Basketball: Wasps still on target for a Top 4 finnish.

HULL Wasps continued on their course for a top 4 finish with a nail-biting 76-74 win over Cheshire Jets at the Bonus Arena on Saturday evening.


After a slow start the teams went end-to-end with Cheshire coming out on top at the end of the first quarter; 23-19 to the visitors. After the break Wasps started to find some rhythm and after some solid basketball and a dunk from Brignell, the Wasps took a narrow 42-41 lead into the dressing room at half time.

A third quarter saw the contest as even as ever with both sides scoring 22 points each and went into the final quarter at 64-63 to the Wasps.

A tense final quarter awaited and the stuttering Wasps couldn't seem to take their chances. John Brignell, who top scored with 30 points for the game, couldn't seem to find the basket from the floor but made up with some sharp shooting from the free-throw line.

Wasps were down 74-70 with just over a minute on the clock but after a string of free-throws from the player-coach and a vital lay-in, the Wasps had a 1 point lead. Matt Fawcett was taken to the foul line where he scored 1 of his 2 to make it 76-74 and some excellent defence brought the victory home.

Hull remain in fourth but have opened up a 2 point gap over Stockport Falcons who lost at Warrington Wolves.

Hull will take on league-leaders Huddersfield Heat tomorrow.

HULL Wasps fell just short of their most famous win as champions Huddersfield Heat held off a late rally for a 103-99 victory.

Trailing 81-65 at the end of the third quarter, Hull poured in 30 points to league leaders’ 15 to drag themselves to within a point with just a minute remaining.

But the Wasps had no answer for the Heat’s former England international Jason Swaine. The guard, capped 24 times by his country, hit his side’s final 14 points to finish the game with 43.

It was Swaine who iced the win with a pair of free-throws after Hull captain Jamie Goodwin, who scored 28 points, hit one of his five three-pointers to put the Wasps within two with just seconds to go in the game.

Wasps player-coach John Brignell proved a thorn in the side of the Heat’s inside players throughout the game, scoring 35 points.

It was the second of a home back-to-back weekend which saw Hull narrowly see off a young Cheshire Jets side 76-74 the previous day.

Brignell hit 30 points against the north-west outfit, while Scottish forward Rob Birchmore added 11 in an uninspiring performance from the hosts.

Goodwin said: “It’s strange. Cheshire are a decent side with some talent, but they only brought five players. We never got going. I never doubted we would win the game, but we should have seen them off easily.

“Then just a day later, we produce one of our better performances of the season and end on the losing side.

“There is no shame in losing to Huddersfield – some of the shots that Swaine hit were simply ridiculous – but it is frustrating to lose after such a good performance and win after such a poor one. But that’s basketball, I suppose.

“It looks like the battle for fourth place is going to come down to the final game of the season against Stockport Falcons, who are now fifth. We are determined to stay in the top four.”

The Wasps face Stockport on Saturday, March 19, at the Bonus Arena in Walton Street, west Hull. Tip-off is 7.30pm.

Rugby Union: World in Union Round 17 review, Falcons and Leeds close gap on Sale.

This posting supplied by our friends at Premiership Rugby and Aviva.

ROUND 17


Aviva Premiership Rugby Round 17 threw up some unexpected results as Leicester Tigers were beaten at home for the first time in the league this season and Newcastle Falcons and Leeds Carnegie both won comfortably to keep their survival hopes alive.

Probably the most impressive result of the weekend was Exeter Chief’s win against Northampton Saints, as the pre- season favourites for relegation came from behind to beat the early season pace-setters. It’s been a tough few weeks for the Saints, while things couldn’t be looking better for the boys in Devon.

On Friday night at Kingston Park Newcastle Falcons ran in three second-half tries to defeat Harlequins and take a big step towards Aviva Premiership Rugby safety. Quins were in the lead after just three minutes with a try from Tom Williams in the corner but this was followed by tries in the second half by Alex Gray, Luke Fielden and Micky Young for Newcastle Falcons and along with some excellent kicking by Jimmy Gopperth, a second Harlequins try by Mike Brown couldn’t stop a welcome victory for the home side. Final score: Newcastle Falcons 33, Harlequins 18.

On Saturday Gloucester Rugby completed a season’s double over fierce local rivals Bath Rugby at Kingsholm to underline their credentials as genuine Aviva Premiership Rugby title challengers. A ninth successive win in all competitions – Gloucester’s longest unbeaten run since 2002 – was secured by tries from England prop Paul Doran-Jones, centre Henry Trinder and wing Tom Voyce’s double. Fly-half Nicky Robinson added four penalties and a conversion, while Matt Banahan, Tom Biggs and Ben Williams scored for Bath in only their second defeat from their last 10 starts. Final score: Gloucester Rugby 34, Bath Rugby 22.

