Stateside Soccer: Italians clinch Atlantic Conference

We have found it difficult to keep up to date with the Brooklyn Italians throughout the season. Next season we will be remaining in the Big Apple and following the Cosmos for Stateside Soccer. The season ended in July for Brooklyn Italians, however, here is a report on the final regular season game.

Conference Champions

Knowing that a win or a tie would clinch a first place in the Atlantic Conference, Brooklyn Italians defeated Seacoast United 4-0 on Sunday and captured the Atlantic Conference Championship. The Italians move on to the Conference Finals versus Keystone Conference Champions Eire Admirals. The game was played on Saturday July 23 at Dollinger Field in Eire, Pennsylvania. The Conference winner will travel to the NPSL Championships, to be held in Madison, Alabama July 28-30. Unfortunately the Italians lost 1-0, but enjoyed a very successful season none the less

“This has been a tremendous season for every one of our players,” said Head Coach Tony Noto. “I am proud of our team’s willingness to learn from each other, their professionalism, and ability to overcome adversity and rise up game after game. We are looking forward to playing the Eire Admirals next week – it will definitely be the game of the season with everything at stake.”

The Brooklyn Italians got on the board in the 10th minute, as Paul Nittoli was taken down in the penalty area by the Seacoast goalkeepr. Ben Graver picked his corner and gives the Italians the lead. In the 55th minute a combination of passes between Chritian Turizio and Matteo Vertucci gives the Brooklyn Italians the 2-0 lead as Vertucci scores on a low curving shot to the corner.

The Italians quickly make it 3-0 in the 60th minute, as Christian Turizo scores on a beautiful header past the Seacost goalkeeper.

The Brooklyn Italians, fielding a very young team with many players from the youth sector make it 4-0 in the 72nd minute as sixteen year old Yussuf Olajde scores the final goal of the game.

“The team has given us good results, we played back to back and I changed the lineup from Saturday as the team had won 2-0 versus Morris County Colonial” said Head Coach Tony Noto.

Sol y Futbol: Los Rojillos second draw of the campaign

Las Palmas Atletico 1 UD Lanzarote 1

The second game of the season was a mirror image of the first.
The first half was poor, with the second period seeing an improvement. Just like last week, much of the first half was played out in midfield with neither side taking any advantage.

UD Lanzarote were enforced into a change after 17 minutes, when Jonathan Torres suffered a head injury and was replaced by Rosmen.

On the stroke of half time Las Palmas missed a glorious opportunity and both sides went into the break all square.

The second half saw Lanzarote closing down more and enjoying more possession. The pressure led to more chances for los rojillos, but also the attention of the officials. Before long, Lanzarote were reduced to 10 men.

Almost immediately Las Palmas took advantage, and went into a 1-0 lead. The lead lasted only 5 minutes before equalised in goals and dismissals. Echedey bringing the scores level. More pressure from Lanzarote didn’t result in increasing the scoreline and match ended level.

That leaves UD Lanzarote in 16th place after 2 matches, and next week welcome Tijarafe to Arrecife. Ian get the computer working and posting these match reports again.

UD Las Palmas Atlético: Alejandro, Álvaro Arencibia, Borja, Ayoze, Acai, Oscar, José Artiles, Roque (Juan Antonio 82), Cristian Herrera, Omar (Moisés 67) y Manu Dimas (Raúl Herrero 72).

UD Lanzarote: Santi Lampón, Sixto, David Dorta, Adrián Martín, Taja (Ángel Gil 56), Vladimir, Jotha, Echedey, Gustavo (Javi Betancort 68), Ayoze Pérez y Jonathan Torres (Rosmen 17)

Kult & Punk. St Pauli lose away at Eintracht Braunschweig

Not a great day for the boy's as St Pauli lost on the road. The lads returned, to drown their sorrows, to Zoe's Bar. Dangerous Pierre is there tonight with the Black Fingernails, 'rocking sounds'. Also a darts match against the Flying Desmonds, nice boys, they play in pink Tutu's. We shall leave that there I think.

Eintracht Braunschweig 1-0 FC St. Pauli

Braunschweig claimed their biggest scalp of the season to date with a 1-0 success at home to second-placed St. Pauli.

The two early pace-setters delivered an intense encounter from the start, with the visitors enjoying the majority of the first-half play. Andre Schubert's charges controlled possession for long periods, yet it was the home side who had the best of the chances, captain Dennis Kruppke going closest when his far-post header was blocked by the feet of Philipp Tschauner.

Tschauner howler

Eintracht continued to create opportunities following the restart and were rewarded for their ambition with 65 minutes gone, albeit with a helping hand from Pauli keeper Tschauner. Damir Vrancic's corner was glanced towards goal by Kruppke, Tschauner crouched to collect, but somehow contrived to allow the ball to slip through his grasp and into the net.

Max Kruse had the visitors' best chance to equalise when a low cross from the right reached him in space in the box, but the midfielder's placed finish was excellently pushed away by the solitary hand of Daniel Davari. Braunschweig are now level on points with St. Pauli, sitting behind the Kiezkicker, who suffered their first defeat of the campaign, in third.

Speedway: Diamonds suffer a backlash from the Bandits

Berwick Bandits v Newcastle Diamonds: Sat 20 Aug 2011: Shielfield Park

Premier League by Lawrence Heppell

Catching Berwick on the back of a disappointing home defeat in a nerve tingling local derby is never a good place to be for visitors to Shielfield Park as the Newcastle Diamonds discovered last night with Sebastian Alden becoming the fastest Bandit ever, shattering the track record in Heat 10.

The second big local derby between the Berwick Bandits and Newcastle Diamonds in three weeks got off to a shock start for the visiting Tynesiders as Jason Lyons and Derek Sneddon shot from the gate at an alarming rate to score a big 1-5 over the home side despite a fine last gasp effort from Alden, just missing the pass.

