Global World Sport

Match: Hampshire beat Ireland by 8 wickets (D/L method)

Reporter: Chris Eastwood, UK

In a highly entertaining game, Hampshire came out on top, beating Ireland by 8 wickets. But the Hampshire victory wasn't as easy as it seemed.

Ireland, fresh from their World Cup adventures and their new found placing in the ODI Rankings, opened the batting, scoring 221/6. Gillespie top scored with 55, with Trent Johnston adding a fast 52. Kyle McCallan added a quick-fire 21*. Chris Tremlett looked good with the ball on his return from injury - 1-58. Clark bowled well also, taking 2-36.

Hampshire in reply lost Michael Lumb for 8 (lbw Hayward), with Chris Benham soon following for 13 (c Wilson b Langford-Smith). But 67* and 66* from Ervine and Pietersen respectively helped Hampshire meet the rain-reduced target of 175 in 29 overs. Hayward, in his six overs, took 1-39 and was expensive in the first couple of overs. In one over, Mooney took 0-15.

Hampshire: Benham, Lumb, Ervine, Pietersen, Mascarenhas, Pothas (wk), Crawley, Warne ©, Clark, Tremlett, Taylor.
Ireland: Porterfield, Bray, Mooney, Gillespie, White, K J O'Brien, Wilson (wk), Johnston ©, McCallan, Hayward, Langford-Smith.

Match: Hampshire v Yorkshire, County Championship, Day 2

Reporter: Chris Eastwood, UK

Hampshire started Day 2 on 25-0 after bowling Yorkshire out for 299.

Hampshire's first innings started well, with Adams (22) the only wicket to fall in hours. But, Hampshire then lost 3 wickets for 11 runs, with Crawley (32), Lumb (5) and Benham (2) all falling - the first two to Bresnan, the latter to the talented Rashid. Michael Brown was the next to go, out for 105 having been caught LBW by Bresnan.

Hampshire then frustrated the bowlers, managing to get to 296 - 3 short of Yorkshire's total. Nic Pothas was on 70*, with Gillespie and Hoggard taking the wickets off the tail.

Yorkshire had a chance to bat for the last 14 overs of the day, with Michael Vaughan retiring hurt on 16 having been hit on the finger by Stuart Clark. His opening batsman partner, Sayers, was out for 6, with McGrath out for 7. Younis Khan and Matthew Hoggard both ended the day on 8*.

Hampshire: Brown, Adams, Crawley, Lumb, Benham, Pothas (wk), Ervine, Warne (cpt), Clark, Bruce, Tomlinson.
Yorkshire: Vaughan, Sayers, McGrath, Younis Khan, Rudolph, Brophy (wk), Rashid, Bresnan, Gough (cpt), Gillespie, Hoggard.

Match: Sydney FC (Australia) 3-0 Persik Kediri (Indonesia), 2007 Asian Champions League, Matchday Four, Parramatta Stadium, Sydney

Reporter: hughgeta (Sydney, Australia)

Goalscorer Steve Corica Celebrates

It was Matchday Four in the Asian Champions League and nothing less than a win for Sydney FC would end their seemingly promising campaign unexpectantly early. They were playing the Indonesian champions Persik Kediri, who had inflicted Sydney’s first loss of the campaign two weeks ago in hot and humid conditions in Solo City. Both teams were of course chasing Japanese powerhouses Urawa Red Diamonds for the Group E’s top and only qualifying spot, with Sydney three and Persik one point behind respectively.

With new coach Branko Culina at the helm Sydney were playing some excellent football and would have felt confident against a seemingly lesser opponent. But they could not underestimate their opponents as they did two weeks ago. On the unfamiliar turf of Sydney’s Parramatta Stadium, a rainy night welcomed out the two teams, as it soon became clear their particular intentions. Persik were comfortable sitting back on the ball, which resulted in a scrappy and low-quality affair. Sydney had to attack and had the bulk of the first half chances, with Alex Brosque and Socceroo Mark Milligan missing free headers. The physical dominance of the Australian team was evident on all set pieces, and that is where Sydney tried to target Persik. Unfortunately it came at the expense of several inevitable fouls, as the Vietnamese referee blew up every slight piece of contact. By the end of the game, four Sydney players were on yellow cards and walking a disciplinary tightrope for the remainder of the competition.

A defensive error by captain Mark Rudan allowed Persik’s Brazilian star striker Gonzalez a half chance, but he snatched at the difficult volley, thus ending the half scoreless.

Sydney were clearly missing the suspended creativity of David Carney, but nevertheless continued to attack in the second half. A goal seemed inevitable, and when Sandy could only deflect away David Zdrilic’s header, the reliable Steve Corica pounced on the scraps to put Sydney in the lead.

