One Year on - Gary Speed

In the coming months we will post an article regarding the mental problems faced by professional sports people. These issues can be during their career but most of all in retirement and realisation of reality. Most professional sports people don't finish as multi millionaires, nor are the wealthy amuned from mental problems. The coming article will explain how sporting organisations are battling with this problem, an issue all too familiar with society in general.

We notify you today of this article as its the 1st anniversary of the passing of Gary Speed. Our thoughts go to his family and to all those who have suffered the tragic loss of a loved one or friend,  through depression and other mental illnesses.

Sol y Futbol: Lanzarote turn the corner.

Ian Lane reports from Arrecife as Lanzarote continue on their winning ways - at last.

LANZAROTE   2   ESTRELLA CF   0

The Rojillos record their first home win of the season with a goal in each half and make it two wins on the bounce whilst keeping clean sheets from their leaky defence on both occasions.

Welcoming back the Piña (Pineapple mascot) and the drums whilst the Lanzarote Zumba ladies entertaining us with a half time boogie added to a festive atmosphere for the Rojillos largest crowd of the season.
Lanzarote began the match similar to the confident side of last season who only suffered one home defeat the entire campaign. In the 13^th minute striker Rosmen forced the Estrella keeper into a very good save from his headed effort.

The Gran Canarian side looked strong in defence and sharp on the break. Knowing a win against Lanzarote would lift them into a playoff spot they were never going to be an easy side to beat.

In the 26^th minute Toñito had the opportunity to cross on the edge of the box however he cleverly feigned a cross and took on his opponent, the defender was a second too late and took away the Lanzarote winger’s foot and after a hard stare from the well placed official he pointed to the spot for a penalty.

The Lanzarote captain and playmaker Jotha stepped up and neatly tucked the ball beyond the keeper and into the right hand corner and the team celebrated their 1-0 lead by diving all over the Piña.

The fifth placed side began to threaten, though last season’s tight defence looks as though it has returned and were not allowing the visitors a second on the ball as the score remained 1-0 at the break.

The home side came out for the second half in a desperate search for that all important second goal. Ten minutes into the second period and Lady Luck who has not been shining too much this season dramatically shone in Lanzarote´s favour. A cross from the extremely impressive right back Kamara deflected off defender Omar and with the keeper completely wrong footed the ball gently rolled in between the unguarded sticks to give the Rojillos a 2-0 lead.

The visitors tried to assert some authority and began to hold possession but nothing was getting through the Rojillos stubborn defence. Late on and on a break Alex Yunes had a great chance to increase the score but shot straight into the arms of the Gran Canarian keeper.

Lanzarote comfortably held on to claim all three points and move one place up the league table to 16^th. The Rojillos are away next week versus 7^th placed side Vecindario but then have five of the next six matches at home. First up at home is the game which has failed to take place on two occasions against SD Tenisca. This match will be played next Thursday 6^th December at 12.30pm followed by the Sunday match 9^th December versus lowly UD Telde at time to be confirmed.

GOALS
1-0   min 26 Jotha (Penalty)
2-0   min 55 Omar (Own goal)

Front Row: Hoppa returns to Harpenden RFC

Thank you to our friends at Harpenden RFC and PhotoBucket for the following post and picture.

London 2 NW.  24 Nov 2012

It Rains and it pours but Harpenden win local derby

St Albans 11 Harpenden 16

Possibly against the run of play, within 10 minutes Harpenden opened the scoring with a penalty from centre Aaron Wilde. This made up for an earlier miss at goal. A further penalty award three minutes later – from, in the circumstances, an optimistic distance of 40 metres – was also unsuccessful. So, too, was a strange decision by the Harpenden player who attempted a drop kick into the wind from almost 45 metres out! Was he on drugs the crowd was asking?

With the wind behind them from the kick off, St Albans had used the elements to their advantage by drilling the right-hand touch, and catching Harpenden out of position more than once, on a day that seemed totally unsuited to a running game. Nevertheless, credit must go to both teams who tried their best to fling the ball about whenever they could. Eventually, they discovered the limitations of such a game plan as the continuous rain made handling an unwelcome challenge.

Twenty minutes later in a contest riddled with missed chances, St Albans applauded fly half Mark Kentish’s penalty kick that brought the sides level; it was at this stage that the home side’s pack was beginning to exert itself and Harpenden were probably lucky to still be on level terms. Kentish then put the supporters into an even happier frame of mind with a fine exhibition of raw speed as he chased down the left wing, following a kick ahead, to touch the ball down with elan. It looked as if St Albans were now in the driving seat but two penalties later from Aaron Wilde – one of which was taken from just inside the St Albans 10 metre line – meant that the sides turned round at half time with Harpenden again in the lead, this time by 9 to 8.

