LDN 12: Folkard wins silver at the European Archery Championships

Welcome to LDN 12, our build up to London 2012 Olympic games. Each week, up until the start of the games, we will post a few stories as to the progress our athletes are making in various sports. All our posts are courtesy of the Team GB media team.

Our athletes have had a successful weekend, following this is a brief report on our archers.

Team GB archer Naomi Folkard has won silver at the European Championships in Amsterdam.

Folkard, part of a six-strong home squad for London 2012, qualified for the gold medal match with a superb run of form in the competition but was undone 6-0 by a familiar face - Russia's Ksenia Perova.

Perova has now beaten Folkard on the last six occasions, going back to last year's World Championships in Turin.

Folkard admitted her record against Perova was "a curse" but was delighted with her overall performance so close to the Games.

"She has been a bit of a curse, but it comes to those who wait, and I'm sure my time will come," said Folkard.

"Winning a medal of any colour at the Europeans is a great boost to the confidence, it's great for the Olympic preparations and I've been really pleased with the way things have gone this week."

Copyright © Press Association Ltd. 2012, All Rights Reserved.

Rebels 2: Rebels blown away by Hurricanes.

Thank you to the Rebels Media Team for the match report and picture.

The RaboDirect Rebels were unable to stop a rampant Hurricanes side from scoring nine tries in Wellington on Saturday afternoon.

Initially the Rebels looked promising in attack, and took an early lead with a superb solo try from Cooper Vuna. Taking a short ball from Kurtley Beale, the winger stepped, fended and drove his way over the line with three Hurricanes players desperately attempting to haul him down.

As the first half wore on, however, the Hurricanes began to display their trademark attacking verve. With clever running lines from their forward pack, deft offloads and quick ball from every breakdown, the Hurricanes repeatedly opened up the Rebels’ defence.

It seemed only a matter of time before the home side picked up a try of their own, and soon enough a stunning pass from TJ Perenara behind his back allowed Andre Taylor to dive over in the corner and level the scores.

The home side’s second score followed soon after, as a grubber kick behind the Melbourne defence bounced up perfectly into the arms of winger Alapata Leiua.

The Rebels continued their attacking efforts, but were unable to penetrate the brutal Hurricanes defence. Slower to the breakdown than their eager opponents, the Rebels’ inability to protect the ball in contact eventually resulted in two further Hurricanes tries, both scored by Julian Savea.

As the Hurricanes’ confidence swelled they began running the ball from all corners of the field, and Vuna was sharp enough to intercept an ambitious pass to score his second, bringing the score back to 31-17 just after the half hour mark.

But the Hurricanes maintained their dominance of possession and territory, and before long flanker Jack Lam burst over the Rebels’ try line from short range following more excellent build-up work by his colleagues in the pack.

Trailing by 21 points at half-time the Rebels were by no means out of the contest, but after the break they still struggled to find the same offensive cohesion they had shown in their two previous games.

The Hurricanes defence was letting nothing through, while more momentum-building runs from their strong forward pack laid the platform for three further tries to Leiua, Savea and Taylor. Barrett’s faultless kicking display took the score out to 59-17 from the resulting conversions.

With a quarter still to play the Rebels bravely battled on as injuries began to mount, but once again the Hurricanes defence was impermeable. Substitute Chris Eaton eventually picked up the home side’s ninth score, finding a big gap beside a rolling maul to skip over untouched.

Vuna almost picked up a hat-trick with a chip and chase in the dying minutes, but the ball bounced just out of his reach as he attempted to ground it.

The Rebels’ brave effort continued after the buzzer, however, and their unwavering endeavour eventually resulted in a consolation try as Adam Freier burrowed over for his side’s third.

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Tapes Up: Double Diamond defeat in cup meetings

Thank you to the Diamonds Media Team and George English for the match reports and photo. This week we have a double helping, as we also have the post from Thursdays cup meeting at Redcar.

Diamonds Find Going Tough At Workington

Sponsored in 2012 by Sapphire Engineering & Darrian Properties

Workington Comets 58
Newcastle Diamonds 36
(League Cup)

Top scorers:
Comets - Adam Roynon 18, Richard Lawson 13 1
Diamonds - Stuart Robson 14 1, Ludvig Lindgren 7


The Newcastle Diamonds travelled west to tackle the Workington Comets last night at an unusually warm and balmy Derwent Park in the League Cup and it started off all square with a win for former Newcastle number one Rene Bach, but behind Gary Irving fell, causing the race to be stopped and awarded when Claes Nedermark was well to the rear.

Guest from Redcar, Mark Jones clipped the fence in the same place as Irving, but stayed upright as the Workington reserves took a good 5-1, putting the home side 8-4 up, and then 12-6 up after the third when young Richard Lawson took a huge win over Mark Lemon.

Ludvig Lindgren and Rusty Harrison batted hard for second place, the Diamond taking the spoils, but with Adam Roynon well out in front Newcastle went two more behind, 16-8.

25-11 down after Heat Six, Lemon was nominated as a tactical ride in the seventh but ended up in third place behind his partner Christian Henry for only one doubled point to two in a 3-4 result taking the score to a disappointing 28-15.

Newcastle's second guest, Jade Mudgway lost his steel shoe mid race and retired as Lawson took another win, this time over Lindgren in a 4-2 which gave a current score line of 35-20.

Going into the interval after Heat 10 the Diamonds had slipped further back in the reckoning with the score at 40-21, there then followed an incredibly long interval to allow the blinding sun to set after which Stuart Robson took a six point haul as a tactical ride in the 11th but with Nedermark at the back the only advantage was a 3-6.

A Comets maximum in the 12th from Lawson and Irving over Lemon and Jones took the match beyond the Diamond's reach and left the visitors from Tyneside feeling decidedly unsatisfied with their performances.


Diamonds Eight Points Down After Cup First Leg At Redcar

Redcar Bears 49
Newcastle Diamonds 41
(Knockout Cup - 1st round - 1st leg)

Top scorers:
Bears - Aaron Summers 13 1, Matej Kus 10
Diamonds - Mark Lemon 8 1, Richie Worrall 8


Revenge may have been uppermost in the Newcastle Diamonds' minds when they arrived at the Redcar Bears last night in Knockout Cup action, but such was the level of determination that Stuart Robson demolished the tapes in Heat One restricting himself with a 15 metre handicap.

Robson's resultant third place (on the line with Nedermark confirmed in last) didn't help in Redcar taking a full 5-1 max in the opener, but Steve Worrall's great gate and win in the second made sure the gap was getting no wider although his twin Richie battled hard with Mark Jones for third, slipping back to last on the last lap.

Carl Wilkinson, a former Diamond relegated Christian Henry to the rear in Heat Three, but with Justin Sedgmen dominating Mark Lemon the 4-2 pushed the Bears six up, 12-6 in a start Newcastle certainly hadn't planned upon.

Robson more than made amends for his awful start in Heat Five taking a solid win over Wilkinson for the three points with Claes Nedermark holding on to third over Sedgmen the Newcastle 2-4 reduced the deficit to four once more, 17-13, but Wilkinson crashed out of the sixth when lightly clipped by Steve Worrall, leaving Summers to take the win in a split 3-3.

The Henry / Lemon partnership has produced many points in 2012 and come Heat seven, they were at it again hammering a good five points past Jones and Matej Kus and the Diamonds' maximum levelling the match at 21-21.

Richie Worrall took up the cudgels in Heat Eight, winning well with the previously unbeaten by a visitor, Summers splitting the pair in a Newcastle 2-4 which put Newcastle into a slender 23-25 lead with seven races left on the card.

Henry took another win in the tenth as part of a Diamonds 2-4, but Kus, warned yet again for not sitting still at the start, and Max Dilger took a shock 5-1 over Robson and Richie Worrall in Heat 11 to keep it all square 33 all until, with Sedgmen ahead of Lemon in the 12th Dilger held out Steve Worrall to sneak the home side back in front, 37-35.

Summers fended off every challenge Robson could throw at him in Heat 13 to take the three points but with Kus also holding out Ludvig Lindgren at the rear, the Bears were looking stronger all the time with the score 41-37 standing with only two races left for Newcastle to salvage the match.

A share of the spoils in the penultimate race left Newcastle needing a 1-5 to tie the knife-edge match but on the opening bend Robson fell and was adjudged by the referee as the primary cause of the race being stopped with the inevitable exclusion from the re-run handing victory to the Bears.

With the second and deciding leg due for Brough Park this coming Monday at 7.30pm, team manager George English said: "There were times tonight where we made far heavier weather of things than we should have done, but we think the eight points we're adrift is manageable to haul back and get us in to the quarter finals"

Indian Premier League: Kolkata beat Chennai to clinch title

Thanks to our friends at BBC Sport for providing photo and match report.

