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</h3> <div class="fw-text"><!-- ParagraphBodyStart --><p><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CMyPC%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C03%5Cclip_filelist.xml" /><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; 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margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><u><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none"> </span></o:p></span></u><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3617/3352743522_e522ed5e08.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 492px; height: 327px" border="0" width="492" height="327" /> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Cork</span></st1:placename><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"> <st1:placetype w:st="on">City</st1:placetype></span></st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"> failed to pick up their first win of the season after a disappointing 1-0 defeat to St. Patrick's Athletic at Turner's Cross tonight.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">After a 1-1 draw in Sligo last Saturday evening, the Cork City faithful were hoping for a win last night in Turner’s Cross to kick start their season. Many people had been disappointed with the point in the Showgrounds, and felt a win was essential tonight to regain some confidence in the team, and some momentum going forward.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">The only player to miss out for City, was new signing Stephen O’ Donnell, who was injured in <st1:place w:st="on">Sligo</st1:place> last week. As a result, City lined up as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">15. Dan Connor<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">2. Neal Horgan<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">4. Roberts Mezeckis<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">6. Dan Murray ©<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">3. Danny Murphy<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">23. Pat Sullivan<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">7. Colin Healy<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">8. Joe Gamble<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">11. Billy Dennehy<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">10. Faz Kuduzovic<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">9. Guntars Silagalis<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">There were home debuts for Connor, Mezeckis, Dennehy, Kuduzovic and Silagalis. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">City started sluggishly and the Saint’s used this to their advantage, having a great deal of possession in the opening minutes. City threatened on the break, but Dennehy’s superb run was halted by Saint’s defender Jason Gavin.  (Below right)<span></span></span><img src="http://corkcityfc.ie/gallery/albums/stpats130309/billydennehy_%28Medium%29.JPG" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 10px; width: 318px; height: 269px" align="right" border="0" width="318" height="269" /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">The deadlock was broken after 10 minutes. A corner was played low into the box, and poor defending left former City player, Darragh Ryan, free to rifle the ball home. Ryan, who had spent 2 years at Turner’s Cross, declined the opportunity to celebrate in front of the home fans.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">City tried to take control of the game, but their attacks continuously broke down and they resorted to “hoof-ball” for the remainder of the first half.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">The second half kicked off and City, attacking their favoured Shed end, put siege to the Saint’s goal for a 15 minute period. The best chance fell to Pat Sullivan who somehow failed to convert from 4 yards out. Faz Kuduzovic, who has been excellent in the first half, was again beginning to show why manager Paul Doolin, was so keen to bring him to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Cork</st1:place></st1:city>. His footballing brain came to the fore, and time after time, he looked to put other players through on goal. Silagalis was to benefit from the majority of these passes, and it was one of those that led to the major flash point in the game. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Kuduzovic had linked up with Dennehy down the left, before sliding a ball through the defence for his strike partner to race onto. As Silagalis burst through, he was scythed by the last defender. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">As the whole ground screamed for a penalty, the referee waved away protests. Tensions boiled over in front of the City fans, and several players got involved. Jason Gavin (Below left, being helf by Dan Murray), Saint’s captain, at one point looked to have his hands around the throat of City player, Mezeckis.</span><img src="http://corkcityfc.ie/gallery/albums/stpats130309/101_1075.JPG" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 309px; height: 232px" align="left" border="0" width="309" height="232" /><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">The referee and the other players in the pitch proceeded to break up the melee. The home fans were certain that only possible outcome could be for Gavin to receive his marching orders. But to the amazement of everyone in the ground, it was Mezeckis who received a yellow card.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Doolin made his one and only change of the night, bringing on Denis Behan for Kuduzovic. Many people were surprised by this decision, as the Bosnian striker had no doubt been City’s best player on the night.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Sadly for City fans, the remaining 20 minutes, were extremely comfortable for the away</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">side, and the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dublin</st1:place></st1:city> club went away with 3 precious points.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><!-- ParagraphBodyEnd --></div> <div class="fw-paragraphbottom"></div> </div><!-- ParagraphEnd 346996020 --><!-- ParagraphStart 336985996 --><div class="fw-paragraph"> <div class="fw-paragraphtop"></div> <h3 class="fw-title"><a name="336985996"></a><!-- ParagraphTitleStart -->Chelsea v Juventus <!-- ParagraphTitleEnd --></h3> <div class="fw-text"><!-- ParagraphBodyStart --><p><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CChris%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" /><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} p {mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0cm; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <img src="http://vitagenesblog.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/uefa-champions-league.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 355px" border="0" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><b><u><span style="font-family: Arial">Match Preview<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">The UEFA Champions League, the biggest football club competition on Earth. Does the match need any other introduction? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">I’ve supported <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> for many years but this is my first ever Champions League match, and the wait for this match has been a long and desperate one. I’ve dreamt of this moment, and it’s finally here.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial">Chelsea</span></st1:city></st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial"> take on Italian giants Juventus in the first knockout round, first leg. <i>La Vecchia Signora</i>, led by former <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> manager Claudio Ranieri, topped their group ahead of Real Madrid, current UEFA Cup champions Zenit St Petersburg and Belarussian champions BATE Borisov. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:city></st1:place> on the other hand were favourites to top their group, but in the end they finished behind Roma after disappointing in the group stage. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Bordeaux</st1:city></st1:place> ran them close but were knocked out, as were Romanians CFR Cluj.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial">Chelsea</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Arial">’s disappointing season has seen Luiz Felipe Scolari leave as manager of the club. Despite still being in the FA Cup, Champions League and the Premier League race (although they’re 10 points off Manchester United), Scolari was sacked and Guus Hiddink was brought in as a replacement. The Dutchman, currently manager of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Russia</st1:country-region>, is at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Stamford</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Bridge</st1:placetype></st1:place> on a temporary contract as a favour to friend Roman Abramovich. The former PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands and <st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region> coach will be managing <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:city></st1:place> for the first time at the Bridge after his first match was a 0-1 win away to Aston Villa a few days ago.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Juventus on the other hand arrive in decent Serie A form. They are currently second behind Inter Milan – 9 points behind Jose Mourinho’s men – another ex-Chelsea manager, as I’m sure you all know. The Old Lady’s last match resulted in a 0-2 away win against <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Palermo</st1:city></st1:place>, with goals from Sissoko and Trezeguet.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><b><u><span style="font-family: Arial">Pre-Match<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><img src="http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7388/dsc03341t.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 300px" border="0" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><b><u><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none"> </span></o:p></span></u></b></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Hiddink named nearly the same side that beat Aston Villa recently, with only one change. Ashley Cole came in for Paulo Ferreira. The team otherwise looked like this:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry (c), A Cole; Ballack, Mikel, Lampard; Kalou, Drogba, Anelka.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial" lang="IT">Subs: Hilario, Ivanovic, Mancienne, Ferreira, Malouda, Stoch, Di Santo.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial" lang="IT"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">The returning Claudio Ranieri named Trezeguet and Amauri up front as expected, with their team looking like this:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial" lang="IT">Buffon; Mellberg, Chiellini, Legrottaglie, Molinaro; Camoranesi, Sissoko, Tiago, Nedved (c); Del Piero, Amauri.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Subs: Manninger, Grygera, Poulsen, Marchionni, Marchisio, Iaquinta, Trezeguet.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">The referee for the game was Olegário Benquerença from <st1:country-region w:st="on">Portugal</st1:country-region>, who refereed <st1:city w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:city>’s 0-4 win over Rosenborg in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Norway</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">As the teams were announced to the fans before the Champions League anthem, Ranieri was given a standing ovation from the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:city></st1:place> faithful. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><b><u><span style="font-family: Arial">The Match<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <img src="http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/6174/dsc03348.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 300px" border="0" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Juventus, in gold away shirts, kicked off the match in front of 38,079 noisy fans. <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> were immediately pressuring Juventus and were dominating the play. Salomon Kalou and Michael Ballack had shots on goal, with Didier Drogba also having a chance but his header went wide of the post. All this happened inside 7 minutes. A few minutes later, a penalty appeal for <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> was turned down by the Portuguese referee. Chiellini ran into Drogba’s back, but the referee probably made the right decision.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font><img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45512000/jpg/_45512871_drogba_getty.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 288px" border="0" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial">Chelsea</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Arial">’s dominance paid off after 11 minutes as Drogba opened the scoring for The Blues. He received Kalou’s pass and shot past Buffon from 15 yards out, much to the delight of the home fans.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">The Juventus supporters were still singing despite being 1-0 down. They were silenced as Drogba nearly had a second. Lampard hit the ball in from a corner but Drogba couldn’t quite latch onto it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">The Italian side were starting to get into the game now and nearly had a goal for themselves. Captain Alessandro Del Piero forced a diving save from Petr Cech after ex-Chelsea midfielder Tiago set him up. One minute of added time was added on, but that was soon the end of the half. <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> dominated most of the half and were looking good for a win.</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <img src="http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/7610/dsc03353.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 300px" border="0" /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial">Chelsea</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Arial"> kicked off the second half. <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> had a chance a few minutes into the second half as Lampard opened up the play with a great ball, passing it to Bosingwa who crossed it for Drogba, only for him to head it wide. Two minutes later, Molinaro picked up the first yellow card of the night after heavily tackling Mikel – but later on reports suggested he “raked his studs down his shin”. Camoranesi was soon tackled and was staying down on the ground. The <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> fans didn’t like it and he soon got up when the stretcher came along. This wasn’t the first time the Juventus players were falling to the ground easily. Camoranesi’s injury was worse than previously thought however, and he couldn’t continue, eventually being replaced by Marchionni.