with the agreement of proof.
All our diaries are compatible to RaW Technology

To place an order or to find out more details contact us. info@sporttrades.co.uk

Sol Y Futbol: Puertollano Prepare For Villareal

SOL y FOOTBALL

Ian Lanes Reports on another bad day for UD Lanzarote.

PUERTOLLANO 3 LANZAROTE 0

If Lanzarote believed that Puertollano were going to take this game easy in order to have a full squad for their midweek Copa Del Rey match against Primera Liga side Villareal, the Rojillos were sorely mistaken.

Lanzarote created very little throughout the match and the game was effectively over in the 5th minute when a free kick from midfielder Marcos Valdés beat keeper Floro to give his side the lead.

The score remained 1-0 at the break with Lanzarote just being restricted to one long range effort from striker Rosmen.

The Rojillo defence remained firm for a large part of the match but with the constant pressure it was only a matter of time till the side from just below central Spain was to double their lead.

In the 72nd minute sub Acorán scored the second. The sub picked up the ball on the left wing and easily turned his defender and planted a shot wide of Floro making the game safe for Puertollano.

With the home sides minds now fixed on their mouthwatering return leg against Villareal they began to rest a couple of players. Lanzarote old boy Brenes came on with 15 minutes remaining for a run to prepare himself for the Cup match. Puertollano drew 1-1 with Villareal 10 days ago and this was ideal preparation for one of their most important matches in their clubs history.

Another substitute Ortiz rounded off a bad day for Lanzarote in added on time by chipping the Rojillos keeper to earn his side a deserved 3-0 win and push his side to within two points of the play offs.

Lanzarote now face a home match next Sunday against fellow strugglers Alcala.

For those of you wishing to purchase UD Lanzarote merchandise contact Ian at info@mercancialanzarote.com for details.

Stanley prepare for Barnet - F.A.Cup Tracker

Accrington Stanley 2 Salisbury City 1

1st Round F.A.Cup, stage 7 SportTrades Tracker.

Stanley took advantage of two gifts offered by City. The Reds took the lead after 19 minutes when a John Miles corner found Jimmy Ryan on the edge of the area, who finished well. The second goal was similar, again coming from a John Miles corner, the ball this time being headed in at the near post by Michael Symes after 33 minutes. The second half saw City respond well, Matt Stubbs halved Accrington’s lead after 66 minutes when he slotted the ball home, but the fightback ended there. Barnet will be Stanley's opponenets in the next round and become the 9th club to be included in the SportTrades F.A.Cup Tracker as it reaches Stage 8.

Catching Up With The 'Side - A Decent November

SportTrades Adam Dennehey writes: Now that November's started and the nights are getting darker, I thought it'd be a good time to give you guys an update on one of SportTrades's adopted clubs this season - Barkingside FC.

It's been an ok last couple of months for the team since i last gave an update on the team, and its fair to say that quite alot has happened. The team have risen up to a respectable 5th in the Essex Senior League table. In the last 2 months they've only lost 2 out of the last 15 games they've played and that includes some 3 friendlies that have been played when the team hasn't had a fixture on the odd weekend. This has been seen as a good tool for Manager Tony Fenn to try out new players to the squad and also give the youngsters in the side some time on the pitch.

One youngster that has come to the fore recently has been Liam Burgess. The stylish midfielder has coome to the side with good pedigree and is a former trainee and youth product from West Ham. He's not the tallest player in the world but makes up for it with some skillfull touches and reminds a few Oakside regulars of Arsenal's Jack Wilshire - who isn't a bad player to be comapred to at the moment.

Up front the team are playing well with a good bunch of strikers at the team. Leading the way is Sean Thomas, who is well-known at non league for his goals with previous form for Brentwood Town and Aveley to name a few. Thomas has scored 13 goals so far and does look a threat in every game. Then the team have the pacey Ryan Imbert who has impressed since the start of the season scoring 8 goals. The most important of these came againgst Stanstead when his 90th minute winner won the Monday night clash on the 26th October.

Off the pitch the club have just got a grade D Stadium listing from the FA, this means that providing they can get promoted they could apply to be in the Ryman League North next season. This is an important step for the club in wanting to be ambitious. However just like the club's Oakside stadium's tennants Redbridge, the club are continuing to raise funds for the future of the club to keep the club going.

Everyone involved at the club from chairman Jimmy Flanaghan and his family, to the maangement team and the players, to the regulars at the club like Rob Meyers and John Belsey - is playing their part. Its a credit to those people that the club so far have got the Second Best attendence figures in the league with an average of 87 so far this season. The highest attendence of the season so far for the club was the 154 who turned up, on a Monday Night to see the team triumph over Stanstead Town on the 26th October.

The team should be looking to move into the top 3 over the next couple of games, which are all winable. Local rivals Barking visit the Oakside stadium this weekend and if past encounters are to go by, it's a game that will be well worth seeing.