Jade Mudgway recovered from a frightening second bend to roar round Kyle Newman on bend four of the second lap to win the heat advantage for the Bandits hauling them back to within two of the Diamonds, 5-7.

Kozza Smith took a majestic win in Heat Three but Rene Bach raced a magnificent opening lap to reel in and pass the usually un-passable Josef Franc and got right up with Smith too until he made an error in the deep stuff wide on bend two in the 4-2 that levelled the meeting 9-9.

Newman jumped the start in Heat Four, but took no advantage and ended up at the rear at the end of the first lap as Lee Complin and Mudgway shot ahead to score an untroubled home maximum pushing the Bandits 14-10 up.

As shared Heat Five, won dominantly by Lyons, with Smith and Franc passing Sneddon, Alden and Ludvig Lindgren pushed the Bandits two more ahead by holding Newman at bay in second and again relegating Sneddon to the rear with the score now at 21-15.

Complin looked set for second place behind Bach in the seventh, but a last bend surge of grip and power shot the Berwick skipper round the high and wide line to nick the magnificent win on the line in a shared 3-3.

The six point lead was preserved in Heat Eight with another split race with the score at 27-21, whilst a pair of lightening starts from Berwick's Swedish pairing in Heat 10 gave Berwick a very welcome 5-1, with Alden's time taking a stunning half second off the old track record held by Chris Harris, setting a new time of 63.3 seconds.

Lyons came out as a tactical ride in Heat 11 for double points, but Complin shot wide round both Diamonds to lead well, with the result looking a confirmed 3-5, but Sneddon, with Mitch Davey on his tail inexplicably shut off with 20 metres to go and lost his point on the line in the 4-4 to move the score on to 41-27.

Smith led Heat 12 well as Mudgway forced his way inside Joe Haines on bend three of the first lap and then went round Newman to form a sensational Bandit?s maximum to give the Bandits a solid 46-28 lead with three races left to run.

Alden was again looking set for one very quick time in Heat 13, leading Lyons well, but a completely blown engine on bend four of the last lap ended his race in disappointment and a huge repair bill in the Diamonds? 2-4, but the highly entertaining match was in the hands of the Bandits who took all three league points.

Newcastle's team manager George English said: "This wasn't the best time to tackle Berwick, as they had a team determined to make up for the previous week's failing, and they also had a side dialled perfectly to the grippy surface, as shown with their number one taking a track record.

"Jason Lyons again was a superb guest for us and only dropped one point all night whilst Rene Bach was finding the big grippy track a bit of a pull on his recently repaired shoulder injury and was suffering a degree of pain which resulted in his scoring being curtailed to a degree so there'll be more than a whiff of revenge in the air when the Bandits come back to Brough Park for the return."

Baseball: Captains shut down by Hawks 3-0

Mike Bolsinger tossed seven scoreless innings on Saturday night, limiting Lake County to just three hits as South Bend shutout the Captains 3-0.

The Silver Hawks scored two runs in the second inning, the first came following a single by Jhoan Pimental when Chase Burnette could not handle the relay throw from center allowing Matt Helm to score. Pimentel scored from third later in the inning on a wild pitch from Danny Salazar to make it 2-0.

Yazy Arbelo hit his league leading 30th homerun of the season in the third off Kirk Wetmore. The solo shot put South Bend in front 3-0.

Bolsinger (6-6) picked up the win working the seven frames, three hits, no runs, no walks and seven strike outs. Jeremy Erben picked up his sixth save of the season working two perfect innings of relief. Danny Salazar in his Captains return took the loss allowing two runs, one earned in two innings of work, walking one and hitting a batter.

Lake County and South Bend resume the four game series on Sunday afternoon at The Cover at 2:00PM. The Captains will start RHP Jordan Cooper (2-7) against RHP Jeff Shields (8-12) for the Silver Hawks. Catch all the action AM 970 WFUN or online at captainsbaseball.com.

Rugby League: Skolars annual Friday Night Lights fixture ends in defeat.

London Skolars 12 Keighley Cougars 30

Skolars final game of the 2011 Co-operative Championship 1 season ended in defeat as they lost 12-30 to Keighley Cougars in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd at New River.

Skolars annual Friday Night Lights fixture kicked off half an hour later than scheduled due to the Keighley team being delayed in heavy traffic. When the match did get under way Keighley got off to a flier with Jason Demetriou going over after four minutes. Skolars hit back with two tries in four mintes. First John Paxton scored and Austen Aggrey was soon over to give Skolars a 12-4 lead. Both tries were converted by Dylan Skee.

Keighley hit back with two converted tries of their own, Benjafield and Rawlins going over for the visitors to give them a 12-16 half-time lead.

The second half belonged to Keighley, with three more unanswered tries being added to the score. Duffy and Normington (2) did the damage, whilst Lawton kicked a penalty to make the final score Skolars 12 Keighley Cougars 30.

Keighley now go on to compete in the pay-offs whilst Skolars can reflect on an improved league performance this season which has seen them finish the campaign
on 21 points.

We will keep you updated with Skolars news throughout the off season and we will follow them again in next years campaign.

Rugby League: Skolars Partner With Hurricanes

London Skolars are excited to announce a partnership with Hurricanes Rugby League Jamaica.

Skolars see the Hurricanes as an ideal partner, considering the large Jamaican and broader Afro Caribbean population in London. In fact, there are two current Skolars players in Smokie Junor and Jermaine C oleman who are of Jamaican heritage plus Quins RL’s dual registered Lamont Bryan (pictured above in Hurricane’s shirt), along with numerous others that are in the junior or affiliate ranks.

The partnership between the Hurricanes and Skolars will see both organisations heavily promoting each others activities, information sharing and in time may see a player-loan/share system. The idea is for elite performing Hurricanes players to travel to England to train and trial with the Skolars and the Skolars may also look to send some of their younger players to Jamaica to play with the Hurricanes when they enter the USA competition in 2013.

