In-form England women aim for World Cup glory in Germany

Post by John Ashdown of The Observer

England coach Hope Powell's experienced side has what it takes to do well in the World Cup

Thank you to our friends at the Guardian Sport we bring you a review of the England squad for the Women's World Cup, starting tomorrow in Germany.



Psychic octopus? Check. Ball with a daft name that "incorporates significant symbolic elements"? Check. Brazil and Germany in pole position to steamroller their way to the final? Check. It can all mean only one thing – the World Cup is back in town. But amidst the familiar ephemera – eight female octopuses are competing X-Factor-style to take over Paul's eight-legged mantle, and instead of the Jabulani we have the Speedcell, a ball that somehow manages to "emphasise the need for togetherness and unity of purpose" – there is a significant difference: This time there is an England team with a fighting chance of glory.

And this time it is not hyperbole piled on hyperbole. The England women's results of late have given genuine cause for optimism, within and without the camp. That Hope Powell's side emerged unscathed from an exceptionally tough World Cup qualification campaign – England had to top their group and then overcome Switzerland in a play-off over two legs – was, despite being a tall order, something of a minimum requirement. But victories in April and May against the perennial powerhouses Sweden and, in particular, the United States, two-time World Cup winners and ranked No1 in the world by Fifa, have swelled expectations to new levels.

Preparations have been smooth, even if training-game defeats against Australia and North Korea this week have curbed the sense of runaway momentum. Fatigue should not be an issue – the newly formed summer Women's Super League is just seven games into its first season – and this week the team's training ground in Wolfsburg has been swept by the sort of downpours all-too-familiar for Wimbledon week in England. There are no doubts about the manager's acumen, no square pegs being forced into round holes in the side. Top the group and the optimistic can plot a route to a fantasy final meeting with Germany.

It has been a long road for Powell. After her appointment in 1998, England did not qualify for the World Cup in 1999 or 2003 and failed to get out their group both at Euro 2001 and on home soil at Euro 2005. But gradually, the 42-year-old's work has paid off. Her side were quarter-finalists at the 2007 World Cup and beaten finalists at Euro 2009. After the painful ends to those tournaments – 3-0 against the United States in China, 6-2 against Germany in the final in Finland – the mantra was that the achievements were there to be built on, the lessons there to be learnt and the experience there to be used. Now England have the chance to show how far they have come. Thirteen of the 2007 squad are back for another bite, while Powell used 28 different players in qualifying, a clear sign of the increasing depth of talent. The coach believes this is her best squad and there is little reason to doubt her.

Certainly they will not have it all their own way. Germany, the hosts, are heavy favourites. Brazil boast the best player in the world in Marta. The US have never failed to reach the semi-finals. Those sides will await in the knockout stages if England get out of Group B, because the top seeds there are Japan, an emerging force, but certainly not as formidable as the big three.

England face the Nadeshiko in their final group game in Augsburg on Tuesday week. They kick off their campaign on Monday in the shadow of the huge Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg against Mexico, who have only qualified once previously (and failed to win a point) but beat the US in the semi-finals of the Gold Cup, Concacaf's qualification tournament, in autumn last year. New Zealand, another side who have never won a match at the finals, then await in Dresden. They qualified in impressive style – 50 goals, zero conceded in five games – but here they are among rather more formidable opposition than the Cook Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.

Topping the group is imperative as that would probably mean avoiding the hosts, even money to win the tournament, in the quarter-finals. If anyone is encumbered by expectations, it is Silvia Neid's side, winners of the last two tournaments, who begin their campaign against Canada on Sunday in front of 70,000 fans in Berlin. (And if that were not pressure enough they also have the psychic integrity of several hopeful German cephalopods to uphold.)

But Germany can call on a pool of over 2.2m women footballers. The United States 7.1m. England, by comparison, has under 400,000. Powell and co are undoubtedly still playing catch-up but the next three weeks provide a wonderful opportunity to reap the benefits of the past and, just as importantly, sow the seeds of future growth.

As John mentioned England play Mexico tomorrow and here are the probable squads,

Mexico (4-4-2, probable) Vanegas; Saucedo, Garciamendez, Vinti, Robles; Garza, Lopez, Worbis, Rangel; Ocampo, Domínguez.

England (4-2-3-1, probable) Bardsley; A Scott, F White, Stoney, Unitt; J Scott, Williams; Clarke, Smith, Yankey; E White.

TV: BBC and Eurosport, kick-off 5pm

For how to get involved in women's football, please visit our friends at Girls in Football. They will be able to help you find local clubs or schemes you can be involved in.

Kult & Punk: FC St Pauli Do You Football Shirts 2011/12

A brief summer appearance from the boys, Kult and Punk.  In between sampling guest ales at Zoe's Bar and generally looking the part in Hamburg, they bring us St Pauli's brand new clobber for 2011/2012.  In the middle of a heated table football game, they found time to cut and paste from our friends at Football-shirts.com.  Cheers lads and see you in a couple of weeks for Kult & Punk 2. Warning the description of the shirts may appear bloody obvious, the boys apologise but the bottom fell out of the deal for Pippa Middleton to model the new kit.


Here are the new kits of German club FC St Pauli for 2011/12. The club last season were playing in the German Bundesliga however, they finished in last spot in the standings, getting relegated to 2.Bundesliga for next season.


The club’s new shirts are manufactured by Do You Football. The club’s new home shirt features a brown and white striped shirt with a folded white collar.

The club’s away strip features a brown shirt with black stripes. It also has a round brown collar with the club badge on the top left and the shirt makers logo placed on the opposite side.

St Pauli’s third shirt features the same design as that of the home & away shirts however is mainly red with brown stripes and white detail

Baseball: Captains Snap Skid, Explode for 10-5 Win in 13 Innings

Nick Bartolone had a career afternoon on Sunday at Fifth Third Ballpark. With two runners on, and no outs, he singled to leftfield, his fourth on the day, scoring Jordan Casas who reach on his fifth hit of the game, giving the Captains a 6-5 lead. Lake County went on to score four more runs in the 13th inning snapping a ten game losing streak with a 10-5 win over West Michigan.


West Michigan took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Hernan Perez reached on a Jesus Aguilar error. Nick Castellanos drove in the runner Perez with a single to right field.

Lake County tied the game up in the third inning with Alex Monsalve's RBI single to center that scored Nick Bartolone.

In the bottom of third, WhiteCap Ryan Hamme doubled to right to start things off. Rob Brantly was hit by a pitch putting a pair of runners on. Castellanos delivered a big two-out double to right field scoring two and giving West Michigan a 3-1 lead.

The Captains got right back to it in the fourth inning. A leadoff walk to Giovanny Urshela got things started. Jordan Casas laid down a great bunt passed the right side of the mound for an infield single. Dwight Childs executed the sacrifice bunt to push the runners over. Bartolone singled up the middle driving in a pair of runs, tying the game up at 3-3.

West Michigan took a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning. The WhiteCaps recorded three straight one out singles from Rob Brantly, Castellanos and James Robbins who drove in the run.

In the eighth inning, Alex Monsalve doubled with one out to get into scoring position for the Captains. Jesus Aguilar singled to leftfield to put runners on first and third. Giovanny Urshela hit a sacrifice fly to right scoring Monsalve to tie the game at 4-4.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Rob Brantly tripled to leadoff. With the infield playing in, Robbins grounded to short, the ball went under the glove of Ronny Rodriguez allowing the unearned run to score giving West Michigan a 5-4 lead.