For more on Barkingside FC, do visit their website @ http://www.barkingsidefc.co.uk/ and if you're ever down in Barkingside, in the borough of Redbridge do visit the ground and see the team in action. More from Barkingside FC in December!

1st Round of the F.A.Cup and Stage 7 of the Tracker

Stage 7 of SportTrades F.A.Cup Tracker and 1st Round of the F.A.Cup, an exciting weekend awaits all competing clubs starting from tonight. We wish John Still and the boys, all the best on their trip up to Huddersfield this evening. More exciting than that is Stage 7 and Team 8 in our F.A.Cup Tracker. Accrington Stanley join us this weekend as they entertain the victors from Stage 6, Salisbury City. Salisbury make their 2nd appearance after overcoming Tracker Merit Table leaders Farnborough 4-2 in the replay.

The story so far plus the full Tracker Merit Table.

F.A.CUP TRACKER UPDATE

Stage 1 Barkingside 1 Bowers & Pitsea 4
Stage 2 Windsor & Eton 3 Bowers & Pitsea 1
Stage 3 Thamesmead Town 1 Windsor & Eton 2
Stage 4 Windsor & Eton 0 Farnborough 1
Stage 5 Heybridge Swifts 0 Farnborough 0
Replay Farnborough 3 Heybridge Swifts 0
Stage 6 Farnborough 0 Salisbury City 0
Replay Salisbury City 4 Farnborough 2
Stage 7 Accrington Stanley v Salisbury City

TRACKER STANDINGS (Appearances/Away Wins/Replays/Goal Difference/Goals Scored)

POS TEAM APP A/W R GD GS
1 Farnborough 3 1 2 2 6
2 Windsor & Eton 3 1 0 2 5
3 Bowers & Pitsea 2 1 0 1 5
4 Salisbury City* 1 0 1 2 4
5 Heybridge Swifts 1 0 1 -3 0
6 Thamesmead Town 1 0 0 -1 1
7 Barkingside 1 0 0 -3 1


Stage 7 of the tracker will be played this weekend, Accrington Stanley will become the 8th team included in the tracker when they entertain Salisbury City in 1st Round of the F.A.Cup.

Appearances are calculated by Rounds clubs appear in, not total of matches played. If Appearances are level then positions will be determined by number of Away Wins, then Replays, then Goal difference then goals scored, if still level then the position will be shared.

Sol y Futbol: Narrow Defeat For Rollijos

SOL y FUTBOL: Ian Lanes reports

LANZAROTE 1 CERRO REYES AT 2

2nd November 2009

Groundhog Day again for U.D. Lanzarote as they go two nil down within the first 20 minutes and remain rooted at the foot of Segunda B (league 1) six points adrift of safety.

The Rojillos began well with midfielder Jotha hitting a sweet volley from 20 yards unfortunately straight into the arms of the Reyes goalkeeper. Toñito was playing with spirit, always attacking the full backs and in the 4th minute had a goal bound shot blocked by a defender. That was as good as it got for Lanzarote in the opening half.

In the 11th minute the side from Badajoz took the lead. A cross from the left to the far post was nodded back into the danger zone and striker Enzo powerfully volleyed in from five yards whilst the Lanzarote centre backs watched in amazement.

Ten minutes on and the visitors doubled their lead. A poor cross from the left crept through the fragile defence of Lanzarote and midfielder Parra found the ball at his feet. Not believing his luck and the generosity of Lanzarote’s back four he simply stuck the ball past the helpless Lanzarote keeper Floro.

Things could of got a lot worse for the Rojillos in the 33rd minute when centre back Faruk was beaten to a header and the Cerro Reyes striker was left alone with just the keeper to beat. Lanzarote’s number one stood tall and palmed away the effort giving his side some hope.

Without Lanzarote’s inspirational Captain Vlad,i through suspension, it was difficult to see any way back into this match as the first half came to an end with Lanzarote trailing 0-2.

Fifteen minutes after the break and the visitors were on the offensive. A cross from the right was headed with power by the head of José Cayodo though just lacked the accuracy as keeper Floro watched the ball fly inches past his left hand post.

Lanzarote brought on Echedey at half time replacing the out of sorts José Manuel and the youngster hit a powerful drive from 30 yards but keeper Arturu saved with ease.

In the 70th minute Manager Carmelo Hernández used his last throw of the dice by introducing Ian Robinson. Ten minutes later and the Barnsley boy chased a ball that was never his but with his incredible pace got to the ball first and was brought down by defender Gabi. After receiving his second yellow card and his marching orders Lanzarote had a sniff and hurled everyone up front.

In the 89th minute and after intense pressure the Rojillos got their reward. A free kick on the right was nodded home by Sub Francis and Lanzarote were in search of a point.

In the second minute of added on time Englishman Robbo had a dream opportunity of earning Lanzarote an undeserved point and being the hero but his header flew inches over.

