Front Row: Aviva Premiership Round 5 Review

An Owen Farrell-inspired Saracens handed Harlequins a first Aviva Premiership defeat of the season and director of rugby Mark McCall believes his side have re-discovered their values of hard work.

While Farrell was infallible from the tee, kicking six from six penalties, his opposite number Nick Evans missed four of his eight goal kicks.
But a place-kicking shootout between the two tens was only half the story at the Stoop as scrum half Danny Care went over for a try and Saracens might have had one of their own for Chris Ashton but for the bounce of the ball.

Although that was the closet Sarries would come to crossing the whitewash McCall was content with the performance after frank discussions between players and management in midweek.

Sarries lost to Exeter Chiefs last week 14-12 and McCall said: "It's a big relief to win and it was also a big relief when you think that we've kind of lost ourselves a bit recently.

"We had a meeting on Monday where we talked about our values, what we were about as a club and whatever way the game went I just thought we found ourselves today.

"We were back to what we're about - fighting hard for each other and there was a real energy from one man to the next and that was the most pleasing thing for me."

Sarries' result meant Northampton Saints kept their place at the top of the Aviva Premiership, which they earnt with a 24-6 Friday night victory over London Wasps.

Aside from the result there were plus points all over the park for director of rugby Jim Mallinder who saw young full-back James Wilson step in expertly for injured England international Ben Foden by scoring two tries.

Courtney Lawes also showed himself to be back to his best with a stellar performance from blindside flanker but the players who were occupying his normal role of lock, Manu Samoa and Christian Day, were equally impressive in Mallinder's eyes.

"We want competition all over the field and James [Wilson] has made that spot his own with Ben Foden being away," said Mallinder.

"He (Lawes) is still probably not quite match fit for the full 80 minutes but some of his tackling was fantastic.
"I think we have an abundance of talent. Samu Manoa is now playing for 80 minutes which is fantastic in the second row for us and then Christian Day and Mark Sorenson are the brains for us so it is great when they call the line-out so we have good strength in there."

London Welsh were denied a third straight Aviva Premiership win by Gloucester Rugby - going down 31-25 at the Kassam Stadium.

Welsh lost both Neil Briggs and Sonny Parker to injury in the first half but were leading with 15 minutes to play thanks to 20 points from fly-half Gordon Ross and a try by prop Franck Montanella.

But a Freddie Burns penalty and a try from replacement Shaun Knight, converted by his fly-half, handed the Cherry & Whites victory. But Welsh's head coach Lyn Jones was still happy with his side's efforts.
"Turning around 18-9 with a couple of bad injuries, we were up against it - lesser teams would have crumbled but we fought hard," said Davies.

"There was a penalty in front of the posts with three points begging, and then another one with 15 to go - we came close to their try line several times and just didn't score."

Worcester Warriors romped to their first victory of the season against London Irish at Sixways with a score of 35-11.

Tries from Aleki Lutui, David Lemi and Semisi Taulava set the home side on their way before replacement Jon Clarke scored in the final act of the game to seal a bonus point.

The Exiles scored the first try of the game through No. 8 Ofisa Treviranus but fly-half Andy Goode was in a different class to steer Worcester to victory.

Goode's former club Leicester Tigers shook off their first loss at home in 11 months against Harlequins last week by beating Exeter Chiefs 30-8 at Welford Road.Summer signing Adam Thompstone notched a hat-trick in his first start for his new team and Toby Flood kicked three penalties and three conversions.

The Chiefs scored a consolation try at the death through Ben White from close range but Ignacio Mieres was too inconsistent with the boot to give his side a serious chance of victory.

Olly Barkley bade farewell to Bath Rugby with a performance which underlined why he has been one of the Premiership's top backline operators of the past decade.

The fly-half kicked 16 points against Sale Sharks in his last game at the Rec before joining up with Racing Metro as a medical joker.

Bath's other points came from prop David Wilson, captain Stuart Hooper and a penalty try while Sale could only manage a penalty and a conversion from fly-half Nick Macleod and a try from centre Johnny Leota.