Not much changed after the restart: though Harpenden now had the wind behind them: unlike St Albans, they did not have the tactical nous to use the elements in a beneficial manner. Accordingly, the home side was able to snuff out any threat to their line and a second penalty from Kentish - a very good kick in the circumstances – saw the game swing the way of the home team leaving Harpenden now trailing by 11 to 8.

 The visitors’ nerves were further tested when Harpenden’s  ‘Stitch’ Payne was  shown a yellow card for an offence he apparently didn’t commit (the referee from Devon had, unsurprisingly misunderstood something Stitch had said to a team mate). So now it was ‘backs to the wall time’ and Harpenden’s character was tested to the full. But, with a few minutes remaining, and back to fifteen men, Harpenden’s fly half, Joe Tennant, optimistically hoofed the ball high into the air near the St Albans 22 metre line. Centre Aaron Wilde gave chase, got hold of the kick as it fell to ground and scored under the posts. He converted his own try and soon afterwards the whistle was blown for full time. Despite the appalling weather, it was a fitting end to a well-fought local derby.



Hoop Zone: Barking Abbey mixed weekend.

Thank you to our friends at Barking Abbey for the following post and picture.

Brentwood Fire 56  Barking Abbey 68

Barking Abbey escaped with a victory in VCars.co.uk Division 4 action on Saturday evening, defeating Brentwood Fire 68-56 away at Shenfield Sports Centre.

Abbey were behind throughout, but a huge 20-7 fourth quarter allowed them to take their first lead of the game with under a minute remaining and hold on for the victory.

“It’s always good to bounce back with a win,” said head coach Frank Holloway after the game. “We didn’t execute in the first half like we normally do, but made some adjustments at halftime and came out in the second half with more energy.

“It was a tough fought win tonight, Brentwood played well and are a very good club.”
David Akibo led BA with 22 points, whilst Roy Downey added 14.

BA will look to build upon their win when they face Croydon next week, on December 1 at home (6.00pm GMT tip off).

City of Sheffield Hatters 89 Barking Abbey 59

Barking Abbey Senior Women suffered their first loss of the VCars.co.uk Division 1 regular season on Saturday evening, falling 89-59 at the hands of City of Sheffield Hatters.

The Hatters, who feature a number of Great Britain internationals and were undefeated coming into the game, had too much firepower for BA who put in a valiant fight.

“Obviously you are never happy to lose by 30,” commented head coach Mark Clark after the game. “But we played very well at times and are ahead of where we expect to be at this time.”

“Sheffield have so much experience and look to be the best team in the league at the moment. They expose any weakness. We developed from last week and it was pleasing to get minutes for Beth Sarson and Imani Whittington. Shanice Norton continues to develop.”

Shequila Joseph led BA with 16 points, whilst Georgia Jones had 11. BA now stand fourth in the league table with a 2-1 record.

BA now have three weeks before they face Leeds Carnegie (December 15, 3.00pm GMT tip at Leeds Met Uni sports centre).

Front Row: Aviva Premiership Round 9 review.

Thank you to our friends at Aviva Premiership for the following post and picture.

 

London Irish director of Brian Smith was left cursing absent friends as his side slipped to a 27-23 Aviva Premiership defeat at the hands of Exeter Chiefs.

 

With eight players on international duty, including star first-teamers Jonathan Joseph and David Paice, and another eight out injured Irish welcomed an almost first-string Chiefs side to the Madejski Stadium.
The Devon side's strength was epitomised by the fact that they could afford to leave released England flanker Tom Johnson on the bench.

And the Exiles certainly found it tough work at home as they got off to a disastrous start, watching as Phil Dollman crossed for a try and Gareth Steenson kicked three penalties.

Luke Arscott extended the Chiefs' lead before Leo Halavatu and Topsy Ojo started an Exiles fightback.
Ian Humphreys kicked Irish ahead late on but Steenson replied to boot Exeter Chiefs to a first away win this Aviva Premiership campaign.

"We had eight players away on international duty and we have got another eight players injured so in many ways we had to fight with one hand tied behind our back," he added.

"But we knew that at the beginning of the season and the guys who played all had a crack and gave it 100 per cent and as a coach that's all you can ask for.

"It was just a case of getting a bad start. We made defensive errors because it was a little bit slippy and it cost us tries but it's very rare that a try is scored from one error, it's normally a chain reaction.

"It's an error that is compounded and sometimes there's three errors in a row that lead to a try being scored.
"When you have 15 blokes running around defending you can cover other people's errors but not here, when we made a mistake we got punished for it."

The other Sunday game saw London Wasps sneak past Leicester Tigers 14-12 to maintain their 100 per cent record at Adams Park this season.

Tom Varndell scored an early try before Nick Robinson and half-time replacement Lee Thomas cancelled out the boot of Leicester's George Ford in reply, much to director of rugby Dai Young's joy.

"We gave a lot of penalties away which kept them in the game but some of our young guys out there were great," he said.

