Issue 8, 3rd January 1996: SPORTING ROUNDUP
By Charles Hirst.
18th:
Computing,
Law,
Science&Tech,
SciFi,
Unexplained.
Newcastle Sink Arsenal(3/1/96)
Chelsea Blues For Wilkins(3/1/96)
Newcastle 2 Arsenal 0
The Geordie bandwagon rolled on last night (3/1/96), its latest victim being the hapless Arsenal. Newcastle retained their one hundred percent home record with ease as they out played the Gunners.
Bruce Rioch was not available to comment after the game, instead he remained in hiding in the dressing room. His shellshocked reaction was in stark contrast to Kevin Keegan's chirpy delight. He rated this performance as one of their best all season, coming after their recent defeat at Old Trafford. Arsenal hardly got a touch all night, and only managed one shot on target.
Newcastle went ahead after just 57 seconds. Ginola combined well with Barton and Kitson, before cracking a twenty yard shot past the flapping Seaman. Arsenal reacted well initially, with David Platt driving his team forward, searching for the equaliser, but all their efforts could only muster one chance. It fell to Bergkamp, who recieved the ball from Parlour, after a poor clearance from Srnicek, but he could only drag his shot wide.
Newcastle began the second half as they had the first, scoring an early goal, but this time through Les Ferdinand. Barton lobbed a clearance deep into the Arsenal half, which Ferdinand chased down and drilled past Seaman. It was Ferdinand's 22nd goal of the season. The scoreline may have been substantially larger had Kitson not waisted a handful of chances that came his way.
The two teams meet on January 10th to contest the Coca Cola Cup quarter final at Highbury. Arsenal will be looking for revenge, but it's hard to see were it is going to come from on the basis of this performance.
Ginola
scored Newcastles opener.
Ray Wilkins' QPR suffered a home defeat at the hands have Chelsea last night (2/1/96), who clinched the winner in the last seconds of the game. QPR were forced to field 5 reserves in their team due to a long list of injuries.
Wilkins called the result "a kick in the teeth", having seen his team take the lead in the 70th minute through a Bradley Allen goal. Allen converted Trevor Sinclair's cross, heading past the outstretched Kharine. However seven minutes later,18 year old Matthew Brazier, glanced a cross into his own net.
The game looked to be running towards a draw, when Paul Furlong popped up at the back post to head in his forst goal of the season. Glenn Hoddle accepted his team's good fortune gracefully, acknowledging that Chelsea did not put in a very good performance, but suggesting that they deserved the luck for recent good performances that had not gone their way.
The result leaves QPR in a precarious 19th, where they will have a real dog fight on their hands to avoid the drop. Chelsea move into 12th, with only two points seperating them from 6th spot.
FA Carling Premiership Results
Saturday 30th December
Arsenal 1 Wimbledon 3
Blackburn 2 Tottenham 1
Bolton 1 Coventry 2
Chelsea 2 Liverpool 2
Everton 2 Leeds0
Man Utd 2 QPR 1
Notts Forest 1 Middlesbrough 0
Monday 1 January
Coventry 1 Southampton 1
Leeds 0 Blackburn 0
Liverpool 4 Notts Forest 2
Man City 2 Wet Ham 1
Middlesbrough 0 Aston Villa 2
Sheff Wed 4 Bolton 2
Tottenham 4 Man Utd 1
Wimbledon 2 Everton 3
FA Carling Premiership League Table
P W D L F A W D L F A Pts
Newcastle 21 11 0 0 26 5 4 3 3 16 13 45
Man Utd 22 8 3 0 24 9 4 2 5 17 18 41
Liverpool 21 8 2 1 27 8 3 3 4 13 12 38
Tottenham 22 5 3 3 16 12 5 5 1 15 10 38
Aston Villa 20 5 3 1 14 6 5 2 4 13 9 35
Arsenal 22 6 4 1 19 10 3 3 5 9 10 34
Nottm Forest 21 6 4 0 18 8 2 6 3 14 23 34
Middlesbrough 22 7 2 2 18 9 2 4 5 5 12 33
Everton 22 6 2 3 20 11 3 3 5 12 13 32
Blackburn 22 9 1 1 29 8 0 4 7 4 18 32
Leeds 21 6 2 3 14 10 3 3 4 14 17 32
Chelsea 22 4 5 2 14 12 4 3 4 9 12 32
Sheff Wed 21 4 3 4 20 18 2 4 4 12 14 25
West Ham 20 3 3 3 10 13 3 2 6 12 14 23
Wimbledon 22 2 4 5 15 19 3 2 6 16 25 21
Southampton 21 3 4 3 9 9 1 4 6 11 22 20
Coventry 21 3 4 4 16 18 1 3 6 12 25 19
Man City 21 4 3 4 7 8 1 1 8 5 23 19
QPR 22 3 3 5 12 18 2 0 9 5 15 18
Bolton 22 2 3 6 8 16 0 1 10 13 28 10
FA Carling Premiership Leading Goalscorers
L F C E O T
Shearer (Blackburn) 19 0 5 1 0 25
Ferdinand (Newcastle) 19 0 3 0 0 22
Fowler (Liverpool) 18 0 2 0 0 20
Sheringham (Tottenham) 14 0 3 0 0 17
Wright (Arsenal) 10 0 5 0 0 15
Yeboah (Leeds) 10 0 1 3 0 14
Hirst (Sheff Wed) 11 0 1 0 0 12
Holdsworth (Wimbledon) 8 0 4 0 0 12
Dublin (Coventry) 11 0 0 0 0 11
Armstrong (Tottenham) 7 0 3 0 0 10
M Bright (Sheff Wed) 7 0 3 0 0 10
Scholes (Man Utd) 7 0 2 1 0 10
Yorke (Aston Villa) 7 0 3 0 0 10
L=League, F=FA Cup, C=Coca Cola Cup,
E=European, O=Other, T=Total.