The link between the Hurricanes and Skolars came about after owners Dane Campbell (Hurricanes) and Hector McNeil (Skolars) met recently to discuss all the possibilities of such an arrangement. Both Campbell and McNeil have a deep passion for the international aspect of the game and agree that the benefits that can be generated by such a partnership will advance the game in the Jamaica, the broader Caribbean and also in London. The Hurricanes will look to use their developing profile to further the ambitions of the Skolars in attracting more Afro Caribbean youth to rugby league. Additionally, the Hurricanes see immense benefit in being able to promote their ambitions and grow their global appeal in such a cosmopolitan city such as London.

Commenting on the partnership Campbell said:

“I have personally known Hector for several years and have kept a close eye on the developments of the Skolars and the opportunity now to be able to link the Hurricanes brand in with them is one that I am extremely excited about. After speaking at length about the opportunities that can be created to both organizations from such a partnership, I am confident that we will see significant interest in the Hurricanes from people in London and across the England. Additionally, we will see opportunities created for our players to further their experience in rugby league, which will ultimately enhance our ability as a team when we enter into the USA competition by 2013.

Skolars owner Hector McNeil commented:

“Skolars are excited by what is happening in Jamaica and in particular what is being achieved through the Hurricanes Rugby League. Given that our club is based in a large Afro Caribbean area we feel it is a great opportunity to partner with the Hurricanes.

There is also the long term aim of giving Hurricanes players a chance to step up to UK professional rugby league and provide a home away from home by involving local community people around the Haringey area.

We always support the development and establishment of RL in new areas. Its great to see seeds sown and the game grow in Jamaica as it has here in London”.

For more information on the Hurricanes, visit www.hurricanesrugbyleague.com

Sol y Futbol: Lanzarote start new season with a bore draw.

Sol y Futbol is back and as always Ian Lane will be posting regular reports concerning UD Lanzarote.

If you are on the island, pop along to Arrecife watch a game - you can meet Ian, he is always there. If UD Lanzarote are away, pop along to Teguise Market and visit Ian's stalls - full of merchandise and have a chat.

This is a second rate translation from my very poor Spanish, thankfully Ian will be tecnologised (I've just made that word up)soon.

UD Lanzarote 0 CD Corralejo 0

The 2011/2012 season got under way with an uninspiring 0-0 draw, in a very hot Arrecife.

In truth the match was a poor opener, with little action created in either penalty box.

Lanzarote had the best of the chances in the 1st Half, with a couple of wasted opportunities. The game, however, was mainly played out in the midfield.

The second half came and went as much as the 1st period. The only exception, that when a chance did present itself, it fell to CD Corralejo.

UD Lanzarote stepped up the pressure, as the match drew to a conclusion, but with no result for their efforts.

The game eventually ended in stalemate, a fair result as neither side showed enough composure or quality to earn all three points. Tomorrow UD Lanzarote travel to Las Palmas Athletic, when hopefully Ian's typewriter will have the ribbons repaired and keys inked.

UD Lanzarote: Santi Lampón, Taja, Sixto, Adrián Martín, David Dorta, Jotha, Vladimir (Rosmen 76), Echedey, Alex Yunes (Gustavo García 56), Ayoze Pérez y Jonathan Torres

CD Corralejo: Jero, Alberto, Antonio, Oliver, Cristian, Iván, Fali, Isa, Dino, Pablo (Rubén 80), Héctor

March to the Arch 3: Hertford Town take an early lead.

Sunday was the start of the F.A.Cup or, if you prefer, March to the Arch 3.

Our FIRST dip into the competition for the 2011/2012 season was our traditional visit to Oakside and our curtain raisers, Barkingside FC.

True to form, the 'side were unable to pass the Extra Preliminary Round and went down 3-1 to Hertford Town. Hertford now take the lead in the merit table, with 8 points for an away win and leave the 'side with 1 point.

A positive note, Barkingside enjoyed a bumper crowd of nearly 200. Hertford Town now await the winners of the Barking v Burnham Ramblers replay, to find out their opponents for the Preliminary Round.

Kult & Punk: St Pauli leave it late, but take all 3 points.

Kult & Punk: The boys enjoyed a quiet night watching the football, after the trouble in Hamburg over the weekend. They nearly left before the final whistle but with true grit hung on until the sweet end. St Pauli head top of the league after a great win.

FC St. Pauli moved to the top of the Bundesliga 2 standings with a dramatic last-second victory over MSV Duisburg on Monday evening.

A goal deep into stoppage time from Fin Bartels earned Andre Schubert's men the maximum haul against last season's beaten DFB Cup finalists and took them up to 13 points, one clear of Fürth and Cottbus in the standings. Duisburg, with just two points from their opening five matches, remain in a relegation spot, third from bottom.

Chance for Duisburg, St. Pauli go in front

St. Pauli made most of the running from the off and carved out their first chance of note in the 13th minute, Kevin Schindler heading Florian Bruns' deep cross wide of the post. Three minutes later though Duisburg exploded into life as Jürgen Gjasula drilled a thunderous long-range shot against the bar before latching onto the rebound and whipping in a cross that team-mate Emil Jula, inside the six-yard box, missed by inches.

Rather than acting as a wake-up call for either team, that chance was the last incident of note until round about the half-hour mark, at which point the game picked up with a vengeance. With 33 minutes on the clock a slack ball gave St. Pauli possession and they made optimal use of it on a swift counter-attack. Max Kruse powered his way down the left and played the ball in to Schindler, who fired a precise finish low into the corner from just outside the penalty area.

All-square, guests on the back foot

A timely interception by Markus Bollmann prevented a dangerous cross from Fabian Boll reaching Schindler a couple of minutes after that but the next opportunity was MSV's, and they took it. A long Kevin Wolze free kick into the box found Bollmann, whose header ricocheted off St. Pauli centre back Markus Thorandt straight to the feet of the unmarked Branimir Bajic, who had the easiest of finishes.