Lake County's Nick Bartolone walked to lead off the top of the ninth, and moved to second on a wild pitch. Rodriguez bunted Bartolone over to third. LeVon Washington was hit by a pitch to runners on first and third. Carlos Moncrief singled to leftfield scoring Bartolone and tying the game up at 5-5.

Nick Sarianides (4-3) picked up the win working two innings in relief, no runs on one hit and one walk. Pat Cooper (3-4) took the loss, throwing 4.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and two strike outs. Clayton Ehlert with a no-decision pitched three scoreless innings working the ninth, tenth and eleventh innings, allowing just one hit.

Lake County will head into the All-Star break finishing with a first half record of 27-41. The Captains will resume action in Fort Wayne on Friday night at Parkview Field at 7:00PM.

Speedway: Devils face a long trip to the Diamonds

Newcastle Diamonds v Plymouth Devils:  Sun 19 June 2011 by Lawrence Heppell


Newcastle Stadium,  Premier League

Newcastle's Sapphire Engineering Diamonds went into last night's Premier League encounter at the Newcastle Stadium against the Plymouth Devils with one aim in mind, a big confidence-boosting win had to be achieved.

But in a bizarre Heat One Plymouth's Craig Cook and reserve Kyle Hughes shot out from the gate to lead but in an attempt to pass the man in second, fell on bend one of the last lap, stopping the race with his exclusion and an awarded away maximum, 1-5 to the Devils.

An error from the leading Kyle Newman in Heat Two allowed the chasing Hughes through to nab the three points in a shared race, maintaining Plymouth's four point lead.

Jason King's form finally returned with a great tapes-to-flag win in Heat Three over the hard-chasing Dane, Jesper Kristiansen in a home 4-2 to tighten the meeting to 8-10, and with a dominant 5-1 in the fourth from Claes Nedermark and Richie Worrall over the experienced Jason Bunyan to push the home side into the lead, 13-11.

Heat six came to a crashing early finish when guest Jason Lyons hit a soft patch on the tight inside line on bend one which straightened him up and sent him unavoidably into his partner Sneddon with both hitting the fence but the skipper's bike bounced hard into the stricken Australian who required several minutes of medical attention before thankfully walking back to the pits.

In the re-run, Sneddon took the easy win to move the score on to 19-17, whilst in Heat Seven Nedermark and Newman blocked out the challenge of Kristiansen early to ensure a solid home 5-1, followed up by a 4-2 with a second win from the captain to push Newcastle's lead to 28-20.

With the Diamonds 37-23 up Plymouth nominated Cook as the tactical rider in Heat 11 and he duly rode the perfect race for his six points in the 2-7 to haul his side back into the mix at 39-30.

With three races left the nine point gap was extended in the 13th with a home maximum whilst a re-started Heat 14 saw Kenny Ingalls crash out at the first attempt and Newman grind to a halt when he shed a chain on the first lap leaving the heat result at 2-3, leaving Newcastle in an unreachable lead of 49-37 with one race remaining.

Team manager George English said: "People expected us to take Plymouth apart tonight, but they proved a tougher prospect than anticipated and they certainly adapted to the tricky surface left after torrential overnight rain better than we did, but congratulations to them as they deserve a lot of credit for the spirited show they put on.

"From our point of view it was fantastic to see Jason King get a win and a good points return - his confidence has taken a real boost tonight."

Super Rugby: Rebels suffer final round heartbreak

Our Super Rugby feature has ended before the play-offs this season.  We will be back in 2012, again with the Melbourne Rebels, to follow this tournament.  Thank you very much to the Rebels Media Unit, for providing us with the reports and images.  If you play for or follow a local rugby team playing in Australia or New Zealand and would like us to follow you through the rest of your season, contact us at info@sporttrades.co.uk for more details.

The Western Force crashed the RaboDirect Rebels’ final round party, with a Willie Ripia penalty securing a last-minute 27-24 victory at AAMI Park. The 14,681 crowd was in full voice throughout and despite a late rally from the home side they were unable to cheer on a victory in the last match of an historic debut campaign.


The final match of the year at AAMI Park fell short of being a classic. The match-up, between the two lowest try-scoring sides in the competition, was unlikely to be a high-scoring affair and skill errors littered the contest. Both sides lacked continuity and a scrappy game developed.

The tone of the contest was set as early as the third minute, when Danny Cipriani missed a makeable penalty. The chance came as the home side dominated the early exchanges with probing kicks and a more expansive running game suggesting an open contest.

The Rebels did notch the opening score, after eight minutes, when Cipriani kicked the first of his four penalties. That served only to rouse the Force, who responded with their first spell of possession and an equalising penalty from the boot of James Stannard. The outcome could have been worse for the Rebels as the Force crossed the gain-line at will.

Midway through the half an optimistic Cipriani shot for goal fell short for as the game continued to offer little in the way of fluency. The Rebels saw more of the ball and enjoyed marginally more territory but mistakes at crucial times prevented clear scoring opportunities.

Two further Stannard penalties punished the Rebels’ indiscipline but Cipriani responded shortly before half-time to ensure there was little in it at the interval. The Force could well have taken a decisive lead but for a try-saving tackle from Nick Phipps as a Force counter-attack threatened the Rebels line.

The exchange of penalties continued at the start of the second half with first Stannard, then Cipriani, twice kicking three-pointers. Cipriani’s second for the half left the scores even at 12 apiece with just over half-an-hour remaining.

That became a four-point lead for the Force just after the hour mark as David Smith ran in the game’s first try. In a rare passage of continuous play the Force advanced close to the Rebels line, from where substitute Willie Ripia threw a delightful cut-out pass to catch the Rebels defence unawares and allow his winger to stride into the left corner.

Stannard missed the difficult conversion but any negative thoughts were pushed far from his mind just a couple of minutes later as the influential five-eighth scored his side’s second try in the opposite corner. A decisive Force break saw the ball find its way into Mitch Inman’s hands and he offloaded on his outside to Stannard who added the finishing touches to a sweeping move. Ripia assumed the kicking duties from the awkward angle and he made no mistake to hand his side a 21-12 lead with just 15 minutes remaining.

The Rebels threw everything at the Force on their next attack, willing themselves back into the contest. As the tight five inched the ball forward the crowd increased the volume, urging them on. Eventually, substitute and fan’s favourite, Adam Freier, made a decisive lunge and heaved his side back in the contest. Captain, Stirling Mortlock, kicked the extras in place of the temporarily sidelined Cipriani. The game was back to just four points with less than ten minutes to go.

The Rebels sensed this was their opportunity and smashed straight back into the Force from the kick-off. They quickly reclaimed possession and camped deep in Force territory. Wave after wave of attack formed and was repelled until a sharp burst from Richard Kingi broke the Force line. His pass to Cooper Vuna went to ground and from the ensuing scramble Mortlock fed on the scraps and like a rampaging bronco hauled himself and his tackler over the line. The inspirational skipper was unable to add the extras, leaving the game poised at 24-all with minutes remaining.

It was now a grandstand finish in the now established Rebels tradition but it was unclear which side the result would favour. Unfortunately for the majority in attendance, the balance swung decisively the Force’s way, and so late the Rebels were denied another comeback opportunity. A 45-metre Ripia penalty sealed the outcome and the Force players’ celebrations that greeted the ball sailing between the posts were those of a group that knew they were match-winners.

The disappointing finish for the Rebels could not dampen the spirits of the Rebel Army who roared their heroes on until the end. Special ovations were reserved for Greg Somerville and Kevin O’Neill, who played their final games for the club, as a peaceful invasion of the AAMI Park pitch began celebrations of a promising debut season that would continue long into the night.