"The two young props Simon McIntyre and Phil Swainston did very well, James Cannon in the second row really stood up, Elliot Daly was a real threat out wide and Sam Jones came off the bench and contributed to a good back-row effort again."

Basement-boys Sale Sharks were downed 29-3 at Kingsholm, Akapusi Qera crossing for Gloucester Rugby's only try with Aviva Premeirship Rugby player of the month for October Freddie Burns kicking the rest of the points.

Fly-half Gordon Ross kicked London Welsh into an early lead against Northampton Saints at Franklin's Gardens but the home side came roaring back to win 23-16 thanks to a try from Ken Pisi and the boot of Ryan Lamb.

Top-of-the-table Harlequins suffered their third defeat as Bath Rugby ran out 21-18 victors at the Rec on Friday night.

But Saracens failed to leapfrog them as they also tasted defeat that same evening, going down 12-3 at Worcester Warriors, and director of rugby Mark McCall insisted his side had no excuses.

"Both teams cancelled each other out and there was no flow - it was very depressing. They kicked their goals and we didn't quite kick ours. We made a lot of individual mistakes, not all of them were forced, and our scrum was under pressure," he said.

"We'll have a few players back available next week and some back from injury, possibly Charlie Hodgson could be one of them.

"It's very early to say too much about Jackson Wray's injury, but it is a sprained ankle for now and we'll know more in the next 48 hours."

Sol y Futbol. Lanzarote taste victory after nearly 3 months.

Ian reports, as finally Lanzarote end their poor run of form.

U.D. GOMERA   0   LANZAROTE   3

One week shy of three months and the Rojillos finally return to winning ways. An extremely comfortable win with two goals for striker Rosmen and a cracking free kick from Captain Jotha move Lanzarote out of the bottom three and with six of the next eight games at home this gives the Rojillos a fantastic opportunity to climb the league table.

The Rojillos dominated this match from the outset with the Lanzarote keeper being almost a spectator throughout the 90 minutes.

The first good chance fell to Jotha in the 13^th minute; his powerful free kick was well saved by the debutant goalkeeper Francisco but with total possession it still took six minutes before the break until the deadlock was broken. A hesitant Gomera defence allowed Rosmen to nod home and give Lanzarote a 1-0 lead to take into the half time break.

Two minutes into the second half and another header from Rosmen to make the score 2-0 virtually sealed the match for the Rojillos. Lanzarote dictated the pace of the match from there on and in the 87^th minute Jotha finished off the job with an unstoppable 20 yard free kick to give the score line a more deserved look of 3-0.

Lanzarote leapfrog Gran Canaria side Villa Santa Brígida and move out of the relegation zone courtesy of goal difference. This Sunday Lanzarote host fourth placed side Estrella CF. Kick off time has been confirmed at 12 noon.

The club is seeking help from the supporters and with the island having one adult in every three unemployed they have decided to allow free entrance to this match to anyone who is unemployed or who is a student. Furthermore to attract parents to bring their children to a match any adult who brings a child with them to the match will receive a discount of 2 Euros off the 5 Euro admission price.

GOALS
0-1   min 39 Rosmen
0-2   min 47 Rosmen
0-3   min 87 Jotha

Front Row: L.V Cup Round 2 reviews.

Thank you to our friends at Aviva Premiership for the following post and photo.

 

London Wasps director of rugby Dai Young couldn't hide his delight as his side got back to winning ways against Worcester Warriors.

 

Young's men were beaten in Cardiff last time out but got a first LV= Cup win under the belts 28-19 against the Warriors with tries from Simon McIntyre, Jack Wallace and Charlie Davies.

 

Young said: "We played against a very experienced Worcester team and we are delighted with the result.
"It wasn't a perfect performance but I was pleased with a lot of aspects of our game."

Elsewhere on Sunday London Irish went down 22-15 to Leicester Tigers with George Ford scoring 17 points. The Tigers were reduced to 14 men due to Boris Stankovich's red card but held on for the win.
And Northampton Saints ended their recent losing streak with a 30-20 win over Newport Gwent Dragons despite a hat-trick from former Springbok winger Tonderai Chavhanga.

Gloucester Rugby bounced back from defeat against the Ospreys a week ago as they thumped London Welsh 46-20.

No.8 Ben Morgan went over for a hat-trick and said: "I think in the first half we showed that when we start holding ball and going through our phases we can be very dangerous.

"Second half we threw it about a little bit more and to be fair to them they came back and put some real pressure on us but we ground out the result.

"That is what we need moving forward. We need guys in the squad who, no matter who is playing, can step into the role and keep the Gloucester movement going forward."

Exeter Chiefs racked up their second win from as many games with a hard-fought 23-13 success over the Ospreys, Will Carrick-Smith and Myles Dorrian going over for their tries.

