Monthly Archives: August 2014

Cambridge City, Non-League, Weymouth

Non-League: Cambridge 0-1 Weymouth

Yetton winner seals win over Cambridge City

Weymouth sealed their first away win in the league this season in a solid victory over Cambridge City at Bridge Road.

Skipper Stewart Yetton bagged his fifth goal of the league campaign to seal the spoils, against a side that player-manager Jason Matthews claimed would be a top-five outfit in the build up to the clash.

Boss Matthews was forced into one alteration from the XI that triumphed on derby day over Dorchester Town.

Ed Palmer picked up an ankle injury late on in the bank holiday Monday clash, ruling him out of the squad completely, with Sam Poole slotting into the centre of the defence.

There was also a welcome return to the first team for Luke Winsper for the first time since March, he came back on to the bench to add some more midfield options following Shane Krac’s announcement that he had left the club.

And after finding the net promptly against both Dorchester and Hitchin Town in their last two outings, Weymouth continued their swift scoring form as Yetton took just eight minutes put them ahead, for what proved to be the winner.

From a devilish free kick swung in by Chris Shephard, which couldn’t be dealt with by the hosts’ defence, Yetton was first to react and strike home the opener to put his side a goal up.

Adam Kelly then had another effort well saved just moments later, but it could have so easily been 1-1 when Andrew Phillips, hat-trick hero from the Lilywhites’ last outing, had a glorious chance to level things up.

His strong run allowed him to get well in behind the Weymouth back four, but he fluffed his lines and couldn’t muster an effort on target. Poole then produced a superb last ditch tackle to deny the fvrontman again five minutes later.

The Terras’ sharp strike duo of Yetton and Tim Sills then nearly combined to pay dividends midway through the first half, when the former produced a pinpoint cross for the head of Sills, who forced it back across goal and narrowly wide.

Shephard then linked up well with George Rigg in the midfield to give himself half a yard of space, but he saw his snap shot sail well wide.

Callum Donnelly, brother of Hitchin Town’s Brett who caused the Terras all sorts of problems the previous week, could not replicate his sibling’s goal and smashed a shot over the stand from a City corner.

Then just moments before the interval, a route one ball forward from Weymouth nearly unlocked the Lilywhites’ defence for a second time.

A Sills knockdown from Matthews’ punt fell to Shephard, who tried his luck once again and failed to hit the target.

The creative midfielder then looked to test Zac Barrett in the Cambridge City goal once again almost instantly after the restart, and Yetton saw a cross well intercepted by defender Lee Chaffey.

Shephard was then in the thick of it once more as he was cleaned out by a nasty challenge from Tom Pepper, who earned the first booking of the contest.

Yetton had a chance to double his tally when he tried to lift the ball over the onrushing Barrett, but the goalkeeper was up to the task to keep his side in the game.

Read More on theterras.co.uk

Premiership, Swansea, West Brom

Premiership: Swansea 3-0 West Brom

Nathan Dyer scored twice as Swansea ruthlessly ended West Bromwich Albion’s unbeaten start with a third win to briefly go top of the Premier League.

Dyer finished off a slick move by running onto Gylfi Sigurdsson’s flick to fire home after just two minutes.

Wayne Routledge then met a headed clearance from Craig Dawson to double the Swans’ lead with a stunning volley.

Swansea created further chances after the break with Dyer stroking home his second from another Sigurdsson pass.

Victory gave Swansea a third successive win for the first time as a Premier League club and, taking into account their progress in the League Cup, their best start to a season for 91 years.

In contrast, there is plenty to ponder for West Bromwich Albion manager Alan Irvine who has overseen major changes at the Hawthorns but is yet to enjoy a league win.

Albion confirmed their 11th signing of the transfer window before kick-off, with Argentine winger Sebastian Blanco joining for an undisclosed fee.

Blanco, along with fellow new recruits Silvestre Varela, Joleon Lescott and Georgios Samaras, was unavailable and Irvine will want them involved as soon as possible.

After seeing off League Cup opponents Rotherham in midweek, Swansea boss Garry Monk reverted to the side that had beaten Burnley a week ago courtesy of another Dyer goal.

The Englishman was to strike even earlier against West Brom, receiving the ball from Sigurdsson and rounding Ben Foster before slotting the ball home.

Swansea were not prepared to sit on their lead, Wilfried Bony clearing the crossbar with a shot and a header and Jonjo Shelvey also going close.

Read More on BBC Sport

Championship, Football, Huddersfield, watford

Championship: Waford 4-2 Huddersfield

Championship side Watford scored twice after being reduced to 10 men to secure a 4-2 win against Huddersfield.

Keith Andrews headed in a corner after Gabriel Tamas’s 65th minute sending off and Almen Abdi curled in a late right-footed strike to secure the points.