1-1 it remained through to half time and the first highlight of the second half was a pass interception and storming run into the Duisburg box by Bartels, but his finish was poor and Zebras keeper Florian Fromlowitz saved easily. St. Pauli kept their foot on the gas and in the 55th minute an excellent breakaway ended with Fromlowitz pulling off a fine save to Kruse's first-time shot. Seven minutes Kruse, with a deflected shot and Mahir Saglik, from the resultant corner, both went close again for the hosts.

Bartels at the death

With just over 20 minutes to go, under-pressure MSV were reduced to ten men when midfielder Vasilis Pliatsikas was sent off after picking up a second booking. Dropping even deeper to try and preserve their point, they survived a 77th-minute pinball session inside the area and five minutes on from that it was Fromlowitz to the rescue again, this time pushing a Rouwen Hennings header over the bar.

St. Pauli plugged away until the bitter end and their perserverance made it turn out sweet. In the third and final minute of added time, substitute Dennis Daube broke free down the right and played in a low cross that Bartels slid in to knock over the line. Better late than never for the home side, and the Millerntor erupted.

Become a Saint, the teamwork starts NOW!

We are working in partnership with St Albans City FC, a famous non league club playing in the Evo Stick Southern Division.

The club is now under new management, with well known faces on board. Ian Ridley and Paul Furlong have been brought into the new organisation and the team is managed by David Howells, who has years of experience and success within football.

The club has reinvigorated energies and ambition, with all the attributes to achieve their goals. The project is to restore St Albans to the Blue Square Premier and ultimately the football league within 5 years. To build strong and durable partnerships in the community and with its supporters - to work as one, to benefit all. A club where you are its heart.

The club has a loyal fan base, whose numbers are increasing. With the pedigree of personnel already at the club, it will attract media interest far beyond the local catchment area. This will increase as the club rise through the leagues and with any future cup runs they may enjoy. We have high profile companies already experiencing the benefits of supporting this club and the advantages of networking that our current partners enjoy. This ‘Business Club’ will grow and increase your opportunities to build your companies own client base or explore new areas.

This is an exciting time for St Albans City FC, join us and be part of the team, developing success from the start.

The teamwork starts NOW

For full details of main sponsorship, naming rights, perimeter advertising, match day sponsor and all other commercial opportunities available please contact info@sporttrades.co.uk.

NON LEAGUE DAY 3rd September 2011 – Support Your Local Club

Given the current financial climate, clubs outside the football league need all the support they can get, so your presence at a game will be genuinely appreciated. With tickets and refreshments at a fraction of the cost, what's stopping you!”

Yet again SportTrades support James Doe’s Non League Day. Look for listings in your local press for fixtures of your closest club or head to NLD’s website and plan your day. Real football, with real tackles and the only dive is by the bloke trying to catch the pie he dropped. Real Banter, family friendly grounds and a Real good day out, go on support your local. www.nonleagueday.co.uk

Non-League Day is the brainchild of James Doe, a lifelong football fan, supporter of QPR and follower of Harrow Borough FC. In James' own words:

“With England playing on Friday 2nd September and the Premier League and Championship taking a week off, I urge all fans of the big clubs to get out and watch their local Non-League teams instead on Saturday 3rd September 2011!

Non-League Day is a celebration of the semi-professional and amateur game and a chance for fans of bigger clubs to experience football at a level they may be otherwise unfamiliar with. Moreover, it is a chance to shine a light on the hundreds of clubs in this country who are almost exclusively volunteer run, and do so much good for the local community, be it through coaching, fund raising or providing opportunities for local people.

This year we aim to make the day bigger and better than ever. Macmillan Cancer Support have come on board as our official charity, ex-England international Chris Waddle is our official ambassador, and we have now secured the backing of the All Party Football Group in Parliament.

In addition, Blue Square have organised a special three-game hop, with countless other clubs running special events all over the country.

The website has been designed as an interactive resource for fans across the country to discover their local team, learn more about the non-league game, and keep abreast of developments as they happen. If supporters or clubs wish to submit news, articles, photos or videos relating to their plans on the day, or non-league football in general, then please feel free to get in touch via the contact page.

We will try to publicise as many stories as possible. Additionally, we welcome any feedback on the content of the site. It is designed by the fans, for the fans, so your thoughts and opinions are invaluable.

Rugby League: Skolars first away win of the season at the Heed

Gateshead Thunder 16 London Skolars 36
14th August 2011

Skolars recorded their first away win of the season when they ran out 16-36 winners at Gateshead on Sunday afternoon. This win, Skolars fifth of the campaign, puts the club on 21 points for the season.

Skolars got off to a good start with Smokie Junor going over on 10 minutes and Dylan Skee kicking the extras. Thunder hit back with a converted try of their own on 35 minutes but Matt Thomas, making a welcome return to the Skolars line up, went over just before the break to give the Skolars a slender 6-10 lead at half-time.

Further tries from Aaron Small and James Anthony within 7 minutes of the restart put the Skolars 6-20 ahead but, to their credit, Thunder hit back with a try of their own on 51 minutes.

Dylan Skee, Will Colleran and James Anthony awith his second made the game safe for Skolars with tries on 55,72 and 74 minutes but Thunder had the last word with a try in the final minute to make the final score Gateshead 16 Skolars 36

Kult & Punk: We are top of the league, we are top of the league.

Kult & Punk travelled to watch the mighty St Pauli go top of the table. Unfortunately the weekend is now something of a blur to them, as a rather good guest ale appeared at Zoe's. Mix that with the death metal band, Dangerous Pierre and the Black Finger Nails, result mayhem.