Over at Welford Road, replacement Billy Twelvetrees missed a last-gasp penalty as Saracens moved within two points of Leicester Tigers at the top of the Aviva Premiership Rugby table with a nail-biting win. An impressive try from Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi separated the sides at the break as three penalties apiece from Jeremy Staunton and Alex Goode saw the hosts hold a 14-9 interval lead. But the Tigers remained scoreless after the break and two more Goode penalties, the second just five minutes from time, saw Saracens become the first side to win at “fortress” Welford Road in the league. Final score: Leicester Tigers 14, Saracens 15.


On Sunday at Sandy Park, visitors Northampton Saints dominated the first half against Exeter Chiefs and led 9-3 at the interval. However, in the second half the Chiefs turned on the style and scored 27 unanswered points in an amazing comeback with tries from Tom Hayes, Sireli Naqelevuki and Tom Johnson, inflicting Northampton’s sixth straight Aviva Premiership Rugby defeat. Final score: Exeter Chiefs 30, Northampton Saints 9.

Leeds Carnegie revived their hopes of Aviva Premiership Rugby survival after a rousing fightback saw them dent London Irish’s top four chances at Headingley Carnegie. Irish led 16-3 after 32 minutes courtesy of an outstanding try from centre Seilala Mapusua, a penalty from Chris Malone and eight further points from Ryan Lamb. But Leeds, for whom Hendre Fourie was outstanding, responded with tries from Luther Burrell, Daniel Browne and Mike MacDonald, along with some solid kicking from Adrian Jarvis, to turn the game on its head. Final score: Leeds Carnegie 27, London Irish 19.

Over at Adams Park, Dave Walder’s boot raised London Wasps’ top four hopes with a win over Sale Sharks. Fly-half Walder kicked 23 of their points landing six penalties, a conversion and a drop goal. Tries for Wasps came from Riki Flutey and Joe Simpson and for Sale Sharks from Ben Cohen and Wame Lewaravu supported by kicking duties from Charlie Hodgson. Final score: London Wasps 33, Sale Sharks 26.

Rugby Union: Rebels no answer for Chiefs in Super Rugby.

Rebels match report posted in full by Melbourne Rebels.

CHIEFS 38 REBELS 10


The Melbourne Rebels failed to back up their round two victory, falling 38-10 to the Chiefs at a wet Waikato Stadium. The hosts better handled the greasy conditions as persistent errors pockmarked the Rebels display.

A Gareth Delve try was bettered by four from the Chiefs as the home side’s possession and control ground the Rebels into submission and secured them a bonus point for their efforts.

Much of the Rebels’ difficulties began at the set pieces, with the lineout particularly vulnerable. As with last week, Mark Gerrard’s searching kicks from fullback proved a feature of the game, one swing of the fullback’s boot frequently turning defence into attack. Further forward, Danny Cipriani’s probing grubbers earned good field position, but fragility at the set pieces denied them opportunities to convert promise into points.

Stephen Donald’s penalty gave the Chiefs an early lead, rewarding their superior urgency in the opening exchanges. It was the Rebels, however, who created the first try scoring opportunity but Julian Huxley spilled the wet ball with Cooper Vuna lurking menacingly on the overlap. From that phase of possession play was brought back for an earlier infringement, allowing Danny Cipriani to even the score.

The Rebels failed to convert good field position as they dominated the middle portion of the half, with two stolen lineouts deep in attack hindering progress.

The Chiefs suffered a setback, when, on 19 minutes, captain Mils Muliaina was forced from the field after failing to shrug off an injury suffered in the opening drive of the match.

The loss of the inspirational fullback failed to put the Chiefs off their stride though, as their explosive backline began to stretch the Rebels defence. Donald failed with his second penalty opportunity after the Rebels withstood 10 phases of play before Dwayne Sweeney and Sitiveni Sivivatu both broke through the Rebels defensive line in quick succession.

Donald did put the Chiefs back in front on the half hour mark, with his second penalty, as the Rebels continued to have difficulty retaining possession in opposition territory.

6-3 became 13-3 after 35 minutes as Donald converted Sivivatu’s opening try. The Chief’s domination of the ball began to tell as the half progressed. Half-breaks became line breaks and midfield incursions began to threaten the Rebels’ line. Eventually, from deep in the right corner, play was recycled through the midfield to Sivivatu and the All Black legend turned on the afterburners to touchdown just left of the posts.

Another Donald penalty extended the lead further before halftime as the Chiefs went in 16-3 in front.

The second half began like the first, with a Donald penalty, which was closely followed by the Chief’s second try. Lelia Masaga held off all comers down the right, and despite being tackled just short of the line, had enough momentum to slide over.