Indian Premier League final, Chennai:

Kolkata Knight Riders 192-5 (19.4 overs) beat Chennai Super Kings 190-3 (20 overs) by five wickets

Kolkata Knight Riders overcame defending champions Chennai Super Kings by five wickets in the Indian Premier League final in Chennai.

Mike Hussey (54), Murali Vijay (42) and Suresh Raina (73 from 38 balls) helped Chennai post 190-3 from their 20 overs.

Kolkata then lost skipper Gautam Gambhir cheaply but Manvinder Bisla (89) and Jacques Kallis (69) added 136.
Bisla's dismissal sparked a flurry of wickets but Manoj Tiwary saw them home with two balls to spare.

The Knight Riders had needed nine off the final over, bowled by West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, but Tiwary smacked two successive fours to hand his side the title and spark wild celebrations.

Kolkata, in their first final, had chosen Australia paceman Brett Lee ahead of hard-hitting New Zealand star Brendon McCullum among their four permitted overseas players - with McCullum's omission handing uncapped Indian wicketkeeper/batsman Bisla a place in the side.

But Vijay and Lee's international team-mate Hussey made hay against the veteran Aussie quick bowler early on, and after Vijay departed, Raina joined in the fun, as all-rounder Yusuf Pathan's only over went for 17.

Hussey fell with three overs left but Raina kept going, hitting five sixes before he holed out in the deep off the final ball of the innings.

Kolkata must have feared the worst when they lost Gambhir in the first over, heaving across the line to a straight ball from Ben Hilfenhaus.

But the Super Kings took 14 overs to break the Bisla-Kallis stand, by which time Kolkata needed 52 from 32 balls for victory.

Laxmi Shukla and Pathan departed in quick succession, followed by Kallis - who had been suffering with cramp - as Chennai, led by India captain Mahendra Dhoni, and their excited fans sensed a third successive IPL title.

But Tiwary held his nerve to pull those two boundaries through mid-wicket and deliver the title to Kolkata, whose owner - Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan - was quick to join the players' celebrations.

Bisla - who has not been a regular in the Kolkata side - was named as man of the match.

World in Union: Harlequins Aviva Premiership Champions

Thank you to Aviva Premiership and Aviva for providing match reports and photos throughout the season, see you next season.

Harlequins 30 Leicester Tigers 23

Harlequins were crowned champions of England for the first time by defeating Leicester in a thrilling Twickenham final.Quins came to the party by refusing to abandon their free-flowing style, and such adventure was rewarded as skipper Chris Robshaw lifted the Aviva Premiership Rugby trophy.

Tries in each half by wing Tom Williams and Robshaw - accompanied by 20 points from fly-half Nick Evans' trusty right boot - saw Quins become the sixth different club to be crowned Aviva Premiership Rugby champions after Newcastle, Leicester, Wasps, Sale and Saracens.

Evans kicked six penalties and a conversion, eclipsing his 19-year-old opposite number George Ford, whose 13-point haul included conversions of both Leicester tries by flanker Steve Mafi and centre Anthony Allen.

Leicester scored 10 unanswered points during the final quarter, but Quins had already done enough to consign the Tigers to their fifth defeat in eight successive Aviva Premiership Rugby Final appearances.

It was the perfect send-off for England captain Robshaw and many of his Quins colleagues, who will depart next week on a three-Test tour to South Africa. Robshaw deservedly took Aviva man-of-the-match honours, and it was hard to question whether there has been a more influential player on the English rugby stage this season.

Leicester had their moments during a pulsating final, but Quins ultimately had too much ammunition during critical areas of the contest, and Tigers could not respond at the death on farewell appearances for wings Alesana Tuilagi and Horacio Agulla, plus lock George Skivington.

Quins made the early running, taking a second-minute lead when Evans found his range from 40 metres, and there was a vibrancy about their play that kept Leicester's defence occupied.

Evans had a second penalty chance six minutes later. It hit the outside of the post and Tigers escaped but it was only a temporary reprieve.

Quins, their confidence undiminished despite the final's high-pressure stakes, continued to attack Leicester with ball in hand, and such adventure was rewarded when Williams pounced after 10 minutes. Lock George Robson made critical early headway before scrum-half Danny Care and full-back Mike Brown linked superbly, and Williams trotted over for a quality touchdown.

Evans' conversion attempt bounced back off the post, but although Leicester replied with a Ford penalty, Quins remained a far more confident team as their exciting brand of rugby matched glorious sunny conditions.

Evans restored Leicester's eight-point advantage through an angled strike from 30 metres, which was cancelled out by Ford five minutes later, although not before he had sent a longer kick well wide.

Despite stamina-sapping heat, there was no let-up in the tempo Quins looked to put on proceedings, but they were architects of their own downfall nine minutes before the break. Leicester prop Dan Cole snaffled possession from a lineout and found Mafi in support, who then sprinted 40 metres for an opportunist try that Ford converted.

Tigers' 13-11 lead came arguably against the run of play, but an Evans penalty after Tigers number eight Thomas Waldrom was sin-binned for a technical offence edged Quins one point ahead by the break.

Another Evans penalty made it 17-13, and although Leicester enjoyed much more possession than in the game's initial stages, their indiscipline handed the New Zealander a further scoring chance that he gratefully accepted.

Robshaw's close-range score, accompanied by an Evans conversion and later penalty, left Leicester floundering before Allen sprinted over for a try that Ford improved.

Ford then kicked a penalty that ensured a nerve-shredding finish, and it became a case of how successfully Quins could close down the clock under growing pressure. And they managed it without too much stress, sending their supporters into raptures.

Gwrys Yn Kernow: London Welsh take lead into 2nd leg against Pirates.

Thank you to Woll, Simon Bryant for the match report and picture and all at Cornish Pirates, good luck in the 2nd leg.

RFU Championship Final 1st Leg

Cornish Pirates 21-37 London Welsh

Wednesday 23rd May 2012

Woll's Match Report

“Meaningless”, so said Steve Wright’s ‘Sports Guy’ on Beeb’s Radio Two, in the afternoon prior to this RFU Championship Final 1st leg. What does he know?!

Clearly not a lot, as the Welsh Exiles from one end of the A40 or other, brushed aside their promotion hope disappointment in some style.

A twenty three point haul in a thirty minute spell of first half of dominance did the damage; whilst two killer blows from Tonga’uhia and Lewis on the hour, killed off any real hopes of the Pirates travelling up to Oxford with much more than a sixteen point deficit to recover.

And yet it had begun so perfectly in the evening sunshine, as Pointer burst through to raise a roof that was already straining at its couplings with barely five minutes ticked off.

Expectations prior had been high, and a partisan large crowd that had been whipped up by the Falmouth Marine Band pre match; canon, chicken and all; could be excused for thinking only positive thoughts.

It wasn’t to last unfortunately, and mainly due to the host’s set piece going completely skew-with, almost immediately from that point onward.

Davies replied from the tee soonest and, with the Cornishmen all at sixes & sevens with Thomas going off for ten, for an adjudged deliberate knock on; the writing was quickly on the wall.

Before the fly half’s return, Ajuwa had planted the first of side’s four tries on the night with Davies adding the extras on top of a second penalty. But things didn’t change when back to full complement, as yet another overthrown lineout found Denbee who set the ball rolling for Scott to canter in at the Clubhouse Corner.

Davies wasn’t in any mood to miss from the touchline, as was Ross who slotted a drop goal with half time looming.

The Pirates though did respond and ended the half in similar fashion to how they’d started with another seven points. This time the pack rewarding a period of pressure and their opposite numbers going backwards, with a penalty try.

Would it spur them on and spare them a bit an ear-bashing?

Well yes…and no as it transpired. The second period began brightly and offered some hope of a fight back. Sadly, a penalty from just inside the Welsh 10m line that was scuffed badly by the otherwise ever impressive Cook; sent more alarm bells ringing.

Burgess was a bounce of the ball away from glory, but then came that double punch below the belt that in effect killed the game off.

There was still time for some damage limitation however, as Tonga’uhia turned from hero to villain with a dozen minutes remaining. Hudson having scored moments earlier saw yellow for rather foolishly taking out Evans in the air.

A frantic finish ensued, but other than a third converted try for Burgess in the dying minutes, that was going to be as good as it was to get.

Thus we have an almost reverse situation to that which faced the Pirates in the semi-final; namely a large margin to recover as opposed to defend for the second leg.

Speaking afterwards, skipper Gavin Cattle highlighted the feeling that the pressure was, in some ways, now off his colleagues. But it was difficult to hide his obvious disappointment at the team’s under-performance.

The trip to the Kassam Stadium therefore throws up some interesting possibilities. Though the bottles of brown ale may have popped open in relief in the land of the Toon; one now wonders if somewhere along the Grays Inn Road. London EC there are some wigs being dusted down in anticipation for some summer work.