RaboDirect Rebels

1. Nic Henderson, 2. Ged Robinson, 3. Greg Somerville, 4. Alister Campbell, 5. Adam Byrnes, 6. Jarrod Saffy, 7. Michael Lipman, 8. Gareth Delve (vc), 9. Nick Phipps, 10. Danny Cipriani, 11. Cooper Vuna, 12. Stirling Mortlock (c), 13. Afusipa Taumoepeau, 14. Richard Kingi, 15. Mark Gerrard

Reserves: 16. Adam Freier, 17. Laurie Weeks, 18. Kevin O’Neill, 19.

Tim Davidson, 20. Lachlan Mitchell, 21. Peter Betham, 22. James Hilgendorf

Head Coach: Rod Macqueen

Western Force

1. Kieran Longbottom, 2. Nathan Charles, 3. Matt Dunning, 4. Ben McCalman, 5. Sam Wykes, 6. Matt Hodgson, 7. David Pocock (c), 8. Richard Brown, 9. Brett Sheehan, 10. James Stannard, 11. David Smith, 12. Rory Sidey, 13. Mitch Inman, 14. Alfie Mafi, 15. Patrick Dellit

Reserves: 16. Ben Whittaker, 17. Tetera Faulkner, 18. Tom Hockings, 19. Jono Jenkins, 20. Mark Swanepoel, 21. Willie Ripia, 22. Cameron Shepherd

Coach: Richard Graham

Referee: Garratt Williamson

Rugby League: Skolars make it 2 wins in a row

London Skolars 18 Keighley Cougars 16


Thanks to Howard Kramer and the team at the Skolars for providing us with the match reports. As you will be aware this is from the match almost 2 weeks ago, as you are aware we had experienced technical difficulties on our blog, so catch up time.

Skolars pulled off another impressive home victory against a side in the top 4. After losing 66-6 at Keighley in the opening round of Co-operative Championship 1, Skolars put in a strong defensive effort, denying Cougars a try until the 50th minute.

Neither side made a good start. Jy-Mel Coleman put two kicks straight into touch whilst Keighley were caught with the ball in their hands on the half-way line on a sixth tackle. A Scott Law run saw Cougars’ first meaningful attack, but Danny Lawton was stopped short of the line and his last gasp pass went to ground.

Coleman made amends with a chip kick that was hacked downfield by Aaron Small. James Haythornthwaite gathered the ball, but Small stole it back. That gave Skolars the field position to attack the line, with Jaroslaw Obuchowski scoring on the right flank on the 20 minute mark.

Small and his centre Michael Brown both made breaks, but a lacklustre Cougars weren’t able to make inroads until late in the half, with James Anthony strong in anticipation to position himself to return any deep kicks. Brendon Rawlins slipped the ball from dummy half to Jermaine Wray who has held up over the line (it might have been different if the roles had been reversed). They then forced a goal line drop out, but couldn’t break the defence. A Dylan Skee 40-20 gave Skolars their breath back and the stand-off then kicked a penally with a minute of the game remaining, his 17th consecutive successful kick in a row – another club record.

The Cougars departed at half-time to booing from their travelling support and their mood was not improved when Dylan Skee slipped a pass out to Ben Bolger (on loan from Quins) who crashed over three minutes after the restart. Skee finally missed a kick at goal and with the rain intensifying as well as a driving wind, points were clearly going to be hard to find.

The twelve point deficit spurred Cougars into upping the pace of the game for the first time, with Jason Demetriou starting to take more of a central role. His chip through from short range ricocheted off a Skolars’ body, he regathered and did not need the additional set of six to score, darting over the line to get Keighley off the mark. Wray added a second soon afterwards finding a gap on the left side and Danny Lawton’s conversion narrowed the gap to two points.

The game looked like it might go away from Skolars when Brown just failed to ground a Skee grubber kick and Cougars went straight downfield for Ryan Benjafield to barge over the line from 5 metres out with Lawton converting. However, four minutes later the scores were levelled. Cougars lost an increasingly slippery ball on their own 20 metre line. The resulting set saw the ball moved out wide for Ade Adebisi to score in the corner, Skee missing a difficult kick.

Cougars then managed to force a goal line drop out, but just couldn’t make field position count as Skolars again held out. The home side advanced upfield and were awarded a penalty on the 20 metre line. Skee coolly slotted the ball through the posts. Skolars were in the lead with four minutes to go and the delight from the side when they forced an error from Cougars in their one subsequent set of six showed how important it was to gain their second win of the season.

The Wood Green Mall Man-of-the-Match was Dylan Skee for the second game running.

Making his debut was Will Colleran, Skolars’ new signing from Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. Skolars travel to Doncaster this weekend.

Teams and Other Info.

LONDON SKOLARS

3 James Anthony
18 Aaron Small
30 Michael Brown
17 Dave Arnot
5 Ade Adebisi
7 Dylan Skee
6 Jy-Mel Coleman
25 Austen Aggrey
9 Gareth Honor
13 Stephen Ball
37 Jaroslaw Obuchowski
31 Ben Bolger
15 Olly Purslow

Subs (all used)

27 Cariern Clement-Pascall
8 Tony Williams
32 Sam Gee
35 Will Colleran

Tries: Obuchowski (20), Bolger (43), Adebisi (68)

Goals: Skee 3/5

COUGARS

18 James Haythornwaite
5 Gavin Duffy
4 Danny Lawton
23 Chris Baines
26 James Hutchinson
29 Jason Demetriou
6 Luke Helliwell
17 Ryan Benjafield
9 James Feather
10 Scott Law
11 Will Cartledge
12 Olly Pursglove
22 Ben Sagar

Subs (all used)

7 Ryan Smith
14 Jermaine Wray
16 Brendon Rawlins
21 Richard Jomes

Tries: Demetriou (50), Wray (58), Benjafield (64)

Goals: Lawton 2/3

Penalty count: 8-9

Half-time: 8-0

Referee: Matthew Kidd

Attendance: 327

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 8-0, 12-0, 12-4, 12-10, 12-16, 16-16, 18-16

Sol y Futbol: The dream is over for UD Lanzarote this season.

Ian Lane reports from Arrecife as Lanzarote miss out on a quick return to the 3rd level of Spanish football.  I would like to thank Ian for providing us with the seasons reports - our man in Lanzarote - and wish him a good summer break.  Remember if you are on the island over the summer, pop along to the UD Lanzarote stalls at Teguise (not Costa - the real Teguise)  market every Sunday. Buy some merchandise and if Ian's not on holiday have a chat with him.  We will be returning next season for our 3rd year of Sol y Futbol, with Ian and UD Lanzarote.

LANZAROTE 2 U.D. ALMANSA 1


The dream of an instant return to Segunda B (league 1) for Unión Deportiva Lanzarote is now over. Lanzarote put up a fantastic performance in front of around 3000 fans and were generously applauded by their faithful after their semi final 3-2 aggregate loss to the Albacete side.

Already two goals down from the first leg the Rojillos needed a good start to the game. The visitors were expecting an explosive opening to the match and from the moment the Refs whistle was blown they surprised Lanzarote by going all out attack. These tactics proved invaluable because after only three minutes the side from Albacete in Spain found that all important away goal.