Tapes Up: Diamonds sneak past the Rebels

Thank you Diamonds Media Team for the following post and picture.

Newcastle Diamonds 48 - Somerset Rebels 44

Premier League Championship Play-Offs Group Stage

Top Scorers:

Newcastle Diamonds - Claes Nedermark 16 1, Stuart Robson 11 1
Somerset Rebels - Jesper B. Monberg 15, Jason Doyle 12 1

As further progression to the Newcastle Diamonds' efforts to win their first Premier League Championship since 2001 they welcomed the Somerset Rebels to Brough Park last night in a double header starting with the Play offs and followed by the League Cup Semi-Final 2nd leg.

In the opening race Somerset's Jason Doyle, unbeaten by a Diamond in 10 races on Friday's first legs, found himself again in the lead but a determined Stuart Robson forced his way hard under the Rebel on bend four to take a fine win in a Newcastle 4-2.

Guest reserve Ben Morley as holding a good third place in Heat Two until he slid off going into a hard opening bend to the second lap causing the race to be halted and Morley excluded from the re-run in which Claes Nedermark took a huge win in a shared 3-3 taking the score to 7-5.

Nedermark continued his great form in the Somerset battles with another solid untroubled win in Heat Four with Ludvig Lindgren in third behind Claus Vissing, but after the 4-2 had been registered Lindgren went head over heals on the warm-down lap thankfully with no ill effects as the score moved on to 14-10.

Following another 4-2 in Heat Five where Henry took the scalp of Doyle with ease Nedermark jetted away again with Robson in second for a home 5-1 maximum to extend their lead to 23-13 allowing Jesper B. Monberg to race as a tactical ride in the seventh where the Dane took a solid six points in the 3-6 result moving the score on to 26-19.

Heat Eight ended with two finishers as Henry's bike back packed up on the starting line with Davies also grinding to a halt on the second lap, Newcastle winning the race 3-2 (29-21).

Monberg proved to be the man of the match as his unbeaten steak continued in Heat 10 taking the three points by a country mule over Robson in a 3-3 taking the score to 36-26, but Doyle and Davies joined forces over Lindgren to block the Diamond easily in the visiting 1-5, reducing the deficit to six points.

Lemon was the first to expertly lower the colours of Monberg with a solid gate in Heat 12 to hammer home a Newcastle 4-2, but with Newcastle aiming to take all three league points up for grabs former Diamond Newman in Heat 14 put that very much in jeopardy with a win to share the race 3-3 and take the score to a tantalising six point difference 46-40 with one to go.

The final race needed re-running when all four riders balked themselves on the first bend with Lemon hitting the deck but the referee ordered all four back for a re-run in which Doyle shot ahead with Monberg on his tail but Robson shot under the Dane on lap two to reduce the score to a visitors 2-4, but a vital league table point went to the Rebels.

George English said: "Three points were what we were after but we only managed two and we now must look to Leicester to make sure they take as many points from Somerset and we in turn take all points available from the Lions. The League Championship is pretty much in the lap of the Gods."

Hoop Zone follows Barking Abbey & Brooklyn Nets

Welcome to Hoop Zone, our basketball feature.  This season we will be following Barking Abbey Leopards, and also keeping you updated with the progress of other teams within the organisation.

The Leopards play in Division 4 South East Division and started the season with a National Shield win at Ealing.

All posts and pictures supplied from our friends at Barking Abbey.  We will also be following the progress of the Nets in the NBA, as they return to Brooklyn owned by Jay Z.

Barking Abbey came away victorious in their Division 4 season opener, beating Division 3 side Ealing Phoenicians, 66-53, in the National Shield on Saturday evening in Barking.

Plagued by turnovers and poor foul shooting, it wasn’t until the fourth quarter Abbey managed to pull away, buckling down defensively to have a 25-10 final period and seal the win.