This gave Sydney the confidence to carry on with the match, knowing goal difference could play an important part later on. Persik failed to offer much to the Sydney defence, even when behind on the scoreboard. The two South Americans, Fegundes and Gonzales, were supplied with little ball to showcase their talents.

Sydney striker Brosque scuffed a one-on-one opportunity soon after, but not before long he was rewarded with a goal from a much more difficult chance, on the volley from Zdrilic’s header across. Zdrilic was substituted for the young Adam Casey, and he showed his pace and skill late on with a shot brilliantly denied by Persik’s keeper. With the game finishing, Sydney wrapped up the match 3-0 when Corica emerged at the back post to slot home his fourth goal in the tournament, and impressive return for the midfielder.

So a potential banana skin was avoided in the misleading 3-0 win, yet with a shot count of 27-4 one would always expect Sydney to win. Nevertheless Persik tried hard and are a vastly improved team from the one that was drubbed 15-0 in this competition two years ago. The good news soon came through that Urawa had drawn with bottom-placed Shanghai, leaving them one point ahead of Sydney. This set up a mouth watering final Matchday clash between the two teams in Japan.

Match: Stabæk v Rosenborg, Tippeligaen 2007 Matchday 3

Reporter: Marius Dahl, Norway.

Stabæk and Rosenborg opened the third round of Tippeligaen 2007 Saturday night, and Stabæk won deservly 2-1 after a dramatic match.
1500 Rosenborg supporters took the trip from Trondheim, so the atmosphere was great.
Vegard and I didnt know where the stadium was, so we went to Oslo at the morning. After a lunch at McDonalds, we just chillin around in the town. Then we had to travel with the underground station, according to the websithe which said how we could go to Bekkestua, which is the part of the city where Nadderud stadium is.
We stopped at the station in a place named Borgen. Now we had to wait for the bus which hopefully would taken us to Bekkestua, and we were lucky cause it did.
Five hours left, and we were al ready outside the stadium. Luckely, the weather was great.
The stadiumdoors got opened at 5:30 and we were the first who went in. Now was the weather a bit colder, and the wind was about to come. Actually, Im still a bit ill after the trip...

The game itself wasnt that good from our position, even tho Rosenborg took the lead in the 18th minute. The Finnish defender Miika Koppinen made use of the blooper by Stabæks keeper and scored. 0-1! That was the only chance Rosenborg made, but Stabæk had some more. Petter Furuseth Olsen, who is back after a career in Sweden, hit the post from 20 meters.

Ten minutes were played of the second half: Somen Tchoy from Cameroon sent the ball inside the penalty area, and Veigar Pall Gunnarson was there and scored an easy goal. 1-1.
Stabæk went on and made chances, but the Swede Mikael Dorsin was great, like he always is, so the hometeam had problems creating chances. And in the 66th minute were Rosenborg very very close the leader goal. A corner by the Slovakian Marek Sapara was headen against the goal by Steffen Iversen, and the ball hit the crossbar and went down on the line. Unfortunatly, there were lots of Stabæk legs there.
The top scorer of 2006, Daniel Nannskog was very good in the next minutes at Nadderud stadium. Two big chances and Rosenborg were lucky now.
By the way: The refree was messed up.
In the 83rd minute ran Daniel Nannskog past the Rosenborg defenders and was about to shoot, but Fredrik Stoor touched him a little. Penalty. "This is football, not chess!" sang the Rosenborg supporters while Nannskog acted like a little baby. Okey, maybe it hurt a little, but it was no penalty. No doubt.
Pall Gunnerson scored his second goal and Stabæk were 2-1 up. 5000 Home supporters were in heaven. 2-1 Against Rosenborg.
At the stoppage time proofed the refree that he sucked. Rosenborg were in attack, and Øyvind Storflor was taken by a Stabæk defender. Penalty? No way. Actually, the guardians didnt want to let us go out before mostly of the home supporters were gone, because we were too mad. Damn you Stabæk.
2-1, and deservly even tho the penalty situations were wrong.

Match: Hampshire beat Middlesex by 91 runs (cricket; Friends Provident Trophy South Conference)

Reporter: Chris Eastwood

Hampshire started their season off with a bang, with a 91 run defeat of Middlesex at the Rose Bowl.

Hampshire batted first, with the soon-to-be-English-qualified Nic Pothas hitting a great 114. Hampshire's new signing from Yorkshire, Michael Lumb, hit 59. Hampshire kept the run-rate up all day, with Adams helping out with 38 and Crawley adding 30. Silverwood and Murtagh took two wickets each for Middlesex, with Richard Johnson and Owais Shah taking one each. Murali Kartik and Whelan took none.

Middlesex never got going with the bat, with captain Ed Smith's 59 the only decent score. Owais Shah did add 32, with Silverwood scoring 23 late on, but Hampshire were always going to win. Shane Warne took 3-16 with the ball, with Shaun Udal taking 2-51 and Tomlinson 2-43. Billy Taylor and Greg Lamb took a wicket apiece, with Bruce taking 0.