FC St. Pauli moved at least temporarily to the top of the 2. Bundesliga standings on Friday evening on the back of a hard-earned 2-1 victory at VfL Bochum.

André Schubert's men took the points courtesy of a late strike from Max Kruse, to give themselves a haul of ten from their opening four matches. Friedhelm Funkel's Bochum continue to tread water in lower mid-table on four points.

Promising start by Bochum

Seven minutes after the match got under way in the pouring rain, the hosts took the lead. Paul Freier received the ball from Takashi Inui on the edge of the area and fed it through for Christoph Dabrowski to nick past St. Pauli keeper Philipp Tschauner. Quarter of an hour later Dabrowski had to take his leave of the contest, the home skipper having injured himself in a tackle on Fin Bartels.

Bochum were gradually fading after their bright opening, while the guests from Hamburg for their part seemed to be warming to the task. That was confirmed just over half an hour in, when St. Pauli pulled level. Kruse floated a ball in to the far post from the right and Bartels was allowed the time and space to bring it down and slip it past home custodian Andreas Luthe.

St. Pauli leave it late

VfL tried to reassert their authority early in the second half, but they were almost caught out in the 52nd minute when Bartels worked his way to the goal-line before cutting the ball back for Kruse, but Luthe dealt with the shot fairly comfortably. Bochum had a shout for a penalty turned down a couple of minutes later when Markus Thorandt appeared to impede Paul Freier inside the box. Going into the final 25 minutes, St. Pauli frontman Mahir Saglik had his first chance of note against his former club, but his miscued shot to a pass from the busy Kruse was again no problem for Luthe.

Then, with the clock ticking down, the visitors struck the decisive blow. In the 84th minute Florian Bruns found Kruse down the left and the attacking midfielder rifled the ball home, nutmegging Luthe along the way. Two minutes later, Freier cut across the path of St. Pauli left back Sebastian Schachten and went to ground. The referee ruled it a bookable foul and as Schachten had already seen yellow, the Hamburg side found themselves a man short for the closing minutes., but they held on for the points.

Baseball: Dragons Take Two From the Captains

The Dayton Dragons pitching staff continues to befuddle Lake County Captains hitters as the Dragons defeated the Captains 7-1 on Sunday. In the six games this half, the Captains have only been able to manage five runs, four earned against Dragons pitching.

The Dragons go out to an early lead when they scored four times in the bottom of the first inning with three of the runs coming home on a three run home run by Juan Duran, his 14th homer of the year. The Dragons added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on RBI singles by Jefry Sierra and Billy Hamilton with the third run scoring on an error and the Dragons led 7-0. The Captains lone run came in the top of the seventh and final inning on a ground out by Aaron Fields that scored LeVon Washington.

Captains starter Felix Sterling (2-3) took the loss working four innings allowing seven runs on eight hits, walking three and striking out three. Kyle Blair threw two scoreless innings of relief walking two.

Dragons starter Kyle Lotzkar (2-1) got the win pitching five scoreless innings allowing only one hit, walking two and striking out four. Drew Hayes closed out the game hurling the final two innings and allowing a run on two hits.
Prior to this game, the game that was suspended in Eastlake on August 9 was picked up in the top of the fourth inning with the Dragons leading 2-0. The Dragons would go on to win 9-2. Sterling who started the game in Eastlake took the loss for the Captains and Tanner Robles (5-8) got the win for the Dragons.

The Captains and Dragons will wrap up the season series on Monday at 7 PM on Sunday with the Captains sending LHP J.D. Riechenbach (6-1, 3.59) to the hill to oppose Dragons RHP Daniel Corcino (9-6, 3.41). The game can be heard on AM 1330 WELW and on the internet at captainsbaseball.com.
The Captains return home for a four game series with Fort Wayne on Saturday August 20.
Individual game tickets are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Full season tickets plans, 7-, 12-, 20-, and 35-game mini ticket plans for the 2011 season are on sale now at great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.

The Lake County Captains are a Class A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians and play their home games at Classic Park in Eastlake, at the corners of State Route 91 and Vine Street. For more information on the Captains, please visit the team's official website at www.CaptainsBaseball.com.

Speedway: Diamonds in a tense meeting against the comets

Workington Comets v Newcastle Diamonds,

Sat 13 Aug 2011, Derwent Park, Premier League, by Lawrence Heppell

The Newcastle Diamonds were a team keen for success last night at the Workington Comets, and as befitting of a tense local derby the opening two races were shared 3-3 with guest man Jason Lyons being hauled back in Heat One as the referee decreed he'd jumped the start.
Tomas Topinka and Rusty Harrison flew from the tapes in Heat Three, the latter passing Joe Haines on lap two as part of a Workington maximum, 5-1 to push them ahead 11-7, but with a fall for Peter Kildemand allowing Richie Worrall to take the win, the visiting Diamonds pulled back to within two, 13-11.

Harrison completely missed the gate in Heat Five yet managed to make a fine pass round Lyons, a rare feat indeed, on lap three to take the three points in a home 4-2 which moved the Comets back to four points ahead on the night.

Claes Nedermark was holding a good scoring position in Heat Six, but James Wright forced his way to take his score and form a Workington 5-1 which pushed them further ahead 22-14 one third of the way through.

Haines suffered and engine failure mid way through Heat Seven which initially looked a certain home 5-1, but Rene Bach managed to force his way under Gary Irving on the third lap for a well earned second place and restrict the score to a home 4-2 moving the Comets up to 26-16 ahead.

Nedermark made a remarkable pass round Harrison on bend two of the last lap in Heat Nine to turn the Newcastle 2-4 into a shared 3-3 with the score now settling at 32-22, and with the gap now 10 it allowed George English the chance to use a tactical ride in and following a home 4-2 in the 10th, the task was given to Lyons in Heat 11 for double points.