“First half, I thought we really didn’t come out with the intensity or energy we normally do, especially on defence,” Head Coach Frank Holloway commented after the game. “In the second half we did a better job of keeping them in front of us. We still turned the ball over way too much, but it feels good to get that first win.”

Josh Steel and Joe Lockwood led Barking with 13 points each, Roy Downey added 12 and Ronan O’Sullivan 10 to join them in double figures.

Kult & Punk: St Pauli bad form continues.

Thanks to the boys who managed to post the report amongst the dispair of another poor performance. The boys will be back inn Zoe's Bar next week and we will catch up with how things have gone over the summer.

Jahn Regensburg 3-0 FC St. Pauli

In their first game under Thomas Meggle and Timo Schultz following the dismissal of head coach Andre Schubert, St. Pauli found themselves on the back foot from the off in Regensburg. However, it took the home side a while to find a way through the deep-lying visitors, until Francky Sembolo clinically dispatched the ball from close range to break the deadlock on 25 minutes. Jim-Patrick Müller failed to get the better of Pauli keeper Philipp Tschauner at the half-hour-mark, but he did better just before half-time when he easily converted into an unguarded goal.

Florian Bruns could have scored St. Pauli's first just after the break, but his deflected went over the bar. The guests were thn caught on the counterattack as they threw bodies forward after the break when Sembolo finished off a through-ball from Jonathan Kotzke to score his fourth goal of the season. Mahir Saglik's beautiful free-kick (65') was St. Pauli's only good effort in the last half hour as he forced a good save from Michael Hofmann.

Sol y Futbol: Lanzarote draw at Corralejo

Post and photo, thanks to our man in Arrecife - Mr Ian Lane. You will of course notice, that the pictures featured this season are from the same game. Young Ian is on the case

CD CORRALEJO   0   LANZAROTE   0

The Conejeros ( Lanzaroteans´s) made the short 30 minute trip on the ferry to visit the second placed Majoreros ( Fuerteventurian´s) amidst blistering heat for a Saturday 5 pm kick off and will be a little disappointed to return with just a point.

Even at 5pm, the temperature was well into the 30´s which did not help to create this match into a spectacle. Undoubtedly the best chance of the match was for the Conejeros midway through the first half.
Centre back Kamara returning from injury fed Rosmen on the edge of the box and a Corralejo defender rashly upended the Lanzarote striker and the Ref had no hesitation in awarding the visitors a clear penalty. The ever reliable Jotha stepped up and placed his shot into the left hand corner but the keeper saved with his left hand and as Rosmen pounced the keeper recovered well just conceding a corner kick to the annoyance of the tall striker.

Chances were few though the Rojillos edged possession in the first period with Corralejo´s first shot on target coming at the end of the half which the Lanzarote keeper Marco Machín comfortably dealt with.
The home side came out much stronger early in the second half and after just three minutes had a great opportunity from midfielder Héctor to go in front but his header flew inches wide of the upright.
Just after the hour mark Rosmen was put through with just the keeper to beat but the goal shy striker took far too much time and a defender cleared the danger with a timely tackle.

Both sides had one more clear chance apiece. Héctor again came close heading just wide from a corner and Lanzarote sub Lolo could have claimed all three points for his side but his strike failed to hit the target.
Both teams seemed content with a point and for the Rojillos it is a good result away from home but already they are seeing Déjà Vu from last season as they again trail league leaders SD Tenisca by eight points after only five games.

Next Sunday Lanzarote will have the opportunity to climb the league table when they host 12^th placed Gran Canarian side San Pedro Mártir. Kick off time will be confirmed later in the week.

Front Row: Hoppa looks at Chinnor Rugby Club

The 'boy' Hoppa continues his trip around Rugby grassroots and settles at Chinnor Rugby Club this week. The following post is supplied by Chinnor Rugby Club by DaveWinpenny,www.pitchero.com/clubs/chinnor.

Chinnor’s long wait to play rugby at Kingsey Road this season was rewarded with a bonus point 38-14 victory against strugglers Barking.