And in an all-Welsh affair the Scarlets saw off Cardiff Blues 22-16 thanks to a powerful scrum and some accurate kicking from Aled Thomas.

On Friday night Harlequins kicked their way to a 21-12 success over Bath Rugby with newcomer Louis Grimoldby stepping up to the mark in the second half.

Kiwi Ben Botica had earlier slotted five penalties to give the Aviva Premiership champions a 15-6 half-time lead, Stephen Donald knocking over two penalty attempts for Bath.

Six more points from Donald and then Tom Heathcote brought Bath back to within three more points before Grimoldby slotted two kicks in the final quarter of an hour to secure the win for Conor O'Shea's men.
Meanwhile Sale Sharks picked up a hard-fought win over Saracens as they edged home 25-23 to build some momentum ahead of next week's Aviva Premiership trip to Gloucester.

Mark Cueto and Fraser McKenzie scored tries for the Sharks with Rob Miller's late penalty earning the win after Joel Tomkins and Kameli Ratuvou had crossed for Sarries.

Sharks chief executive Steve Diamond said: "There's still things we've got to work on, but the size of the squad and the way Saracens put their squads together it's very good to beat them in any competition.
"For us it's momentum going into the league next week when we're at Kingsholm which is never easy and then Northampton, so we've got good preparation for it."

Sol y Futbol: UD Lanzorote bad form continues

The wait goes on and on and on. Ian Lane reports from Arrecife as the losing run continues. Fortune must change soon - surely

LANZAROTE   1   LAS ZOCAS   2

Lanzarote once again press the self destruct button. Going a goal down eight minutes before half time and then before the break the Rojillos had a player red carded and conceded another goal in stoppage time.
The Conejeros (locals) began the game brightly with midfielder Kevin Camacho setting up winger Toñito for a strike on goal but unfortunately the 27 year old saw his effort narrowly miss its target.

The Tenerife side then looked as though they had gone in front in the 19^th minute when defender Nacor rose brilliantly at the far post from a corner kick, his well cushioned header travelled back along towards the other post then fortunately from a Rojillos point of view past the upright for a goal kick.

Both sides were on the attack with Rosmen hitting a post for Lanzarote and then a great save from Rojillos keeper Marco Machín prevented the visitors going in front.

In the 37^th minute and out of the blue a fabulous dipping strike from 20 yards by striker Helio gave the visitors a surprise lead. This was to be the start of a disastrous ending to the first half for Lanzarote.
Four minutes later and defender José Camacho who had been having an excellent game received a red card which dumbfounded everyone watching and involved in the match but the fact of it all meant that Lanzarote were going to have to play the remainder of the match with 10 men.

To rub salt into the Rojillos open wounds the Tenerife side doubled their lead in stoppage time with winger Amorín latching onto a long ball and placing his effort wide of the Lanzarote keeper and into the open net to give his side the 0-2 advantage.

With these three hard blows taken within nine minutes the Rojillos looked distraught as they went into break trailing by two goals and a man short.

Led by local boy Adolfo Pérez as the manager you can be sure his team will keep on fighting. The Rojillos returned for the second half with renewed energy.

With just three players in defence Lanzarote pressed forward. Ten minutes into the second half and a great cross from the right wing was centred by Rosmen leaving the goal keeper for dead and from just two yards out Kevin Camacho outstretched leg could only blast the ball over the crossbar. To be fair the ball bounced from a weighty pass just before contact nevertheless this was a wonder opportunity to get back into the match that the Rojillos yet again wasted.

The fourth placed side played a sensible game by defending solidly and then hitting their hosts on the break. As this threat intensified Lanzarote returned to a back four to once again grab a grip on the game.

In the 81^st minute the Rojillos deservedly pulled a goal back with Rosmen feeding sub Miguel Yunes. The lively striker planted his shot wide of the Las Zocas keeper and into the far right hand corner giving his side some hope.

With the game poised at 1-2 the Rojillos let rip with a bombardment on the visitor’s goal. A free kick from 20 yards by midfielder Juancar hit the crossbar but Lanzarote failed to find the target and are still in search of their first home win this season.

Next up for Lanzarote is a trip to play La Gomera next weekend. Who would have thought Lanzarote would be playing a relegation six pointer so early in the season with a team who are one place and two points behind the Rojillos in the league table.

Next home game is scheduled against Estrella CF on Sunday the 25^th Nov. Please check nearer the time for date and time confirmation of this match.

GOALS
0-1   min 37 Helio
0-2   min 45+1 Amorín
1-2 Miguel Yunes

Front Row: Hoppa returns to Cornish Pirates.

Hoppa returns to our old stomping ground, from last season, and becomes a Pirate for a day. Thanks to all at Cornish Pirates, especially Wolls for the match report and Simon Bryant for the picture.

