Nick Wright previews this weekend's clash between York City Knights and Hull FC
Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
James Tompkinson reviews an excellent pre-season victory for the York City Knights against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos
Before the Ashes series one member of the English team was constantly being questioned by the media, and a poor performance would almost certainly have seen him dropped from the side. Fast forward a couple of months and the same player was England’s hero from the series opener - Alastair Cook. His two centuries and one double century were just part of the devastation that he piled onto the Australian team. He was quite rightly awarded player of the series.
The weekend of the 19th and 20th of December will be remembered for the heavy snowfall that brought chaos to sporting fixtures and transport. One man who was not going to let the snow get the better of him was referee Stuart Atwell, who managed to prevent Ipswich’s game against Leicester from falling to the snow. Blue lines had to be painted on the pitch and the ball was changed from white to yellow and then from yellow to orange as it was difficult to see against all the snow. After an extended half time break to clear the snow from the pitch, play was halted for 17 minutes during the second half to allow the ground staff to clear the pitch of yet more snow. Eventually the game was completed with Ipswich winning 3-0, much to the dismay of Leicester manager Sven Goran Eriksson.
The start of January brings the excitement of the FA cup’s third round, where Premiership and Championship sides join the contest. Every year there are a number of David v Goliath contests, often with a fair few Davids winning. This year was no different, with Burton Albion, Reading, Leyton Orient, Notts County, Colchester, Torquay, Brighton, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday and Stevenage all recording wins against opposition in a higher league. Most impressively however was non-league Crawley Town, who beat Championship side Derby County 2-1. They have been awarded with an easier tie at league two Torquay for the fourth round.
Ryan Babel recently got fined £10,000 for posting a photoshopped picture of Howard Webb on twitter, after Liverpool’s FA cup third round loss to rivals Manchester United. The picture, which showed the referee wearing a Man Utd shirt, was not received well at the FA, where they decided to slap the Dutchman with the fine. Babel is clearly a Hero for saying what many thought about the referee and having to deal with the fine. Plus the picture was quite funny.
Wow, Ipswich went to a lot of effort to get that game played! Good job they won!
You must log in to submit a comment.
Report