Hampshire, currently without the injured pair Michael Carberry and Dimitri Mascarenhas, as well as Stuart Clark and Kevin Pietersen - both at the World Cup - started their Friends Provident Trophy campaign well.

Hampshire: Pothas (wk), Benham, Lumb, Crawley, Adams, Lamb, Warne (cpt), Udal, Taylor, Bruce, Tomlinson.
Middlesex: E. Smith (cpt), Godleman, Compton, Shah, Nash (wk), Hutton, Murtagh, Johnson, Kartik, Silverwood, Whelan.

Match: Elverum-Brummundal 2-3, first qualround Norwegian Cup
Reporter: Marius Dahl, Norway

A special game in a special season. Elverum Fotball are 100 years in 2007,
and the local derby against Brumunddal was the first game of the 100th season.
The game was also the first at their new artificial grass. There will be lots
of glory moments here in the future, but unfortunately ended the historical
game with a celebrating away team.
And Brumunddal were also the first team who scored at the new grass. Andreas
Johansen scored twice in a seven minutes period, from the 16th, to the 23th
minute. Luckely wasnt the first Elverum goal far away: Kim Kjelland scored
a beauty four minutes later and provided for the first exultation at the homeside
in 2007. Three goals in the first half is not bad, indeed, but the 250 spectators
didn't see an entertainment half at all.

Elverum were the best team in the second half, so the equalize by Håvard Hendseth
in the 58th minute was of the deservly sort, even tho it was a blooper from the keeper.
And it could have been a leader goal by the hometeam too, but the talented teenager
Vegar Hedenstad shaved the post from a very good position.
Because of some grey clouds over Elverum, the spectators wanted a decision before
the extra time/shootout. But the decision came in the other way. Brumunddal got a
penalty with 15 minutes from time, and Peter Edin scored.
While Brummundal let the watch work, Elverum fighted and had a coupple of chanches.
Daniel Saastad got a very good chance at the stoppage time, but he didnt hit the target from 10 meters. Elverum never got any closer, so Brummundal won 3-2 and advanced to the second qual.round of the Norwegian Cup.

Elverum plays their first match in the league next weekend against Hadeland, and if
they wins their league, then they,ll face Brummundal in the promoting play-off if they
wins their of-course. Both teams are favorites in their leagues, so thats very probable.

Yeovil Town vs Chesterfield

Huish Park

A big day for Yeovil Town football club and I was there to watch the action unfold, the game looked to be heading towards a stalemate after a rather scrappy game with Chesterfield, but then, as if from nowhere Nathan Jones received a nice pass and proceeded to volley in from 30 yards to give his side a valuable three points! These Points made a massive difference to the league table in Yeovils push for Automatic premotion (See table below.)

The Glovers, had not had a good game but it was still one which, in the end, produced one of the best goals I've seen while I have been traveling to huish park, and keeps them in with a chance of automatic premotion.

Coming into the match, Russell Slade (The manager of Yeovil Town) changed the formation to 4-3-3, something that had not been tried before at huish park. During the first half, surprisingly, to everyones disaproval - Including Mine - The Visitors started off the better team. If chesterfield thought that they were going to put all this pressure to the good they weren't counting on Yeovil Town FC 'keeper Steven Mildenhall.

 He made some great saves and never looked like letting anything past him all game, but the defence infront of him, especially Nathan Tyson didn't look so good. At one point the visitors were in front of goal, but this time thier lack of finnishing skills saw them 'hoof it out of the stadium. Paul Shaw with the miss this time.

The action was not pretty to watch as the half continued, with only a few half chances for Marcus Stewart.In fact, Yeovil's first clear cut chance didn't come until the 44th minute when (Nathan) Jones sailed a great whipping free kick into the box for Skiverton to head just wide.

Kalala's effort on goal with a follow-up 

As the sides left the pitch for the break, Russell Slade would have had plenty to say in preparation for the second half, but with the score still at 0-0 his team still had everything to play for.

Half Time - Yeovil Town: 0 Chesterfield: 0

The Glovers were much improved in the second half, with their football getting better and better.Arron Davies became an increasing threat in attack, even if that sometimes ment that they were lacking a bit when the ball was cleared, Marcus Stewart, Lee Morris and Criss Cohen also joined in and upped the tepo of the game.

 The first chance of the second half was when Davies did well on 51 minutes when he received the ball 20 yards out, and turned well, shooting just wide, in a good effort that nearly hit me!This seemed to give the lads confidence (Or so I thought!), with them to have the better of the game.However, they still had problems in breaking through the mean Chesterfield defence, and as a result produced very few chances on goal, though Stewart went close on 55 minutes and Kalala shot wide soon after.