The visitors looked pumped up for the match and gambled in the early stages knowing that one goal would just about kill off the home side and their support. After a flurry of activity the Lanzarote keeper Ruymán produced a great save from a strike on the edge of the box. Unfortunately for the Lanzarote number one the ball fell kindly to danger man Rubén Jurado on the by line, he then fed midfielder Santi who blasted in a strike destined for goal and as Lanzarote midfielder Vladi tried to block the effort he only succeeded in deflecting the shot into the opposite corner. 0-1 down after three minutes and a mountain to climb.

The Rojillos now needed four goals if they were to reach the final of the play off. Their heads did not drop and Lanzarote got on with their task of reducing the deficit.

In the 15th minute Jonathan Torres was put through and with the keeper committed, Torres chipped the ball over the advanced keeper but put too much weight on the lob and horribly messed up a great chance to get his side back into the game.

Winger Toñito was causing problems galore for the visitors supplying superb crosses and fantastic runs down either flank. Mid way through the half and good passing in the Lanzarote midfield stretched the defence of Almansa allowing Toñito a strike at goal from eight yards but a defender dived in at the final moment preventing a certain equalizer.

Finally in the 33rd minute a 20 yard free kick beautifully curled around the wall and into the stationery keepers top right hand corner by Rubén Rodriguez leveled the score on the day and gave hope to the Rojillos. The Rojillos ended the half on a high but were just unable to score a second.

The Conejeros (locals) came out for the second half in determined fashion. Only four minutes had passed when Ayoze struck an absolute peach. The ball fell to the talented midfielder 30 yards out and after the second bounce he wrapped his foot around the ball and unleashed a rocket which was still rising at it flew into the top right hand corner.

Two more goals needed with 40 minutes remaining and suddenly the Rojillos dream of a remarkable comeback looked on. The crowd was urging to push forward and the Rojillos obliged.

Javi Morales, Toñito and Ayoze all came close but as the game progressed the Rojillos became more and more desperate and played the final five minutes with a deserted defence.The visitors had two wonder chances late on but failed on both attempts as the Rojillos fought with every lost drop of strength to pull something out of the bag. The Ref then confirmed the inevitable that Lanzarote will still be playing their football next season in Spain’s fourth league.

After following Spanish football, predominately U.D. Lanzarote over the past 14 years I am still learning about the rules and regulations regarding lower level football in Spain. I did not think for a moment that when the league came to an end it could take a further six weeks to achieve promotion especially if your side had won the league.

So happened my family and I had booked our holiday to Jersey and then onto my wife’s homeland to visit the outlaws in Sweden, so if Lanzarote had reached the final I would have been left with a tricky decision. The Lord works in mysterious ways as the choice no longer exists, so from 18th June its Bon Voyage!

GOALS

0-1min 3 Vladi (own goal)
1-1min 33 Rubén Rodriguez
1-2min 49 Ayoze

Sorry, we have been unable to post new items

Thank you so much for staying with us. We are sorry, due to technical issues we were unable to post new stories onto the blog for the past 7 days.  We are now back and happy to be so.  Over the next 48 hours we will catch up with all at Sol y Futbol, Stateside soccer, London Skolars, the final Melbourne Rebels game, Lake County Captains in baseball and also Newcastle Diamonds speedway and much much more.

We have news of brand new opportunities and Kult and Punk will share the brand new St Pauli shirt for next season.

Once again thank you for staying with us.

Sports Pulse

Super Rugby: Rebels caught cold in Canberra

Report supplied with thanks from the Rebels Media Unit.

The Brumbies made amends for their round two defeat at AAMI Park by evening the ledger at Canberra Stadium, overcoming the RaboDirect Rebels 32-17 on Friday. On a cold night in the nation’s capital, the Rebels were feeling the heat from early on, with the Brumbies snaring three tries inside the first half-hour to stamp their authority on the contest.


The win leaves the Rebels at the foot of both the Australian conference and the overall Super Rugby ladder, with just one round remaining. The bonus point win for the Brumbies puts them in with a shout of third place domestically, a finish that looked unlikely before back-to-back victories over first the Reds and then the Rebels.

The Rebels suffered with a lack of discipline, particularly early on, with the penalty count hurting any continuity. These costly turnovers were compounded by damaging missed tackles in defence, making an away victory unlikely from the off.

As has so often been the case in their debut season, the Rebels were behind soon after kick off. Inside four minutes Christian Lealiifano moved into the line from fullback close to the right wing, stepped devastatingly inside to wrong-foot the Rebels defence and score near the corner. The Rebels had plenty of numbers behind the ball but a lack of execution again costly them dearly.

A Mark Gerrard chip and chase sparked the Rebels into life but it wasn’t until the twelfth minute that they looked like scoring. A fifteen-phase attack led the Rebels into Brumbies territory, creating the space for a Julian Huxley drop-goal. His effort hit the post, creating a goal-line scramble, from which Cooper Vuna almost capitalised. The Brumbies failed to clear their lines effectively however, and following a series of reset scrums the recalled Danny Cipriani stroked over a penalty.

Any thoughts of the Rebels assuming the upper hand were quickly forgotten as a Matt Giteau penalty started a run of 20 unanswered points either side of half-time. The first three were reward for a promising attack but the try that pressure failed to deliver arrived shortly afterwards through Tyrone Smith. The Brumbies, patient throughout, kept the ball tight for a long period and as soon as they switched it wide, Smith drew the Rebels defensive line out of shape and darted around the onrushing tackler to curve into the corner.

The Brumbies, increasing in confidence following their early scores added a third try on the half-hour mark. After more dominant possession an attacking penalty seemed inevitable but from ten metres out in a central position the wily Giteau spotted the Rebels defence napping and sniped the remaining distance to the line before the Rebels had come to terms with the situation.

The 18-3 half-time scoreline could have been much worse for the Rebels but Giteau and Lealiifano conspired to miss all three conversions.

Not that that seemed to bother the home side as within two minutes of the restart Pat McCabe had run under the posts. Hooker, Stephen Moore, created the try and again, the Rebels will be disappointed with the ease in which the Wallaby cut through their defensive line.

The Brumbies controlled the next twenty minutes but failed to convert good field position, consistently opting for scrums over the penalty points on offer.

The home side was made to pay for its overconfidence after 64 minutes when the Rebels sparked back into life. Bursts from first Cooper Vuna, then Stirling Mortlock set up good field position, allowing Jarrod Saffy to claim the Rebels’ first try of the night. Cipriani’s conversion made it a fifteen point game with fifteen minutes remaining.

For the Rebels to have any chance of clawing their way back they needed their second score to come quickly – and it did. A blockbusting run from Mark Gerrard set a counter-attack on its way and when Cipriani’s cute inside ball teased Saffy through, a score seemed inevitable. The big flanker was brought down inches from the line but he had the presence of mind to feed Afusipa Taumoepeau who scored against his former team. Cipriani’s penalty took the Rebels to within eight points with ten minutes to go.

As thoughts turned to the Rebels’ stirring early-season fightbacks Stephen Moore snuffed out any remaining hopes with a pushover try against the run of play. Giteau’s conversion pushed the margin out to a safe distance and the Rebels were left to contemplate an eighth defeat on the trot.

An encouraging debut season for the Rebels ends next Friday night at AAMI Park with a clash against the Western Force.