Of course, the Pirates may just heave a spanner into any such plans should they react to being written off not for the first time this season…

Cornish Pirates
15 R. Cook 14 G. Pointer 13 A. Suniula (21 M. Evans 63mins) 12 S. Hill 11 D. Doherty 10 C. Thomas (22 T. Kessell 63mins) 9 G. Cattle (capt) 8 K. Marriott 7 P. Burgess 6 D. Ewers (20 M. Myerscough 68mins) 5 I. Nimmo (17 R. Elloway 68mins) 4 L. McGlone (19 M. Smith 62mins) 3 A. Paver (R. Brits 66mins) 2 D. Ward 1 C. Rimmer (16 R. Storer 60mins)
Replacements: all used

Tries: Pointer, penalty, Burgess
Cons: Cook 3

Yellow: Thomas

London Welsh
15 A. Davies 14 J. Ajuwa 13 J. Lewis (20 B. Russell 76mins) 12 H. Tonga’uiha 11 N. Scott 10 G. Ross 9 R. Lewis 1 M. Lahiff (17 W. Moss 78mins) 2 D. George (16 V. Ma’asi 60mins) 3 J. Tideswell (18 G. Bateman 76mins) 4 J. Mills (capt) 5 M. Corker (19 M. Purdy 75mins) 6 L. Beach (22 S. Jewell 72mins 7 M. Denbee 8 E. Jackson
Replacements:
(21 J. Winter-Moates mins)

Tries: Ajuwa, Scott, Tonga’uiha, Lewis
Cons: Davies 4
Pens: Davies 2
Drops: Ross
Yellow: Tonga’uhia

Match Officials
Referee: Greg Garner
Assistants: Luke Pearce & Chris Sharp
4th Official: Richard parker-Sedgemore
5th Official: Steve Harland
TMO: Steve Leyshon
Ref Coach: Ed Morrison
Hair: Toni & Guy

Man of the Match:
Attendance: 3205

Tapes Up: Diamonds Take Narrow Victory Over League Favourites

Thank you George English and the Media team at Newcastle Diamonds.

Sponsored in 2012 by Sapphire Engineering & Darrian Properties

Newcastle Diamonds 48
Ipswich Witches 42
(Premier League)

Top scorers:
Diamonds - Mark Lemon 11 1, Stuart Robson 9
Witches - Rohan Tungate 12 1, Leigh Lanham 12

Ipswich arrived at Newcastle's Brough Park last night for a league match against the Diamond but inconsistency nearly cost the home side the six-point win on a night where nothing was certain.

The Witches are tipped as potential champions in 2012, and on the power shown by several of the Suffolk side they are well on course, with Leigh Lanham expertly winning Heat One ahead of Stuart Robson, and the sensational new young Australian Rohan Tungate taking two more three pointers by Heat Four, with the match tight at 13-11.

Lanham blew Mark Lemon's lead to pieces in Heat Five when he darted round the Diamond on bend two of the opening lap in a shared 3-3 whilst Stuart Robson seemed to suffer a possible fuel-starvation problem in Heat six when his power dropped off leaving his floundering at the back in the race won by Claes Nedermark over Mat Tresarrieu in another split taking the score to 19-17.

Heat Seven served up a sensational race led in the main by Mathew Wethers, but Ludvig Lindgren wound on the power over the final lap to shoot past the leading man to sneak three points on the line with Newcastle guest reserve Micky Dyer holding third in a 4-2 to push the Diamonds four up at 23-19.

Nedermark took the eighth after a superb battle with Kevin Doolan with the passing and re-passing throughout with the result another shared 3-3, with another split coming from Tresarrieu in the Ninth taking the needle match to 29-25.

Robson shot from third to first on the opening lap of Heat 10 in an eventual 4-2 to extend the lead to six, whilst Worrall crashed out of heat 11 when he went too wide on bend two just after Lindgren had blocked Lanham perfectly on bend on to take a fine lead.

In the re-run, Lindgren took the win in another 3-3 and in the 12th young Tungate showed his Australian international team manager Lemon the way home decisively in an Ipswich 2-4 reducing the gap to four, a differential maintained with a great Robson win over Lanham in Heat 13.

After several incidents swapping of positions in the penultimate race 14 Worrall took the win over the two Witches leaving the match poised 44-40 with one to go.

Lemon took the match winning win with ease as Robson soared round Tresarrieu to tuck in to third for a 4-2, but it was touch and go all night.

Team manager George English was happy just to get the win, saying: "We could easily have lost this match tonight as there were simply too many errors and misjudgements, but somehow we pulled through although did lose one league point to the Witches who can never be underestimated which is always a dangerous thing. Thankfully we got the win which is better than nothing, but losing one league point is still disappoing."

Get Your Kit On - Wycombe Wanderers 2012/2013

This is for BBC Breakfast presenter Bill T, give him his rap tag - respect. Correct no idea where this is going. Thanks to Football Kit News for providing pic and intro.

This is the new Wycombe Kit 2012/13, Wycombe Wanderers’ new home shirt for the 12/13 season. This new Wycombe strip for 2012/2013 is WWFC’s first Kukri kit after they took over the kit designing responsibilities from the 2012/13 season. Wycombe’s new 12/13 kit was unveiled on May 19, 2012 before the Wycombe Legends v Ex-Royals game.

This new Kukri jersey is the club’s 125th anniversary kit and is based on the Chairboys’ first kit in 1887.

Kukri are more known for rugby kits- Heineken Cup finalists Ulster, for example, are outfitted by Kukri.

Rebels 2: Rebels win by 1 point, a bonus.

Thank you to our friends at Rebels Media Team for supplying the post and photo.

The RaboDirect Rebels survived a spirited second-half comeback from the Western Force to win 32-31 on a sunny afternoon in Perth, their fourth win of the season taking the Melbourne side to third place in the Australian conference for the first time.

After a superb opening period the Rebels were ahead by 26-15 at the break, with two tries to the outstanding Caderyn Neville helping his side secure a bonus point after just 40 minutes.

But the Force dominated the game after the restart, battling their way back to a 31-29 lead with just over five minutes left to play, before Kurtley Beale showed incredible composure to rescue the victory for the Rebels with a late penalty goal from the touchline.

“It was a very good performance in the first half, but that second half we’re pretty disappointed with,” said captain Gareth Delve.

“I think we lost a bit of front foot, and they did well at disrupting our set piece and from there they crept into it. Once they’ve got the bit between their teeth they’re a tough team.

“But five points on the road against a great team is not to be sniffed at.”

The Rebels started the match right where they left off against the Crusaders the week before, working the Force defence back and forth across the pitch for 13 well-controlled phases before Neville finally burst through to score his first Super Rugby try under the posts.

The Force were desperate for a strong start of their own in front of their home fans, but the Rebels’ defence was aggressive and repeatedly shut the hosts down to protect their early headstart. Eventually Melbourne crept offside in their eagerness however, and David Harvey chipped over the ensuing penalty to bring the score back to 7-3 after 15 minutes.

A great break from the Rebels down the right-hand side after the restart almost saw Mark Gerrard burst through to the line after his trademark dummy chip, but the points went to Delve after the ball was whizzed back across the field to the captain on the opposite flank.

The Force kept themselves in the running with a try following a series of quick drives by their strong forward pack, but Melbourne responded immediately with another score of their own. Regaining possession from the kick-off, the Rebels surged forward and when the ball reached Neville the big lock threw a crafty dummy and stepped inside for his second try of the afternoon.

Beale picked up his third conversion to give the Rebels a seemingly comfortable 21-8 lead, but a midfield linebreak from the Force soon after resulted in the home side’s second try.

Spurred back into action after their defensive lapse, the Rebels secured the bonus point when two bullet-like passes from Beale and Julian Huxley gave Cooper Vuna enough space to dive over for his third try of the season. Beale couldn’t convert from out wide, however, leaving the scoreline at 26-15 just before the half-time whistle.

Despite such a strong start however, the Rebels couldn’t prevent a determined Force side from taking a relentless grip on the match immediately after the break. Winger Alfie Mafi scythed through the Melbourne defence for an early converted try to bring the scoreline back to 26-22, before Brett Sheehan’s penalty closed the gap to a single point at 26-25.

As nerves saw both teams trade a series of penalties in desperate search of the win, eventually the Force got the upper hand when five-eighth Ben Seymour kicked what looked like the match winner with just a few minutes left to play.

But at 31-29 down, the Rebels finally began to find the same energy and structure they had shown in the first half, and were rewarded when the Force conceded a penalty at the scrum just five metres in from the touchline.

Despite a packed stadium willing him to push the testing kick wide, Beale steadied himself, stepped forward and effortlessly struck the ball between the posts to seal yet another narrow win for the Rebels over their great rivals.

Get Your Kit On: QPR 2012/2013

Thank you, again, to our friends at Football Kit News for providing the intro and photo. It may be a while until you see Mr Joey Barton in one of these, competitively. There we go, opened ourselves up for some chatter on twitter from JB.