 Still Yeovil attacked, and on 62 minutes after Gray was brought down just outside the box, Davies curled a free kick towards goal, and was unlucky to see it deflect away.

Stewart went close on a couple minutes later, and "human wall" Adam Rooney was added soon after to give the attack some useful height. The next attack saw Davies beat the last man to go clear on goal, but was cruelly brought down by Rueben Hazell. Another free kick, and Cohen sent the ball to Stewart on the right side to hit a shot just wide.There was some sustained pressure coming from Yeovil now as they went for the win, but the visitors were still stubborn in defence, and looking as if they would hold on.

Though the game was still scrappy at times, Yeovil deserved something for their efforts in a much improved second half.It duly came on 89 minutes, and from the unlikely source of Nathan Jones, who had had an extremely poor game up to then the Welshman volleying the spinning ball superbly from over 30 yards, hit the bar and in off the under side of the bar and was claimed as a goal 1-0!

Nathan Jones celebrating after scoring

!The whole of Huish Park errupted and some Chesterfield supporters left the stands. If they hadn't have, they might have stayed long enough to see thier team rush a chance for an equalizer 4 minutes into extra-time. The final whissle went leaving us just 3 points behind Forrest in 3rd.

Final Score - Yeovil Town: 1 Chesterfield: 0

1) Scunthorpe 39 31 76

2) Bristol City 39 20 74

-------------------------------

3) Nottm Forest 39 18 70

4) Yeovil 39 15 67

5) Oldham 39 22 64

6) Blackpool 38 15 62

7) Swansea 39 16 61

Marius Dahl from Oslo, Norway.

Preview:
Because of a big strike in the Bosnian FA, 13 players were home
while Bosnia traveled to Norway. Therefore were Norway big
favorites in the very important game in group C of the Euro qual,
even though our goalgetter Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has an injury.

5.000 tickets were soled to the Bosnian stand, but neither the
Norwegian and the Bosnian FA nor UEFA wanted to sell them
more tickets.

In the other games in this group played Greece against Turkey
while Moldova and Malta played against each other. Greece and
Turkey had 9 points while Norway had 6 points.

The Bosnian supporters brought a lot of fire last time they were
in Oslo, in 2002, so the Norwegian police promised more control
this time. Bullshit. I past by them without any problems...

One simply minute were played when the Bosnian supporters
started to destroy the game. Norway got a throw in and sent up
four players. Morten Gamst Pedersen throw the ball inside the
penalty area, and then came the first torch... It made a little smack,
and seconds later, it rained torches. The English refree stopped the
game and one of the torches hit the Bosnian keeper. Some of the
childrens were crying and some of them even took of! The Norwegian
fans started a very load hissing. Fifteen minutes later went the players
into the dressing room while the Bosnian supporters didnt stop.
Personally I went in too and watched the tv reportage.
8:40 PM, and the last torches hit the ground. Finally. Many Bosnian fans
took of. Their work was done. They didnt come for watching football.
8:41 could the refree set the game in motion again.

Norway were the best team and scored in the first minute. Unfortunalty,
the English refree ment that Carew was too strong against the keeper
so he annuled the goal. John Arne Riise did also try in a freekick situation,
but he missed the target.
Then, in the 20th minute, got Bosnia Hercegovina a freekick in a position
which said that he probably would try to get the ball in the box, but he shot.
Sucsessfully.
Thomas Myhre did a bad mistake and the damn Bosnian supporters were
starting to celebrate the leader goal. How undeservly was that.
Just minutes later came the second goal. I thought it was offside, but he
came alone with our keeper and scored. Easy. 0-2 against a Bosnian team
without their 13 best players. Oh my god.

4 Minutes out in the second half, Norway got a penalty. Carew sat the ball in
the middle of the goal. Bad penalty, but the goal was important. 1-2.
The rest of the game was so boring. Norway didnt even try the last 20 minutes.
They just sent the ball against Carew, which was the best player of the game.
1-2 became the end result and Norway will not go the Euros if they dont change
the style now.

PS: Greece lost 1-4 against Turkey and Moldova and Malta drew 1-1.

1.Turkey, 12p
2.Greece, 6p
3.Bosnia, 7p
4.Norway, 6p
5.Malta, 4p
6.Hungary, 3p
7.Moldova, 2p

*Bosnia and Moldova has 5 games, and the others has 4.

Next round:
Hungary vs Moldova
Malta vs Greece
Turkey vs Norway (in Frankfurt)

Elverum - Heimdal 31-25, Norwegian Top League Handball Matchday 18

Reporter: Marius Dahl, Norway

Preview: Elverum is a typical city for handball. Even though there are
just 18.000 people who is living here, we have a team in the highest
handball league in Norway.
Heimdal is a part of the third largest city in Norway: Trondheim. They
used to be fighting in the top of the tables, but in 2004/2005, they
relegated.
After being in the highest league, and sometimes in the Europeen Cup,
fell Elverum down one league in 1999/2000. Five years later, in 2005,
they came back and played against the big boys in Norwegian handball.
They did a great season, and while Heimdal promoted to the Top League,
saved Elverum the spot to this season.