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Michael Ballack was booked for a late tackle on Pavel Nedved. The <st1:city w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:city> fans were beginning to become quite frustrated with the referee as they looked for a second goal to take to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Turin</st1:place></st1:city>.</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45513000/jpg/_45513022_cech_pa.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 288px" border="0" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p></o:p>Sissoko was running the show for Juventus, making good runs and tackles. He soon inspired another attack, but Juv then got a free-kick. Cech came for it but couldn’t collect it. He just about scrambled it away, with Amauri falling over him. Juventus missed out on a great chance there. Juventus’ good spell continued as Marchionni had a chance, but he missed. They were doing better than in the second half, but they still couldn’t find a way past Cech. Marchisio then came on for Tiago after getting injured earlier.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Ballack gave away a free-kick after a challenge on Sissoko. Kalou, who hadn’t had the best of games, was substituted for Malouda. After countless free-kicks in a stop-start few minutes, Mancienne came on for Ballack to play alongside Mikel. Hiddink and Chelsea were looking to keep hold of their 1-0 lead rather than go for another goal.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Sissoko was soon yellow carded for a foul on Mikel. Drogba then had another penalty appeal turned down after being shoulder barged – probably another good decision from the referee, despite what the Chelsea fans were singing about the referee.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Ranieri was looking to grab a goal, so he made a positive substitution. Sissoko the defensive midfielder came off and French striker David Trezeguet came on. A minute later, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> nearly had their second goal as Nicolas Anelka – quiet throughout the game – flashed a shot just wide of the post from 25 yards out. Marchionni was soon yellow carded before Nedved missed a shot in the final minutes. Juventus couldn’t find that equaliser and ended up losing the game 1-0. <st1:city w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:city> would take a 1-0 lead to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Turin</st1:place></st1:city> in two weeks time.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><b><u><span style="font-family: Arial">Post Match<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><b><u><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none"> </span></o:p></span></u></b></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial">Chelsea</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Arial">, despite being dominant in the first half, looked to be wasting a lot of chances, showing a lack of creativity and committing a lot of fouls. Guus Hiddink later said this:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p><font size="2"><i><span style="font-family: Arial">"I'm satisfied with the result, but overall I'm not satisfied. We started very well, but after the goal we dropped too far back. <o:p></o:p></span></i></font></p> <p><font size="2"><i><span style="font-family: Arial">We had some gaps between our defence and midfield for Juventus to exploit.<o:p></o:p></span></i></font></p> <p><font size="2"><i><span style="font-family: Arial">They created danger and we were anxious, but they were not very clear-cut chances for the equaliser." <o:p></o:p></span></i></font></p> <p><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">More reaction from Hiddink and others can be seen here: <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/7911586.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/7911586.stm</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">In the other games, Liverpool managed to beat Real Madrid 1-0 in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Spain</st1:country-region>, while Bayern Munich thrashed Sporting Lisbon 5-0 in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Portugal</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Villarreal and Panathinaikos drew 1-1.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Juventus v <st1:city w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:city>, the second leg, will be played on the 10<sup>th</sup> March in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Turin</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p><font size="2"><b><u><span style="font-family: Arial">Stats<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></font></p> <p><font size="2"><b><span style="font-family: Arial">Shots on target</span></b></font><span style="font-family: Arial"><font size="2"> Chelsea 3 Juventus 4<br /><b>Corners</b> Chelsea 5 Juventus 9<br /><b>Fouls </b>Chelsea 18 Juventus 13<br /><b>Offsides</b> Chelsea 3 Juventus 2</font></span></p><p>(Pictures courtesy of myself and BBC Sport) </p><!-- ParagraphBodyEnd --></div> <div class="fw-paragraphbottom"></div> </div><!-- ParagraphEnd 336985996 --><!-- ParagraphStart 331406427 --><div class="fw-paragraph"> <div class="fw-paragraphtop"></div> <h3 class="fw-title"><a name="331406427"></a><!-- ParagraphTitleStart --><font size="5">25 Years and Thankfully Still Counting</font> <!-- ParagraphTitleEnd --></h3> <div class="fw-text"><!-- ParagraphBodyStart --><p><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> </style> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font face="Verdana, sans-serif"><font size="2">So, we finally get the season underway. It’s been a long time coming. The Premiershit hasn’t been nearly sufficient to fill the footballing void, while Ireland internationals are very much like an S Club 7 album, they make you suicidal! Egg chasing doesn’t really do it for me and so, without much cricket to pass the time, I’ve been sport starved this winter. Playing a bit of </font></font><img src="http://www.freewebs.com/globalworldsport/Logo.jpg" class="fw_image_computer fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 289px; height: 289px" align="right" border="0" width="289" height="289" /><font face="Verdana, sans-serif"><font size="2">basketball occupied a month or two, but the longing for domestic football occupied much more of my time. Preparations for the ‘Junior’ too have taken up a great deal of my time and unfortunately, will continue to do so up to June. But now that my beloved Cork City are back, thoughts of those exams ahead are at least a bit more palatable.<br /><br />The saying that people always want what they can’t have could not be a truer one when it comes to Cork City fans. Terminally pessimistic, and depressive in equal measure, it was only three and a half months ago that we longed for the end of the season and freedom from those financial troubles while we contemplated European qualification disappointment. But after one of the coldest winters in many a year, and the dreary one horse race across the water, (for those who take an interest in such matters), the hunger for CCFC grew stronger by the day. Who knows what lies ahead over the next nine months, but for all of those familiar with following the Rebel Army, it surely won’t be boring. Expectations vary greatly. Some feel the squad is good enough to challenge for Europe (for those who think a league title is viable, the men in the white coats are coming!!!), but most are not looking on the pitch when it comes to wish lists. Some financial security and the opportunity to support Cork City in the long term are the hopes for most. Personally, my hope is of course for the club to survive. I do think however that we have one of the best (If not the best) back fives in the league, and if the club can either purchase well or progress some decent wide players from the youth set up, we have a good chance of European qualification which would hopefully bring in much needed funds. <br /><br />Ignoring the financial situation and looking at the team itself, the right wing problem still exists and it’s something the club has not been able to resolve for a number of years. Perhaps Davin O’Neill on the right will provide a solution, but then Denis Behan may hav</font></font><font face="Verdana, sans-serif"><font size="2">e to operate alone, a prospect not cherished by everyone. Maybe Tim Kiely could be played up front partnering Kudozovic, but it’s all there for us to see over the next nine months. (Anyway, there’s always have Football Manager for my experimenting!!)<br /></font></font><img src="http://www.forastrust.ie/images/foras.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 349px; height: 120px" border="0" width="349" height="120" /><br /><font face="Verdana, sans-serif"><font size="2">Still though, these are trivial issues when you consider the situation in August of last year, and obviously, survival is still the number one priority. Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, this is an aim echoed around the country and this year, results may prove largely irrelevant. It’s the clubs and fans that really matter. Also, with two former enemies of the Shed now on board, there’s a lot to prove. Dan Connor <b>(seen below on the left)</b> gave us the ‘1 Finger Salute’ many moons ago in his Waaaaaahurfur days, while Paul Doolin’s brand of football hasn’t always made him too many friends anywhere else around the league. As regards Connor, there’s no doubting his ability and if he can stay injury free our net will be tough to break into. In the case of Doolin, I’ll reserve my </font></font><img src="http://www.droghedaunited.ie/public/uploaded/gallery/1/48/610_0000004745_2007_11_04_20_27_58.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 363px; height: 241px" align="left" border="0" width="363" height="241" /><font face="Verdana, sans-serif"><font size="2">opinion until at least halfway through the season, I don’t think anyone knows what’s going to happen when it comes to the new manager (story of the whole club really) and the first few weeks will help shape supporter’s opinion. I always admired Alan Matthews’ professionalism during the tough times we had last season and that will remain unaltered, but in saying that, I personally never saw him as a long-term manager. I must admit to being against the appointment in the first place. Why would a club with ambition such as Cork City sack a trophy-winning manager and appoint a manager that took his side down (albeit with a point deduction)? And although the club did achieve Setanta Cup success (in which Matthews played no small part may I add!), I feel we threw away far too many points in the last 5-10 minutes of games last year, a recurring trait all throughout the season. Twice against Derry in both league and FAI Cup, twice in three weeks against St. Pats and Bohs, and against Shamrock Rovers at home amongst others. Obviously concentration and fatigue was a factor, and I think Matthews’s unwillingness to make substitutions played a big part in that.<br /><br />But this is just me being über critical. Even after the financial mess that could have easily torn weaker clubs apart, Matthews, the fans and players stuck together and were duly rewarded on the night of November 1st with a triumph that betters any</font></font><img src="http://dynimg.rte.ie/0000393e0c8r.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px" align="left" border="0" /><font face="Verdana, sans-serif"><font size="2"> Premiershit or SPL title. The team didn’t win the Setanta Cup, the club won the Setanta Cup. Every fan that contributed his or her time, effort, and money into CCFC won that Setanta Cup. Every true supporter in the ground that supported City (apart from the dim few </font></font><font face="Verdana, sans-serif"><font size="2">constantly hurling sectarian abuse at the opposing fans), and those who had supported City through thick and thin but had their place taken by a glory hunter, won the Setanta Cup. The voluntary staff and people that helped Cork City survive (FORAS and Noelle Feeney especially take a bow), you won the Setanta Cup. If Cork City FC survives and reaches the next 25 years, these are some of the people we have to thank, and every time we do win a trophy from here on in, I will give thanks to all those that kept this club from going under. (By the way, speaking of Noelle and others, is it just me or does everyone with Cork City at heart appear to have been shunted to the margins of the club in recent times?) Managers come and managers go, players come and players go, chairmen come and thankfully, some chairmen go, but true City people will always be there, on the banks of our own lovely Lee.<br /><br />So bring on 2009 and the next 25, bring on survival and success, for we deserve it!!</font></font></p><!-- ParagraphBodyEnd --></div> <div class="fw-paragraphbottom"></div> </div><!-- ParagraphEnd 331406427 --><!-- ParagraphStart 328366600 --><div class="fw-paragraph"> <div class="fw-paragraphtop"></div> <h3 class="fw-title"><a name="328366600"></a><!-- ParagraphTitleStart --><span style="color: #0000ff" class="Apple-style-span">Rangers 2</span> <span style="color: #ff0000" class="Apple-style-span">AC Milan 2</span> <!-- ParagraphTitleEnd --></h3> <div class="fw-text"><!-- ParagraphBodyStart --><p>The cold nights in Glasgow. Darkness creeping in around the stadium. Tonight a glamerous friendly took place at Ibrox Park. It was Rangers VS AC Milan. By the time we had got to Ibrox, the players were out on the pitch warming up before the big game. All the stars were there on the opposite side of the pitch from us. Kaka, Ronaldinho, Beckham, Pato. The atmosphere was terrific. Flash and Flash of cameras, hoping to get a shot at Beckham and co. The players went in as all the fans anticipated kick-off.</p><p> </p><p>The teams came out and the noise was terrific. Rangers were lining up with a 4-5-1 formation and there team was: Allan McGregor, Steven Whittaker, David Weir, Madjid Borgherra, Sasa Papac, Lee McCulloch, John Fleck, Pedro Mendes, Maurice Edu, Steven Naismith and Kyle Lafferty. AC Milan were putting out a stron squad with: Dida, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px" class="Apple-style-span">Mattioni, Thiago Silva, Senderos, Antonini, <span style="color: #393633; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px" class="Apple-style-span">Beckham, Pirlo, Flamini, Ronaldinho, Inzaghi and Shevencko.