Cornish Pirates 54 Rotherham Titans 12

RFU Championship Round 9

Sunday November 11th 2012
Mennaye Field Penzance

Woll's Match Report

It’s been a while, but you won’t hear many complaints from the home faithful after a blistering performance from the Cornish Pirates delivered their bonus point win of the season.

Eight tries and a fifty plus tally; including a hat trick from Burgess and a pair from McGlone, did the damage; on an afternoon in which the Pirates increasingly grew in confidence. In the process they leapfrogged their opponents in the Championship standings up to 6th, and stretched their unbeaten run to five

There had been an early set-back within 90 seconds, as Law nailed the first of his two drop goals of the afternoon. But from the moment Penberthy leveled things four minutes later, the visitors had little to offer to deflect clear Cornish irresistibility. True, their well publicised injury woes may have figured highly in their eventual demise on the day; but their last outing at home had produced a comfortable win, in an emotional local derby, to begin the post Bester era. YoWas this then, the perfect antidote to balking at Billesley a week earlier? It would seem so.

McGlone’s first dot down in the ninth minute, after some good pressure from his compadres in the pack, appeared to light the blue touch paper. Hereon in, there was predominantly only one team in it. And it wasn’t the Yorkshiremen; who were consigned to heading back up north wi’ nowt; as Leeds had been a fortnight earlier.

Indeed, such was the intensity from the Pirates in all areas of the game; the only surprise come half time, was that only Elloway and Burgess had added to the try tally. Some of this may have been down to some ‘’baggage still lingering, but the signs were looking good.

u can only play…etc

Was this then, the perfect antidote to balking at Billesley a week earlier? It would seem so.

McGlone’s first dot down in the ninth minute, after some good pressure from his compadres in the pack, appeared to light the blue touch paper. Hereon in, there was predominantly only one team in it. And it wasn’t the Yorkshiremen; who were consigned to heading back up north wi’ nowt; as Leeds had been a fortnight earlier.

Indeed, such was the intensity from the Pirates in all areas of the game; the only surprise come half time, was that only Elloway and Burgess had added to the try tally. Some of this may have been down to some ‘’baggage still lingering, but the signs were looking good.

Thus at the break the Cornish side were able to head in pleased with their efforts and a 22-9 lead. Law had added another drop and a penalty, whilst Penberthy added some extras here and there and missed a couple of penalties of his own too.

The sun was still shining in every meaning of the phrase, as the Pirates picked up from there’d left off, after an interval that would been unlikely to involved any hairdryers on this occasion.

Pointer squandered an early chance to add to the score with the line crying out to be crossed. But this was quickly erased from the memory banks as the pack took charge with a succession of penalties in the Newlyn Gate Corner, which promised a resumption of try scoring.

One particular scrum seemed to have done the trick as the Titan Eight found reverse at a rate of knots; and a Pirate combination of McGlone and Maidment gave further display of some cultured footwork within back row ranks. Mr. Meredith quite inexplicably blew up for a reset just as the ball was grounded.

Any thoughts from the home crowd of the official doing just that himself, were quickly extinguished as Burgess calmed any rebellion in the ranks with the bonus point try immediately afterwards.

The Pirates appeared to be in total command now, but had enough in reserve to succumb to a 14 man maul effort from the visitors that Stagg emerged from the bottom of; to claim the first of a personal brace. Law duly converted the difficult touchline kick but this did little to stem the overall tide.

McGlone’s second and a first try since his return to the Pirates for Fatialofa kept the scoreboard ticking inexorably towards the half century of points and ‘bat-raising to the pavilion’ time. These five pointers sandwiching a mirror image score for Stagg in the Clubhouse Corner.

Freeman was close to making it three Titans tries soon after, but for a magnificent tackle into touch by Mercer. With it, went any hope of an important bonus point that would have retained sixth spot for the Yorkshiremen.

The Pirates in the meantime maintained their pacey tempo and rounded the afternoon off with two more scores of their own. Mercer finished off a fine move in the Old Western National Corner to claim his first try in Pirate colours. Whilst Burgess claimed his third off some sloppy Titan play on halfway, to gallop in from 50m.

Hallett brought proceedings to close with a simple conversion in front of the posts. The supporters, in the meantime could enjoy their post-match sing song with a little more gusto.

There should also be time to reflect on such a poignant day such as this. Lest we forget.