These are the new Queens Park Rangers home and away kits for the forthcoming 2012/13 season. QPR narrowly escaped relegation on the final day of the season, losing 3-2 to eventual title winners Manchester City but surviving the drop because of Stoke’s draw against Bolton. QPR’s new 12/13 kits have been made by Lotto and were unveiled on May 18, 2012.

QPR also announced that Air Asia would sponsor both their home and away jerseys for 2012/13.

Wheelchair rugby squad gets London nod

We have just posted the England Euro 2012 squad, here is a truly inspirational squad selection. With thanks to Channel 4, the paralympics official broadcaster, for text and photo.

Steve Brown will lead an 11-strong squad for the 2012 Paralympics

Great Britain's wheelchair rugby players will be hoping to end their run of two successive fourth-placed finishes at the Paralympics after they were named in the London 2012 ParalympicsGB squad.

Steve Brown will captain the 11-strong squad which includes five players who missed out on a bronze medal in Beijing; Andy Barrow, Ross Morrison, Jonny Coggan, Mandip Sehmi and Bulbul Husain.

Meanwhile, six players will make their Paralympic debuts in London; Brown, Myles Pearson, David Anthony, Mike Kerr, Aaron Phipps and Kylie Grimes.

Hussain is the only addition to the GB squad which lost the final of the London Invitational International Wheelchair Rugby tournament to Australia last month.

The hosts, ranked sixth in the world, beat European champions Sweden, world number five Canada as well as Australia in the group stages before losing the finale to the Beijing Paralympic silver medallists at the brand-new Basketball Arena, venue for wheelchair rugby at the London 2012 Paralympics.

GB's star performer at the tournament was Phipps, who becomes the team's first ever "high-pointer" at 3.5, the highest classification (least disabled) possible in wheelchair rugby.

The 29-year-old is among the fastest players in the sport and possesses a similar attacking threat to Australia's Ryley Batt, widely acknowledged to be the best player in the world.

“The selection of Aaron is important to us and a very definite part of our strategy,” said GB head coach Tom O’Connor.

“All of the top nations have high-point players and indeed Australia’s high-pointer Ryley Batt is considered one of the best players in the world.

"Having Aaron on the team means that we have the potential to take on players like Ryley and that can make the crucial difference between winning and losing a game.”

The team has evolved since Beijing when a number of experienced players retired, paving the way for a new generation to make their impact.

A fifth-place finish at the 2010 World Championships suggested the team was developing along the right lines, while a silver medal at the 2011 European Championships confirmed GB are medal contenders in London.

However, they must overcome Australia as well as defending Paralympic champions USA for the top spot on the podium.

"We are now in a position where we are confident that the team we have nominated is one that can win a medal this time around," said Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby chief executive David Pond.

England Squad for Euro(y) 2012

You know we are close when the squad is announced. So here it is, Englands 2012 Euroy Squad. Some names you would agree with and some, I'm sure, you will not.

Roy will be holding a press conference at 2pm to discuss the selection and take questions.

Hodgson names Euro 2012 squad

England Manager Roy Hodgson has named his 23-man squad for this summers UEFA EURO 2012 Finals in Poland and Ukraine..

There are two players who have been selected in the Senior squad for the first time in the shape of Norwich City goalkeeper John Ruddy and Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain..

Meanwhile, Liverpools Andy Carroll is selected as one of four strikers alongside Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Jermain Defoe..

England face Norway in Oslo for Hodgsons first game on Saturday 26 May before they play Belgium at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 2 June in preparation for the Finals..

The first game of the Tournament is against France in Donetsk on Monday 11 June..

The Squad

Goalkeepers

Robert Green (West Ham United)
Joe Hart (Manchester City)
John Ruddy (Norwich City)

.Defenders

Leighton Baines (Everton)
Gary Cahill (Chelsea)
Ashley Cole (Chelsea)
Glen Johnson (Liverpool)
Phil Jones (Manchester United)
Joleon Lescott (Manchester City)
John Terry (Chelsea)

.Midfielders

Gareth Barry (Manchester City)
Stewart Downing (Liverpool)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
James Milner (Manchester City)
Scott Parker (Tottenham Hotspur)
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal)
Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
Ashley Young (Manchester United)

.Forwards

Andy Carroll (Liverpool)
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
Daniel Welbeck (Manchester United)
Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur)

Photo and post copyright of the F.A, with our thanks.

Sol y Futbol: Lanzarote just miss out on play off spot

Ian reports from Arrecife as Lanzarote just fall short after a great end to the season. Good effort guys, see you next season. Thank you to Ian for providing the match reports this season, great job as always.

LANZAROTE 4 ESTRELLA CF 0

The Rojillos finished the season in style sweeping aside sixth placed side Estrella but this was not enough to claim the final playoff spot.

The match began in soaring temperatures approaching 40 degrees Celsius and was somehow played at a fast pace with the Rojillos intent on doing the business and hoping C.D. Vera would slip up against Las Palmas B. The Rojillos had to win and as long as C.D. Vera didn’t win then Lanzarote would grab fourth position claiming the final playoff spot.

After only four minutes Toñito raced superbly to the by-line and pulled the ball back invitingly for striker Alex Yunes who struck the missile on the full from eight yards only to see his effort rattle off the crossbar and away to safety.

The Rojillos dominated possession and were rewarded seconds before half time. Echedey beat his right back and centred in a great cross; Toñito timed his run with perfection and glanced his header into the bottom right hand corner sending his side 1-0 up. As the Rojillos went for a cold shower during the half time break with a 1-0 lead they would have also heard that C.D. Vera also were winning by the same score.

The Gran Canarian side who held top position for much of the season had slipped off the pace in recent weeks and who had little to play for did not relish coming out for the second half knowing that they were in for a pounding.

Six minutes into the second period and Jotha made it 2-0 catching out the Gran Canarian keeper with a 30 yard free kick almost from the touchline. Whether it was a cross or a shot is up for debate but one thing is certain is that the ball whistled past the keeper and into the top right hand corner.

News had come through from Tenerife that Las Palmas B had drawn level so the fans were in a boisterous mood. In the 77th minute Ayoze broke with the ball in his penalty area and fed Toñito. The classy winger broke down the left wing and cut inside and fed Ayoze. The midfielder who had covered an amazing amount of ground kept his composure and rifled into the top right hand corner to make the score 3-0.

Whilst the Lanzarote fans were celebrating C.D Vera had regained the lead and found themselves 2-1 in front and were back in the driving seat.

In the 82nd minute a corner curled in by sub Gustavo was met with the meat of the head by centre back Adrián to complete the 4-0 score line.

Many of the Lanzarote fans were listening to the other match on the radio and there was an almighty roar as our provincial relatives had once again scored or thought they had scored to tie the score at 2-2. The Ref had awarded a goal but then conferred with his assistant for a while before cancelling out the strike for offside so it was the Tenerife side still with the initiative.

As the whistle blew for full time and Lanzarote secured their ninth home win on the bounce news had filtered through that C.D.Vera had held onto the lead and therefore will be competing in the playoffs to reach Spain’s Bronze league.

The home form of Lanzarote is of Champions but it was all so apparent where the problem was and that is the away form. Apart from the last two away matches which the Rojillos won they could only muster up just four wins on the road all season. If this problem is addressed Lanzarote can look forward to next season with huge expectation.

GOALS
1-0min 45 Toñito
2-0min 51 Jotha
3-0min 77 Ayoze
4-0 min 82 Adrián

Speedway rider Lee Richardson dies

Lee Richardson, 33, was competing for PGE Marma Rzeszow against Betard Sparta Wroclaw when he crashed into a safety fence.

The Lakeside Hammers captain was taken to a hospital in Wroclaw but died from his injuries.

A statement on the Hammers' website read: "All at the club are devastated at the loss of a great captain, man and more than anything else a wonderful father and husband. Our thoughts are with his family at this most sad of times and we know that all Hammers fans will share our total devastation at this tragic news."

Hammers co-promoter Jon Cook added: "I am numb and just can't take this in. Lee's loss to his family is beyond imagination and I can't see further than that at the moment."

Tributes quickly poured in for Richardson, who was world Under-21 champion in 1999, with many riders taking to Twitter to express their shock and disbelief at the news.

World champion Greg Hancock wrote: "Unreal news I just heard! It doesn't seem real and another innocent one is gone. Our thoughts are with the whole Richardson Family. RIP Lee."

British international Lewis Bridger said: "RIP Rico. Top, top bloke in the sport; I looked up to you so much man. I'm in tears right now. I really don't want to believe this."

His former Speedway Grand Prix rival Scott Nicholls added: "I am speechless & cannot think of any words to say at this very, very sad time. My thoughts are with the Richardson family & friends. RIP."

Belle Vue rider Rory Schlein also wrote on Twitter: "Speedway at the mo means nothing. Will miss you Lee, our laughs we had on our flights and I will always remember. RIP Rico."

Sports Pulse and SportTrades would like to add our condolences to Lee's family and friends.

Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2012, All Rights Reserved.

Tapes Up: Diamonds double victory weekend

Thank you to Newcastle Diamonds media team for the reports.

Diamonds Superb Win At Rye House

Sponsored in 2012 by Sapphire Engineering & Darrian Properties

Rye House Rockets 43
Newcastle Diamonds 50
(Premier League)

Newcastle Diamonds continued their excellent start to the 2012 Premier League with an excellent, yet unexpected seven-point win at Rye House on Saturday night.

Diamonds embarked on the long journey to tackle their opposition down in Hoddesdon, a track they rarely do well at, but with former Rye star Stuart Robson in the visitors' ranks for inspiration, North East hopes were high.

In the opening race the optimism was well founded with Claes Nedermark jetting ahead with Robson comfortably in second to take a fine 1-5 over Charlie Gjedde, whilst the Worrall twins emulated their heat one colleagues in the second to push Newcastle a sensational 2-10 up.

Christian Henry was locked in wheel-to-wheel action with Anders Mellgren in Heat Three, but fell on the back straight and stayed down but the referee handed him an exclusion to halt Newcastle's run of maximums, whilst in the re-run Ludvig Lindgren took the win well to share the heat 3-3.

The Rockets started to claw points back with a 4-2 in the fourth then Mark Lemon and Gjedde swapped placed throughout Heat Six but the home man took the flag in another home 4-2 that tightened the match score to 16-20.

Richie Worrall took a vital second win on the night in Heat Eight over Luke Bowen, and with Nedermark taking third Newcastle extended the lead by two again to 21-27, but another 1-5 in heat 11 with Nedermark taking his second win and Robson taking third to make the score 28-38.

Mellgren was nominated as a tactical ride in Heat 12 and won well following a tight first bend for six points but Worrall and Lindgren tucked in for three in the 6-3 to restrict the Rockets' resurgence to 34-41.

Two shared races followed, taking the score to a Diamonds' match-winning 40-47 with one race to go in a magnificent effort from the Tynesiders.

Team manager George English said: "This was a great match for the Diamonds, and hitting hard with that double hammer-blow in the first heats was really where the damage was done as we demoralised them and knocked a few heads down. All the lads rode exceptionally and we really deserved our spectacular win."

The Diamonds host the Sheffield Tigers tonight at Brough Park at 7.00pm, a later time than usual with a Tigers' side that includes former Diamond Josef Franc who, just 24 hours previous won a semi final place in the Czech Grand Prix at the Marketa Stadium with a total of nine points….a fine achievement.


Diamonds Fight Hard For Victory Over Sheffield

Sponsored in 2012 by Sapphire Engineering & Darrian Properties

Newcastle Diamonds 54
Sheffield Tigers 38
(Premier League)

Top scorers:
Diamonds - Christian Henry 12 1, Mark Lemon 10
Tigers - Josef Franc 12, Ricky Wells 11


The Newcastle Diamonds continued their fine start to the 2012 Premier League campaign last night at Brough with decent win over a solid Sheffield Tigers side.

Things didn't start well for the Diamonds as the shock success of the Czech Grand Prix the night before, Josef Franc shot round Claes Nedermark to win well and was followed in by his partner Hugh Skidmore in a Tigers' 1-5.

The Newcastle reserves reversed that score in Heat Two with the Worrall twins dominating Adam McKinna and Joe Haines to level the match 6-6.

Ricky Wells took a fine win in the third whilst Emiliano Sanchez battled well with Richie Worrall in the fourth to take the three points, both races split 3-3 taking the score tied to 12-12.

Skidmore fell heavily on bend four of the opening lap in heat five, claiming vociferously that his crash was caused by the inside pass of Ludvig Lindgren, but the referee excluded the Tiger with a three-man re-run.

At the second time of asking, Christian Henry took a fine win, but an engine failure for Lindgren restricted his points to a solitary one in the Diamonds' 4-2 pushing them two into the lead.

Sanchez was leading the sixth with ease until Robson came blasting round him through a virtually non-existent gap coming off bend two of the last lap, but the Argentinean hadn't finished and burst back under the Sunderland-born man to sneak the win in the final metre to share the race.

Four-up after Heat Seven the lead was doubled to eight in the eighth with Nedermark blasting away to win well followed by Richie Worrall whose opposition at the back had dwindled with Skidmore suffering a retirement from the race with the score 28-20.

With the Diamonds 33-21 up, going into Heat 10 Ricky Wells was nominated a tactical ride for double points, but Robson and Nedermark shot out to lead. Richard Hall passed the Dane on the second lap and in an attempt to get back on terms Nedermark went out of control on bend one of the third lap causing him to weave wildly, and bashed his hip violently, to the extent he retired from the race and collapsed onto the centre green in the 3-5 result.

A Tigers' 2-4 came from another fine Franc win in the 12th, taking the score to 38-30, followed by two solid Newcastle maximums taking the win for the home side with two races left.

Team manager George English said: "Sheffield have scored 40 in their last two matches, proving they're not a bad side and 7 early on there were signs we could have had problems, but we eventually got a stranglehold on the match and took a good win to add more league points to our already impressive total."

Rebels 2: Rebels in historic 28-19 victory over Crusaders

Thank you to the Rebels Media Team for providing post and photograph.

The RaboDirect Rebels defied all the odds and battled their way to an historic 28-19 upset victory over the Crusaders at AAMI Park on Saturday night.

The seven-time champions fought back from an early Melbourne onslaught to lead 19-10 at half time, but two tries in as many minutes late in the game from Nick Phipps and Stirling Mortlock gave the Rebels a lead they protected bravely, keeping the Crusaders scoreless in the second half with a fierce defensive effort.

Captain Gareth Delve said that his side are finally beginning to reap the rewards for the belief that has been building from their increasingly impressive performances this season.

“That last 20 minutes, when we got those couple of tries and held them out for the whole of that second half without scoring, I think that’s the culmination of all the work we’ve done, all that belief that’s built up,” said Delve.

“I think that it’s been building for a long time but it’s nice that it’s finally come to the fore."

The Rebels knew they had to take the fight to the visitors, and began attacking from the outset with Kurtley Beale once again directing play assuredly from five-eighth. The Melbourne forwards ran fearlessly and were ruthless in their ball protection, giving the home side almost all the possession and territory in the opening period.

Beale almost opened the scoring with a great turn of pace and a deft chip that the last defender just reached first, but the Rebels continued to pummel the try line, and Phipps eventually burrowed over to reward his forwards’ work with a well-deserved try which Beale converted.

The Crusaders had barely touched the ball or even ventured into the Rebels’ half in the opening quarter, but two long-range penalties from the boot of Tom Taylor kept his side in touch as Beale added another three points of his own for a 10-6 scoreline.

Although the Rebels had managed to earn an incredible 75% of possession through their forwards’ hard graft, the Crusaders quickly stole the lead with a turnover from a well-orchestrated kick chase. Vice-captain Hugh Pyle’s valiant last-ditch tackle held up the counter-attack only momentarily, as the supporting Sam Whitelock found space around the tackle to run over untouched.

Taylor added the extras, and while his team maintained the pressure in the final minutes of the first half the staunch Rebels’ defence limited the Crusaders to two further penalty goals for a 10-19 lead at half time.

The Rebels started the second half just as they had the first, almost crossing the try line soon after the restart but for a pass that just couldn’t find the supporting runner. Their early pressure told however, as the Crusaders conceded two penalties in front of the posts that Beale had no trouble knocking over to put Melbourne right back in the contest at 16-19.

The Crusaders began to look more and more threatening as the half wore on, their electric back three using the space that opened up as both teams began to tire, but the Rebels defence was up to the task and shut down every threat that came their way.

The match then turned in a heartbeat just after the hour mark, as the Rebels finally cracked the solid Crusaders’ defence for their second try of the night. A fantastic offload out of the tackle from Caderyn Neville put Mark Gerrard through a gap, and his selfless pass inside to Phipps saw the scrum half pick up his second try of the night and send the 18,423-strong crowd into a frenzy.

Moments later Mortlock intercepted a pass and linked well with Cooper Vuna, who drew in the last two defenders and offloaded out of contact back to the former Wallaby captain who launched himself over the line in a dive that brought the Rebels fans to their feet once again.

With the lead now at 28-19 with 10 minutes to play, the Rebels surged with an infamous victory now well within their grasp. Every Crusaders’ attack was met with crushing Melbourne defence, and rather than protect their lead they kept attacking until Jaco Peyper blew the final whistle to unleash wild celebrations both on the field and in the stands.

Gwrys Yn Kernow: Job Done (Part 1) Finalists.

Thank you to our friends at Cornish Pirates for supplying the post and photograph. Congratulation on reaching the Championship final and good luck against London Welsh.