</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #404040; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color: #393633; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color: #393633; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal" class="Apple-style-span">The game got off to a fast pace start with Rangers creating the first set of chances. It was Kyle Lafferty that had the first shot on goal, after John Fleck played the cross into the box and Lafferty headered it over the bar. John Fleck then had his own chance when he went himself, shot and found that Dida had blocked the shot. McCulloch then headered the ball from a Whittaker cross only to find that it was cleared off the line to deny the Rangers again. Inzaghi was alive at most times in the game but Allan McGregor had his shots blocked and saved well. Then Ronaldinho stood up for a freekick after Whittaker tripped him up outside the box. Ronaldinho took the freekick himself but found out that it rattled off the post. </span></span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #404040; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color: #393633; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color: #393633; font-family: tahoma; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal" class="Apple-style-span">Beckham was taken off at half-time for Seedorf, while Rangers sent on most of their subs. Daily, Broadfoot, Alexander, Beasley, Ferguson and Velicka all came on for, Weir, Bourgherra, McGregor, Naismith, Mendes, Fleck and Lafferty.</span></span></span></span></p><p> </p><p>Then it was Rangers that had opened the scoring. Beasley ran at the defence and luckily got the break of the ball of Silva and slotted it past Dida. The crowd went wild even though it was a friendly.</p><p>Milan couldn't take it so they brought on Kaka and Pato. Pato's first touch was a goal straight away. Kaka ran up the line with a cross into the box where Pato tapped the ball into a sprawling Alexander's net. Kaka made it 2-1 after a magical run from his own half and calmly placed the ball into the net. As it look like a 2-1 loss, out of the blue and it never happens often, Sasa Papac was in the Milan box and managed to put the ball away into the net after great play from the youngster Arron Niguez.</p><p> </p><p>So the game finished 2-2 in a great night, with the starts certainly performing! </p><!-- ParagraphBodyEnd --></div> <div class="fw-paragraphbottom"></div> </div><!-- ParagraphEnd 328366600 --><!-- ParagraphStart 326793278 --><div class="fw-paragraph"> <div class="fw-paragraphtop"></div> <h3 class="fw-title"><a name="326793278"></a><!-- ParagraphTitleStart -->England v Italy <!-- ParagraphTitleEnd --></h3> <div class="fw-text"><!-- ParagraphBodyStart --><p><o:smarttagtype name="City" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="country-region" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">The northern hemispheres flagship competition, <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>’s Six Nations Championship, is back and returned on the 7<sup>th</sup> February. <st1:country-region w:st="on">England</st1:country-region> would take on <st1:country-region w:st="on">Italy</st1:country-region> at Twickenham in the opening game, with <st1:country-region w:st="on">Ireland</st1:country-region> v <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region> following. <st1:country-region w:st="on">Scotland</st1:country-region> v <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Wales</st1:place></st1:country-region> would take place on Sunday to complete the opening weekend.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Last season’s Six Nations tournament, perhaps rugby union’s equivalent of football’s European Championships, was won by <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Wales</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <st1:country-region w:st="on">England</st1:country-region> finished second on six points, level with <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region> on the other hand finished where they normally do – last (sixth). Week 2 of last season’s championship saw <st1:country-region w:st="on">England</st1:country-region> travel to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Italy</st1:country-region>’s Stadio Flaminio in <st1:city w:st="on">Rome</st1:city>, recording their narrowest ever win – <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region> triumphed 23-19. The margin should have been larger.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">This season though, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">England</st1:country-region></st1:place> has a new manager in 2003 World Cup winning captain Martin Johnson. They have had a poor autumn series, losing to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">New Zealand</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">South Africa</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region> haven’t been too good either – expectedly. </span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span><img border="0" style="width: 400px; height: 300px; margin: 8px" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" src="http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3522/dsc03268nm2.jpg" /></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial">England</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Arial"> named two brothers in their team for the first time since the Underwood’s fourteen years ago. Delon Armitage, a promising full-back who has already shone against New Zealand and the Pacific Islands team in particular, has brother Steffon Armitage (both of London Irish) playing as a flanker. Mike Tindall was also replaced the day before the match after picking up an injury in training, so he was replaced by Jamie Noon. Danny Cipriani – England’s new fly-half talent, was dropped and dumped in the Saxons squad after a series of bad performances – most notably seen by the amount of charge-downs he’s faced from his own kicks. With Wilkinson and Flood also injured, Andy Goode was brought in. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s team looked like this:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">D. Armitage, Sackey, Tindall, Flutey, Cueto, Goode, Ellis; Sheridan, Mears, Vickery, Borthwick ©, Kennedy, Haskell, S. Armitage, Easter.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Italy coach Nick Mallett sprung a surprise in naming Mauro Bergamasco – a great flanker for Italy – as a scrum-half after three other scrum halves were injured. This was highly unusual, and the Twickenham crowd were about to see why. The <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region> team looked like this:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span lang="IT" style="font-family: Arial">Masi, Robertson, Canale, Mirco Bergamasco, Marcato, Mauro Bergamasco; Perugini, Ongaro, Castrogiovanni, Dellape, Bortolami, Sole, Zanni, Parisse.</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><img border="0" style="width: 400px; height: 288px; margin: 8px" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45455000/jpg/_45455059_england_getty.jpg" /></font> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span lang="IT" style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Twickenham was sold out for the first Six Nations match of the year, with 80,000 in to see the spectacle. The crowd roared as the players ran out, with the national anthems – in particular <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">England</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s – loud and inspiring for the players.</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> <img border="0" style="width: 400px; height: 288px; margin: 8px" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45455000/jpg/_45455020_ag_pa.jpg" /></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Within two minutes, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Italy</st1:country-region> had a line-out near their own line, but it was overthrown and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region> took control of the ball. England pushed forward with the forwards keeping the ball well, with scrum-half Ellis eventually passing it to Andy Goode who kicked through the defence and touched down his own through-ball to grab England 5 points. It went to the TV referee but it was given eventually. It was converted, giving <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region> a 7-0 lead.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Andy Goode missed the chance to extend <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s lead after firing two penalties wide. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region> soon got another try though. Mauro Bergamasco, playing as a scrum-half, couldn’t resist the temptation to get involved in the ruck, created the error that led to James Haskell picking up the ball and flicking it to Harry Ellis, who evaded a tackle and dived over the line. Andy Goode missed the conversion, making it 12-0. The Bergamasco embarrassment continued as he threw the ball high over a team-mate, which meant the ball bounced up and Goode kicked ahead, with the flying Riki Flutey running in to grab <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s third try of the day. Goode converted, making it 19-0. </span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> <img border="0" style="width: 400px; height: 300px; margin: 8px" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" src="http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/7518/dsc03271jh8.jpg" /></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial">Italy</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Arial"> fly-half Andrea Marcato went off injured, so Australian born Luke McLean took his place. He scored a penalty for <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>, but Goode scored one too, making the score 22-3. James Haskell was yellow carded for tripping Gonzalo Canale, meaning <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s flanker was in the sin bin for 10 minutes. Luke McLean scored the penalty, making it 22-6 at half-time.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">The embarrassing Mauro Bergamasco was substituted at half-time for Giulio Toniolatti. After the game, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region> manager Mallett said he would have substituted him after 25 minutes, but left him on for the full 40 as a sign of respect. What a decision that turned out to be. 14 minutes after the half-time break, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region> scored their fourth try. Riki Flutey made a run and passed to Harry Ellis who ran half of the pitch to score. It was a great run after just evading a tackle on the line. Goode converted to make it 29-6.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Italy had a chance to score after a high-ball was caught and then offloaded to Delon Armitage, who didn’t react quick enough and his kick was charged down – but Zanni knocked on whilst trying to catch the ball and thus substitute Pratichetti’s try didn’t count. Three minutes later, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region> substitute Shane Geraghty was sin-binned.</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> <img border="0" style="width: 400px; height: 288px; margin: 8px" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45455000/jpg/_45455370_mirco_getty.jpg" /></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial">Italy</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Arial"> did then score a deserved try, passing along the line until Canale passed to Robertson, who then offloaded it to Mirco Bergamasco, who dived over the line and looked thoroughly thrilled with his effort. <st1:place w:st="on">McLean</st1:place> couldn’t convert, making it 29-11.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial">England</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Arial"> had time for one more try with three minutes to go. Ben Foden, on as a substitute and winning his first cap, passed left and it continued down the line until it got to Mark Cueto, who marginally managed to dive over the line, giving England a 36-11 lead after Goode converts.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">It was a straight-forward, much needed victory for <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region> who start their Six Nations campaign with two points. <st1:country-region w:st="on">Italy</st1:country-region> will be left to wonder why Mauro Bergamasco was played at scrum-half, with the embarrassment gifting <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region> three tries. Martin Johnson and the English nation will have much to ponder too, after an unconvincing victory and the impending trip to defending champions <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Wales</st1:country-region></st1:place> next.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">In the day’s other matches, Ireland beat France 30-21 in a classic encounter at Croke Park, whilst Wales beat Scotland 26-13 on the Sunday to also get two points.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7876871.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7876871.stm</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Click there for highlights of <st1:country-region w:st="on">England</st1:country-region> v <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7877034.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7877034.stm</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">The BBC also showed Mauro Bergamasco’s ‘highlights’ – a must see.</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2">Pictures courtesy of myself and BBC Sport. </font></p><!-- ParagraphBodyEnd --></div> <div class="fw-paragraphbottom"></div> </div><!-- ParagraphEnd 326793278 --><!-- ParagraphStart 326138589 --><div class="fw-paragraph"> <div class="fw-paragraphtop"></div> <h3 class="fw-title"><a name="326138589"></a><!-- ParagraphTitleStart -->Cork City FC Vs. Waterford United FC <!-- ParagraphTitleEnd --></h3> <div class="fw-text"><!-- ParagraphBodyStart --><p><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CMyPC%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List" /><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <img src="http://www.freewebs.com/globalworldsport/photos/CCFCvsWaterford.gif" class="fw_image_computer fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 1px; height: 1px" border="0" /></p><p class="MsoNormal">An unexpectedly large crowd turned out in Bishopstown on a bitterly cold Saturday afternoon, to watch the Rebel Army kick off their 2009 pre-season. There was a real buzz around pre-match, as fans got their first glimpse of the 3 Brazilians who have been the talk of the city in recent days. David Silveira Britto, Tario Alexandre Barbosa dos <st1:city w:st="on">Santos</st1:city> and Fabio Augosto Peres Leoncini arrived from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sao Paulo</st1:place></st1:city> during the week to join the club on a trial basis. Prior to the match, Paul Doolin had informed the fans via the official website, that today’s line-up was going to be an experimental one, to give the many trialists at the club a chance to impress. As a result, this was the team for the start of the game.