The guest man executed the task in hand beautifully to take his six points with ease but his partner Derek Sneddon couldn't get out of last place in the Diamonds' 3-6, and following a home maximum in Heat 12 Newcastle's cause was looking tricky with the score at 44-31 with three races left on the card.

Nedermark came out as Newcastle's second and final tactical ride in Heat 13, but his challenge failed to materialise in a 3-3 won easily by Lyons, but the Dane was stuck at the rear throughout whilst another share of the spoils in Heat 14 certainly sealed the Diamonds' loss with the score moving on to 50-37.

Team Manager George English said: "We ended up with too many points being lost later on in this match, but had we managed to uphold our form from the early heats then the Comets would have had somewhat more to worry about, but there's always the next time.

"We must now concentrate to put things right against Ipswich at home tonight, but as they are on a high from a win at Berwick last night then we will have to hit them hard and hit them early so as not to let them get dialled into our track too soon."

Speedway: Diamonds in narrow win against Rye House

Newcastle Diamonds v Rye House Rockets
Mon 07 Aug 2011
Newcastle Stadium
Premier League
by Lawrence Heppell

The Newcastle Diamonds and last night's visitors to Brough Park, Rye House had already ridden some tight meetings on Tyneside and this Premier League (second phase) event was no different.

A generally mundane opening left the scores tied 9-9 after the opening three races before Tyson Nelson took a solid win in the fourth over a determined effort from Claes Nedermark to call a visitor's 2-4 with the score moving on to 11-13. The home side regained the lead, with an added extra in Heat Six when, with Steve Boxall out of the race with engine failure, Derek Sneddon and guest Jason Lyons out in front, Luke Bowen fell and remounted to complete the race, but the referee made the most incredulous of decisions to exclude Bowen for "not making a bona fide attempt to race" despite the fact the rider could well have picked up an unbeknown injury resulting in his slower efforts, and as it happened the rider never raced again all night. The resultant 5-0 put Newcastle 19-16 up, whist a great win for Chris Neath in Heat Seven over Nedermark, again putting in a great chase, formed a Rockets' 2-4 narrowing the gap to one solitary point.

The referee confounded sense and sensibility again when, at the start of Heat Eight, and with all four riders at the tapes, he put the red lights on and excluded Richie Worrall for exceeding the two minute time allowance. With Newman in for the excluded Worrall, and another win for Nelson the heat remained tied 3-3, whilst returnee Rene Bach proved he his match fitness is still below his competitors with a full season under their belts as he first let Nelson through in Heat Nine, followed by former Diamond, Boxall as the Rockets hit home a maximum 1-5, re-taking the lead once again 25-28. In a stonewall "all riders back" situation on bend one of Heat 11, the referee took himself off more Newcastle Christmas card lists by excluding the fallen Newman ordering a three-man rerun, in which Nedermark looked well out of sorts with Nelson going from third to first to win ahead of his own partner Jordan Frampton to hit another 1-5 over the Diamonds, with the score moving on to 30-35.

With Nelson falling on the second lap and Newman out in from in Heat 12, Ritchie Hawkins made a magnificent effort to pass Worrall, but the Newcastle reserve made an equally magnificent effort to block and extend his run to lead and win a fantastic home maximum and tighten the score to one point again, in Rye's favour with three races left on the race card. A fourth win for Lyons in Heat 13, with Nedermark slipping into a comfortable third put the Diamonds back into the lead by one, 39-38 as the tension grew with heats running out.

Nelson was down again in Heat 14 and not happy with Bach whom he thought was responsible for his fall in a 3-3 leaving the match beautifully poised at 42-41 to the Diamonds with one race to go. A perfect maximum for Lyons with a massive fifth race win in Heat 15 secured the match win for the Diamonds, and even with Nedermark at the back the final score just took a thrilling win 45-44.

Team manager George English said: "It was touch and go for a few races tonight, but with Jason Lyons riding better now than ever before, our favourite guest performer really made sure the win was going to be ours despite some interesting refereeing decision."

Kult & Punk: St Pauli get over Cup exit with League win.

FC St. Pauli 3-1 Alemannia Aachen

St. Pauli recovered from their DFB Cup exit at Eintracht Trier and provisionally moved up to second place on seven points after beating early cellar-dwellers Aachen 3-1, who are still without a point.One apiece early on Aachen made a bright start against their nervous-looking hosts and after only seven minutes they found themselves in front. An attempted clearance by Markus Thorandt was blocked on the line by St. Pauli keeper Philipp Tschauner and Fabian Boll's attempted clearance dropped perfectly for Tobias Feisthammel to lash home.

The goal seemed to shake St. Pauli awake and when they upped the pressure around the quarter-hour mark, they were swiftly rewarded. This time the desperate defending was at the other end, Aachen right back Mario Erb attempting to chest the ball back to keeper Boy Waterman only to lay it up on a plate for Max Kruse, who slipped it into the net with thanks. Back on level terms, both sides began to open up and there were chances at either end, Fin Bartels firing one over the bar for St. Pauli (27') and Tschauner fishing a shot from Alemannia's Alper Uludag out the bottom corner (34').Contentious penaltyA great move by the home side opened up the Aachen defence four minutes before half time, but Marius Ebbers' final shot was blocked on the line by Erb, partially atoning for his earlier blunder. Unfortunately, Ebbers fell awkwardly on his arm in the attempt and had to be taken off the field and brought to hospital immediately.

Shortly after that, Florian Bruns dropped inside the Alemannia area under a seemingly innocuous challenge from Shervin Radjabali-Fardi. The referee pointed to the spot and Bruns did the honours himself to send St. Pauli into the break in front.

Much of the second half was an evenly-balanced affair, with St. Pauli squandering several good chances to extend their lead on the break. In a hectic closing phase Tschauner kept them in front with a fine stop from Radjabali-Fardi, Aachen's Manuel Junglas was sent off for a second bookable offence (88') and sub Mahir Saglik rattled the bar for St. Pauli before they finally made the result safe, Saglik setting up an easy third for Kruse in added time.