Watford’s Troy Deeney calmly slotted past goalkeeper Alex Smithies to open the scoring on 15 minutes, before Harry Bunn equalised after the break.

Abdi restored the lead on 54 minutes, but Murray Wallace headed an equaliser.

The win keeps Giuseppe Sannino’s team second in the league, just one point behind leaders Nottingham Forest.

Deeney, who signed a four-year contract extension on Wednesday, came into the game having scored 11 goals in his last 11 appearances at Vicarage Road.

He extended that run as he opened the scoring on 15 minutes when he calmly slotted home from a pin-point Daniel Tozser pass.

Read More on BBC Sport

Bournemouth, Championship, Norwich

Championship: Norwich 1-1 Bournemouth

In-form Norwich had to settle for a point despite Lewis Grabban putting them in front against former club Bournemouth at Carrow Road.

Grabban headed home Nathan Redmond’s cross as the Canaries looked for a fourth successive Championship win.

But Bournemouth kept their composure and levelled in first-half stoppage time when Callum Wilson slotted home.

Norwich sub Cameron Jerome headed just wide after the break and Marc Pugh shot straight at the keeper in reply.

Bournemouth, unbeaten in their nine previous visits to Carrow Road in all competitions, opted for a five-man midfield to try and stifle the Norwich threat.

They enjoyed plenty of early possession and Dan Gosling fired over from distance from a clever backheel by Junior Stanislas.

The Cherries paid the penalty for slack marking, however, as Steven Whittaker and Redmond combined well on the right before the latter sent over a perfect delivery for an unmarked Grabban to score his fifth goal in four games in six yards.

The striker then dragged a 25-yard effort wide and Kyle Lafferty and Redmond also tested Bournemouth keeper Lee Camp as Norwich pressed for a second.

Read More on BBC Sport

Cricket, Gloucestershire, Kent, One-Day Cup

One-Day Cup: Kent prove too strong for Gloucestershire

Kent booked their place in the One-Day Cup semi-finals with a 24-run victory over Gloucestershire.

After the hosts lost Rob Key and Ben Harmison cheaply, Sam Northeast (78) and Fabian Cowdrey (51) put on 106.

Sam Billings added 61 but Kent slipped from 215-4 in the 43rd over to 242 all out as David Payne finished with 5-44.

Chris Dent (40) led a positive reply but Gloucestershire lost their way and, despite Will Gidman (39) giving them hope, they were dismissed for 218.

Kent will now travel to Edgbaston to meet Warwickshire on Thursday, 4 September in the last four for the right to earn a place at Lord’s, while the other semi-final sees Durham host Nottinghamshire two days later.

The hosts were inspired by Billings’ 36-ball innings as he hit three sixes and seven fours to put his side in a position for a big score with six overs remaining, but Gloucestershire fought back well to take the final six wickets in 37 balls.

In reply, William Tavare (19) and Dent put on 46 for the first wicket in 8.2 overs and Gareth Roderick added 43, but the visitors then slumped to 125-6.

A seventh-wicket stand of 53 between Will Gidman and Benny Howell (33) briefly raised Gloucestershire’s hopes, but Harmison (3-40) and David Griffiths (2-36) helped mop up the tail order and Kent could celebrate a semi-final place.

Read More on BBC Sport

BTCC, Knockhill (UK), Motorsport

BTCC: Trio of new 2014 winners at Knockhill

The biggest crowd at Knockhill in 15 years witnessed three titanic Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship battles as a trio of drivers took their first wins of the season.

Honda Yuasa Racing’s Matt Neal fended off the attentions of front-row starter Rob Austin and home hero Gordon Shedden to claim the honours in the opening contest.

An action-packed 27 laps of racing included myriad of incidents and overtakes throughout the order, but it was the most experienced driver on the grid who managed to keep out of trouble to win his first race for more than a year and a first in the Honda Civic Tourer model.

Mat Jackson took the 20th BTCC victory of his career and the first in nearly two years with a flawless performance in the next bout. The Airwaves Racing driver made a clean getaway when the Honda duo of Neal and Shedden ran into trouble. Neal was given a drive-through penalty for jumping the start while Shedden dropped to the rear of the field after early contact with Austin.

MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save driver Jason Plato eventually took second ahead of the recovering Austin.

Race three provided the third different winner of the day, which also completed a hat-trick of victories for the Dunlop Sport Maxx soft compound for the first time in BTCC history.

Pole-sitter Nick Foster produced a good start but he was soon under pressure from his eBay Motors team-mate Rob Collard who had made his way from sixth to second in the early stages. Collard eventually edged his way past and never looked back – taking his first victory since 2012 at the same venue – but there was a frantic scramble behind for the final podium positions.

It was to be an emotional rostrum for Dave Newsham and the first ever for his AmDTuning.com team as the Inverness-based driver hauled his Ford Focus into second, defending well from the BMWs of Turkington and Foster.