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">16.Mark Mcnulty<br /> 3.Darragh Ryan<br /> 4.Robert Mezeckis<br /> 5.Seán Kelly<br /> 6.Shane Duggan<br /> 7.Tacio <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Santos</st1:city></st1:place><br /> 8.Matthias Kullstrom<br /> 9.Guntars Silagailis<br /> 10.Timmy Purcell<br /> 11.Gints Freimanis<br /> 19.Daniel Gattering</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">First Half</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Only McNulty in goal and Kelly at centre half had played for the club at any level before, so Doolin’s promise had been kept. Fans were pleasantly surprised to see Gints Freimanis. Th<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3412/3260396417_a9e2b02b9d.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 218px; height: 343px" width="218" align="left" border="0" height="343" />e Latvian winger had been linked with the club last summer, and had not really been spoken of again. The game started and straight away, the Brazilian Tacio looked to stamp his authority on the game from the centre of midfield. However, as a winger, he didn’t have the strength or bravery in the tackle to get the better of a tight knit <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Wat</st1:place></st1:city><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">erford</st1:place></st1:city> unit. The first chance came when a poor clearance by former City keeper, Mick Devine, fell to the feet of Tacio. He shot first time from all of 40 yards, but Devine recovered well to make the save. City were enjoying a good spell of possession, but <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Waterford</st1:place></st1:city> were proving tough to break down. Gints Freimanis shone on the right wing, with his direct running and willingness to track back and make tackles. Silagailis was next to test Devine, after being put through on goal after a neat one-two with Gattering, but the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Waterford</st1:city></st1:place> man got down well to make the save.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Second Half</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Four changes at half time, in came Davin O’Neill, Levi Reid, Tim Kiely and David Brito, in place of Tacio, Silagailis, Purcell and Duggan. Brito looked sharp in the opening few minutes, making some good runs down the left as City looked to score the opening goal. Davin O’Neill threatened to make the breakthrough on a few occasions, looking lively alongside Kiely. Freimanis was withdrawn to a standing ovation from the City fans, clearly they were impressed by what they saw. As the sun went down, and temperatures dropped even further, many fans were wishing for the final whistle, but there was to be one more key moment in the game. A <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Waterford</st1:place></st1:city> corner was badly dealt with by the City defence, and it was the Blue’s young player of the year from 2008, David Grincell, who popped up to score the only goal of the game in the final minute.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">And so ended the first of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Cork</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">City</st1:placetype></st1:place>’s pre-season games. Of those to stand out were Gints Freimanis and Daniel Gattering. The result in the end didn’t really matter. What did matter, is that the Rebel Army were back.</p><!-- ParagraphBodyEnd --></div> <div class="fw-paragraphbottom"></div> </div><!-- ParagraphEnd 326138589 --><!-- ParagraphStart 320860188 --><div class="fw-paragraph"> <div class="fw-paragraphtop"></div> <h3 class="fw-title"><a name="320860188"></a><!-- ParagraphTitleStart -->Chelsea v Ipswich Town <!-- ParagraphTitleEnd --></h3> <div class="fw-text"><!-- ParagraphBodyStart --><p><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CChris%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" /><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--></p><p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CChris%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" /><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <img src="http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/1130/dsc03219ia3.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 300px" border="0" /> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Chelsea</span></st1:city><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"> and Ipswich met in the 4<sup>th</sup> round of the FA Cup at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Stamford</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Bridge</st1:placetype></st1:place>. <st1:city w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:city> beat Southend eventually in a replay at Roots Hall (4-1), while Ipswich overcame <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chesterfield</st1:place></st1:city> 3-0.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">With problems on the London Underground prior to the match, it was a surprise that most of the fans made it on time to the game. The stadium looked sold out and probably was, as <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> reduced the ticket prices for the match. Luiz Felipe Scolari, the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> manager, named a strong line-up to try and avoid an embarrassment. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Chelsea</span></b></st1:place></st1:city><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">: </span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Cech, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Alex, Ashley Cole, Belletti, Ballack, Lampard, Malouda, Kalou, Anelka. <br /> Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Ferreira, Mancienne, Stoch, Drogba, Ivanovic, Deco.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Captain Terry was out injured so Alex took his place. Drogba was brought back into the squad after being dropped for the last couple of games following the 3-0 reverse to Manchester United. Mancienne, who was called up into the <st1:country-region w:st="on">England</st1:country-region> squad during his loan spell at Wolves, and Stoch, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city>’s up-and-coming talent, were named on the bench also.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Ipswich</span></st1:placename><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Town</st1:placetype></span></st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"> boss Jim Magilton made no surprises in his selection, naming this side:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:place w:st="on"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Ipswich</span></b></st1:place><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">:</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"> Richard Wright, David Wright, McAuley, Bruce, Garvan, Miller, Counago, Norris, Balkestein, Haynes, Walters. <br /> Subs Not Used: Supple, Bowditch, Shumulikoski, Thatcher, Quinn, Lisbie, Stead.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <img src="http://www.chelseafc.com/javaImages/1a/ac/0,,10268%7E5286938,00.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 294px; height: 402px" border="0" width="294" height="402" /> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">A packed crowd was in to see the start of the FA Cup 4<sup>th</sup> round match. <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> were dominating from the start of the game, with two chances from Florent Malouda and Frank Lampard in the first 15 minutes. Ashley Cole, and Jose Bosingwa in particular, were making runs down the wing early on and an <st1:place w:st="on">Ipswich</st1:place> win in this tie looked out-of-the-picture. On 16 minutes, Lampard passed to a surging Ashley Cole, who crossed it to Michael Ballack, with the German slotting home to give the Blues a 1-0 lead.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span><img src="http://www.chelseafc.com/javaImages/1b/ac/0,,10268%7E5286939,00.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 267px" border="0" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Chelsea</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">’s poor set-piece defending of recent times was up for debate again, as Alex Bruce pounced on a loose ball at the back post to level the scores after 34 minutes. Owen Garvan’s free-kick wasn’t dealt with properly, and <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> paid the price. The Ipswich fans went wild, with the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> faithful in stunned silence. <st1:place w:st="on">Burnley</st1:place>’s Carling Cup shock was coming to mind.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Ipswich</span></st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"> then had a few chances after that and started to look very much in the tie. Half-time came with the scores at 1-1, with memories of Burnley fresh in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> fans’ minds.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Malouda was having a terrible game and was substituted for Didier Drogba. The <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> hero returned to a huge applause.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Chelsea</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"> attacked more in the second half and it paid off a minute after the substitution. Nicolas Anelka was tripped by Garvan, giving Ballack a perfect position to strike a free-kick from – in the centre. Ballack curled it into the top corner and over the defensive wall to make it 2-1, and his second goal of the night.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">The pressure on Ipswich continued as <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> attacked more. Salomon Kalou was denied by Richard Wright – the ex-England goalkeeper. Ballack soon had another attempt at goal, this time from 25 yards out, but it was saved well. Ricardo Carvalho, only recently returning from injury and working his way back in, limped off in the 70<sup>th</sup> minute and was replaced by Branislav Ivanovic. The fans, including I, were hoping for young Mancienne, but Scolari went for experience ahead of youth. Ballack was substituted nine minutes later and was replaced by Deco, to a standing ovation.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <img src="http://www.chelseafc.com/javaImages/fd/ac/0,,10268%7E5287165,00.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 366px; height: 240px" border="0" width="366" height="240" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Frank Lampard, playing well in the game, scored in the 85<sup>th</sup> minute to hand <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> a place in the 5<sup>th</sup> round draw. His goal was a superbly taken free-kick from far out, giving <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> a 3-1 lead, and eventually the win.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Ipswich played well in parts but <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chelsea</st1:place></st1:city> were too dominant for them in the end. Chelsea now advance to the 5<sup>th</sup> round to face Watford away. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Highlights from YouTube, containing the goals and post-match words from Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins and Ipswich boss Jim Magilton.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pGJY9e_G980</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">(Pictures courtesy of myself and chelseafc.com) </p><!-- ParagraphBodyEnd --></div> <div class="fw-paragraphbottom"></div> </div><!-- ParagraphEnd 320860188 --><!-- ParagraphStart 306296354 --><div class="fw-paragraph"> <div class="fw-paragraphtop"></div> <h3 class="fw-title"><a name="306296354"></a><!-- ParagraphTitleStart -->Race of Champions 2008 <!-- ParagraphTitleEnd --></h3> <div class="fw-text"><!-- ParagraphBodyStart --><p><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CChris%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" /><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial">I<font size="2">t’s the only event that can pit the best of motorsport together. Drivers from Formula 1, World Rally Championship, World Touring Cars, NASCAR, DTM and even World Superbikes would come together for one night to determine the Champion of Champions.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><img src="http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/7530/75999105pj3.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 300px" border="0" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">The 2008 edition was the 21<sup>st</sup> running of the event, from Wembley – <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city>. Previously it’s been at the Stade de France and also the <st1:place w:st="on">Canary Islands</st1:place>, but last year was Wembley’s first go at hosting the event.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button, David Coulthard and Sebastien Vettel were the big names from Formula 1, and if you know you’re stuff, you’ll know that Schumacher especially is a legend. Sebastien Loeb is another legend – the reigning World Champion from the World Rally Championship. He’s the most successful Rally driver of all time, and has 5 World Championships to his name. Andy Priaulx won the World Touring Car Championship last season, and has won it twice more before that. He also has the European equivalent to his name. Yvan Muller is the current World Touring Car Championship winner, who was at Wembley also. Tom Kristensen is the only man to have won the Le Mans 24 Hours race a massive eight times. Mattias Ekstrom won the DTM championship in 2004 and has been the Race of Champions’ Champion of Champions for the past two years. Troy Bayliss is the 2008 World Superbikes Champion and has since retired. Alongside these great names were Carl Edwards, Jaime Alguersuari, Tanner Foust, Gareth McHale, Jason Plato and Adam Carroll.</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <img src="http://www.raceofchampions.com/cars/xbow/images/cars/large_ktm.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 150px" border="0" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">There are the drivers – now the cars. They would be racing a Ford Focus WRC 08 car, a KTM X-Bow, Abarth 500 Assetto Corse, an ROC car and a RX 150. More details such as specifications can be found here: <a href="http://www.raceofchampions.com/cars/">http://www.raceofchampions.com/cars/</a> .