RaboDirect Rebels

1. Rodney Blake, 2. Ged Robinson, 3. Greg Somerville, 4. Alister Campbell 5. Kevin O’Neill, 6. Jarrod Saffy, 7. Michael Lipman, 8. Gareth Delve (vc), 9. Nick Phipps, 10. Danny Cipriani, 11. Cooper Vuna, 12. Stirling Mortlock (c), 13. Julian Huxley, 14. Richard Kingi, 15. Mark Gerrard

Reserves: 16. Adam Freier, 17. Laurie Weeks, 18. Adam Byrnes, 19. Tim Davidson, 20. Lachlan Mitchell, 21. Peter Betham, 22. Afusipa Taumoepeau

Head Coach: Rod Macqueen

Brumbies

1. Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 2. Stephen Moore, 3. Ben Alexander, 4. Ben Hand, 5. Peter Kimlin, 6. Henry Vanderglas, 7. Julian Salvi, 8. Mitchell Chapman, 9. Patrick Phibbs, 10. Matt Giteau (c), 11. Adam Ashley-Cooper,12. Pat McCabe, 13. Tyrone Smith, 14. Henry Speight, 15. Christian Lealiifano

Reserves: 16. Anthony Hegarty, 17. Jono Owen, 18. Sam Carter, 19. Tom Boidin, 20. Nic White, 21. Robbie Coleman, 22. Andrew Smith

Head Coach: Tony Rea

Referee: Glen Jackson

Rugby League: Skolars denied a great victory by a late try

Whitehaven 14 London Skolars 12


Skolars almost produced a second consecutive upset but were denied victory by a late try from the Cumbrians.

Having lost just one game in the league this season, the early stages of the game looked good for the home side as Chris Smith took advantage of a Whitehaven kick that ricocheted off a Skolars’ leg to touchdown after just three minutes.

A fine tackle close to the line by Aaron Small denied Craig Calvert what looked to be a certain try, but Skolars started to compete, with Jermaine Coleman making a welcome return from injury playing along his brother Jy-Mel for the first time.

After forcing Haven into a goal line drop out, Saqib Murtza went close before Austen Aggrey barged through with Dylan Skee adding a conversion. A deep kick and strong chase saw Haven have to drop out. Skolars had a good chance for a second but Michael Brown’s pass out of a tackle went to ground.

At the other end great tacking saw Andrew Beattie lost the ball over the line. Max Wiper also crossed the line but from a forward pass and it remained 6 all at half time.

The second half saw a repeat of the good start for Haven with Scott McAvoy scoring. But Skolars enjoyed a long period of attack and after good work from Aggrey and Cariern Clement-Pascall, Skee’s long pass found James Anthony who put them back into the lead, Skee again converting.

Skee played for Whitehaven for two seasons and almost scored what might have been the winning try, cutting inside to create a gap, only to be penalised for an obstruction as he accidently ran behind Sam Gee.

Haven scored in the corner, but missed the conversion to leave them just two points ahead with eight minutes remaining. Another Haven old-boy went close when Ade Adebisi hacking a loose ball down field, following up on a chip kick from Gee. Adebisi raced to the tryline, but the ball rolled over the dead ball line just before he reached it amidst mixed emotions from his local fan club.

Skolars earned a bonus point, but had the 300 mile journey back to consider how close they had come to victory.

A noteable inclusion in the Skolars lineup was Jermaine Coleman, making his comeback from a serious knee injury. This was the first time Jermaine and his brother Jy-mel (pictured above – Jermaine on the right) had played together.

Teams & Info

WHITEHAVEN

38 Andreas Bauer
5 Loz Hamzat
33 Max Wiper
3 Danny Eilbeck
2 Craig Calvert
6 Lewis Palfrey
32 Carl Rudd
34 Matthew Haggerty
14 Chris Smith
10 Howard Hill
35 Lee Doran
4 Scott McAvoy
17 Andrew Beattie

Subs (all used)

9 Carl Sice
23 Paul Cullnean
26 Luke Isakka
22 Reece Fox

(3), McAvoy (42), Hamnat (72)

Goals: Palfrey 1/3

LONDON SKOLARS

3 James Anthony
18 Aaron Small
35 Michael Brown
17 Dave Arnot
5 Ade Adebisi
6 Jy-Mel Coleman
7 Dylan Skee
25 Austen Aggrey
9 Gareth Honor
22 Saqib Murtza
37 Jaroslaw Obuchowski
15 Olly Purslow
19 Jermaine Coleman

Subs (all used)

32 Sam Gee
27 Cariern Clement-Pascall
8 Tony Williams
13 Stephen Ball

Tries: Aggrey (17), Anthony (62)

Goals: Skee 2/2

Penalty count: 12-6

Half-time: 6-6

Referee: George Stokes

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 6-6, 10-6, 10-12, 14-12



A noteable inclusion in the Skolars lineup was Jermaine Coleman, making his comeback from a serious knee injury. This was the first time Jermaine and his brother Jy-mel (pictured above – Jermaine on the right) had played together.

Sol y Futbol: Lanzarote suffer their second straight away defeat

Mr Lane watches as Lanzarote suffer their second straight away defeat.  The game is still on as the 2nd leg takes place in Arrecife next week.

U.D. ALMANSA 2 LANZAROTE 0
If Lanzarote are to make an immediate return to Segunda B (league 1) they are going to have to do it the hard way. A goal in each half for the Albacete side has left Lanzarote with a difficult, but not impossible task next Sunday morning.


The game began well for the Rojillos with Ayoze going close in the 9th minute and only three minutes later Rosmen forced the Almansa keeper into a fine save, following up was Jonathan Torres but his outstretched foot was inches away from connecting and stabbing home the rebound.

Totally against the run of play the locals went ahead in the 24th minute. A cross from the right wing by Rubén Jurado towards the near post was misjudged by the Lanzarote centre back Acai, his interception only guided the ball into his own net giving Almansa a 1-0 advantage.

The 1700 strong crowd were delighted by their good fortune which helped calm their team’s nerve as they began to look the better of the two sides. Ten minutes later and winger Santi outpaced Rojillos defender Eliot down the left wing. He cut inside and unleashed a powerful shot which the Lanzarote keeper Ruymán was relieved to see hit the post and roll away for a goal kick.

Just before the break striker Meca (brother of ex Lanzarote player Meca) came close with a header as the locals ended the half stronger.

After a good start the Rojillos found themselves a goal down and desperate to find an away goal which count in these play offs should the match end level.

Initially the Rojillos began the second half well but as time went on the home side soaked up the pressure with ease and gradually took control.

Mid may through the second half and Almansa found the goal which gives them breathing space. Winger Rubén Jurado received the ball on the edge of the box and his strike went in off the post putting the locals 2-0 up.

Lanzarote didn’t react well and late on the tie could have been dead and buried. Smelling blood Almansa finished with a flurry with sub Abellán forcing the Lanzarote keeper into a great save.

No doubt next Sunday the Lanzarote faithful will turn up in their droves because to get a result from this, the atmosphere would be electric. The odds are stacked in favour of Almansa. They are their leagues second strongest defence conceding just 25 goals in the 38 matches played. Should they score a goal then Lanzarote would need four due to the away goals rule.

Nevertheless never underestimate the Rojillos in these one match battles because Primera Liga sides such as Athletic Bilbao, Mallorca and Tenerife have all paid the ultimate price in doing so.

Prices will remain the same. 5 Euros Adults, 3 Euros pensioners and Children 15 and under are admitted free.

GOALS

1-0min 24 Acai (own goal)

2-0min 68 Rubén Jurado

Baseball: Captains Lose Second Straight, 6-1 to Clinton

Clinton returned to Classic Park for the first time since losing the Midwest League Championship and sent Lake County to their second straight loss by the score of 6-1.

The L'Kings took a 1-0 lead in the top of first inning as Kalien Sams doubled in Mickey Wiswall.