Bristol Rugby 29 Cornish Pirates 18
RFU Championship Play-Offs Semi Finals 2nd leg

Sunday May 13th 2012
Memorial Stadium Bristol

Woll's Match Report

The sun shines on the righteous so they say.

Well it did on the Pirates as they emerged from the pressure cooker that is the Mem’ , unable to get that elusive win on this patch of green; but progressing into their second successive Championship Final regardless, thanks largely to that huge margin from the Mennaye.

It was as tense an affair as we’d expected, that sparked even before SKY had their lenses in focus; both sets of the fat ones squaring up for some frank exchange of views as everyone took their places for the kick off. Mr. Davey offered his view of things to the captains and on came the green light for action.

Cook temporarily doused any early fire with a penalty before the dust had settled, but the predicted onslaught began from the restart. Bristol’s first catch n drive rumbled and forced Sean to stick his arm out without hesitation. Seconds later, and knowing it was free ball; Roberts’ cheeky little grubber kick found Goodridge for the first of his tries, to send the home support into rapture.

Hopes at this stage of silencing them were on hold, but not for long as Marriott and Rimmer in particular put themselves about sufficiently to disrupt any momentum. In the process, the balance swung into the visitor’s hands and the Pirates themselves executed an early adventurous game plan.

Sadly, this was without reward as Cook squandered, what for him was a routine penalty. Bristol clung on and sought some profits themselves, only for another grubber by Tristan to try and break the stalemate on halfway, to bounce harmlessly it seemed into Cook’s arms…

…Or so it seemed as the full back looked ahead of him; spotted a sniff of gap, and raced fully 55m to regain the lead for his team; via the conversion as well of course.

Half time loomed and we cautiously began to believe, and despite a 2nd penalty miss by Cook. It mattered not for now, but those six points would have made the break a little bit easier on the tickers; the Cornish ones for sure.

As for Bristollian coronary issues, they had Otto’s golden chance to chew over, and maybe wonder if that may be significant at the death as well.

Energy drinks quaffed and the final quarter of this tie began as the third had ended; the culprit off the tee this time being Roberts. Happily for him this was remedied almost immediately to tie the scores and bring us back to where we’d began an hour before.

The clock by now was ticking ever louder, and the inevitable happened as finally the excellent defensive work by the Pirates was undone a dozen minutes in; Goodridge doing the business wide right for Roberts again able to add the extras.

This still left three scores to find but stranger things and all that. Well it would have been had not Burgess found himself with the pill close to his own 10m line. Nothing was on surely, rather like Doherty’s success back in November? No-one it seemed told Phil this as he shimmied once, broke through a tackle and suddenly found himself in a foot race to the Blackthorn End.

Game over? Almost.

Further tries by Watkins and Helu gave hope, but time was against them at least until Cook stepped for one final act to hammer the nail into Bristol’s season.

The celebrations at the end were both joyous and generous all around the ground. Rather like you would expect at a rugby match. Professionalism or not, there is still the place to acknowledge both sides effort on what was another fine advert for Championship rugby, even if the understandable tensions played their part too.

May ain’t over yet. There’s the Final of course and the small matter of an additional fixture at Truro County Hall (10am Tues 15 th). The Stadium supporters can happily announce a full and fit squad to pick from. I’d rather think they’ll have a few fans along too!!

Cornish Pirates
15 R. Cook 14 G. Pointer 13 A. Suniula 12 S. Hill 11 D. Doherty 10 C. Thomas 9 G. Cattle (capt) 8 K. Marriott 7 P. Burgess 6 C. Morgan 5 I. Nimmo 4 L. McGlone 3 A. Paver 2 D. Ward 1 C. Rimmer.

Replacements: all un-used R. Storer, 17 R. Elloway, R. Brits, 19 M. Smith, 20 D. Ewers, 22 T. Kessell, 21 M. Evans

Tries: Cook, Burgess
Cons: Cook
Pens: Cook 2

Bristol
15 J. Goodridge 14 W. Helu 13 F. Otto 12 L. Eves 11 G. Watkins 10 T. Roberts (22 M. James 73mins) 9 R. Tipuna (21 T. Slater 68mins) 1 M. Irish (17 M. Lilley 39-40mins blood, 66mins) 2 J. Harris-Wright (16 R. Johnston 49mins) 3 J. Hobson (18 W. Thompson 66mins) 4 M. Sambucetti (19 B. Glynn 49mins) 5 R. Winters 6 J. Ovens 7 J. Merriman 8 I. Grieve(c) (20 H. Vanderglas 66mins)

Replacements: all used

Tries: Goodridge 2, Watkins, Helu
Cons: Roberts 2, James
Pens: Roberts

Match Officials
Referee: Sean Davey
Assistants: Chris Sharp & Roger Baileff
4th Official: Ian Hillier
Reserve Officials: Darren Gamage, Richard Parker-Sedgemore
TMO: Steve Savage

Attendance: 7356

Get Your Kit On: Manchester United 2012/2013

Thanks to our friends at Football Kit News for intro & photo. This new Man U kit will look good on the tables of the Bistro, outside the office.

Here is the new Manchester United home shirt 2012/2013, Man Utd’s new home kit for the 2012/13 Premier League season. Man Utd’s new 2012/13 home strip was officially unveiled by the club on May 11, 2012, but pictures of the kit had already been leaked long before its release, and as we can see from the official pics down, the leaks were true.

The new Man U home shirt 2012/13 design is inspired by the club and city’s history, with a gingham print running through it. It has the motto ” Forged in Industry, Striving for Glory”, as can be seen from the pictures of the shirt below.

Finance giants AON are the principal sponsors of Man Utd’s new 12/13 home strip.

Man Utd defender Rio Ferdinand is here seen modelling MUFC’s new gingham inspired 2012/13 home jersey.

Get Your Kit On: Wigan Athletic 2012/2013

Thank you to Football Kit News for intro and photo

This is the new Wigan Athletic kit 2012/13, Wigan Athletic’s new home shirt for the 12-13 season. Wigan’s new 2012/2013 strip has been made by Mi-Fit and was officially unveiled by the Latics on 11 May, 2012. Mi-Fit’s design for the new Wigan home top sees a return to blue and white stripes for Roberto Martinez’s men, who produced a string of amazing results towards the end of the 2011/12 season to stay up in the league.

The adult version of Wigan Athletic’s new shirt costs £39.99 and is sponsored by 12Bet. The shirt is a throwback to Wigan’s first kit as a Premier League club and has a plain rear.

The new Wigan 2012/13 jersey will be worn by the Latics when they take on Wolves this weekend ( May 13, 2012) in their final league game of the 11/12 season.

Memorial service marks Bradford City stadium fire anniversary

Thank you to our friends at BBC Leeds & West Yorkshire for the post. Our thoughts are with those who lost family and friends on that day, as well as those who witnessed those terrible events. Our thanks also go to those who saved lives and helped tend to the injured.

A service to mark the 27th anniversary of the Bradford City football stadium fire is due to take place later.

Fifty six people died in the disaster on 11 May 1985, when fire broke out at the Valley Parade stadium during a match between Bradford and Lincoln.
Friends and family of the victims are expected to attend the service which will take place in Centenary Square at 11:00.

The commemoration will be led by the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Naveeda Ikram.
An investigation held into the disaster found the fire had probably been caused by a lit cigarette dropped under the all-wooden stand, igniting litter underneath the steps.

'Touched lives'

The day had started out as one of celebration as Bradford players paraded the old Division Three championship trophy around the ground before kick-off.
It marked Bradford City's return to the second tier of English football for the first time since before World War II.

But 54 Bradford City supporters and two Lincoln City fans lost their lives as flames engulfed the stand, with many more injured.

Mrs Ikram said it was important for local residents to remember each anniversary of the tragedy.

"In some ways it touched the lives of most people in the district and people need to reflect and mark the occasion," she said.

Local MPs, Bradford City footballers and representatives of the emerg

Get Your Kit On: Liverpool 2012/2013

Thank you to our friends at Football Kit News for intro and photo.

This is the new Liverpool kit 2012/2013, Liverpool FC’s first ever home playing strip manufactured by US based kit designer Warrior Sports. Liverpool’s new 12/13 home shirt was officially unveiled on May 11, 2012.

Standard Chartered are the principal sponsors of Liverpool’s new 2012/13 home strip, which sees the club crest replaced by the Liver bird badge. ( Liverpool’s kits during the 70′s and the 80′s had the same design)

Warrior have replaced Adidas as Liverpool’s kit manufacturer beginning the 2012/13 season.

Captain Steven Gerrard is seen here modelling Liverpool’s new retro look Warrior home shirt for the 12/13 season.

You can watch a behind the scenes kit launch video, courtesy LFC Youtube.

Get Your Kit On: Stoke City 2012/2013

Thank you to our friends at Football Kit News for the intro and photo.

This is the new Stoke City home and away shirts for the forthcoming 2012/13 Premier League season. Stoke City’s new 2012/13 kits have been made by Adidas and were officially unveiled by SCFC on 8 May, 2012.