<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">The event started at 1pm in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city> with the Nations Cup event, pairing drivers together for their countries. <st1:country-region w:st="on">France</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Germany</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Ireland</st1:country-region>, <st1:place w:st="on">Scandinavia</st1:place>, an All-Stars team and two British teams for the home nation were the countries making up the event. France (Loeb and Muller) started against Scandinavia (Kristensen and Ekstrom) in the best of 3 races around the track in Wembley, with <st1:place w:st="on">Scandinavia</st1:place> winning 2-0. There was a big improvement in the times, with <st1:place w:st="on">Scandinavia</st1:place> winning in 2 minutes 8 seconds in the first race, and 1 minute 52 seconds in the second. <st1:country-region w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region> (Edwards and Foust) were next up against Autosport Great <st1:country-region w:st="on">Britain</st1:country-region> (Button and Priaulx), with <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Great Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region> winning 2-0. F1 Racing Great Britain (Coulthard and Plato) beat the All-Stars (Bayliss and Alguersuari) easily, with Alguersuari crashing. The All-Stars team only came around after Mark Webber (F1 driver) broke his leg in a charity bicycle race – the Australian was supposed to partner Troy Bayliss. <st1:country-region w:st="on">Germany</st1:country-region> (Schumacher and Vettel) then easily beat <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s MacHale and Carroll to book their place in the semi-finals.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <img src="http://image.motortrend.com/f/motorsports/schumacher-will-return-for-the-2008-race-of-champions/10105494+cr1+re0+ar1/schumacher-at-the-2007-race-of-champions.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 272px" border="0" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Scandinavia faced Autosport Great <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region> in the semi-final. Kristensen won the opener, beating Button. Andy Priaulx made it 1-1, beating Ekstrom by over 5 seconds after Ekstrom made a big error. Button and Kristensen would face off again for the right to reach the final, with Kristensen piping Button to the line in a mad dash to the line. <st1:country-region w:st="on">Britain</st1:country-region>’s other team faced <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region> in the other semi, with Schumacher just beating Coulthard in another tight finish. Vettel beat Plato in the other race, handing <st1:country-region w:st="on">Germany</st1:country-region> a 2-0 win and a place in the final against <st1:place w:st="on">Scandinavia</st1:place>. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Denmark</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s Kristensen faced Schumacher in the opener, just losing out by two hundreths of a second. Swedish man Ekstrom levelled the score, beating Vettel by over two seconds. 1-1, and Michael Schumacher would face Kristensen again in the final race. <st1:country-region w:st="on">Germany</st1:country-region> or <st1:place w:st="on">Scandinavia</st1:place>? Kristensen slided into a corner and handed Schumacher an advantage, but he was battling back by the end of the race by Schumacher held on in a time of 1 minute 56, beating Kristensen by over 3 seconds to hand Germany the Nations Cup title – again.</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <img src="http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/6246/18059184dq9.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 300px" border="0" /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">In the interval before the individual driver’s event, Lewis Hamilton – the newest Formula 1 World Champion – paraded his McLaren F1 race car around the track. What a screech! The noise of the F1 car was deafening. He was supposed to race newly crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year winner Chris Hoy (<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Hamilton</st1:place></st1:city> in a Mercedes, Hoy on a bike), but the track was too damp for Hoy to compete. Beijing 2008’s 3 gold man couldn’t take part in the much anticipated “man v machine” race, but at least fans were treated to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Hamilton</st1:place></st1:city>’s show. Chris Pfeiffer showed off his motorbike skills in front of the half-full Wembley crowd too.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Back to the action it was, with Schumacher taking on Kristensen in the Drivers’ Cup opener. Schumacher advanced – just. Carl Edwards raced Jaime Alguersuari and won easily after Alguersuari crashed and was unable to catch up. Tanner Foust and Jenson Button raced, but it wasn’t without controversy after Foust won, but had touched the sides twice – which should have been a five second penalty, which was missed by the judges. The crowd booed Foust, but he advanced to the next round. MacHale crashed in the next race, giving Coulthard an easy victory. It was the battle of the Brits in the next race as Priaulx took on Plato. Priaulx won with a gap of over three seconds. Mattias Ekstrom was next, taking on Adam Carroll, with the defending champion Ekstrom advancing – not a good day for <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region> at all. A French battle next, with Loeb taking on Muller – Loeb won by six hundredths of a second. Troy Bayliss slid on a corner so Vettel snatched victory in the final race of Round 1.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Michael Schumacher took on Carl Edwards in the quarter-finals, losing by over two seconds in a surprise defeat. Tanner Foust faced Coulthard, with the fans firmly behind Coulthard – seeing as he’s British and Foust didn’t deserve to be in the next round. Foust ended up crashing out, much to the delight of the home fans. Coulthard was comfortably through. Andy Priaulx took on defending champion Ekstrom, and in a tight race, Priaulx edged it and was clearly elated after his victory, with beaming smiles shown on the big screen. He would face Sebastien Loeb in the next round, after he beat Vettel by over a second.</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <img src="http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/1117/69693711nb7.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 300px" border="0" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Coulthard faced Edwards in the semi-finals and just won. Andy Priaulx was next against Loeb, but Priaulx disappointed the Wembley crowd, losing to the Frenchman. World Rally Champion Loeb was in the final to face David Coulthard, who had the crowd firmly behind him for the final.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial">Coulthard had only just retired from Formula 1 and had earlier paraded his Red Bull F1 car around the track after Lewis Hamilton’s performance. The crowd wanted him to win. But Loeb was in his way.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial"><font size="2">The final was over three races, unlike the other rounds where it was just one race. Loeb won the opener in 1 minute 57 seconds. In the second race, Coulthard levelled the score in a time of 1 minute 54. The drivers were certainly upping the standard, and with the final race of the night coming up, they had to. 1-1 – one race to go. Coulthard or Loeb? The race was neck-and-neck in thrilling fashion, Loeb had the inside line for the last lap while Coulthard was being roared on by the Wembley crowd – but Loeb just snatched victory on the line to give the WRC champion the trophy. It was a great finish to a great event, with the only downside being the freezing cold weather.</font></span><img src="http://www.nancarrow-webdesk.com/warehouse/storage2/2008-w50/img.437938_t.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 290px" border="0" /></p><!-- ParagraphBodyEnd --></div> <div class="fw-paragraphbottom"></div> </div><!-- ParagraphEnd 306296354 --><!-- ParagraphStart 284191482 --><div class="fw-paragraph"> <div class="fw-paragraphtop"></div> <h3 class="fw-title"><a name="284191482"></a><!-- ParagraphTitleStart -->Elverum v US Creteil Handball <!-- ParagraphTitleEnd --></h3> <div class="fw-text"><!-- ParagraphBodyStart --><p><img src="http://olimg.no.publicus.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Avis=OL&Dato=20081117&Kategori=SPORT04&Lopenr=675138470&Ref=AR&MaxW=468&NoBorder" alt="Tøff fransk åpning" /><br /><font size="2"></font></p><p><font size="2"><font size="3"><strong>The most breathtaking match worked against the end and the Frenchmen had just taken their time-out. With 20 effective seconds left to play, a Norwegian one goal lead and French kick-off, it was going to be a nervous end of the European Cup match against US Creteil.<br /><br /></strong><font size="2"></font></font></font></p><p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="2"><strong>Big match in Elverum<br /></strong>Beating Drammen in last year's knock out play-offs were Elverum finally back in Europe. The East Norwegians have been in the top league since 2005 and have now started the journey through Europe. The whit jerseyes from the woods might be playing in Europe next year too after a new sensational win against Drammen. Less than a week ago, on live TV, Elverum beat Drammen 32-17 amazingly. Little Elverum scored almost twice as many goals as the defending league champion Drammen - in their own hall! Last season, they only lost two games: The away match in Elverum (first loss in the league on two years) and the finle of the knockout stages against Elverum. Drammen is Norway's handball capital, but Elverum has done well against the stars!</font></font></font></p><p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="2">Unfortunatly, Elverum is a small town and there are quite a few people living here. Therefore, the club has not a lot of assets. Luckly, the heart for the team is big and the supporter culture is bigger here than in many other places in Norway. But the ecconomi is not good, so the Norwegian Corrupt Handball Association gave Elverum -3 points before the league opener. The small teams should burn!</font></font></font></p><p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="2">Elverum didn't lay down and cry, won two games and came on the right side of the scala. The little team from east of Norway continued their style and they are now one of the top teams in spite of the three lost points and the sale of Steffen Stegavik, one of the stars last season. The sucsess is thanked to Christian Berge. The 34 year old, born in Trondheim, was a pro player in Germany for many years, before a heart attack put an end of the career in 2001. Berge was strong, so he didn't give up and came back on the field again, a little bit weaker. Berge has been an idol for many young handball fans here so when he returned to Norway and chose Elverum, it was a big honour for the town. And Elverum's playing manager has not regret since, cos the season has been far over what we expected. In the 2nd round of the EHF cup, they played the Turkish side Ibzir and beat them over two games. The challenge was bigger tonight: US Creteil from France.</font></font></font></p><p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="2">Creteil may not be the strongest side in France, cos the team has only won the league once, back in 1989. They took the Double as well, by winning the French cup too, an achievement they copied in 1997. Their last title is from 2003 when they won the league cup. But even though they're not the mightiest team, it was going to be a tough challenge for Elverum. They are playing in the French league after all, one of the best in the world. Les Bèliers (the rams) has a homestadium that covers 2,500 people home in Paris, ca. twice as many as Elverum. Creteil ended 3rd in the EHF cup (corresponds the UEFA-cup in football) in 2005/2006, a cup dominated by German teams. The last five years, only German teams have won it, and ironlcy enough there were diffirent teams! HSG Nordhorn is defending champions, but also Magdeburg, Lemgo, Essen and Kiel lift the trophy earlier.</font></font></font></p><p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="2">This match was one of two French-Norwegian derbies in Europe this week: The Norwegian league leader Fyllingen played Paris Handball in the Cup winners cup. The French side won easy by five goals in Bergen yesterday and secured a good starting point in the second leg.<br /><br /><font size="2"></font></font></font></font></p><p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="2"><font size="2"><strong>French threegoals lead</strong></font></font></font></font></p><p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="2"><font size="2">Even though Elverum opened the match by an extraordenary attack that have 1-0, the French team was the leading team in the first period. Genuinly, Elverum's nationalteam keeper Morten Nergaard saved the first shot from the guests, but Elverum's counter-attack goal was annuled because of too many crotches. After that there were only one team on the ground. US Creteil scored four goal in a row, and with 1-4 after five minutes, the home crowd thought Elverum would be Creteil's little playing toy. That was not true. The Norwegian time-out was followed by a period where Elverum frequently ate up Creteil's lead and after 13 minutes, Elverum made it 7-7 by Morten Post. The homeside scored five goals in a row as well, and went from two goals down to a good threegoal lead. Daniel Kempf ended the period with a beautiful chip over the French keeper. Rigault and Henry owned the match in the beginning, but Nergaard was a beast in the first half for Elverum. He said it was a surprise when the Norwegian national team called him, but he has been brilliant in the goal so far in the season. </font></font></font></font></p><p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="2"><font size="2">At 11-10, the homeside was awarded a penalty too, but Morten Post hit the bar. The road for the equalaiser was open, so Benoit Henry thanked and made the teams even.</font></font></font></font></p><p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="2"><font size="2">Looking away from the penalty miss, Morten Post was brilliant in the first half. The left back scored many goals along with Daniel Kempf, the German International, and after two late goals, Elverum could go to halftime with a 15-13 lead. A result to be prod of, indeed, but probably too close to say it's a good starting point when Elverum leaves for Paris next week. The Norwegians would have to add some goals to the lead in the second half, cos the second leg in France will be tough... Very tough. <br /><br /><font size="2"><p><strong>Tired Elverum</strong></p><p>You don't have to be rocket scientist to see who of these sides who was richer. While Elverum hardly made changes in their team, Creteil went to Norway with a decent squad with many class players. Some tough match fixtures made Elverum lose power in the second half. Creteil has some tough matches in France too, but they did well here and they never let Elverum go up in a manygoals lead. The matchpicture was that Elverum was in a 1-3 goals lead during the entire second half. Morten Nergaard was like a wall, but Elverum played clumsy and did many mistakes in their counter-attacks. Therefore, they never got the 4 goals lead the fans wanted a head of the second leg in Paris.