March to the Arch 3, starts 21st August at Barkingside FC

Hello and welcome to ‘March to Arch 3’, the F.A.Cup Tracker.

A brief reminder of the rules and merit scoring table – I know, I can tell you’re excited.




‘March to the Arch’ Step by Step.

1) A team will be selected in the extra preliminary round or preliminary round of each tournament connected to the feature. The selected team must be drawn at home in the first round.

2) We will follow our selected team in the relevant round of that tournament. We will then allocate points as per the scoring system in accordance with the match result and follow the winning team from that tie into the next round.

3) The winning team in each round featured will become our selected side and the process will be repeated until the final.

4) The winners of our trackers will be the team who have accumulated the most points.



‘March to the Arch’ Point System

1pt Home Defeat

2pts Away Defeat

3pts Home Defeat (After Replay)

4pts Away Defeat (After Replay)

5pts Home Win (After Replay)

6pts Away Win (After Replay)

7pts Home Win

8pts Away Win

2 bonus points will be allocated to teams who win the tournaments.

Semi Finals and Finals of tournaments will be awarded points as ‘Away Win’ and ‘Away Defeat’ as per above.

*Appearances applies to the number of times a team has featured in rounds throughout the tournament, replays do not count.

If a tie is a walkover, the team unable to field a side will be shown as w/o in the Merit Table, with no score or appearance credited to them. The team progressing to the next round will be awarded 1 pt but no appearance is credited in the Table.

If points are equal, positions are based on results in the following order: Number of appearances, Goal difference then goals scored. If all still equal then the position is shared, but teams are shown alphabetically.


The first ‘March to the Arch’ was won by Accrington Stanley, below is the full result and Merit Table for ‘March to the Arch’ 2

Extra Preliminary Round: Barkingside 0 Southend Manor 2

Preliminary Round: Southend Manor 0 Brentwood Town 4

1st Qualifying Round: Brentwood Town 4 Aylesbury United 0

2nd Qualifying Round: AFC Hornchurch 0 Brentwood Town 0

Replay: Brentwood Town 1 AFC Hornchurch 0

3rd Qualifying Round: Brentwood Town 1 Woking 1

Replay: Woking 1 Brentwood Town 0

4th Qualifying Round: Woking 3 Eastleigh 2

1st Round (Proper): Woking 0 Brighton 0

Replay: Brighton 1 Woking 1 (Brighton win on Pens)

2nd Round: Brighton 1 FC United of Manchester 1

Replay: FC United of Manchester 1 Brighton 3

3rd Round: Brighton 3 Portsmouth 1

4th Round: Watford 0 Brighton 1

5th Round: Stoke City 3 Brighton 0

6th Round: Stoke City 2 West Ham United 1

Semi Final: Stoke City 5 Bolton Wanderers 0

Final: Stoke City 0 Manchester City 1

Sports-Pulse ‘March to the Arch’ Final Merit Table 2010/2011.

WINNER: BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION 29 POINTS

2nd Brentwood Town 24 points

3rd Stoke City 23

4th Woking 15

5th Manchester City 10

6th Southend Manor 9

7th AFC Hornchurch 4

8th FC United of Manchester 3

9th Eastleigh 2

10th West Ham United 2

11th Portsmouth 2

12th Aylesbury United 2

13th Bolton Wanderers 2

14th Watford 1

15th Barkingside 1

So the Seagulls join Stanley in past winners of ‘March to the Arch’.

So now to March to the Arch 3, it starts on 21st August, were do we start?

No surprise I’m afraid, we will be back with Barkingside (for the 3rd Year) on Sunday21st August. They take on Hertford Town in the Extra Preliminary Round, the winners of the tie travel to either Burnham Ramblers or Barking for the Preliminary Round.

Good luck to all teams for the coming season and here is too another exciting ‘March to the Arch’, who will win March to the Arch 3?

March to the Arch 2, the update from season 2010/2011

Welcome back to 'March to the Arch' 2, here is last seasons report. Last year was slightly different, in that we followed 5 F.A.Competitions. The F.A.Cup, Trophy, Vase, Women’s Cup and Youth Cup. This year we are back to following the F.A.Cup only, due to current workload in our day job. We will attempt to bring you these other competitions again in the future, because it was fun, but for now it is the F.A.Cup sponsored by Budweiser.


Before we show you the F.A.Cup tracker in full, within a separate post, here listed below, are the winners from the other competitions.

F.A.Women’s Cup.

Arsenal beat Bristol Academy 2-0 in the final, but the March to the Arch winners were Weymouth Ladies with 19 points. Their campaign was strange, they started with a work over against Winscombe, then had wins against Frome Town (3-1), Stoke Lane Athletic (1-0) away from home. They finally left the competition with a 4-2 defeat at Newquay Ladies. Arsenal were 2nd with 18 points and Sunderland 3rd 16 points.

F.A.Youth Cup

The winners of this tracker by a long way and also winners of the whole series was Thurrock. They scored 39 points covering 6 appearances. They started with a 4-3 defeat of St Albans City at Clarence Park, before been knocked out by Southampton. Along the way they beat Leyton Orient 1-0 at home. A truly fantastic effort by Thurrock. Manchester United went on to beat Sheffield United in the final.

F.A.Vase

The winner was St Blazey, comfortably. A friendly club were Nigel Martin started his career. The campaign had mainly home draws for St Blazey and started with a 3-2 win against Dartmouth and ended by a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Bemerton Heath Harlequins. St Blazey scored a very respectable 29 points. Whitley Bay retained the Vase after beating Coalville 3-2 in the final.

F.A.Trophy

The winners of this tracker, just, were Mansfield Town with 27 points. They pipped Wealdstone by a point. The stags joined the tracker at the 2nd Round stage with a 4-2 win against Newport County. Wins against Alfreton, Chasetown (both after replays) and then beating Luton Town over 2 legs in the Semi Final. They eventually lost, when defeated 1-0 by Darlington in the final. A good effort.