Next week Lanzarote face a daunting trip to Puertollano. The side from La Mancha region of Spain is fresh from their heroics against Primera Liga side Villareal in a 1-1 draw in the Copa Del Rey. The Ex Arsenal superstar and birthday boy Robert Pires spared the blushes of the La Liga side with a leveler in the 65th minute. Puertollano were not the only side in Lanzarote´s league to pull off heroics in the cup, Alcorcon caused one of the biggest cup shocks ever when they thrashed giants Real Madrid 4-0. Ironically Lanzarote travel to Alcorcon in just a few weeks which emphasizes the quality of this Division.

Mixed Halloween For Chelmsford's Ice Hockey Teams

Halloween night was the occassion for a mixed set of results for the two Chelmsford senior teams as the Warriors went down 6-2 at home to the Solent & Gosport Devils while the Chieftains got a well-earned draw in Cardiff against their version of the Devils. SportTrades Pete Lewis as always reports:

The Warriors struggled to get going in the game and when they did they were already behind and struggling to get past a tough Solent side. The fans who turned up were treated to some good hockey from both sides for short bursts but over the course of the game the Solent team proved to be tough opponents and despite the best efforts of Adrian Woodyard and man of the match Ben Osborne, who scored a goal a piece, it wasn't enough and 6 goals from the Devils were enough to seal a 6-2 win. The Warriors don't play again until the 22nd and in that time there will be plans laid on how to regroup and push hard and get their season going in a manner that the team should be performing at.

Meanwhile in the Welsh capital it was a horror show at times as the Cardiff ENL Devils played some nasty and intense physical hockey which took it's toll on the Chieftains side early on. Veteran Canadian Brent Pope was the main culprit, along with Gareth Dixon and Jamie Dancey who also chipped in with nasty hits on the young Chelmsford side who were missing 'enforcer' BT Williams, who remained on suspension,to stand up for the team.

Incidents were happening all over the ice and referee Rene Ross did well to keep a lid on the game. The Chieftains battled hard against a lot of bullying and intimidation and were rewarded early with a goal from Danny Hammond to take deserved lead a few minutes into the game. The match became scrappy and more physical as the Chieftains began to get frustrated and tried to hit back where they could, but this only encouraged the Devils further. The Devils tactics seemed to pay off as they hit 4 unanswered goals and the feisty and chippy game headed into the last 10minutes with the Essex side 4-1 down. It could have been more had it not been for goal line clearances from netminder Ben Clements and defenceman Sean Easton.

Hammond then took control of the game and advantage of the tiring Devils team and hit 2 goals in under 3minutes to complete his hat-trick. At 4-3 and less than 8minutes on the clock the Chieftains fans were on their feet drowning out the home supporters and the team on the ice responded as Ross Brears stepped up and notched the game-tying goal. Hammond's hat-trick was enough to pick up the man of the match award for the Chieftains side. Coach Dean Birrell said after the game "It showed a lot of character from the boys that they could come back from 4-1 down and get a result like that against some intense and physical play which was effective for the Devils until their steam ran out in the third period allowing our youngsters to take the game to them. I am really proud of how the team played tonight".

Sunday night was a different story altogether as title contenders Wightlink Raiders headed to Chelmsford in what many predicted would be another physical encounter and one which the Chieftains would probably struggle to get anything out of after the physical battering taken in Cardiff the night before. However the Chieftains showed just why many predict them to be Invicta Dynamos main challengers to the title as they hammered the Raiders 8-1. Hammond picked up goals 4 and 5 for himself over the course of the weekend and Jerry Pavlus notched a hat-trick in this fairly one-sided encounter. Raiders player-coach Jeremy Cornish was completely outfoxed by Hammond on of the goals as a cheeky backheel from the Chelmsford forward left Cornish looking red-faced. The other goals came from Blaho Novak and James Ayling and continually impressive defence man Danny Wright.

An early check from Richard Whiting on Raiders forward Damon Larter got things heating up, but again Rene Ross kept a tight lid on the game and it didn't get out of hand. A late consolation goal for the Raiders came from Kent Johnson who picked up the man of the match award for the visitors. Andy Moffat was solid in the Chieftains net which rightly earnt him the home sides man of the match. Birrell said "I thought the goal was a poor one to give away at that late stage of the game and I wasn't impressed with it, however we dominated them throughout the game and was impressed at how the team performed coming off of last nights tough encounter."

Looking ahead to this Sunday's return clash with Cardiff at the Riverside Birrell said "We will have BT Williams back, but I expect the team to play as they did on Saturday and soak up what the Devils dish out. Again, as this weekend, we have to keep out of trouble physically as we just don't have the physical capabilities to match up to other sides in the league. This weekend skill and finesse overcame brawn and intimidation and I am pleased with how we performed to have taken 3 points from the weekend when many expected us to be lucky to get 2". The Chieftains V Devils faces off at 6:30pm at the Riverside on Sunday 8th November.

Thanks to Helen Fryer for the photo of Chelmsford's Sean Easton