Cornish Pirates
15 W. Davies (20 T. Kessell 71) 14 G. Pointer  13 T. Riley  12 Jnr Fatialofa (22 A. Cheesman 69)
11 B. Mercer  10 A. Penberthy (21 K Hallett 71)  9 G. Cattle (capt)  8 L. McGlone  7 P. Burgess  6 B. Maidment  5 G. Johnson  4 D. Lyons (19 D. Barry 53)  3 B. Prescott (18 P. Joyce 53)  2 R. Elloway (17 D. Semmens 69)  1 R. Storer (16 A. Paver 65)

Replacements: all used

Tries: McGlone 2, Elloway, Burgess 3, Fatialofa, Mercer
Cons: Penberthy 4, Hallett
Pens: Penberthy

Rotherham Titans
15 F. Mulchrone  14 P. Homan  13 L. Blackett  12 J. Gill  11 M. Doneghan  24 G. Law (Capt)  9 C. Mulchrone (22 J. Williams 54) 1 S Cahill (17 M. Gadd 48)  2 D. Baines (16 T. Stagg 28)  3 R. Davies (18 G. Denman 48) 4 T. Freeman  5 D. Sanderson  6 A. Rieder  7 J. Ellyatt (20 E. Taylor 61)  8 C. Kirwan (19 N. Dacres 63)

Replacements: un-used 21 E. Styles

Tries: Stagg 2
Cons: Law
Pens: Law
Drops: Law 2

Yellow: Freeman

Match Officials
Referee: John Meredith
Assistants: Shane Lewis, Chris Sharp

Attendance: 1763
Man of Match: Gary Johnson

Front Row: Review of Round 1 LV Cup

Thank you to all at Aviva Premiership for the info and photo.

 

Full-back Jack Nowell insists helping Exeter end their away day hoodoo was a perfect way for the Chiefs' young guns to underline their credentials as they beat London Welsh 42-15 at Kassam Stadium to open up their LV= Cup campaign.

Despite Will Carrick-Smith's first-half try the Chiefs trailed 9-8 at half-time on Sunday, but eased away after Mark Foster's 49th minute try, with Nowell and Nic Sestaret scoring two tries apiece to secure a bonus point.
Rob Baxter had rung in the changes from the side which defeated Worcester Warriors in the Aviva Premiership last week, with a combination of youth and experience in a squad which took a while to get out of the blocks.

And Nowell believes he did his first team chances the world of good by turning in his man of the match performance.

"It was a great opportunity to show what I and a lot of the other guys could do," he said.
"We are treated all as equal at this club and I think we played as equals and that was really important because it's an opportunity to underline your talent.

"It was a big performance there, I think both the young boys and old boys stepped up when they needed to today and that was important.

Also on Sunday London Irish gained a measure of revenge over Sale Sharks with a 34-28 win at the Madejski Stadium.

Matt Garvey was the hero with a try in each half while George Skivington and Shane Geraghty also crossed as the Exiles grabbed a try bonus point.

The Sharks lead 18-10 at the break, largely down to the work of Danny Cipriani who finished with 16 points in the game, but they could not repeat the heroics of last weekend when they beat the same opposition for their first Aviva Premiership win of the season.

On Saturday Harlequins continued their late game heroics with a last-gasp 31-30 win against Northampton Saints.

And head coach Conor O'Shea insisted his side make their own luck after they were saved by Ben Botica's try and conversion.

Trailing 30-24 in the final minute of the game, Botica barged his way under the posts before dusting himself down and slotting his conversion to give Quins the victory.

Sam Smith's double in the first half along with Harry Sloan's try on his first start for Quins looked to have put the hosts to bed.

But Jim Mallinder's troops are made of stern stuff and they came roaring back in the second-half, Luther Burrell and Tom May both crossing.

And it appeared they had done enough to win it before Botica's late heroics saved Quins and left O'Shea beaming.

"It's a great fillip for the squad to come here and get a win," he said.

"People will say we got lucky with the last-minute try but we seem to get lucky a lot and that comes from hard work and belief in one another.

"A lot of teams would have tried to chase the game in an unstructured way but we were very controlled."
Worcester Warriors were also the victors on Saturday as they took down Scarlets 34-18 thanks to the introduction of Andy Goode after half-time.

The English side trailed at the break after Kristian Phillips went over for the Welsh region but after the interval Ben Howard, on debut, Semisi Taulava, Jake Abbott and Neil Best, in the final play of the game, all scored for the Warriors.

Semesa Rokoduguni was the star for Bath Rugby as they kicked off their LV= Cup campaign with a 36-15 win over Newport Gwent Dragons.

The Fijian debutant crossed twice at the Rec, Matt Banahan also scoring for the home side who were well marshalled by Tom Heathcote who finished with 21 points.

On Friday Saracens served notice of their strength in depth as they ran riot with a bonus-point 38-21 win against perennial rivals Leicester in their LV= Cup opener.

Blazing into a 27-0 lead at the break thanks to tries from Jamie George, Duncan Taylor and Joe Maddock and the steady boot of Nils Mordt, Sarries never looked back in their four-try win, with Andy Saull crossing after the break.

And defence coach Paul Gustard was full of praise for his side's young guns in the absence of their big-name stars.

"It was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Some of our youngsters really came to the fore," he said.
"It's really pleasing, Saracens often get criticised for not playing good attacking rugby, but we've shown that we do."

It was less good news for London Wasps on Friday as they fell to a 22-17 defeat to head coach Dai Young's former charges Cardiff Blues.