</p><p>Five minutes from the end, playmaker Ari Stefansson broke through the defence and sent a rocket of a shot past the keeper and in the middel of the goal, to a Norwegian 27-24 lead. The crowd went crazy and Elverum faced a good starting point for the next match. The victory was at least secured, right? The five last minutes were going to be looong...</p><p>Three minutes later, Elverum had still 27 goals and Creteil had scored two new goals. The lead was skimpy and so was the atmosphere in the hall. The fact that Elverum seemed to lose everything and not even get this good win made a fear and a bad atmosphere for the last minutes that were going to be exciting and dramtic. Shocking enough, there were no 2 mins punishments in the game!<strong> </strong></p><p>The Frenchmen missed two great chances, but Elverum threw away the chance to kill the match twice. With 20 seconds to go, Creteil had the ball and took their time-out to unify power and concentration for the finale seconds. Were they going to ruin the night for the hometeam?</p><p>Creteil threw the ball between their players to let the clock work against the end, so that Elverum would lose seconds to score the winner. The perfect time to score the equalaiser is about 2-3 seconds before full time. 5 seconds might be enough to take kick-off and come closer the goal, get a freekick and maybe score. With five seconds left, Creteil's time was here. What a breathtaking moment. In handball, it's more work against the clock than in football. The crowd made a loud countdown as the seconds worked against full time. Full time were five seconds away. Elverum had a one goal lead... The moment, the decider... Creteil's chance was here. It was now or never. Lars Nordberg, Elverum's viking in the defence, jumped into the Cretil player who had the ball and held him. The referee from Faroe Islands had no doubt: Penalty. A clear penalty for the guests. <br /><br /><strong>Last second penalty<br /></strong><font size="2"><br />The score board stoped on 60 mins and the mark for full time came. A penalty was about to be taken. I suppose it's easier to score a penalty in football than handball, but still. 27-26 or 27-27... Everything dealed about this throw. This shot. ONE single goal in handball is rarely important, and it's not like 27-26 is a far better result than 27-27. It's just a 1-0 lead advantage for the second leg. But the difference between victory and draw is big. Were Elverum losing this?<p>Elverum's players walked around on the field, with no sign of protests to the referee. The decission was clear. Nordberg had to foul him, cos otherwise he would score. Now it was up to Benoit Henry and Morten Nergaard. The last duel of the match. Henry steped up and took the responsibilty for Creteil. The crowd prayed and took a breath, as Henry took the ball and steped up at the 7 meter line. The ref blew and Henry tried to feint. One time, two times.... He threw it.... The temperature in the hall was high, and so it was in Henry's head...</p><p>'Cos Henry missed it. He threw it over the bar, to a huge joy for the homefans. A penalty miss in the last second of the game. The players danced in a big celebration for the closest win of the season, while the fans was still shivering. Elverum beat Creteil!</p><p>While manager Christian Berge means that Elverum should have won by 6-7 goals to get a fair result, is Sigurdur Ari Stefanson optimistic: "We can beat them in France too!"<br /><br /><strong><img src="http://www.ehh.no/Bilder/Artikkelbilder/L/M-nergaard.jpg" style="border-width: 0px" /></strong></p></font></p></font></font></font></font></font></p><!-- ParagraphBodyEnd --></div> <div class="fw-paragraphbottom"></div> </div><!-- ParagraphEnd 284191482 --><!-- ParagraphStart 281671192 --><div class="fw-paragraph"> <div class="fw-paragraphtop"></div> <h3 class="fw-title"><a name="281671192"></a><!-- ParagraphTitleStart -->Chelsea v Burnley <!-- ParagraphTitleEnd --></h3> <div class="fw-text"><!-- ParagraphBodyStart --><p><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CChris%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" /><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object><style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style></p><p class="MsoNormal"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CChris%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" /><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object><style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><img border="0" src="http://www.freewebs.com/globalworldsport/DSC03103.JPG" style="margin: 8px; width: 75%" class="fw_image_computer fwSizeProp" /><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Burnley were the visitors to <st1:placename w:st="on"></st1:placename>Stamford <st1:placetype w:st="on"></st1:placetype>Bridge for the Carling Cup fourth round tie against <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea. Top-of-the-Premiership <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city>Chelsea were heavy favourites against current 5<sup>th</sup> placed Championship side Burnley, who travelled down to <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>London with 6,000 fans.<o:p></o:p></span> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><o:p></o:p> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Luiz Felipe Scolari decided to rest some key players in favour of giving others a run out. Petr Cech was rested so Carlo Cudicini came in, with Ivanovic, Alex, <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place><st1:placename w:st="on"></st1:placename>Wayne <st1:placename w:st="on"></st1:placename>Bridge (captain on the night) and Paulo Ferreira the defenders. Belletti, Deco, Mineiro and Malouda were the midfielders with Drogba and Kalou up front. Owen Coyle didn’t make any surprises with his line-up. The teams in full:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><o:p></o:p> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Chelsea</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">:</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"> Cudicini, Ivanovic, Alex, Belletti, Bridge, Ferreira, Deco, Mineiro, Malouda, Drogba, Kalou. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Subs: Hilario, Lampard, Di Santo, Mikel, Sinclair, Terry, Woods.<br /><b>Burnley:</b> Jensen, Alexander, Duff, <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city>Caldwell, <st1:country-region w:st="on"></st1:country-region>Jordan, Eagles, Gudjonsson, McCann, Elliott, Blake, <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Paterson. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Subs: Penny, McDonald, Akinbiyi, <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Mahon, Rodriguez, Kay, MacDonald.<br /><b>Referee:</b> Keith Stroud (Hampshire).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><o:p></o:p> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Burnley</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"> were on the attack from the off, with Chris Eagles – ex-Manchester United – shooting wide after Ferreira gifted him the ball. Belletti had a go from long range but his shot flew straight over the bar. <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea got a free-kick 30 yards out after Drogba was fouled, but Alex’s belter was blocked, with Bridge missing with the follow up. Malouda was next, shooting over the bar, before Kalou had a chance but he was denied by <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley’s goalkeeper Brian Jensen, who tackled with his feet. Cries for a penalty from the home fans were turned down. On the counter-attack <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley had a chance to score after Cudicini fumbled the ball. He made up for his early mistake after saving from the impressive Eagles soon after.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" src="http://www.chelseafc.com/javaImages/bc/cd/0,,10268~4509116,00.jpg" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 304px" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Belletti picked up an injury so Scolari put on Frank Lampard in the 24<sup>th</sup> minute. He made an instant impact, putting Drogba through with a great pass – and his first touch – with Drogba curling a shot past Jensen into the bottom right hand corner of the net. <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea were 1-0 up, with Drogba booked for his celebrations. Drogba, who had been complaining to the referee for the past 10 minutes constantly, was later to be found to have thrown a coin into the crowd and can expect a charge from the FA.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><o:p></o:p> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Chelsea</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"> continued to dominate, with Kalou and Malouda’s shots being saved. Lampard tried a chip over the goalkeeper but it was saved easily. With 5 minutes to go before half-time, <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley had a corner. Drogba blocked Elliott’s shot to keep the score at 1-0. It was <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea’s turn to have a free kick, with Ivanovic headering onto the cross bar – much to his anguish. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><o:p></o:p> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">The half-time whistle blew with the score at 1-0 to <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><o:p></o:p> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Deco, with a decent performance in the first half, was taken off with John Obi Mikel brought on. <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley kicked off the second half.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><o:p></o:p> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Paulo Ferreira made a run down the wing but his shot from far out went over. <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea got another free-kick, but Lampard’s shot hit into the wall. The <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley fans – impressive in their thousands – went crazy when Ade Akinbiyi was announced to be coming on for Martin Peterson. Steven Caldwell – the <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley captain – is soon booked for a tackle on Drogba. Minutes later Drogba was substituted for Franco Di Santo. That would soon prove to be a mistake as Burnley sensationally equalised through <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley hero Akinbiyi. Eagles ran into the box and shot, with Cudicini only parrying, with Akinbiyi putting in the rebound.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><o:p></o:p> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Eagles picked up a yellow card for a tackle on Mineiro. The game was now a thrilling end-to-end encounter, with <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley forcing their way back into the game. The Burnley fans were still cheering with all their heart and were outsinging the <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea faithful. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><o:p></o:p> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Kalou then headed over the bar but the cross was perhaps too high for him. A minute later Blake was replaced by Alan Mahon for the Championship side. The clock was ticking… <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea gained a corner but it came to no avail. Minutes later Lampard was forced out wide on the edge of the box but managed to cross the ball in, but young Di Santo headed straight at Jensen. <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea were totally dominating but couldn’t put the ball into the net. Lampard and Di Santo again missed chances. In the 90<sup>th</sup> minute, Di Santo shot just wide – with a lot of the stadium believing it went in. <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city>Mahon had a chance for <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley in injury time but his shot went just over. Extra-time it was then.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" src="http://www.chelseafc.com/javaImages/6/dc/0,,10268~4512774,00.jpg" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 248px" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><o:p></o:p> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Lampard put the ball into the net by firing past Jensen, but his ‘goal’ was ruled out for offside. <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city>Chelsea were soon down to 10 men as <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea had used up all 3 substitutes – Franco Di Santo limped off with a hamstring injury. Kalou was pushed up in the main strikers role. <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley made their final substitution with Kevin McDonald replacing Joey Gudjonsson.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><o:p></o:p> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Chelsea</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"> had a corner and it so nearly went in. Lampard’s cross hit the near post and went out. Lampard then missed another chance. Half-time in extra-time was now here, with a quick turn around by the teams. Cudicini made a save from Akinbiyi, with Lampard missing by a whisker at the other end. <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city>Chelsea then had a glorious chance to go 2-1 up – Alex was four yards out and ended up shooting over the bar, much to the astonishment of the <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea fans. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><o:p></o:p> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Both sides were down to 10 men as Steven Caldwell got a second yellow card after taking out Florent Malouda. The free-kick was spilled by Jensen but it was soon gathered. Mikel and Alex had two more chances in the final minutes but the whistle blew. Penalties.