With Mowbray back from injury, Chinnor gave a debut to back rower Evan Sawyer. The match also saw the return of hooker Alan Cawston, starting his 16th consecutive season of first team rugby for Chinnor.

Although Barking made a bright start, first points of the afternoon came from Chinnor’s James Cathcart on 5 minutes who slotted a penalty goal after a scrum infringement by the visitors from Essex. Chinnor were back on the scoreboard some 11 minutes later when a powerful midfield break from Goode allowed Stoop to canter under the posts for the opening try. Cathcart converted to give Chinnor a 10-0 lead.

Barking’s fullback Forrest kicked a penalty goal in the 22nd minute to open Barking’s account. Cathcart and Forrest then exchanged penalty goals to put the home side in at the break 13-6 ahead.

Chinnor attacked right from the restart and Seymour’s industry down the right was rewarded when number 8 Joe Kava powered over for Chinnor’s second try. Cathcart’s conversion now gave Chinnor a 20-6 lead. Minutes later, Cathcart dummied and scythed through the midfield and slipped what looked to be the perfect pass to Colver in acres of space. Unfortunately for Chinnor, a Barking hand managed to intercept to prevent a certain try. A similar thing happened minutes later when Kava, bursting through the visitor’s defence, passed the ball to the intercepting Barking full back Woollard, who was yellow carded for being offside. From the resultant scrum, quick ball was zipped along the back line to fullback Colver to touch down for Chinnor’s third the try of the afternoon. Cathcart converted on the 53rd minute to increase Chinnor’s lead to 27-6.

Barking then had a good period attacking the Chinnor line which resulted in a try for Sinfield on 55 minutes in from a smart inside pass to reduce Chinnor’s lead to 27-11. Chinnor then went vigorously in hunt of the fourth and bonus point try without result – caused by stout Barking resistance and some mishandling. The fourth try eventually came in the 75th minute from Liam Gilbert and, with the conversion from James Cathcart, Chinnor’s lead increased to 34-11. Barking did not give up and were rewarded with a last minute try from full back Woollard and Forrest’s conversion made the final score 34-18 to Chinnor.
Barking struggled at times in the match and looked underpowered in the scrum. However, their resilience made the score line respectable.

Chinnor had a mixed match and eschewed a number of scoring chances but will be happy to gain a bonus point victory for the first home match of the season.

Scorers:
Chinnor: Stoop T; Colver T; Kava T; Gilbert T; Cathcart 4C, 2PG
Barking: Sinfield T; Woollard T; Forrest C, 2PG

Chinnor team:
Colver, Seymour (Gray 58), Goode, Stoop, Corpe (Fielding 74), Cathcart, Jones, Winpenny (Whelan 68,) Cawston, Pickett (Berry 67), Mowbray, Smith (Wood 61), Gilbert, Sawyer, Kava
Replacements: Berry, Whelan, Wood, Fielding, Gray

The 2nd Annual Chinnor "Oktoberfest" Beer Festival is this weekend. please visit the Chinnor Rugby Club website for further details and download tasting notes. Go along and support your local club.

 

Kult & Punk: St Pauli lose at Frankfurt

The boys have reappeared after a couple of weeks on the missing list.  Zoe's Bar is being refurbished before the new Darts season gets under way, A new stage has been set up for Rock at Zoe's, with Ziggy and Rampant Nuns, I'm really not making this up - promise.

The boys, however, can only file a small snippet from the weekends game, as another defeat as left them somewhat deflated.

 FSV Frankfurt FC St. Pauli

FSV Frankfurt were in confident mood going into this game and took only seven minutes to find the net as Odise Roshi's effort beat Patric Klandt. The away side came storming back , however, and after missing a host of chances, deservedly drew level when Daniel Ginczek slotted into an empty net.

Parity wasn't restored for long, however, as Edmond Kapplani continued his good form by nodding FSV back into the lead. Despite a barrage of set-pieces and long balls, Pauli were unable to break the hosts' defence down. Frankfurt, meanwhile, move up to second in the table.