The Captains Carlos Moncrief answered in the bottom half of the first, connecting on his eighth homerun of the season, a solo shot to tie the game at 1-1.

Steven Baron started off Clinton's second inning with a leadoff double to left. Robbie Anston tripled in Baron. A sacrifice fly by Jorge Agudelo made it 3-1.

The Lumberkings added some insurance in the seventh inning, scoring three unearned runs. With runners on second and third, an error on Ronny Rodriguez allowed both runs to score. Anston drove in his second run of the game with a single to leftfield as Clinton went up 6-1.

Forrest Snow (2-7) worked eight innings for his second win, allowing a run on five hits, walking two and striking out three. Cole Cook (2-6) suffered the loss allowing three runs on six hits, walking four and striking out five. Rob Bryson's return to the Captains was a success, he worked a perfect eighth inning, striking out a pair.

Lake County hits the road for a six game road trip that starts in Appleton, WI., against Wisconsin at 8:05PM. RHP Mike Goodnight (4-3) gets the start for the Captains against RHP Jimmy Nelson (1-5) for the TimberRattlers.

Super Rugby: Stormers surge past the Rebels in Round 16

Thank you to our friends at the Rebels Media Unit for this report.

The Stormers reinforced their position at the top of the South African conference with a convincing 40-3 victory over the Melbourne Rebels at AAMI Park on Friday night. The Cape Town based side hit the front after just two minutes, after which the result never looked in doubt.

The Rebels played their part in what was a keenly-fought contest, but failed to threaten the Stormers line often enough to take home the spoils. Another strong crowd of 15,238 was in attendance to cheer the popular Adam Freier onto the field for the first time in a Rebels jersey, the Rebels Army celebrating with pre-prepared banners and songs.

It was a familiar tale for the home side as possession was surrendered cheaply when finally secured and missed tackles proving costly in defence. Richard Kingi’s ability to set runners free in the congested midfield was a highlight but too often half-breaks lacked support and came to nought.

The first half was a scrappy affair in which the Stormers rarely allowed the Rebels much opportunity in possession. On a perfect night for rugby neither side found top gear early on, with just one try to show for the half.

An early Kurt Coleman penalty, after just two minutes, gave the Stormers a lead that they never relinquished. The chance came about from the impressive South African forwards pushing their Rebels counterparts backwards in contact, as they continued to do throughout.

Julian Huxley levelled the scores with a penalty of his own after fourteen minutes, following the Rebels’ best period of the game. A series of scrums in attacking territory promised much, but eventually the home side had to settle for just the three points.

The Rebels were left to regret not taking their early chance when Bryan Habana sprinted through for the game’s first try on seventeen minutes. Following a solid Stormers scrum 10-metres from the Rebels line, the ball was whisked quickly to the onrushing Habana and the quicksilver former world player of the year had too much pace and power for the Rebels midfield and he dashed over the line.

Coleman slotted over the conversion and two further penalties later in the half as the Stormers took a firm grip on proceedings.

The halftime score of 3-16 could have been better for the Rebels but Nick Phipps’ blindside dart following a shortened lineout was curtailed just before the line.

The second half resumed in the same disjointed manner as the first ended. Scrums were continually reset and play often slowed to a crawl as the Stormers dictated terms.

The away side’s strength was rewarded 13 minutes into the half as Coleman, outstanding all evening at five-eighth, scored the try a period of persistent attacking pressure merited. After pounding the Rebels line for a series of phases, play was spread wide to the right, where Coleman took a sharp step inside to claim the five points. Two more points were gained from Coleman’s boot.

If that score almost sealed the result, the Stormers’ third try, four minutes later, certainly did. Jean de Villiers burst through the midfield and his break created the opportunity for Jaque Fourie to sprint into the left corner. Coleman’s only blemish for the night left the score at 3-28 with just a quarter of the game remaining.

The Rebels brought on the experience of Adam Freier, Sam Cordingley and Greg Somerville in an attempt to rescue something from the contest, but it was to no avail.

There was even time for the South Africans to cross twice more and add some gloss to the scoreboard. With less than five minutes to go, Nick Koster earned a valuable bonus-point before Jean de Villiers put an emphatic seal on the Stormers’ Australian tour.

The defeat leaves the Rebels in bottom place in the Australian conference and the overall ladder, while the Stormers are now almost assured of a place in the finals, with two rounds to go.

The Rebels travel to Canberra next week before retuning to AAMI Park in the final round of their debut season against the Western Force.

Melbourne Rebels

1. Nic Henderson, 2. Ged Robinson, 3. Laurie Weeks, 4. Alister Campbell 5. Hugh Pyle, 6. Jarrod Saffy, 7. Michael Lipman, 8. Gareth Delve (vc), 9. Nick Phipps, 10. Julian Huxley, 11. Cooper Vuna, 12. Stirling Mortlock (c), 13. Mark Gerrard, 14. Lachlan Mitchell, 15. Richard Kingi

Reserves: 16. Adam Freier, 17. Greg Somerville, 18. Kevin O’Neill, 19. Tim Davidson, 20. Sam Cordingley, 21. Peter Betham, 22. Afusipa Taumoepeau

Head Coach: Rod Macqueen

Stormers

1. Wicus Blaauw, 2. Tiaan Liebenberg, 3. Brok Harris, 4. Rynhardt Elstadt, 5. Anton Van Zyl, 6. Schalk Burger (C), 7. Francois Louw, 8. Duane Vermeulen, 9. Ricky Januarie, 10. Kurt Coleman, 11. Bryan Habana, 12. Jean de Villiers, 13. Jaque Fourie, 14. Gio Aplon,15. Conrad Jantjes

Reserves: 16. Deon Fourie, 17. Frans Malherbe, 18. Andries Bekker, 19. Nick Koster, 20. Louis Schreuder, 21. Earl Rose, 22. Juan de Jongh

Head Coach: Allister Coetzee

Referee: Chris Pollock

Speedway: Bears beat Diamonds, but all thoughts were with Matej Ferjan

Newcastle Diamonds v Redcar Bears match report by Lawrence Heppell


Sun 29 May 2011, Newcastle Stadium , Premier League

Following an immaculately observed minute silence in memory of Matej Ferjan, the local derby between the Diamonds and Redcar got off to a traditionally fractious start following Heat One Bears’ 2-4 in the opener.

Heat two initially came to an early halt when Richie Worrall was adjudged by the referee to have caused Bear Robert Branford to fall on bend one with the Diamonds’ controversial exclusion, then at the second time of asking Brandford hit the deck again all on his own on lap two causing the race to be halted again with his own exclusion this time.

The resultant 2-3 was followed by another Bears’ 2-4, taking the score to 6-11 with Czech Matej Kus, fresh back from the Prague Grand Prix, scorching to a big win as returnee Jason King fell when at the rear to end his race before Claes Nedermark took Heat four in style as Worrall held out Branford to pull Newcastle back to within three points.

Jason Lyons and Lubos Tomicek returned the gap to five in the fifth when King was excluded for exceeding the two minute allowance as the score moved on to 12-17.

Following a 3-3 in the sixth, Nedermark inspired a great 5-1 for Newcastle by again taking a superb win, but behind a great pass from Newman round former World Champion Gary Havelock to set the maximum in stone and tighten the match to 20-21.

Worrall was in a good third place in Heat Eight but rode too wide off bend two on the second lap, getting caught up in the structure to crash heavily and be excluded, whilst in the re-run Tomicek, a man on a mission having been dropped by Newcastle a month ago, shot off to take a big win for three points in another Redcar 2-4 to extend their lead once more to 22-25.