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><o:p></o:p> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">No-one could have predicted this. <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea don’t seem to have the knack of winning penalty shoot outs (they haven’t won one since 1998), and the pressure was all on them. A few weeks ago <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city>Chelsea had an 86 game unbeaten run at <st1:placename w:st="on"></st1:placename>Stamford <st1:placetype w:st="on"></st1:placetype>Bridge to their name – then a loss to <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Liverpool. Will Burnley pour more misery on <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><o:p></o:p> </span><img border="0" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45201000/jpg/_45201092_jensen_save_getty.jpg" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 288px" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Burnley</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"> took the first penalty. Alexander scores. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Lampard stepped up for <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea. Goal:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <!--InsertMediaBegin alt="http://members6.freewebs.com/player.swf?file=57220110&pv=1.0&page=http%3A//www.freewebs.com/globalworldsport/latestmatchreports.htm&r=0.1410807022122429&ext=.flv" width="427" height="339" --><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=5,0,0,0" width="427" height="339"> <param name="movie" value="http://members6.freewebs.com/player.swf?file=57220110&pv=1.0&page=http%3A//www.freewebs.com/globalworldsport/latestmatchreports.htm&r=0.1410807022122429&ext=.flv"> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <embed src="http://members6.freewebs.com/player.swf?file=57220110&pv=1.0&page=http%3A//www.freewebs.com/globalworldsport/latestmatchreports.htm&r=0.1410807022122429&ext=.flv" quality="high" allowFullScreen="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="427" height="339"> </embed> </object><!--InsertMediaEnd--></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city>Mahon for <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley – goal. <st1:placename w:st="on"></st1:placename>Wayne <st1:placename w:st="on"></st1:placename>Bridge stepped up for <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea – MISSED. The <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley fans were now going crazy, but then suddenly went quiet when Chris Eagles stepped up – goal. Kalou scored, as did McDonald. Paulo Ferreira scored with Elliott missing for <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley. <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley were still 4-3 up though. Malouda scored – 4-4. Duff scored – 4-5 <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley. Mikel to save <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Chelsea in the Carling Cup… MISSED. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <img border="0" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45201000/jpg/_45201052_jensen.jpg" style="margin: 8px; width: 220px; height: 300px" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"><o:p></o:p> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana">Chelsea</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana"> have been knocked out in an extraordinary game. The <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley fans were now in heaven, and full credit to them, they were great. <st1:city w:st="on"></st1:city>Chelsea fans suffer the embarrassment, but <st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place>Burnley fans can go home happy.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <!--InsertMediaBegin alt="http://members6.freewebs.com/player.swf?file=57220209&pv=1.0&page=http%3A//www.freewebs.com/globalworldsport/latestmatchreports.htm&r=0.25427457032803913&ext=.flv" width="427" height="339" --><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=5,0,0,0" width="427" height="339"> <param name="movie" value="http://members6.freewebs.com/player.swf?file=57220209&pv=1.0&page=http%3A//www.freewebs.com/globalworldsport/latestmatchreports.htm&r=0.25427457032803913&ext=.flv"> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <embed src="http://members6.freewebs.com/player.swf?file=57220209&pv=1.0&page=http%3A//www.freewebs.com/globalworldsport/latestmatchreports.htm&r=0.25427457032803913&ext=.flv" quality="high" allowFullScreen="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="427" height="339"> </embed> </object><!--InsertMediaEnd--></p><p class="MsoNormal">(Pictures from chelseafc.com, BBC Sport and myself. Videos from myself.) </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><!-- ParagraphBodyEnd --></div> <div class="fw-paragraphbottom"></div> </div><!-- ParagraphEnd 281671192 --><!-- ParagraphStart 263093587 --><div class="fw-paragraph"> <div class="fw-paragraphtop"></div> <h3 class="fw-title"><a name="263093587"></a><!-- ParagraphTitleStart -->FAIlures <!-- ParagraphTitleEnd --></h3> <div class="fw-text"><!-- ParagraphBodyStart --><p><img src="http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/brands/0011/3402/brand.gif" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 160px; height: 160px" width="160" align="right" border="0" height="160" /><br />The Football Association of Ireland… in so many quarters a name synonymous with failure, the Eircom Stadium, Merriongate, Steve Staunton and a hundred other cock ups anyone?  And a name synonymous too  it could be argued, with failure in terms of the FAI’s primary job in overseeing the best interests of football at all levels in our country. A strong statement? Perhaps it is. Yet somehow, I doubt that any of you who disagree has had much experience of supporting a League of Ireland club. It appears all too clear to me that our ‘National’ Football Association seems largely bent on ignoring top level domestic football when it comes to those things that really matter, unless of course you count among them, an unnatural haste to punish LOI clubs for even the smallest of perceived misdemeanours.  <br /><br />I think the main problem is that clubs find it almost impossible to gain any money from public fundraisers, loans ect. because of previous FAI cock-ups (IR£50,000 spent on models of eircom park for example). For GAA clubs it can be very easy to fundraise if necessary, they can go to county matches and shake a bucket, or even go into their local town or city and get people to drop in money to help out the club, people feel by helping one GAA club they are helping the others, that, coupled with people’s confidence in the GAA with their money (A confidence that is well deserved I hasten to add) means that for GAA clubs, fundraising isn‘t a big issue. In football’s case people have many doubts when the bucket is thrust at them, questions immediately form. Who am I giving it to? How is it going to be spent? How do I know that the money I give won‘t end up in some anonymous businessman‘s back pocket?<br /><br />These are the questions that have, and still plague eircom League clubs, it seems like the only people that will put their money into a fledgling club is the club’s fans themselves, I have no doubt that if the FAI ran their organisation transparently and efficiently then the eircom League wouldn’t be in the financial mess that it’s in today, it seems that the only sufferer‘s of our National Football Associations ignorance is those who are most financially vunerable.   <br /><img src="http://dynimg.rte.ie/00015d0a10D.jpg" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 269px; height: 202px" align="left" border="0" /><br />At the start of this year the FAI introduced a licensing system for all it’s clubs, this meant that clubs had to have the required Facilities and Infrastructure to play in the league, anybody who didn’t at the start of the league were denied access and anyone that failed to meet that standard during the season were punished. All sounds fine so far, but the problem was that the FAI failed to realise the precarious financial position the league perches in. Clubs in the league have traditionally had to survive on tight finances, then when you get investors coming in clubs now find themselves with a whole pile of money at their disposal, and without previous experience don’t know how to spend it wisely. In our case it was spent on bringing in people to the club and with that brought an air of hope, an almost expectant feeling that with the squad we had we could be real challengers to capture the title the third time. Both fans and pundits alike were getting very excited, clubs now had money, and it seemed that the investors were investing in clubs in good will and the licensing system would ensure that the league would be run professionally. Teams were able to buy good players and wouldn‘t have to sell their own players abroad, with the league being reduced to 10 it would be a competitive league at top and bottom, hopefully would go down to the wire, maybe an eircom League could finally reach a European competition proper? <br /><br />Sadly though this wasn’t the case, as we all know these investors weren’t doing it out of the kindness of their hearts, or in good faith. They were just there to try and make a cheap buck out of a league who’s hopes have been dashed time and again. Arkaga realized the mess they created and instead of trying to rescue the situation they just hoisted anchor and pulled out all monies, surely the licence should have included that companies must assume financial responsibility for the club they own, in Arkaga’s case they just created a separate company to the mother company and so they wouldn’t have to take on the financial burdens associated with running a LOI club, with all the so called ‘experts’ in the FAI, not one thought of this eventuality, and if they did, why not include it in the licensing regulations?<br /><img src="http://corkcityfc.ie/gallery/albums/derrycity130908/JMRL4258_%28Medium%29.JPG" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" style="margin: 8px; width: 400px; height: 266px" align="right" border="0" /><br />It seems to me that the FAI are simply all too happy to see their ‘premier’ league as no more than a feeder league for the English Premiership. Now, you might think this is an outrageous statement, but to me it is so obvious. Joey Gamble aside, LOI players simply do not get a look in when it comes to the Irish senior team. During Kevin Doyle’s time at Cork City, he scored 25 goals in 75 games, played for the Republic’s U21 side scoring five times in eleven games, yet never got a call up to the senior squad. No sooner had a certain Mr. Dolan engineered a move for Kevin (and Shane Long) to the Berkshire Bloodsuckers for a bit of loose change, within weeks Kevin is called up to the senior squad. Coincidence? Yeah sure!<br /><br />Our ’National’ Football Association are more than happy to fund junior clubs and pay big money for ‘training’ (Holiday) camps in Portugal but then fine clubs for clashing jerseys (Bray when they didn’t bring their proper jersey so we gave them ours) and for players not doing interviews. (Colin Healy) And if this league does go professional and thrive, I for one, will not be thanking the men beyond the green door.<br /><br /><b><font size="2">Kevin Galvin </font></b></p><!-- ParagraphBodyEnd --></div> <div class="fw-paragraphbottom"></div> </div><!-- ParagraphEnd 263093587 --><!-- ParagraphStart 262626952 --><div class="fw-paragraph"> <div class="fw-paragraphtop"></div> <h3 class="fw-title"><a name="262626952"></a><!-- ParagraphTitleStart -->Sydney FC 1-1 Queensland Roar <!-- ParagraphTitleEnd --></h3> <div class="fw-text"><!-- ParagraphBodyStart --><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong><a href="http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/utils/imgresizer.aspx?w=280&n=http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/news/83123791.jpg"></a></strong></font></p><p><em><font size="2" color="#000000"><img src="http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/utils/imgresizer.aspx?w=470&h=375&n=http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/galleries/83123791_10.jpg" style="margin: 8px; width: 416px; height: 295px" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" width="416" border="0" height="295" /></font></em></p><p><em><font size="2" color="#000000">Stuart Musialik after the last-kick equaliser</font></em></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>Match:</strong> Sydney FC v Queensland Roar, Hyundai A-League 08/09 Round 7, Sydney Football Stadium, Australia</font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>Reporter:</strong> hughgeta (Sydney, Australia)</font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000">Queensland Roar travelled to Sydney on a rainy Saturday night full of confidence after the previous week defeating ladder-leaders Melbourne Victory 2-0 at the Telstra Dome. Sydney, second on the table, had lost their first match of the season to Wellington and were looking to rebound at home.</font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000">Sydney had an effective full-strength team, with Alex Brosque, Mark Bridge and John Aloisi leading the attack. This may have proved a handful for a makeshift Roar defence, who handed youngster Matt Mundy a debut alongside veteran Craig Moore. Marquee striker Aloisi himself was yet to score and was quickly gathering criticism, as the highest paid Australian sportsman in the country.<img src="http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/utils/imgresizer.aspx?w=470&h=375&n=http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/galleries/83123004_10.jpg" style="margin: 8px; width: 180px; height: 240px" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" width="180" align="left" border="0" height="240" /></font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000">Though the match started slowly, Queensland had the first chance through Brazilian Reinaldo, whose rebounded shot was excellent saved by Clint Bolton. The Roar created another chance, this time Dutchman Sergio van Dijk completely missed a low cross with only a touch needed to turn the ball past an out-of-position Bolton.</font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000">However, the majority of the first stanza was in Sydney’s possession, despite their lack of chances. In the final 10 minutes of the half the match opened up, Aloisi almost on the end of a superb one-two, only for it to be cleared at the death. Brosque found himself free on the counter on the 40<sup>th</sup> minute, but his weak right-footed chip shot just missed the far crossbar.</font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000">Queensland were being orchestrated by Charlie Miller, the veteran Scotsman who made up for his lack of running with a superb passing game. Barely 5 minutes in the second half received the ball in the attacking third, moved a couple of steps forward and as he failed to be shut down, drilled an excellent shot into the bottom of the net. It was Miller’s fifth goal in seven matches, and arguably his best.