Before this game, were Elverum in real danger. They laid on the play-off spot,
with the same points as Haugaland. Only the goaldiffirent separated those
two teams. Heimdal were on the 7th place, which gives a spot to the cup.
Only the 8 best teams goes to the cup.

As always, it was a lot of volum in the hall. There were just 731 people, tho,
but the volum is always high in a handballhall.

The guests from Trondheim, Heimdal, got a great start and saved a penalty
and leaded 2-0 inside the first five minutes. Elverum came back, luckely,
and the two teams were equal each other during the first half. But close
the end of the first half, played Elverum like a world class team and made
a four goals lead out of Heimdal.

The second half started even worse than the first. Heimdal equilaised in
the 40th minute. 19-19. Fortunatly closed the great Elverum keeper Simen
Hanssen the goal and Elverum could easly go up in a new three goals lead.
And they never gave it back..
In the 48th minute did Elverum 25-21, and Heimdal used their Time Out Card.
It didnt work and instead of a new comeback from Heimdal, were Elverum up
in a six goals lead, 30-24, with three minutes left.
Both teams got their last goals and the gamed ended 31-25, which made the
reality: Elverum are on the spot which gives them a new season in the Top
League. BUT they cant stop here. They are one spot from the Cup!

Sven Magnus Pettersen, Heimdal, became the Top Scorer of the game with
his 6 goals.

Standings during the game:

5th minute: 0-1
10th minute: 4-3
15th minute: 6-4
20th minute: 9-6
25th minute: 12-7
Halftime: 16-12

35th minute: 17-16
40th minute: 19-18
45th minute: 22-19
50th minute: 25-21
55th minute: 28-24
End result: 31-25

Standings:
1.Drammen, 36p
2.Sandefjord, 32p
3.Haslum, 26p
4.Stord, 16p
5.Vestli, 16p
6.Fyllingen, 15p
7.Heimdal, 14p
8.Kragerø, 14p
9.Elverum, 13p
10.Stavanger, 12p
11.Haugaland, 11p
12.NIT-HAK, 9p

*You get 2 points for every win in handball.
*Each team has played 18 matches and has 4 games left.

Next round (Matchday 19)
Wednesday, 7th of March:
Heimdal vs Haugaland
Haslum vs Elverum
Vestli vs Stavanger
Fyllingen vs Stord
Sandefjord vs Kragerø
Drammen vs NIT-HAK

*Next homegame for Elverum, is already next Sunday. Thats
the second last homegame this season, and it is against
Vestli.

World Rally Championship, leg 3: Rally Norway. Mikko Hirvonen won.

Marius Dahl, Norway.

For the first time in history were all the best rally-drivers in Norway, fighting for
important points to the WRC. After the two first runs, in Monaco and Sweden, was
Sebastian Loeb (France), Citroën, in the lead.

The Rally took place at the east part of Norway, where I am living, because thats
a perfect place for Rally.

Friday morning drove a WRC-car through the Norwegian woods for the first time.
The Norwegian brothers Petter (winner in 2003) and Henning Solberg wanted to win, but Petter wasnt that optimisitc because of his car, which always has a kind of a problem.
Mikko Hirvonen took the lead after the first SS8, and he never gave the lead to anyone els. The Finsh guy, who driving Ford, had one WRC-victory before Rally Norway. He won Rally Australia in 2005.
Sebastian Loeb and Marcus Grönholm were fighting of the next to spots.

Sebastian Loeb had to quit the Rally after SS17 because of some problems with the car, so suddenly were the Solberg-brothers fighting about the third place. Henning won, but noone could understand the interview with him because he was very happy!
Marcus Grönholm and Mikko Hirvonen, both Ford and both from
Finland, were fighting about the gold. Mikko won with 9 poor seconds and became the first winner of Rally Norway!
Marcus Grönholm lost, but he became the leader of the WRC after run 3.