A raft of substitutions invigorated the Rebels and the extra energy was rewarded on 58 minutes when vice captain, Gareth Delve, barged his way over from close range. Cipriani’s boot further reduced the deficit as the newcomers threatened to mount a comeback.

Frustratingly, issues at the set piece stunted the growth of an embryonic fight back, which was halted on 66 minutes when Sona Taumalolo crashed over and comprehensively snuffed out on 78 minutes when Masaga brushed off some despairing Rebels defence to slide in the right corner. Masaga’s second was the Chiefs fourth, earning the home side a bonus point.

Kult & Punk: 5-0 Oh! Still always next week.

The boys reliance on Andy James filing this report, was the best move of the day. Actually, to post photographic evidence is just too painful, so we will show our favourite snap of the boys back in Zoe's Bar. Still there is always next week. Thank you Andy James (again)

1. FC Nürnberg 5-0 FC St. Pauli


Christian Eigler was the star of the show for Nürnberg, whose brilliant start to 2011 continued with a romping 5-0 success at home to faltering St. Pauli.

The hosts could hardly have wished for a better start against a St. Pauli side experiencing a worrying downturn in fortunes following their New Year's burst of form. Philipp Wollscheid (3') struck an early opener for the Bavarians as he finished from Mehmet Ekici's corner, and the Franken were three up within the following quarter of an hour. Eigler (14', 17') was twice the scorer, first finishing confidently after collecting a loose ball on the left of the box and subsequently converting at the near post from Ekici's left-wing centre.

Field day for Eigler

Never in danger on the back of that 3-0 lead, the hosts were able to administer their advantage with little expenditure after the break. Pauli's sloppy passing and uninspired attacks continued to disappoint, inviting Nürnberg to add to their lead in the latter stages. Incredibly it was Eigler who would up his tally to six for the season, first thumping home after substitute Marek Mintal had missed an open goal (86') before finishing smartly with the outside of his boot just a minute later from Mintal's clever ball through.

Dieter Heckings' charges are now seven matches unbeaten as they rise to sixth in the standings. St. Pauli's third consecutive defeat leaves them just three points above the drop zone.

Andy James

Fix 'n' Mix. Rugby League: London Skolars start Challenge Cup Campaign

First, I apologise for the delay in Fix ‘n’ Mix this week. We have had a busy week with a new intake of clients.


In football, the spotlight is on March to the Arch again. The F.A.Vase has reached the Quarter Final stage. Our ‘adopted’ side Rye United travel to Kings Lyn. On Sunday in the F.A.Women’s Cup, last weeks match Derby County v Sunderland, will be played. The winners will entertain Lincoln in the next round.

In Lanzarote, los Rojillos hope to carry on from last weeks 2-1 win over CD Victoria. They remain top of the table, but travel to 3rd place Granadilla on Sunday. We apologise for no match report this week, sand in the laptop.

The boys, Kult & Punk, will be on the road with FC St Pauli. They travel to FC Nurnberg in the hope of picking up valuable points.

In Rugby, Melbourne Rebels travel to Hamilton to play the Chiefs. The Rebels will hope to build on last weeks narrow victory in Super Rugby.

Harpenden Rugby is on the road again. Lying 2nd in the league and on the back of a disappointing defeat at Hemel, they travel to Chiswick. Chiswick are 3rd in the table, so a tough ask for the boys from Redbourn Lane.

In Rugby League, London Skolars enter the Carnegie Challenge Cup. After their trip to France, they host Egremont Rangers at New River Stadium on Saturday.

Jesmond Parish Churches Hockey club are on the road this weekend. The Ladies travel to Northumbria St Georges, while the chaps head to Newcastle University.

Chelmsford Chieftains approach the end of the regular season, with a trip to Cardiff Devils on Saturday – face off 1900. On Sunday, they return to the Essex Capital to play Invicta Dynamoes – face off 1830.

In Basketball, the Hull Wasps have a bonus weekend. On Saturday they welcome the Cheshire Jets to the Bonus Arena – tip off 19.30. On Sunday it is the turn of the Huddersfield Heat to visit – tip off 1500.

As always, please check with the clubs featured to confirm the time, venue and date.

Happy Sporting.

Rugby Union: Harpenden pegged back by local rivals

Thank you to www.hrfc.com for providing this report in full

Hemel Hempstead 29 Harpenden 20

The rollercoaster season at HRFC continued for another week. A strong team performance 2 weeks ago saw us overcome Grasshoppers in convincing fashion, partly making amends for an abysmal loss away to UCS Old Boys the previous week. This week the Men in Black made the short trip to Hemel and, despite having some influential players missing, things began well.

Playing down the slope and with the elements behind them, Harpenden made the advantage tell by scoring an early try when Matt Peck crashed over to settle things down. The tempo was maintained as the forwards continued to make good yards and the backs kept things tight and simple. Perhaps predictably given the conditions, the majority of rugby was played in the Hemel half and eventually the pressure told as Rob Healey – in his first game back for 4 months – dived over from close range to extend the lead. Haddock added the extras.