Elliot Daly scored the English side's only try, Tommy Bell notching 12 points with the boot but the Blues crossed for three tries of their own, Ceri Sweeney's late effort decisive in the end.

And Gloucester Rugby's remarkable fightback fell agonisingly short against the Ospreys at Liberty Stadium, the Welsh region running out 33-27 winners thanks to a last-gasp Morgan Allen try.

Matthew Morgan inspired the hosts to an 18-13 lead, kicking all 18 points, before being replaced by Sam Davies, son of Gloucester 's director of rugby Nigel.

And after finding themselves 26-13 down with 15 minutes to go, the Cherry & Whites scored two late tries to edge 27-26 ahead before Allen's last-gasp effort completed a thrilling finale.

Sol y Futbol: Lanzarote having no fun in the sun.

Thanks to Ian for the report. We catch up with Lanzarote, still in a poor run of results. The latest installemnt will be tomorrow.

C.D. SAN ISIDRO   1   LANZAROTE   0

When will this bad run end? Since the opening day away win Lanzarote have failed to secure three points in a match in nine games and are now third from bottom two points adrift of safety.

Prior to the match the Rojillos were sitting one place above their Tenerife rivals and it was the home side that began the match with more desire. In the 9^th minute midfielder Simón struck inside the area but his goal bound effort was cleared with a last ditch block.

Lanzarote steadied themselves and began to threaten with good chances for strike duo Miguel Yunes and Rosmen going amiss.

Nine minutes before the break and the home side were awarded a spot kick when Alex Yunes brought down winger Cristian on the edge of the box. The same player shook off the knock and stepped up to convert the penalty giving his side a 1-0 advantage to take into the half time break.

As ever, Lanzarote picked up their performance in the second half but conceding first is an all to usual occurrence with the Rojillos these days. In the 64^th minute Rosmen spurned a great chance failing to hit the target and if that wasn’t bad enough four minutes later a good header from Rosmen was handled by the defender giving the Rojillos a penalty and also reducing the home side down to ten men. It was Rosmen´s responsibility to put his side back on level terms but almost inevitably his strike was saved by the Tenerife keeper.

The home side quite rightly shut the door and packed the midfield to protect their 1-0 lead. Lanzarote dominated the possession but just could not break through whilst the hosts squandered a great chance on the counter attack in the 87^th minute. With the Rojillos pressing forward desperately in search of an equalizer the ball was hoofed forward and midfielder Aday found himself alone with just the Lanzarote keeper Marcos Machín to beat but fired his effort over the bar.

Lanzarote couldn’t find any way through as San Isidro leapfrogged Lanzarote in the league table leaving the Rojillos in the drop zone.

Morale is at an all time low but Lanzarote will have to pick themselves up as this Sunday they face a home match against the inform Las Zocas. The Tenerife side are in fine form lately unbeaten in their last six outings winning five of them which has moved them up to fourth spot. Kick off time is yet to be confirmed though it will probably be played at the earlier time of 11.30am.

GOALS
1-0 min 36 Cristian (Penalty)

March to the Arch 4: Chelmsford earn trip to Crawley

I know it’s late in the day, but well done to the clarets for beating Colchester 3-1 in the F.A.Cup 1st Round proper. Chelmsford continue to represent Sports Pulse with a trip to Crawley, in the next Round.

With the win against league opposition the mighty Clarets earned 3 bonus points.

So how are we going in March to the Arch 4.

We started, as always, at Barkingside in the Extra Preliminary round. Barkingside faced Great Yarmouth Town from Eastern Counties Division One, a group below the'side in Sports Pulse classifications. After a 1-1 draw the Great Yarmouth brought Barkingside home(ish), and comfortably beat them 3-0 and also earned a MttA bonus point.

The Preliminary Round saw Great Yarmouth entertain Witham Town, from Ryman League Division One North. More bonus points were available to the Bloaters if they secured victory. Not to be, as Witham Town hammered them 8-1.

In the 1st Qualifying Round Witham travelled to East Thurrock United from the Ryman Premier League. Witham were obviously underdogs, but were riding high on the previous rounds result. A well fought match saw East Thurrock win 2-0 and the Rocks travelled to Kingstonian. 

East Thurrock made hard work of a very promising start but still ran out 3-2 victors in the 2nd Qualifying Round. Then in the 3rd Qualifying round they brushed aside Maidstone United 3 – 0 to set up the derby with Chelmsford.

Chelmsford ended the hopes of East Thurrock with a penalty shoot out, after the rocks earned a well deserved replay. The clarets were drawn against Colchester, mentioned above in the 1st Round proper.

The Merit Table as from today as follows:

1.  East Thurrock United    25 points

2.  Chelmsford City  16 points

3.  Witham Town   10 Points

4.  Great Yarmouth Town   5 points

5.  Barkingside  4 points

6.  Colchester United 2 Points

7.  Maidstone United  2 Points

8.  Kingstonian  1 point

Below is a reminder of the Merit Table points rules and classifications.