Two more Redcar 2-4s followed with Lemon looking sore and tentative as the pair from his repaired collar bone began to kick in, he missed the gate in the 10th and just couldn’t get back on terms as Redcar led 26-33.

Nedermark took his third win of the match in a stunning ride in Heat 11, to overhaul and beat Lyons for three well deserved points in a shared race, leaving the Diamonds still trailing by seven with four races to go.

Two more 3-3s followed, with Lemon taking his first win back from injury, but Nedermark missed the gate and could not find a way back into the race on the slick surface leaving the score at 35-42 with two races on the card left.

Heat 14 saw Stuart Robson make the best gate of the night to jump into lead which he held to the end, whilst Newman kept Peter Juul at bay to score an important point to score a 4-2 leaving Newcastle trailing by five with one to go meaning the match had slipped beyond their reach.

Team manager George English said: “For two of our lads it was always going to be a tricky affair to come back from injury, although Mark Lemon was showing signs of his best again late on especially after he replaced his ignition before his last ride which he won in good old fashioned style.

“We have to remember Jason King is some eight weeks behind the rest of the league and is still very rusty not having ridden since last season, but he was riding steadily and looked comfortable despite his nasty knee injury whilst Claes Nedermark was exceptional tonight taking three brilliant wins proving he could be a big star over here and we’re looking forward to more in the future.

“As for the result – well we’ll forget that one now and move onwards and upwards and remind the Bears revenge is sweet – beware!”

Baseball: Cougars Avoid Sweep, Beat Captains 4-3

Travis Jones hit a two run homerun in the top of the ninth inning on Thursday night lifting Kane County by Lake County, 4-3. The Cougars avoid a sweep with a win in series finale.

Giovanny Urshela hit his sixth homerun of the season to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning, the solo shot game the Captains a 1-0 lead.

Kane County tied the game up at 1-1 in the top of the fifth inning with a sacrifice fly by Yowill Espinal that scored Geulin Beltre.

The Cougars took their first lead of the night in the fifth. Cheslor Cuthbert drove in a run with his second single of the game scoring Ryan Stovall to make it 2-1.

Lake County's Anthony Gallas reached on a two base error by pitcher Jason Adam. Jesus Aguilar drove in his team high 34th RBI to tie the game at 2-2.

Dwight Childs crushed a solo homerun to leftfield, his first of the season to cut the lead in half at 4-3, but it was not enough for the Captains.

Mitch Hodge (1-0) picked up the win working two innings in relief, allowing just three hits and striking out two. Chas Byrne picked up his third save of the season working ninth giving up a run, on one hit. Nick Sarianides (3-3) suffered the loss allowing two runs, on just one hit, hitting a batter and striking out one.

Lake County will welcome in Clinton to Classic Park for a rematch of last year's championship series on Friday night at 7:00PM. The Captains will start RHP Kyle Blair (3-3) against RHP Jandy Sena (2-2) for the Lunberkings. Catch all the action on AM 1330 WELW or online at captainsbaseball.com.

Friday is a Fireworks Friday as fans will enjoy a post-game fireworks extravaganza presented by Larmco Windows and Siding. WWE Superstar Sgt. Slaughter will be live and in-person as well and he will be participating in several events during the evening and will also be available for autographs. The Captains will host its first themed-jersey auction following the game. Fans can bid on the camouflage jerseys that the players will wear that night with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Captains Charities.

Saturday is a Saturday Fireworks night presented by Monreal Funeral Home and Cremation Service. The first 1,500 fans will receive a Replica Championship Trophy presented by Lake Health and ESPN 850 WKNR. This great looking piece is a desk top sized trophy based on the actual trophy presented to the Captains after the franchise's 2010 Midwest League title.

FIFA Election underway, a picture of the ballot paper.

How exciting is this, the election is underway and opposite is the ballot paper.  Thank you to our friends at Guardian Sport for the picture. We recommend you turn to the Guardian Sport blog to follow the vote. At present Norway and Omen are next in line for the vote. Should we send Cleggy out to form a coalition, that would teach them. Can someone drive, Chrissy not in the zone.

Rugby League: Skolars Celebrate First League Win Of The Season

Report thanks to Skolars and their brand new website worth a visit, photo courtesy of Keith Millar


Skolars recorded their first league victory in the league this season with an impressive win against third placed Hornets with scrum half Dylan Skee setting a new club records for points in a game.
Skolars defended well against some sustained attacks, five times stopping a power play in side their 10 metre line in the second half. Coach Joe Mbu was delighted with the victory. “We’ve worked hard all year on goal line defence and it paid off today when we dealt with back to back sets. We stuck in when we made mistakes and backed up with a good defensive effort”.

Those mistakes looked like they would cost Skolars dear early on with two Jy-Mel Coleman passes leading to interceptions. Craig Johnson was brought down from the first but Andy Saywell race 75 metres from the second to score down the left.

However, Skolars took the lead when quick passing from the base of scrum found Ade Adebisi in space and the winger raced 70 metres to score.

Coleman made amends for those interceptions with a penalty kick that took his side from their own 20 metre line to within 15 metres from the Rochdale line, but that position his pass to Lamont Bryan went to ground. Rochdale advanced upfield and a enjoyed a period of possession close to Skolars line after Dylan Skee had tried to steal possession at a play-the-ball. Richard Mervill took advantage to power over with Paul Crook adding the extras.

The lead was shortlived. Lamont Bryan moved into the attacking line to take the ball at pace from 10 metres out to score. Then the Hornets were transfixed as he ran onto Coleman’s grubber kick to score under the posts for a second try in three minutes.

That saw Skolars go into the break with an eight point lead. They might have extended it but trialist Michael Brown was adjudged offside when he took a high ball to release Aaron Small. Scott Yates was adjudged offside at the other end and then he and Steven Roper went close. When Craig Ashall made a looping run to score on the left the gap was just two points and it looked like Hornets would start to take control when an Adam Bowman break saw them get downfield before Roper’s kick saw Yates time his run successfully.

Skolars bounced straight back when they dislodged the ball in the second tackle. Austen Aggrey stormed through to score and Skee’s conversion gave them a narrow lead. Having his best game whilst on loan from Quins, Bryan made a break from half way before a beautifully timed pass for Skee to score his first try. Hornets responded with a kick-off that Dave Arnot just couldn’t stop finding touch, but Skolars defence held out and as the Londoners advanced, a penalty saw Skee add two more points. That meant Hornets having to score twice and they gained possession with another kick-off that bounced out of Arnot’s clutches. Dean Gorton was then bundled into touch.

Skolars made the game safe when Gareth Honor darted under the defence to touchdown with three minutes to go. The game last season saw tempers flare, and whilst this game didn’t see the same needling play, a high tackle from Richard Mervill saw him receive a red card. There was just enough time for Dylan Skee to score his second try, with his eighth successful kick giving him a 24 point haul – breaking the club record for points in a game in the professional era.

Teams & Other Info.