Hemel came fighting back and used their big runners well to come close on a couple of occasions, however they failed to trouble the scoreboard. A further penalty from Haddock and a fine backs try finished by Kearns saw Harpenden take a 20-0 lead into the half.

The old adage ‘a game of two halves’ could not have been a more suitable description of what happened next. Almost from the kick off things began to go wrong for Harpenden, as Hemel slowly took control of the game. Whilst in the loose things were still relatively even, the set piece began to be dominated by the home side as they disrupted both the visitors’ scrums and line outs. This unrelenting pressure from the Hemel forwards eventually saw them crash over for a well deserved try and this was shortly followed by a couple more in similar fashion.

By this stage the wheels had all but come off the Harpenden wagon, however with a slender lead some senior players attempted to calm the nerves and restore some structure and composure. Unfortunately the advice was not heeded as hotheadedness resulted in 2 yellow cards and Harpenden being reduced to 13 for a period. The injuries to back rows Hoare and Graham exacerbated things and Hemel, to their credit, took full advantage of the collapse as they ran in 2 more tries to seal the victory. Final score 20-29.

Harpenden have maintained their 2nd place in the league and their play off hopes, however some might question how they are so high up the league with a 40 minute performance such as this. With 3rd placed Chiswick the next opponents, some focus and regrouping is needed if they hope to come away with the points.

Whilst Harpenden were the architects of their downfall on Saturday, recognition must go to Hemel for the way the came back from behind to take the victory. Unfortunately for them, the post match celebrations which seemed to go on well into Sunday have cast a dark cloud over the result.

Squad: Peck, Murphy, Ledwidge, Dumbleton, Green, Mcghee, Graham, Hoare, Healey, Tennant, Francis, Cooper, Kearns, Payne, Haddock. Lacey, Chichester-Miles, Thompson

Rugby League: Skolars gained a bonus point as they pushed Toulouse close.

Toulouse Olympique XIII 34 London Skolars 22

Northern Rail Cup - Saturday 26th February 2011

Skolars gained a bonus point as they pushed Toulouse close on Saturday.

They had gone behind early on to a Darren Nicholls try, following several dropped balls in rainy conditions that looked out of place in the south of France. Ade Adebisi was dragged into touch, but made amends soon afterwards stopping a penalty kick from reaching touch and winning possession back. The winger finished off the move by leaping to catch a cross-field kick from Dylan Skee. His second try followed four minutes later, finishing off a James Anthony interception.

Toulouse needed to win the game to be assured of a quarter final slot and they bounced back into the lead when Craig Cook drove over from dummy half and extended it through Yoan Tisseyre before half-time.

The second half started with both sides defending well and forcing goal line drop outs in attack, with Neil Thorman and Jy-Mel Coleman’s kicks both causing trouble for the home side. But it was the French team that broke the deadlock when Andrei Olari scored from a cross-field kick, soon followed by Josh Lewis slipping out of a tackle.

Skolars made a late comeback with two further tries. First Anthony kicked through for Matt Thomas to record his 100th point for the club, then Thomas’ pass set up Dave Arnot for a try. The gap was just six points with 6 minutes remaining and the possibility of a second successive draw was on the cards. However, an error by Skolars at the kick-off gave Toulouse field position and Brendan Worth scored to give relief to the hosts.

Match Teams/Stats

TOULOUSE

22 Damien Couturier
18 Andrei Olari
3 Sebastien Planas
20 Bruno Ormeno
24 Gregory White
6 Darren Nichols
7 Josh Lewis
8 Brendan Worth
9 Craig Cook
15 Jerome Gout
16 Sylvain Houles
12 Yoan Tisseyre
14 Antoni Maria

Subs (all used)

13 Eric Anselme
17 Kevin Larroyer
21 Nicholas Faure
29 Cyril Moliner

Tries: Nicholls (10), Cook (26), Tisseyre (30), Olari (58), Lewis (62), Worth (76)

Goals: Lewis 5/6

LONDON SKOLARS

3 James Anthony
2 Smokie Junor
17 Dave Arnot
4 Luke May
5 Ade Adebisi
7 Dylan Skee
1 Neil Thorman
8 Tony Williams
9 Gareth Honor
31 Saqib Murtza
11 Matt Thomas
12 Oliver Bloom
13 Stephen Ball

Subs (all used)

6 Jy-Mel Coleman
36 Dave McMeeken
16 James Simon
15 Olly Purslow

Tries: Adebisi (18,22), Thomas (67), Arnot (74)

Goals: Thorman 3/4

Penalty count: 6-8

Half-time: 18-10

Referee: Chris Leatherbarrow