Stoke’s new 2012/2013 kits feature a new sponsor in the form of Bet365, who take over from Britannia.

Stoke’s new home shirt for 2012/13 is pretty traditional, but it is the away top that’s taken many by surprise, with Adidas opting for a red and blue striped look a la Barcelona/Crystal Palace.

Stoke City’s current chairman, Peter Coates, was the founder of Bet365. His daughter Denise Coates is the joint executive of the company.

Hot Dog: Bulldogs head to the Dockyards.

Welcome to the 1st Hot Dog post (previously Who let the Dogs Out). Report provided by the very kind people at Barking & Dagenham Bulldogs. Following their mention in Sundays Observer, the 'Dogs headed to the Docks. Cheers Paddy for the post.

The first B&D Bulldogs Senior game got off to a flyer in the East End meeting between two new clubs for 2012, the Newham Dockers and the B&D Bulldogs

Keen to get the season going after a few weeks training, the Bulldogs headed to our new local team, the newly formed Newham Dockers.

The first 6 minutes were a tense structured affair with both teams completing their sets well.The Doggies hard work was rewarded with the first senior try for the Dogs being scored by Scott Floyd with Charlie Chambers converting the extra 2. After a scrappy 4 minutes Joshua Cook duly jinked over to make the score 12-0 after another conversion by Chambers.

What followed was perhaps the golden period of the game for the Bulldogs with an inspired substitution by Coach Brian Scahill seeing Lee Morgan barged his way over from close range, closely followed by 4 points for Charlie Chambers who duly added another 2 to the total. After some lapse in the trademark line discipline, Newham marched towards the line with a few penalties , their hard work being rewarded with a converted try to make the score 6-22.

In reply to this Lee Morgan and Charlie got their second tries to make the scoreline 6-34. What followed then was 7 minutes on great pressure from the Dockers that the Bulldogs repelled to keep the score healthy at half time.

The second half was a less fluid affair with early tries for Arron and Josh leaving a long gap until Lee Morgan completed his hatrick which was converted to make the score 6-52. This made way for the final score of the day, a 40m mazy run through by interchange star Danny Collins to wrap up the game at 6-56.


Coach Scatty was happy with most parts of the display and the great league show in places. He adds " I m sure as people train more and get to know their role within this very able team then good things will happen".


Many thanks to the Dockers for their hospitality, They stuck to it manfully and, against lesser defences, I feel theres a good few points in them!

Get Your Kit On: Charlton Athletic 2012/2013

Thank you to our friends at Football Kit News for providing intro and pics.

This is the new Charlton shirt 2012/2013. This new Charlton 2012/13 kit has been made by Nike, who recently agreed a four year deal with the Addicks to replace Macron as the club’s kit designers. The Nike CAFC kit deal will be executed by Just Sport on behalf of the US kit giant, who will also run the Valley Superstore.

Charlton Athletic’s new 2012/2013 kit sees a plain white top with a collar paired with white shorts. The sponsors of the kit haven’t been announced yet. The Nike swoosh on the shirt is white in colour, as can be seen from the pic below.

Charlton will be competing in the Championship during the 2012/13 season after winning promotion from Npower League One in the 11/12 season.

Get Your Kit On: Arsenal 2012/2013

Thank you to our friends at Football Kit News for providing intro and photo for the new London French kit. Alex your face says all we need to know.

This is the new Arsenal home kit for 2012/2013. As always, made by Nike and officially unveiled by the club on 7 May, 2012.

This release of Arsenal’s new 2012/2013 home jersey confirms the leaked pictures of the shirt we had posted earlier.

The Gunners have introduced a blue hoop detail onto the sleeve inspired by the socks worn by the side coached by Herbert Chapman during the 1930′s.

The likes of Robin Van Persie and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are here seen modelling Arsenal’s new home top for 2012/2013.

Fly Emirates remain the principal sponsors of the new Arsenal home kit 12/13, which retains its white and red look.


Buy Arsenal’s new home shirt online today at Kitbag

Tapes Up: Diamonds Take First League Points of 2012

Thank you to George English and our friends at Newcastle Diamonds, for the match report.

Sponsored in 2012 by Sapphire Engineering & Darrian Properties

Newcastle Diamonds 53
Scunthorpe Scorpions 37
(Premier League)

Top scorers:
Diamonds - Richie Worrall 13 1, Mark Lemon 12
Scorpions - Nick Morris 10 2, Josh Auty 9

Newcastle Diamonds made the perfect start to their 2012 Premier League campaign taking a good 16-point victory over the Scunthorpe Scorpions, but early on it looked like a different story.

The rapidly arranged Premier League match started badly for the home side with Thomas Jorgensen jetting away from the gate to take a win in the fastest time of the 2012 season at 62.9 seconds and with the highly impressive Nick Morris taking second the Diamonds were 1-5 down.

Richie Worrall took Heat Two well in Tyneside 4-2 whilst in Heat Three Ludvig Lindgren and Claes Nedermark were dominant in a 5-1 over Michael Palm Toft and Tero Aarnio to push the Diamonds into the lead 10-8.

Josh Auty moved fractionally before the start of Heat Four to take the three points in a share of the spoils, maintaining the two point gap, but with Lindgren and Nedermark out in front of Heat Five, Nick Morris shout round from third to first on lap one, and with Nedermark making an error on the third bend of the last lap Jorgensen repeated the task to form a Scorpions' 1-5, putting them back in the lead, 14-16.

A Stuart Robson / Christian Henry 4-2 levelled them match at the end of the sixth 18-18, but with Aarnio crashing awkwardly out of Heat Seven, Mark Lemon and Steve Worrall took Toft to the cleaners with a solid 5-1 putting Newcastle back in front 23-19.

Henry forced his way round Aarnio on the opening lap of Heat 10 with Robson winding on the power on the last lap to join his Aussie partner to hammer home a 5-1 over the Scunthorpe Finn and extend Newcastle's lead to 34-28.

All four riders hit the deck on bend one of Heat 11 with Lemon right in the middle of the collapse, but thankfully all four were fit to take their place in the re-run, in which Lemon took the win well ahead of the field despite some dramatic attempts from Morris behind in the 3-3.

Lemon's solid win in Heat 13 was all it took to seal the win on the night for the Diamonds who took a deserved and more sizeable victory than expected early on.

Team manager George English said: "In the first few races it looked like we were headed for a tough match, a last heat decided or even a home defeat, but the lads knuckled down and got on with the job despite some excellent riding from Nick Morris and Josh Auty who certainly made out life difficulty."

Sol y Futbol: Lanzarote close gap to 1 point.

Ian Lane watched, as Lanzarote narrowed the gap to a point. A win on the final day and CD Vera to, basically, not win and Rojillos are there - simple.

CD LAGUNA 1 LANZAROTE 2

7th May 2012

The Rojillos have done all they can. An eleven point gap to the playoffs has now been reduced to one following eight home wins and two consecutive victories on the road however their destiny for a place in the Third tier of Spanish football is still out of their hands.Adrián heading home Lanzarote´s opener

The Rojillos rivals battling for the final playoff spot are CD Vera. The Tenerife side scored two late goals against Corralejo therefore they will go into the final match of the season knowing that a win would clinch that fourth spot.

CD Vera will be at home on the final day but they will have to earn their points. They will be up against the league´s in form side Las Palmas B who have already guaranteed their place in the playoffs. The Gran Canarian side will be looking for a good result so to go into the playoffs with a positive frame of mind. There is never any love lost between Gran Canarian and Tenerife sides which can only favour Lanzarote.

The Rojillos will also go into the final league game of the season with a home match. They will be facing CF Estrella. The Gran Canarian side led the league table at Christmas but have only won once since the 12th February. Lanzarote will be expected to secure their ninth consecutive home win this Sunday.

This game had the intensity of a cup match. CD Laguna were fighting for their lives just one point clear of relegation whilst Lanzarote needed no reminding of the importance of a win.

The Rojillos began the game with more desire than the home side. The ever reliable centre back Adrián came close, heading into the side netting from a corner but only minutes later had another opportunity and made no mistake heading home at the far post to send the Rojillos 0-1 up.

The game was being played at a good pace but it wasn’t until two minutes before half time until either side had a clear chance. Rojillos winger Toñito was clear through on goal but his weak shot ended up in the hands of the Gran Canarian goalkeeper. Lanzarote looked comfortable going into the break but still it was only by the narrowest of margins.

In the 65th minute Toñito who had been causing the defence of the home side countless problems was upended in the box and the Ref rewarded Lanzarote a penalty. Venezuelan Alex Yunes buried the spot kick to give his side breathing space with a 2-0 lead.

Ten minutes later and the home side were back in the game. A shot from midfielder Maikel from just outside the area deflected off Sixto which wrong footed his keeper to give the Gran Canarian side hoping by reducing the score line to 1-2.