Results Rally Norway 2007:
1.Mikko Hirvonen (Finland), Ford, 3.283.17,0
2.Marcus Grönholm (Finland), Ford, + 9,5
3.Henning Solberg (Norway), Ford, + 3.44,6
4.Petter Solberg (Norway), Subaru, + 4.01,1
5.Jari Matti Latvala (Finland), Ford, + 5.30,7
6.Gigi Galli (Italy), Ford, + 7.05,2
7.Daniel Carlsson (Sweden), Citroën, + 9.23,7
8.Jan Kopecky (Czech rep.), Skoda, + 11.49,9

Standings after 3 by 16 legs:
1.Marcus Grönholm (Finland), Ford, 24p
2.Mikko Hirvonen (Finland), Ford, 20p
3.Sebastian Loeb (France), Citroen, 18p
4.Henning Solberg (Norway), Ford, 11p
5.Daniel Sordo (Spain), Citroen, 8p
5.Petter Solberg (Norway), Subaru, 8p
7.Daniel Carlsson (Sweden), Citroen, 6p
7.Chris Atkinson (Australia), Subaru, 6p
9.Toni Gardemeister (Finland), Citroen, 5p
10.Jari Latvala (Finland), Ford, 4p

Standings in the Cars Competition:
1.BP-Ford WRT, 44p
2.Citroen Total WRT, 28p
3.Stobart M-Sport Ford RT, 16p
4.Subaru WRT, 15p
5.OMV Kronos Citroen WRT, 14p

Next Rally is in Mexico!

Match: London Irish 24 Toulouse 26, Heineken Cup (rugby)

Reporter: Chris Eastwood

A hat-trick of tries from Delon Armitage was unable to help his London Irish side beat Toulouse, as they fell to a 24-26 defeat at the Madejski Stadium.

Toulouse opened the scoring through Xavier Garbajosa, who recieved a ball that was kicked through the defence. All Garbajosa had to do was dive over the line. Moments later, Garbajosa scored again. Garbajosa was then later sin-binned, and with Toulouse down to 14 men, new England fly-half Shane Geraghty dived over the line for Irish's first points. Armitage then scored his first after his team-mates got him into space. His second try came after winger Ojo ran past many defenders, who then off-loaded the ball to Armitage. Toulouse recieved a second sin-binning, this time through Lamboley. With minutes to go, Gareth Thomas picked up the ball and sprinted past 3 defenders, span past another and then passed it out to Baby, who dived over. Jean-Baptiste Elissalde completed the Toulouse scoring. Armitage completed his hat-trick in injury time, recieving the ball from down the wing and then diving past a Toulouse player.

London Irish are now out of the Heineken Cup, with Toulouse moving up to second in the group.

London Irish: Armitage, Ojo, Tiesi, Mapusua, Shabbo, S Geraghty, Hodgson, Lea'aetoa, Coetzee, Rautenbach, Kennedy, Casey (capt), Roche, Magne, Leguizamon.
Toulouse: Thomas, Garbajosa, Kunavore, Baby, Medard, Dubois, Courrent, Montauriol, Maka, Bouilhou (capt), Brennan, Lamboley, Hasan, Lacombe, Human.

Location: Vikersund, Norway

Reporter: Marius Dahl

Anders Jacobsen, the new Norwegian favourite, won his third World Cup Run tonight, but
he was a bit lucky. He was number three after the first half, but neither Andreas Widhoezel,
who won the first half, or Thomas Morgenstern could stop the fresh winner of the 4 Hills Tour.

Andreas Widhoezels second jump was terrible. He ended up like number 6 after a jump
on 174,5 meters. The winner Anders Jacobsen jumped 193,5 meters.

Thousands of Norwegians started to celebrate while Widhoezel walked of the hill, full by
frustration.

Norway got a new world class-jumper this season. 21 year old Anders Jacobsen. Thanks
to him, and of-course thanks to the manager Mika Kojonkovski (Finland). He has maked
Norway to a great ski-jumping-nation, after a grey period during the end of the 90s.

Top 10:
1.Anders Jacoben (NOR), 388.3p
2.Thomas Morgenstern (AUS), 384.1p
3.Matti Hautamäki (FIN), 377.7p
4.Janne Ahonen (FIN), 369.3p
5.Harri Olli (FIN), 369.3p
6.Andreas Widhoezel (AUS), 366.9p
7.Arttu Lappi (FIN), 365.2p
8.Adam Malysz (POL), 362.5p
9.Michael Uhrmann (GER), 360.8p
10.Martin Koch (AUS), 358.6p

Total standings (after 10 by 24 runs)
1.Anders Jacobsen, Norway, 721p
2.Gregor Schlierenzauer, Austria, 584p
3.Simon Amman, Switzerland, 562p
4.Andras Küttl, Austria, 471p
5.Thomas Morgenstern, Austria, 408p
6.Arttu Lappi, Finland, 366p
7.Adam Malysz, Poland, 362p
8.Janne Ahonen, Finland, 274p
9.Matti Hautamäki, Finland, 267p
10.Dimitry Vassiljev, Russia, 212p

Nations Cup:
1.Austria, 1971p
2.Finland, 1169p
3.Norway, 1081p
4.Switzerland, 1080p
5.Germany, 539p
6.Poland, 456p

Match: SpeedBlitz Blues v Cascade Tasmanian Tigers, KFC Twenty20 Big Bash, Match 10