Turkington’s own podium capped a remarkable turnaround for the Ulsterman after his day had got off to the worst possible start. Contact with a combination of Plato and Jackson forced him into the gravel and out of race one, but the 2009 champion produced a sensational drive in the second encounter.

Starting at the back of the grid Turkington had scythed his way up to fourth by the finish, producing pass after pass in the flying BMW 125i M Sport. He went one better in the final showdown to ensure that he left the Scottish circuit with the same 23-point advantage that he’d arrived with.

Shedden maintains second in the standings whilst Plato closed the gap in the chase for the championship. Collard is up to fourth; ahead of reigning champion Andrew Jordan and race two winner Jackson, although all three can only be considered outsiders for the title.

To demonstrate the quite staggering racing on show at Knockhill, the total of nine podium positions on offer over the course of the weekend were filled by an unprecedented eight different drivers.

Read More on btcc.net

 

F1, Motorsport

F1: Max Verstappen will become the youngest driver for Toro Rosso

Teenager Max Verstappen to become youngest Formula One driver in history

The teenager Max Verstappen will become the youngest Formula One driver in history next season after Toro Rosso announced the 16-year-old will replace Jean-‰ric Vergne.

The Dutchman, who is son of the former F1 driver Jos and turns 17 at the end of September, has been racing this season in the European F3 Championship, having graduated from karts last year. Verstappen joined Red Bull’s junior programme at the start of August but was confirmed as Vergne’s replacement for next season on Monday evening.

“Ever since I was seven years old Formula One has been my career goal,” Verstappen Jr said.

Toro Rosso’s team principal, Franz Tost, said: “We consider Max to be one of the most skilled young drivers of the new generation and we believe he has the necessary maturity and mental strength to take on this challenge successfully.”

The sport’s youngest driver to date is the Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari, who made his debut with the same Red Bull-owned team in 2009 aged 19 and 125 days.

Read More on The Guardian

Burnley, Chelsea, Football, Premiership

Premiership : Burnley 1-3 Chelsea

Diego Costa scored on his Premier League debut as Chelsea beat Burnley 3-1 at Turf Moor

The Clarets memorably beat Manchester Unitedin their first home game of the 2009-10 season, and Burnley fans would have been hoping for a similar result when Scott Arfield scored the opener after 14 minutes.

But Costa, a £32m summer signing from Atletico Madrid, took just 17 minutes to register his first goal for Chelsea, as Jose Mourinho’s side came from behind to beat the Premier League new boys.

The Spain striker’s debut was overshadowed by another summer signing from La Liga, as former Barcelona star Cesc Fabregas dominated in midfield and had a hand in all three Chelsea goals, with Andre Schuerrle and Branislav Ivanovic also on target in 20 whirlwind first-half minutes.

Chelsea manager Mourinho opted for Thibaut Courtois over Petr Cech in goal, and the Belgian repaid the faith with an assured debut and a brilliant save at the start of the second half to deny Arfield a second goal.

Read More on Yahoo Sport

rafael nadal, Tennis, US Open

Tennis: US Open: Nadal withdraws

Rafael Nadal will not defend his US Open title in New York after failing to recover from a wrist injury.

The 28-year-old Spaniard sustained the injury in practice last month and had been training with a cast on his right wrist, forcing him to miss the Rogers Cup in Toronto and last week’s Cincinnati Open.

“I am very sorry to announce I won’t be able to play at this year’s U.S. Open,” the world number two said on Facebook on Monday.

“I am sure you understand that it is a very tough moment for me since it is a tournament I love and where I have great memories from fans, the night matches, so many things.

“Not much more I can do right now other than accept the situation and, as always in my case, work hard in order to be able to compete at the highest level once I am back.”

The 14-times grand slam winner also triumphed at Flushing Meadows in 2010.

Read More on Yahoo Sport

Cincinnati, roger federer, Tennis

Tennis: Roger Federer beats David Ferrer to claim Cincinnati title

World number three Roger Federer won his sixth Cincinnati title with a hard-fought three-sets victory over David Ferrer at the Western & Southern Open.

The 33-year-old Swiss won 6-3 1-6 6-2 to extend his unbeaten run against the 32-year-old Spaniard to 16 matches.

But he was made to work by Ferrer, who was close to handing him his first love set since the 2008 French Open final.

It is the former world number one’s first Masters title since 2012, when he also won in Cincinnati.

Federer broke his opponent eight games in the match and saved four breakpoints on his own serve in the penultimate game before taking the set 6-3.

World number six Ferrer struggled to hold serve in the first game of the second set – saving five breakpoints – but then stunned Federer with a triple break to take the set 6-1.

The third set went with serve until Federer broke in the fourth game to regain momentum at 3-1 up and the Swiss took control from there on in to claim his 80th career title.

Read More on BBC Sport