March to the Arch (MttA 4) Points & Classifications.

Merit Points are awarded after each round. The MttA winner will be the team who have accumulated the most points over the competition. There are 15 Rounds between the Extra Preliminary Round and the Final.

If teams are level on points at the end of the tournament the winner will be:
1) The team with the most appearances in the tracker.
2) The head to head result between the teams if applicable.
3) Goal Difference over the competition
4) Goals scored
5) If still level after the above, position will be shared.

Merit Points are awarded as follows

8 points Away win
7 points Home win
6 points Away win after replay
5 points Home win after replay
4 points Away defeat after replay
3 points Home defeat after replay
2 points Away defeat
1 point Home defeat

Semi Final
8 points for a win
3 points for defeat
1 point deducted each team, if tie goes to extra time.
2 points deducted each team, if tie goes to penalties.

Final
10 points for win
5 points for defeat
1 point deducted each team, if tie goes to extra time.
2 points deducted each team, if tie goes to penalties.

Bonus Points

Divisions will be split into 11 groups. 1 point will be awarded to teams that beat a club above their group (1 point per group above the lower team). For example if Harpenden Town, from the South Midlands League, beat Premier League Manchester United, they will receive 9 bonus points.

The groups are split as follows

Group 1: Premier League
Group 2: Championship
Group 3: League 1
Group 4: League 2
Group 5: Blue Square Premier
Group 6: Blue Square North and South
Group 7: Regional Premier Leagues (e.g Ryman Premier etc)
Group 8: Regional 1st Divisions (e.g Ryman 1st Divisions North and South etc)
Group 9: County Leagues (Essex Senior League etc)
Group 10: County League feeder divisions (e.g South Midland League 1st Division etc)
Group 11: General leagues.

Hoop Zone: Barking Triple Weekend

What a weekend for Abbey Basketball, 2 league victories and success in the National Shield. Thanks to Mark and all the team for pics and info.

Manchester Mystics 56  Barking Abbey 63

Barking Abbey Senior Women moved to 2-0 in VCars.co.uk Division 1 with a 63-56 defeat of Manchester Mystics, in Manchester, on Saturday evening.

“Pleased with win,” said head coach Mark Clark after the game. “Ros (Mason) really led by example and showed why I think she still offers the national team an option. It was good to get some young players in to the game.”

Mason led BA with 19 points, Shequila Joseph added 15, whilst Georgia Jones finished with 7 points and 5 assists.

“We must continue to get better every game if we are to compete with the best though,” Clark added.
BA will look to keep their perfect record on November 24, when they take on City of Sheffield Hatters at home (8:00pm tip)

University of East London NASSA 72  Barking Abbey 74

Barking Abbey left University of East London Sports Dock with their closest victory of the season on Saturday afternoon, beating University of East London NASSA 74-72, to move to 5-0 in the VCars.co.uk Division 4 Men’s league.

Both teams entered the game undefeated, and with the top spot in the league table at stake, BA didn’t back down from the more experienced NASSA side.

“This was a great win for Barking Abbey, I couldn’t be happier with this group of players,” enthused head coach Frank Holloway after the game. “This was a game we have been preparing for all week. In the end our players just wanted it more. They stuck together, played hard, and never gave up.

“We shot the ball well as a team, and dominated the glass; both areas we focused on this week in practice”
David Akibo (pictured, above) led BA with a 20 point, 7 rebound, 4 assist effort, Josh Steel added 17 points, Paulius Satkus had a 12 point, 15 rebound double double, and Joe Lockwood finished with 11 points and 9 rebounds.

“Joe, Paulius, and David were huge for us in the post,” continued Holloway. “They played a physical game, and didn’t back down at all.

“Our defensive pressure in the second half is what helped us secure this win.”
Roy Downey added 9 points and 5 assists.

BA will now play Medway Park Crusaders II at home on November 17 (6:00pm tip).

Barking Abbey 99 Solent Kestrels 90

Barking Abbey advanced to the National Shield quarter finals on Sunday afternoon, with a 99-90 home victory over Solent Kestrels.

The win came with no less than six players scoring in double digits, led by 18 points from Ryan Addision as he drained 6 three pointers.

“Solent were very aggressive on both sides of the floor, something we expected,” explained head coach Frank Holloway after the game. “We made some adjustments at half time that really helped us down the stretch of the ball game.”

Paulius Satkus had a 17 point, 11 rebound, double double, Roy Downey finished with 17 points and 5 assists, whilst Josh Steel, Joe Lockwood and David Akibo added 16, 14, and 11 points respectively.
“In the end our defense won us the game,” continued Holloway.

BA advance to play Nottingham Hoods away on December 9.