Result: Tasmania won by 37 runs

Reporter: hughgeta (Sydney, Australia)

Man of the Match Michael Dighton for the Tasmanian Tigers

The anticipation of the world’s best Rugby League player, Andrew Johns, playing his second and last match for New South Wales in a cricket shirt was enough to bring a strong crowd out to Telstra Stadium in Sydney for this Twenty20 Match. NSW were playing Tasmania, who needed a win to progress to the final of this mini-tournament. New South Wales had lost both their previous two games however, and could only avoid the wooden spoon with a win. Johns’ first match in his ‘stunt’ was uneventful, with one unsuccessful over bowled and one ball faced while batting. But now at the stadium of many of his rugby league triumphs, he and the crowd were eager to see more. With the players sporting their nicknames on the back of their jerseys, and money given away for every six caught in the crowd, this was always going to be a fun evening.

Tasmania started fairly slowly, with two wickets within three overs for 25. Tim ‘Langy’ Lang was being particularly economical for the Blues. But the next two batters for Tasmania turned the match. Daniel ‘Sob’ Marsh and Michael ‘Dighta’ Dighton put on a record partnership to put the Tigers in the box seat. Boundaries were a-plenty as they went a rampage, taking 19 and 21 in two consecutive overs off Aaron ‘Obi’ O’Brien and Dominic ‘DT’ Thornley, respectively. They withstood the meek NSW bowlers to register a 113-run partnership, before Thornley took an absolute screamer of a catch to dismiss Marsh, Tasmania’s captain. Thornley’s medium pace was teed up by Marsh, straight back down the wicket, with interest. Thornley just managed to move his head out of the way of the path of the ball and put his hand out, the catch just sticking to his palm, had it not ripped it out of its socket. It was a excellent catch to end a great partnership.

However the main striker, Dighton, was down the other end, and he soon reached his century after only 52 balls. He went on to register 113, a record in the short history of this competition. His teammates continued the smashing, as they had wickets in hand. Two clean bowled and a run-out added some respectability to the NSW attack, but Tasmania finished with a massive 7/202 off their 20 overs.

New South Wales’ innings was stuttering to say the least. They started quite well, and were seemingly always in the run chase. They certainly had the quality in their players to get the unlikely victory. But the ways in which NSW chose to attack Tasmania were impatient, and subsequently self-destructive. All their top order batsmen put on competitive partnerships to try and build the innings, and have a shot at the total. But every time NSW felt they were back in the game, a solid partnership was broken and it was back to square one. They put on 1/23, 3/44, and 4/75, but each time failing to capitalize on some otherwise very nice batting. There was always hope when NSW’s captain, seasoned international Simon ‘KT’ Katich, came to the crease, and together with Daniel ‘Didge’ Christian they put on a 54 run partnership, including some brilliant boundaries. But once again, NSW couldn’t extend a partnership, as Tasmania had, and Christian holed out to Brendan ‘Drewy’ Drew off Marsh’s first ball. It was the introduction of the experienced Marsh which won the match for Tasmania. Christian and Katich were going along well, just maintaining the required run rate, before Marsh took the ball. Christian was out first ball, and despite the attempt to send out O’Brien to bat before the scheduled Andrew Johns, Katich was caught off Marsh’s last ball the signal the end of NSW. The very next ball Thornley was out, and Andrew Johns was in.

Due to the fact that there were three wickets in quick succession, ‘Joey’ was still putting his pads on in the tunnel as he was called out to bat. After what seemed much longer than the allotted 90 seconds, Johns strode onto the pitch, to the roar of the home crowd, only to render the assistance of the umpire and a Tasmanian player to help put on his helmet. It was a farce – seeing a rugby player playing first-class cricket – but the crowd loved it. The match was no longer about NSW winning, this was now out of the question, but it was about how well Johns did. There was a prize of $1000 for catching a Johns’ six, but this seemed unlikely. His first two balls were swings and misses, but he got bat on the third ball and scampered a single. Johns and O’Brien went on to make a 20-run partnership, Johns contributing 9 runs off 10 balls, including a spectacular late cut, although no boundaries. He got progressively more confident, and aggressive, as he soon lofted a shot straight down the throat of Drew on the off-side. New South Wales calmly batted out the rest of the innings without any fanfare. Tasmania got the last two wickets late, as the Blues failed to survive the 20 overs as Lang was run out on the second last ball. Tasmania won by a convincing 37 runs.

The result was not what mattered to the crowd, as a new breed of cricket had now officially arrived, which brought more people than ever before to the game. It was exciting, fun, and silly, but overall an enjoyment to watch.