LONDON SKOLARS

3 James Anthony
18 Aaron Small
30 Michael Brown
17 Dave Arnot
5 Ade Adebisi
6 Jy-Mel Coleman
7 Dylan Skee
25 Austen Aggrey
9 Gareth Honor
22 Saqib Murtza
37 Jaroslaw Obuchowski
15 Olly Purslow
35 Lamont Bryan

Subs (all used)
32 Sam Gee
36 John Paxton
34 Michael Sykes
31 Dave Williams

Tries: Adebisi (16), Bryan (31,34), Aggrey (59), Skee (67,80), Honor (77)
Goals: Skee 8/8

HORNETS

5 Scott Yates
2 Craig Johnson
3 Dean Gorton
17 Dale Bloomfield
15 Paul Crook
7 Steven Roper
18 John Cookson
6 Liam McGovern
8 Dave Newton
10 Adam Bowman
13 Dayne Donoghue
11 Craig Ashall

Subs (all used)
32 Danny Ekis
35 Richard Mervill
21 Mark Hobson

Tries: Saywell (10), Mervill (28), Ashall (54), Yates (57)
Goals: Crook 3/4
Sending off: Mervill (79) – high tackle

Penalty count: 6-7
Half-time: 18-10

Referee: Craig Halloran



Attendance: 290

Sol y Futbol: Lanzarote lose, but now face a difficult play off phase for promotion.

Ian Lane reports as Lanzarote lose, but the dream is still alive.  They face a tough challenge of play-offs for promotion.

BURGOS CF 4 LANZAROTE 0   (agg 5-2)

The Rojillos suffered a devastating defeat in front of 10,000 hostile fans with two of the goals for the hosts being hotly contested for a dubious penalty and offside respectively.

Lanzarote must stand tall after this defeat. If you were to compare the budget and fan base between the two teams Lanzarote should have been dead and buried long before the second leg. As it stands Burgos are promoted to Spain’s Bronze league and the Rojillos are still in with a shout.

Lanzarote will be in the draw Monday afternoon. They will still have a big advantage over whatever opposition they may face. Finishing as Champions of their group guarantees them a draw against a third or fourth placed finisher from another group. Also with the added benefit of the second leg being played at home it means that the light may have dimmed but is a long way off from being extinguished.

The Rojillos headed to Burgos with a bad feeling between the two sides following handbags at 10 paces in Lanzarote the week before. The Champions of Castilla Y León region of Spain did not allow their visitors use of their pitch which is the normal custom the day prior to the match and this all added to the bad feeling.

As expected Burgos bombarded their visitors in the opening stages but the Rojillos defence held firm and as the match progressed the visitors began to feel comfortable on the freshly cut grass.

In the 28th minute and after withstanding all this pressure Lanzarote found themselves with the best chance of the match to date and find that all important first goal. Ayoze robbed the ball in the centre and with the keeper off guard he tried his luck from distance only to see the ball whistle agonizingly wide of the upright.

Lanzarote were looking more and more comfortable but five minutes from half time the whole situation changed. A ball sent into the edge of the Lanzarote 12 yard box was controlled by top scorer Hugo Salamanca and tracked by Rojillos central defender Acai. As soon as Salamanca received the ball he turned and fell in dramatic fashion. The Referee was totally sold with his theatrical performance and to the disbelief of the Lanzarote players awarded a penalty kick. Hugo Salamanca dusted off his make up and converted giving his side a 1-0 lead (2-2 on aggregate).

Boosted by their good fortune the local side went in for the kill and amounted total assault in the Rojillos danger zone. A total of eleven corners Lanzarote had to endure during the first period so when the Ref blew for half time the Lanzarote players greeted the whistle with relief.

The game was far from over as away goals do not count, so if the score remained 1-0 to the locals at full time then the match would be decided with penalties.

For the opening 20 minutes of the second half the locals enjoyed the majority of possession but Lanzarote posed a serious threat on the break with Toñito threatening the Burgos back four.

If the first goal was dubious then the second goal for the mainland side can only be described as genius. In the 65th minute winger Troiteiro danced around defender Josu and weaved his way through to the byline drawing the Rojillos keeper, he then pulled the ball back for Hugo Salamanca to rifle his shot into an unguarded net sending the home side 2-0 up. (3-2 agg).

It is no wonder why Spanish football is at an all time high with players like Troiteiro applying their trade in Spain’s fourth tier. The Spanish league system is complicated to say the least but who can argue with the European and World Champions. Even their club football with Barcelona is at a ridiculously unbelievable level. Nevertheless this player Troiteiro will be playing football at a much higher level soon.

With 13 minutes remaining wonderful footwork from Troiteiro equaled with a pass that carved open the Rojillos back four let in Sub Espinosa. The linesman failed to raise his flag even though Espinosa was clearly over a yard offside. The substitute gratefully chipped the oncoming keeper making the game relatively safe with a two goal cushion.

In stoppage time Espinosa began the celebrations early with his second and his team’s fourth goal of the afternoon ending the game at 4-0 (5-2 agg).

Hundreds of fans spilled onto the pitch at the final whistle as the worthy winners celebrated promotion to Segunda B (league 1). Next season is a tougher standard but Burgos look as though they should hold their own in Spain’s third tier.

Meanwhile for Lanzarote they will be playing a minimum of four more games spread out over the next four Sundays before they can finally join Burgos in Segunda B. Lanzarote have been drawn against U.D. Almansa and will play the first leg away on the 5th June and the return match in Arrecife on the 12th June.

U.D. Almansa finished fourth in their group and are from the province Albacete in Spain.

GOALS

1-0min 40 Hugo Salamanca

2-0min 65 Hugo Salamanca (penalty)

3-0min 77 Espinosa

4-0min 90 Espinosa

World in Union: Saracens win the Aviva Premiership

Saracens won their first ever English league title on Saturday, beating reigning champions Leicester Tigers 18-22 in another tense and emotional final to claim the Aviva Premiership Rugby crown.


It was the culmination of 12 months of hard work for the Men in Black, having lost last year’s final to a late Dan Hipkiss try.

History threatened to repeat itself with just a minute and a half left on the clock, as Leicester set up camp in the Saracens 22 and began to batter away at the line.

For over 30 phases the Saracens line held firm and when their dogged defence eventually drew a indiscretion from Leicester, Owen Farrell kicked the resulting penalty into touch to cue wild celebrations from the Saracens players, staff and supporters.

It was just reward for Saracens, who scored the only try of the match through 21 year old wing James Short and had the more accurate kicker in 19 year old fly half Owen Farrell.

Saracens threatened early on and their break after six minutes saw Ben Youngs end up in the sin bin for putting his hands in the ruck in an effort to stop the quick ball Saracens needed. Without Youngs Leicester wobbled and a nasty moment in their in-goal area looked like it may lead to the first try of the match.


Instead, Flood and Farrell traded penalties to put the match all square at 6-6 before Short’s intervention on 28 minutes cleverly grounding the ball in the corner, a try which was confirmed by the Television Match Official.

Farrell converted and scored another penalty to put Saracens 6-16 up, before Flood claimed his third penalty to send the teams in 9-16 at the break.

A compelling second half was won 9-6 by Leicester Tigers reducing the gap to just four points going into those final nerve wracking moments. But the league’s best defence held firm as it has done for so much of the season and the title of Aviva Premiership Rugby Champions 2011 went home with the Saracens team.

For Saracens Chairman Nigel Wray it was reward for over a decade of investment in the club.

"Somehow or other we've got an outstanding group of people on and off the field who work for each other and won't give in.

"We've got to work harder and see how we can get better," said Wray, citing Leinster as a model. "We do a lot of good things but we need to do everything better. We've got a lot of intelligent people thinking about it but there's no guarantee. What we mustn't do is rest on our laurels in any way.

"If I'd known how much it would cost, not just in terms of money but emotionally, of course I wouldn't have done it.

“Having done it you don't regret a damn thing.”