Lanzarote´s defence which has been outstanding all season withstood the expected 15 minute onslaught to make sure of victory and go into the final league match of the season still in with a shout. The home side slipped back into the relegation places and are two points from safety with one game to go.

Lanzarote must win this Sunday because if CD Vera were to lose and Lanzarote draw then both teams will end the season on equal points. Goal difference doesn’t normally decide which team goes forward it is normally how the sides did head to head. In this case Lanzarote won 2-1 at home but lost 1-0 away therefore goal difference will apply. The Tenerife side has a 15 goal superior difference so barring the Lord himself putting on a Rojillo shirt this weekend then Lanzarote will be doomed.

Sundays nail biting match has been confirmed against CF Estrella as a 12 noon kick off.

GOALS
0-1min 16 Adrián
0-2min 65 Alex Yunes (penalty)
1-2 min 75 Maikel

Kult & Punk: St Pauli retain services of André Schubert

Another season of Kult and Punk has ended. Thank you to the boys, Andy James and Jürgen Blöhs for their contribution. We will make the odd visit, during the summer, to the boys. We will be back, for the 4th season in a row, later in the year to continue following St Pauli

Hamburg - There was an unexpected turn of events at the press conference called by FC St. Pauli on Monday afternoon, when the Bundesliga 2 club announced that they will be retaining the services of André Schubert as head coach for next season.

"The executive committee and supervisory board have reached a unanimous agreement on that," St. Pauli president Stefan Orth said. It was a decision that came as a surprise not only to the Hamburg newspapers which had been reporting Schubert's imminent dismissal but also, by his own admission, to the 40-year-old coach himself.

Schubert prepared for the worst

The executive and the supervisory board had given the green light to maintaining the current arrangement in a meeting that ended only an hour prior to the press conference and Schubert acknowledged that, "I'd gone in there with the feeling that it was pretty much the end of the road, based on the developments of the past few days."

"The media view was that we would parting ways. Internally, the situation was on a knife-edge," Orth said, describing the mounting speculation that differences between the coach and club functionaries and representatives, as well as inter-personal problems with the players, had rendered Schubert's position untenable.

Coach promises improvements

Schubert himself conceded that, "I maybe didn't always choose my words carefully enough," and vowed, "I'll be approaching a few things differently from now on as far as working together and communicating go." At the same time, he was adamant that, "I won't be twisting myself inside out. But that doesn't mean you have to be incapable of learning."

"It would be dishonest to say that there haven't been some atmospheric disturbances," Orth expanded, "but after our discussion today, we're confident that this will work out. It's been a bumpy start, but we're convinced now that it will work." Above all because, "There can be no complaints about his ability. He's an excellent coach," the president made clear. The decision to retain Schubert "was arrived at gradually over the past few weeks, when we repeatedly got together and thrashed things out. It's not down to the fact that we beat SC Paderborn 5-0, even if it is nice to end the season on a high note."

Chemistry there between players and coach

Orth said that during Sunday's final round of league action, "My mind was in Düsseldorf, where I was hoping something might still happen." Fortuna's home draw with Duisburg was enough in the end to edge St. Pauli out of the promotion play-off spot on goal difference, but the performance against Paderborn "showed that things are fine between the team and the coach."

Schubert agrees, pointing out that "We outran our opponents in 32 of our 34 games this season. No team overturned a deficit more often than St. Pauli. If you'd watched how we celebrated together, you wouldn't be saying that the chemistry's not there!" Accordingly, he is not expecting the events of the past weeks, culminating in the premature reports of his dismissal, to have any adverse affect on his authority: "Now I can focus fully on my job again. I promise to give it my all."


Jürgen Blöhs in Hamburg

Gwrys Yn Kernow: Miracle of the Mennaye

Thank you to The Pirates, Phil Western and Simon Bryant for the match report and photograph. Report taking in full from www.cornish-pirates.com.

Cornish Pirates 45-24 Bristol Rugby
RFU Championship Play-Offs Semi Finals 1st Leg
Mennaye Field
Monday 7th May 2012

Phil Westren's Match Report

In the words post match of a doctor with an Irish name, his quote that he'd 'just witnessed a miracle' surely just had to be true!

With a 12.05pm Bank Holiday Monday kick-off this first leg semi-final game in RFU Championship was labelled as rugby's very own version of 'High Noon' in the far south-west, and what a contest it turned out to be.

After the inimitable Falmouth Marine Band had entertained the crowd pre-match, the meaningful on field action began with the visitors first into their stride on the manicured Mennaye Field surface.

The opening exchanges were physical and uncompromising, which was of no surprise, but two early tries, one for flanker James Merriman and another for wing Will Helu, both converted by fly-half Matthew Jones, gave Bristol a 14-0 lead.

With just 10 minutes on the clock it was all a little worrying, and it was therefore a relief when the Pirates registered their first points with a penalty kicked by the trusty boot of full-back Rob Cook.

A successful penalty by Watkins and then a second from Cook kept the scoreboard ticking along, and following surging runs by No. 8 Ben Maidment and centre Sam Hill a third for Cook kept the Pirates in touch.

This game was proving to be a thriller, although there was relief for the Pirates when a foot in touch and then a forward pass denied Bristol from doubling their try tally.

Bristol's Fautua Otto showed himself to be a dangerous operator in midfield, but the Pirates also looked to play with a little enterprise and endeavour themselves, Hill and prop Carl Rimmer were potent spearheads but in general handling errors would for the moment let the Pirates down.

Having arrived at half-time with the score reading 9-17, it was vital that the Pirates emerged in positive mode for the start of the second period, and they did. The level of confidence witnessed was admirable, and with the breeze now on their backs it was not long before they closed the gap to just one point. In the build up a wayward pass proved fortuitous, with Cook gathering the ball and striding to the line for a try to which he also duly added the extras.

The Pirates were very much back in it, with flanker Phil Burgess impressive throughout. Indeed, following one of his trademark bursts and then a kick to the clubhouse corner by fly-half Ceiron Thomas, the Pirates continued to apply pressure and were rewarded when Cook's fourth penalty in the match put them ahead for the first time.

As if to remind all about that they still posed a threat, in the 55th minute Helu crossed for his second converted try in the match to give Bristol back the lead, but little did they know it would prove their last score of the afternoon as the Pirates proceeded to all but totally dominate proceedings.

The running of hooker Ward and Burgess saw momentum maintained by Rimmer, who showed that he's no slouch either, as he charged to the line for a converted try that made it 26-24.

The boys from 'Bris' were buckling and after the Pirates once again applied pressure with a catch and drive on the left, the ball was ultimately slipped to wing David Doherty who stretched to score in the corner. The club's leading try-grabber, it was his fourteenth in the Championship this season, and Cook, in adding the conversion, also took his personal points tally to 1,001 for the Pirates, which is quite some achievement in just three seasons.

A fourth try for the Pirates underlined their dominance, with wing Grant Pointer now in the action and displaying characteristic strength when breaking clear to score from 25 metres out. Cook slotted the conversion to register 25 points in the match, and he was unlucky not to make it 27 when his attempt to convert a second try scored by Rimmer touched, but missed, off the right post.

On an afternoon when all about had witnessed a fascinating encounter on the good old 'Mennaye', the Pirates had emerged decisive winners. They have recorded some great wins over the years and this was surely up with the very best of them, and the scoreline one that surely nobody would have predicted.

Can a miracle happen twice and how many Newcastle fans have suddenly turned their attention to supporting the Pirates? For the moment nobody knows, this game's result one to at first savour before the focus suddenly turns from the Mennaye on a Monday - to the 'Mem' on Sunday.

Cornish Pirates:
R. Cook, G. Pointer (M. Evans 76), S. Hill, A. Suniula, D. Doherty
C. Thomas, G. Cattle (capt, T. Kessell 79), B. Maidment (K. Marriott 44), P. Burgess (D. Ewers 76), C. Morgan
I. Nimmo, L. McGlone, A. Paver (R. Brits 79), D. Ward (R. Elloway 75), C. Rimmer (R. Storer 76).

Bristol Rugby:
J. Goodridge, J. Tovey, O. Fautua, L. Eves, W. Helu
M. Jones (M. James 60), R. Tipuna, D. Montagu, J. Merriman, I. Grieve (H. Vanderglas)
R. Winters, G. Townson (B. Glynn 5), J. Hobson (W. Thompson 27), J. Harris-Wright, M. Irish (M. Lilley 76).

Replacements (not used): T. Slater, T. Channon.

Scorers
Cornish Pirates:
Tries: Rimmer 2, Cook, Doherty, Pointer
Cons: Cook 4
Pens: Cook 4

Bristol Rugby:
Tries: Helu 2, Merriman
Con: Jones 3
Pen: Jones

Referee: J. P. Doyle (RFU)
Assistants: James Minards & Richard Parker-Sedgemore

4th/5th Officials: Ross Campbell & Brian Ravenhill