Well done to all teams, a good luck for the coming season.

Baseball: Loons' Domecus Bests Captains 4-3

Steve Domecus lifted Great Lakes by Lake County on Tuesday night driving a pair of runs with a single in sixth inning for a 3-2 lead. The Loons went on to win 4-3, as Domecus also scored the other two runs.


The Captains jumped in front 1-0 in the second inning on a Brian Heere RBI single to centerfield scoring Ronny Rodriguez.

Moises Montero hit his second homerun of the season in the sixth with the game tied at one, giving Lake County a 2-1 lead.

The Captains trailing 4-2 in the eighth inning got a pair of runners on to start the inning. Montero scored from third on a wild pitch making it 4-3, but that is as close they would come.

Garrett Gould (11-5) picked up the win tossing six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out three. Scott McGough picked up his 3rd save of the season pitching 1.2 innings. Jordan Cooper took the loss allowing three runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings, no walks and one strike out.

Lake County and Great Lakes continue their four game set on Wednesday night at 7:05PM at Dow Diamond. RHP Mike Goodnight (5-9) gets the start for the Captains against RHP Angel Sanchez (5-3) for the Loons. Catch all the action AM 1330 WELW or online at captainsbaseball.com.

Speedway: Diamonds beat the Comets, but at a cost

Newcastle Diamonds v Workington Comets: Sun 31 Jul 2011:  Newcastle Stadium:  Premier League

Report by Lawrence Heppell .

Thanks to Newcastle Speedway and Lawrence for providing the following article.

Fresh from a good performance at Berwick the night the Diamond's tails were well and truly up and ready for more hot action against the Workington Comets again in a league meeting that took a disastrous twist in the final race of the night.

Having secured a good solid win, Heat 15 was eventually run with two Comets only as Claes Nedermark was out with very painful knees and Stuart Robson was on his way to hospital with a suspected punctured lung, damaged right arm and wrist and a leg injury as well in a ghastly twist of fate that saw them both end up on the shale.

It was the visitors, however took the first winner of the night in Heat One with James Wright taking the flag in fine style over Newcastle's two guests, Jason Lyons and Jan Graversen in a share of the spoils.

A win for Richie Worrall in the second with Kyle Newman keeping Byron Bekker at bay gave the Diamonds the edge in the match with a 4-2 victory moving the score on to 7-5, but a very fortuitous 5-0 in Heat Four when in the initial running, Tero Aarnio suffered a broken chain at the start and Kenny Ingalls was taken out of the re-run for falling and stopping the race.

Ingalls was then ruled out of the meeting with injury as the Diamonds moved on to lead 15-8 going into Heat Five which was also brought to an early halt when James Wright took a dive under Worrall on bend three in an attempt to pass the Diamond, but instead sent the Newcastle man into the fence with the Comet's exclusion in the home 4-2, taking Newcastle's lead to 19-10.

Nedermark grabbed a stunning amount of grip around bend two on the opening lap to fire himself from third, around Wright and his partner Newman to form a fine 5-1 maximum to move the score on to 28-13 allowing the Comets management to use Richard Lawson as a tactical ride for double points in Heat Eight.

With Worrall excluded for touching the tapes and Newman replacing his reserve partner, and with the Newcastle pair making an excellent gate the hard work was left to Lawson to try to maximise his double points, and engaged in a superb battle with Graversen for second place with the Comet nabbing it on the line for four points in a shared 4-4, progressing the totals onto 32-17.

Workington's second tactical ride came in Heat 11 and proved far more productive with the tactical man Wright jetting away with his partner Lawson leading the race until the last lap when he let his team mate through for six points in a Comets' 1-8 reducing the gap to 42-28 with only four races to go.

Lyons followed the on-fire Nedermark home in the 13th to record an easy home 5-1 over Tero Aarnio to seal a big home win for the Diamonds supporters to celebrate.

Unfortunately celebrations were short lived as a horrendous crash for Robson and Nedermark in the final heat put a dampener on proceedings.

Coming wide off bend two, the Diamond's number four tried to push hard in the dirt, but got badly out of shape and crashed into the safety fence and thrown from his machine, but on the rebound he caught Nedermark as well to took a serious clout from his partner's bike which became, for a while, attached to his own.

Nedermark was ambulanced off although appeared to be in reasonable shape although was complaining of two very sore knees whilst Robson was stretchered into a second ambulance complaining of a very painful right arm and wrist as well as a leg injury, but, being very gingerly taken from the track on a precautionary spinal board, the full extent of his injuries which were reported to include a punctured lung.

The club - dashed with ghastly luck on the injury front in 2011 are now left wondering this Monday morning as to the extent of the damage to yet two more of their riders in what is rapidly becoming a season to forget as Heat 15 completed with a two-rider only re-run with no Diamonds fit to race.

Team manager George English said: "This was a solid performance over the side currently third in the League and it was immensely satisfying to see the lads gel as well and really get back into winning ways, but then our bizarre bad run of luck hit us hard again and now we're sweating on news of another pair of riders and in particularly Stuart Robson to whom we all wish the very best. 2011 is not turning out to be a good year for Newcastle Speedway!"

Rugby League: naming rights and sponsorship opportunities available at new St Helens Stadium.

We have some fantastic opportunities available at St Helens RL.  The club is well known worldwide with a fantastic pedigree. So successful, that the club is known by non followers of Rugby League.

This season they are tenants of Widness Vikings as their brand new state of the art stadium is completed.  The arena will be ready for November, in time for 2012 season and the Rugby League World Cup.

We still have a number of naming rights available and also other sponsorship opportunities at St Helens for next season.

Please contact us at info@sporttrades.co.uk for more details.