<img src="http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/utils/imgresizer.aspx?w=470&h=375&n=http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/galleries/83123440_10.jpg" style="margin: 8px; width: 169px; height: 215px" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" width="169" align="right" border="0" height="215" /></font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000">Sydney had no option to attack but could not effectively find their way into the match. Aloisi brought the crowd to their feet as he received the ball in the box for a half-chance, but could not get a shot away in time. Sydney also lost their creative spark when midfielder Steve Corica was substituted off on the 60<sup>th</sup> minute, but by the same token the Roar subbed their midfield hard man Danny Tiatto at the same point in time.</font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000">These two substitutions represented a turning point in the match as Sydney heavily pushed forward. Brendon Santalab, with a reputation for a long-shot, almost added to this stigma with a dipping effort from distance but it was off-target. A couple of potential headers from Brosque and Tony Popovic went to waste from pin-point Shannon Cole deliveries, an up and coming star just called into the Socceroos squad.</font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000">With national coach Pim Verbeek watching, Sydney were beginning to wonder if a equaliser would ever come as the Roar shut up shop. Moore and Mundy were doing an excellent job in containing Sydney’s attacks and this soon meant they were also attacking on the counter. Reinaldo almost found himself free a couple of times late on but for scrambling Sydney defence.</font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000">With the clock quickly approaching the 90 minute mark, Popovic committed a horrible error in defence which put Miller straight through on goal. Miller stole the ball and had a great chance to finish the game off, yet somehow blazed the shot high and wide, under no pressure. Scoring the hard one and missing the easy one, Miller had nonetheless had played an excellent game.<img src="http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/utils/imgresizer.aspx?w=470&h=375&n=http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/galleries/83123881_10.jpg" style="margin: 8px; width: 326px; height: 205px" class="fw_image_url fwSizeProp" width="326" align="left" border="0" height="205" /></font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000">No-one in the stadium thought the miss would be regretted as the crowd started to exit, disappointed in the home team’s performance. With the three additional minutes up, Cole sent a desperate long throw into the Queensland area. The ball was flicked on and fell to Sydney midfielder Stuart Musialik in the box, who had just enough time and space to tuck a shot away into the corner of the goal for a miraculous equaliser.</font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000">And with the final kick of the game, Sydney had rescued the game, and avoided Queensland’s first ever win in Sydney. Though the possession finished nearly 60% in Sydney’s favour, Queensland had held on for 93 minutes with great defence and Sydney had, up until that point, barely created a chance. The draw was arguably a fair result for both sides but the Roar could not help but feel frustrated.</font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000">As for Sydney, they didn’t seem to mind as players and fans alike exploded into celebration at a draw which never seemed likely, despite their pressure.</font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>Match Facts</strong> </font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000">Sydney FC v Queensland Roar 1-1 (0-0)<br /></font><font size="2" color="#000000">Hyundai A-League 08/09 Round 7, Sydney Football Stadium, Australia<br /></font><font size="2" color="#000000">Saturday, 4th October, 2008, 7.00pm (AEST)<br /></font><font size="2" color="#000000">Crowd: 12403</font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><em><font size="1"><font color="#000000">1-0 (Miller 48’)<br /></font><font color="#000000">1-1 (Musialik 90+3’)</font></font></em></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000"><em>Sydney FC:</em><br /></font><font size="2" color="#000000">Bolton; Fyfe, Popovic, Middleby, Cole; Musialik, McFlynn; Brosque, Corica (Santalab 62’), Bridge; Aloisi</font></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="#000000"><em>Queensland Roar:</em><br /></font><font size="2" color="#000000">Reddy; Packer, Moore, Mundy, Seo; McKay, Miller, Tiatto (Dodd 63’), Murdocca (Zullo 90’); van Dijk (Kruse 66’), Reinaldo</font></p><!-- ParagraphBodyEnd --></div> <div class="fw-paragraphbottom"></div> </div><!-- ParagraphEnd 262626952 --><!-- ParagraphStart 259969878 --><div class="fw-paragraph"> <div class="fw-paragraphtop"></div> <h3 class="fw-title"><a name="259969878"></a><!-- ParagraphTitleStart --><font color="#ff0000">Red Bull New York</font> 4-5 <font color="#531f7e">Colorado Rapids </font><font size="1" color="#0e0e0e">- Sept.25 08</font> <!-- ParagraphTitleEnd --></h3> <div class="fw-text"><!-- ParagraphBodyStart --><font size="2"><p> <img border="0" src="http://www.freewebs.com/globalworldsport//photos/angelpk.bmp" style="margin: 8px" class="fw_image_freewebs fwSizeProp" /></p><p> </p><p>Well, no one said this was going to be an easy game for the Red Bulls, who were up against the mighty Colorado Rapids last night. Rain in the afternoon meant this was going be a back and forth match and it certainly was as the game ended 5-4, in favour of the Rapids. The scoring started in the first three minutes of the match, where Omar Cummings took advantage of Conor Casey's collision with New York's keeper, Jon Conway, to put the Rapids ahead. Despite the slow start, the Red Bulls would come back just two minutes later through Mike Magee, who slotted home after pouncing on a poor back pass from Cory Gibbs.</p><p> The Rapids wouldn't give up that easily however, and Conor Casey would score his first on the night in the 11th minute after splitting through the heart of New York's defense and beating Conway from close range. RBNY would soon have luck on their side after Pablo Mastroeni's handball in the area gave them a chance to score from the spot, which Juan Pablo Angel converted in the 34th minute (2-2). Dane Richards would put the home side ahead 6 minutes later after he tapped in a low pass by Jorge Rojas past Preston Burpo. The Rapids would hit back twice after that through Mike Petke and Conor Casey to go into half-time with the 4-3 lead. Juan Carlos Osorio would replace Gabriel Cichero with Andrew Boyens at the back to start off, hoping for some answers in the second half.</p><p> </p><p> <img border="0" src="http://www.freewebs.com/globalworldsport//photos/casey.bmp" style="margin: 8px" class="fw_image_freewebs fwSizeProp" /></p><p> </p><p> New York would come close three minutes in but, Dane Richards was stopped before he could get a shot in. He would have to come off soon afterwards after suffering a knee injury from that challenge. That would mark the MLS debut of the on-loan Senegalese striker, Macoumba Kandji, who the Red Bulls were tracking all summer long. Nick LaBrocca would get the Rapids' first chance in the 63rd minute but his close range effort was pushed aside by Conway. Matthew Mbuta would make his debut for New York in the 70th minute and he would find the net two minutes later after Macoumba Kandji's low cross from the right allowed him to tap into an open net for the equaliser and his first of the season. Angel would come close with header minutes later but Burpo would manage to keep the Rapids in it. Kandji and Angel would have chances moments later but they'd be left to rue their misses as Casey would score his third of the night thanks to a cross from Mehdi Ballouchy, which he knocked past Conway in the 89th for the 5-4 win.</p><p> It was a good match filled with loads of goals but the Red Bulls were unlucky on a number of occasions and they were lacking defensively. With the loss, they remain fourth in the East but should DC beat Dallas later today, they'll be pushed down to fifth in the table. With four matches remaining this season, Red Bull New York will need all the points they can get if they want to go on to the playoffs. Toronto, Real Salt Lake, Columbus Crew, and the Chicago Fire - It all starts next week at home, three points perhaps?</p></font><!-- ParagraphBodyEnd --></div> <div class="fw-paragraphbottom"></div> </div><!-- ParagraphEnd 259969878 --><!-- ParagraphStart 226179777 --><div class="fw-paragraph"> <div class="fw-paragraphtop"></div> <h3 class="fw-title"><a name="226179777"></a><!-- ParagraphTitleStart -->Hampshire v Lancashire <!-- ParagraphTitleEnd --></h3> <div class="fw-text"><!-- ParagraphBodyStart --><p>Lancashire were the visitors to the Rose Bowl as they took on Hampshire in the County Championship Division 1. On Day 1, Hampshire scored 248-9 before they were curtailed by rain. Day 2 saw them finish on 327, with Lancashire scoring 225-9.</p><p><u>Day 3</u></p><p>Lancashire started on 229-5 on a cloudy day in Southampton. Croft was the first wicket to fall, out for 33 (c Pothas b Ervine). Sutton and Chapple were at the crease looking to try and equal, and better, Hampshire's 1st innings score. Chapple was next out though, out for 21 after being caught by Tremlett off the bowling of England's Mascarenhas. He then took another wicket, ousting Cork for 4 (Pothas with the catch). Mahmood, ex-England player, was bowled for 0 - again by Mascarenhas. Luke Sutton, Lancashire's wicket-keeper, was last out for a decent 55 (c Ervine b Tremlett). Keedy was left on 0*. Lancashire totalled 295ao, 32 behind Hampshire. Dimi Mascarenhas ended with figures of 6-67 - a great performance with the ball.</p><p>Apart from Mascarenhas' wicket of Mahmood, all Hampshire's wickets were taken by the wicket-keeper or in the slips.</p><p><img width="140" src="http://static.ecb.co.uk/images/width140/andrewflintoff-102832.jpg" alt="Andrew Flintoff" height="210" /></p><p>Hampshire in next to hopefully build on their 32 run lead. Their innings started in bad fashion as Michael Carberry, named in England's 30 man Champions Trophy squad, was again out for 0 (he was out for 0 in the first innings too). He was caught lbw by Chapple. It got worse as John Crawley was out for 2 (c Flintoff b Cork) - leaving Hampshire on 9-2. Michael Brown was next out for 15 having been bowled by Chapple for 15. Sean Ervine's dismissal shortly after meant Hampshire were now struggling on 40-4. He was out off the bowling of Flintoff (c Horton). The collapse continued. Nic Pothas was bowled by a superb delivery from Flintoff - his middle stump flying out. Pothas was out for 8, leaving Hampshire on 48-5. Flintoff was looking good with the ball, with rumours he'll be called up into the England squad for the 2nd Test against South Africa.</p><p>With the score on 75, the 6th wicket fell - Lamb out for 16 (c Sutton b Mahmood). Dimi Mascarenhas was next to the crease. He got frustrated and ending up smacking the ball to 3rd man Vincent (off the bowling of Mahmood) - for 3. Dimi, normally a placid guy, was in anger. Hampshire's new Kolpak player, South African Rory Kleinveldt, was out for 4 (c Sutton b Keedy). </p><p>The players went off for bad light with the teams taking an early tea break. When they resumed, Tremlett was out for 1 after being bowled by Chapple. He got 60 in the 1st innings. A last gasp 11th wicket stand meant Hampshire saved face slightly by reaching 130, before Tomlinson was out for 11 (c Sutton b Croft). Michael Lumb was left stranded on 49*. </p><p><img border="0" width="226" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44830000/jpg/_44830693_fred_226pa.jpg" alt="Andrew Flintoff" height="170" /></p><p>Lancashire only needed 164 for victory on Day 4, and ended up winning by 6 wickets. Andrew Flintoff was indeed called up by England after a fine performance here - after his two wickets, he scored 39 runs off 23 balls to help Lancashire to victory.</p><p><img border="0" width="500" src="http://www.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/92200/92241.jpg" alt="Andrew Flintoff heads up the pavilion steps at The Rose Bowl after leading Lancashire to a six-wicket win, Hampshire v Lancashire, County Championship, The Rose Bowl, July 14, 2008" height="352" /></p><p>(Pictures from ecb.co.uk, BBC Sport and cricinfo respectively.)</p><!-- ParagraphBodyEnd --></div> <div class="fw-paragraphbottom"></div> </div><!-- ParagraphEnd 226179777 --> </div> </div> </div> <div id="fw-sidebar"> <div id="fw-sidebarbegin"></div> <div id="fw-sidebarend"></div> </div> <div class="clears"> </div> </div> <div id="fw-footer"> <p id="fw-foottext" class="fw-footertext">© Global World Sport</p> <p><script> _udn="none"; </script> <script> function utmx_section(){}function utmx(){} (function(){var k='0083307441',d=document,l=d.location,c=d.cookie;function f(n){ if(c){var i=c.indexOf(n+'=');if(i>-1){var j=c.indexOf(';',i);return c.substring(i+n. length+1,j<0?c.length:j)}}}var x=f('__utmx'),xx=f('__utmxx'),h=l.hash; d.write('<sc'+'ript src="'+ 'http'+(l.protocol=='https:'?'s://ssl':'://www')+'.google-analytics.com' +'/siteopt.js?v=1&utmxkey='+k+'&utmx='+(x?x:'')+'&utmxx='+(xx?xx:'')+'&utmxtime=' +new Date().valueOf()+(h?'&utmxhash='+escape(h.substr(1)):'')+ '" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></sc'+'ript>')})(); </script> <script>utmx_section("Footer Link")</script> <p id="free-website" style="float:left; font-size:11px; width:550px; text-align:left;">Create a <a href="http://www.webs.com/?referer=freebar&cm_mmc=Freewebs-_-Free%20Website-_-Freebar-_-Free%20Website" title="free website"> free website</a> at <a href="http://www.webs.com/?referer=freebar&cm_mmc=Freewebs-_-Free%20Website-_-Freebar-_-Free%20Website" title="free website">Webs.com</a> </p> </noscript> <script> if(typeof(urchinTracker)!='function')document.write('<sc'+'ript src="'+ 'http'+(document.location.protocol=='https:'?'s://ssl':'://www')+ '.google-analytics.com/urchin.js'+'"></sc'+'ript>') </script> <script> _uacct = 'UA-230305-10'; _udn="none"; urchinTracker("/0083307441/test"); </script> <p id="wildfire" style="float:right; margin-right:5px;"> <script type="text/javascript"> addthis_url = location.href; addthis_title = document.title; addthis_pub = 'webs'; </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/addthis_widget.php?v=12"></script> <!--<script src="http://cdn.gigya.com/wildfire/JS/WFButton.js?module=share&partner=54291"></script>--> </p> </p> </div> </div> <!-- --><script type="text/javascript" src="http://images.webs.com/static/global/js/webs/usersites/escort.js"></script><script type="text/javascript">if(typeof(urchinTracker)=='function'){_uacct="UA-230305-2";_udn="none";_uff=false;urchinTracker();}</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://edge.quantserve.com/quant.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript">_qacct="p-44naSaXtNJt26";quantserve();</script> </body> </html> <!-- [SB] PageID 52024431--> <!-- appserver107-jaunty -->