New South Wales: Burke, JN   Christian, DT   Cowan, EJM   Coyte, SJ   Jaques, PA   Johns, A   Katich, SM   Lang, T   O'Brien, AW   Smith, D   Thornely, DJ    Warner, DA

Tasmania: Anderson, DJ   Bailey, GJ   Birt, TR   Di Venuto, MJ   Dighton, MG   Doherty, XJ   Drew, B   Hilfenhaus, BW   Marsh, DJ   Paine, TD   Polkinghorne, AW   Wright, DG

Match: Sydney FC v New Zealand Knights, Hyundai A-League, Round 19

Reporter: hughgeta (Sydney, Australia)

New Zealand's Che Bunce celebrates his goal with John Tambouras - while Sydney's David Carney (12) and Alex Brsoque (14) look on

Although New Zealand was coming off a record 3-1 victory over Queensland Roar last week, no one would have bet against Sydney claiming a formidable victory over the league’s whipping boys this week at Aussie Stadium. In the corresponding fixture back in November, the Knights were also coming off a win over Queensland, but traveled to Sydney and lost 4-0. Since then Sydney had not lost a game, and had claimed an excellent 2-0 away win over Newcastle last week. However there was some controversy hanging over the heads of Sydney coming into this match, they had earlier that week been deducted three competitions points for Salary Cap breaches, which they claimed they had the documents to disprove. But somewhat surprisingly, no appeal was made and Sydney were penalised and fined. A win here though, would get back the three points and almost assure Sydney of 2nd place. Of course New Zealand were still in limbo over their eligibility to compete in next year’s A-League, but since their temporary owners took over and reinstated a new squad, they had been playing without fear.

The Knights started with the four-pronged attack of Kiwi Noah Hickey, Englishman Neil Emblen, Chinese Leilei Gao and Canadian Alen Marcina. In contrast, Sydney only started with a lone striker, Alex Brosque. There was a healthy crowd of 16 000 at this match, buoyed by the influx on many thousands of English fans who stayed on from the Cricket at the neighboring SCG earlier in the week. This made for a rowdy ‘away’ following, as the Enlgish were going to support non-Australian. Their chant ‘Barmy-Army’ was replaced with ‘Kiwi-army’. But it was down the other end was the real surprise, as right in front of the vocal Cove, New Zealand took the lead after fifteen minutes. Tall defender Che Bunce lost his marker to turn the ball inside the post off a corner.  

This sprung Sydney into action as they pushed the ball forward with some urgency. New Zealand put all of their players behind the ball, something which Sydney struggled to cope with for the remainer of the match. David Carney was at his enigmatic best, producing a jinking run which could have resulted in a goal, if he had shot earlier. Another chance to Carney presented itself, but Knights’ goalie Mark Paston produced the first of his fine saves to take the ball out of Carney’s grasp. Shortly after, Brosque called Paston back into action, but he denied the striker’s low drive. Socceroo Mark Milligan had arguably the best chance of the match, when a curling free-kick saw him unmarked, only for his powerful and accurate header to be miraculously cleared off the line, again by Paston. A long shot by Carney which gave Paston little trouble saw off the remainder of the half.

Sydney coach Terry Butcher would have asked for more penetration from his team in the second half, something which they had to struggled to do all season. Striker Sasho Petrovski was substituted on for defender Jacop Timpano, which signaled the home side’s intentions. The ball was carried forward by Sydney as the difference in class was evident, but finding away through ten defenders against any team is difficult. Sydney had an excellent short passing game, which had developed over the last few weeks of good form. They tried not to resort to long balls, as defenders Bunce and Dean Gordon held a sizeable height advantage over Sydney. Nevertheless, with Ruben Zadkovic and Carney running the show for Sydney, you always backed them to equalize, but they were caught numerous times on the break. New Zealand actually had a few chances in the second half, the best falling to Marcina whose free header was saved excellently by Clint Bolton. Milligan attempted to take out his frustrations on Marcina, which resulted in a yellow card. Late in the game, Gao’s weak shot resulted in a wasted chance and an injury, which forced his to be substituted. Brosque should have done better soon after, with his low shot hitting the side netting. Carney hit the post from outside the box, and shortly after he seemed to dribble round the whole team before floating his shot high and wide. It was becoming progressively more frustrating for Sydney, as they could not break through for a deserve goal. Out of form striker David Zdrilic was thrown on in a last ditch attempt to salvage a point, and Sydney still had chances. With five minutes left, Carney brilliantly put Petrovski through, but his shot on the turn hit the post. No more than a minute later, Brosque burst through again, before Paston saved the one-on-one chance, effectively sealing the match for the Kiwis.

Celebrations at the end of the game were significant for New Zealand, as for the first time in their history they had claimed two consecutive victories. Sydney was left to rue missed chances as they now must travel to Adelaide knowing they must win to stay in second. Paston was the real hero for the Knights, frequently going above and beyond his call of duty, saving spectacularly on several occasions and having a very solid game under high balls. The fans left the ground unhappy, as their team had embarrassingly crashed back to earth after a horror week.