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Newcastle Tighten Grip on Title(3/1/96)
Newcastle United are strengthening their claim as Premiership champions as the season approaches its run in. Their latest victory, at home to Arsenal emphasised their domination and attacking prowess. Their main contenders for the title, Man Utd, lost their opening game of the New Year, 4-1 against a resurgent Tottenham.
Man Utd are facing serios injury problems, especially to their depleted defence. Irwin, Pallister, May, Schmeichel, and Bruce are all out with injury problems, and none of them are expected to return for at least a couple of weeks. The temporary recruitment of Prunier, the French central defender has come to an end, because of contractual disagreements. This leaves United extremely weak in defence and could be a major factor in contributing to Newcastle's title challenge.
Roy McFarland Sacked by Bolton(3/1/96)
Bolton Wanderers became the first Premiership club to sack their manger this season, when they showed the door to Roy McFarland last night. Bolton are eight points adrift at the bottom of the table and fans recently demonstrated for a change after a defeat against relegation rivals Coventry.
McFarland's departure leaves Colin Todd in sole charge. Previosly the pair managed the team as joint managers, but the club has admitted that the set up was not successful.
Andrew to Face Carling in Cup Clash(3/1/96)
The draw for the fith round of the Pilkington Cup has thrown together Newcastle against the Harlequins. Rob Andrew will lead Newcastle in an attempt to inspire an unlikely upset on Will Carling's Harlequins. Newcastle are currently lying at the bottom of the second division, with a relegation styruggle on their hands. However the cavalry is arriving at speed with the likes of Andrew, Nick Popplewell, Tony Underwood, Gary Armstrong, Dean Ryan, Doddie Weir and Graham Childs.
The tie arrives in between the England matches against France and Wales, so it could be a tricky period for Carling. The ties are to be played on January 27th.
Latest scores from Englands tour of South Africa
South Africa's Last Wicket Stand Shatters England's Fight
Back
Scoreboard
Fith Test England 1st Innings M A Atherton c Hudson b Donald 0 A J Stewart b McMillan 13 R A Smith b Adams 66 G P Thorpe c McMillan b Donald 20 G A Hick c McMillan b Donald 2 R C Russell c McMillan b Pollock 9 M Watkinson lbw b Pollock 11 D G Cork b Donald 16 P J Martin c Hudson b Donald 0 A R C Fraser not out 5 D E Malcolm b Adams 1 Extras 10 Total 153 South Africa 1st Innings G Kirsten c Atherton b Watkinson 23 A C Hudson lbw b Cork 0 W J Cronje c Russell b Cork 12 D J Cullinan c Russell b Martin 62 J N Rhodes c Russell b Fraser 16 B N McMillan run out 11 J H Kallis lbw Martin 7 D J Richardson not out 54 S M Pollock c Smith b Watkinson 4 A A Donald c Russell b Cork 3 P R Adams c Hick b Martin 29 Extras 23 Total 244 Englan 2nd Innings M A Atherton c Richardson b Donald 10 A J Stewart not out 4 A R Fraser not out 0 Extras 3 Total 17
An unlikely last wicket stand between Paul Adams and Dave Richardson, who put on 73 runs, may have turned the series in South Africa's favour. England had South Africa on the ropes after a tremendous fight back, having skittled them down to 171 for 9. This left them with a lead of just 13, with the last batsman entering the fray.
England's openers Atherton and Stewart would have been anticipating a quick return to the crease to open their second innings. However Richardson and Adams forged a remarkable partnership to deny England the scent of victory that had been in the air. England had battled their back into this match with superb accurate and aggressive bowling, but with South Africa at their mercy and with the new ball, they contrived to throw away an excellent position.
The wayward bowling that let the South African's accelerate away from the tourists total, left Donald and Co and excellent platform, with which to attack England with. The heroic stand gave the Springboks a lead of 91 which England will struggle to overcome.
Atherton was dismissed early in the evening session, leaving Stewart and Fraser as the night watchman at the crease.
The penultimate Test match was drawn in South Africa, setting the series in the balance for the Fith and final Test. England were always chasing the game on what was an extremley slow pitch at Port Elizabeth.
Noteable performances were made by South Africa's new Test spinner, the 18 year old Paul Adams, and England skipper Michael Atherton.
Jackie Stewart to Lead New F1 Team(3/1/96)
Jackie Stewart is expected to announce that he is to lead a new Ford based team on the F1 circuit for the 1997 season.
Stewart will be the leading figure behind his son's Milton Keynes based team, Pual Stewart Racing, which will be making the step up from Formula 3000.
Stewart's connections with the buisiness world assure that the team will not lack financial support. It will bring another top British team to the F1 circuit, which is already dominated by British manufacturers.
Herbert Clinches Sauber Spot(19/12/95)
Johnny Herbert the enigmatic British Formula 1 racer has clinched the last seat for Sauber for next seasons championship. He beat of rival and compatriot Mark Blundell to the best remaining Formula 1 drive. Herbert will team up with Heinz Harold Frentzen, the highly rated young German, who raced for the Swiss team last season.
Herbert won the British and the Itallian grand prix last season and finished fourth in the driveras championship, but was not picked for a drive in the early jostling for positions and teams. This announcement confirms that he will remain on the Gran Prix circuit next season. Meanwhile, Blundell is considering a switch to IndyCar racing in the States.
Tyson Does Not Impress Against Buster Mathis Jnr(19/12/95)
Frank Bruno can feel quitely confident after witnessing a lacklustre performance by Tyson in his final warm up before the two clash in March. "Iron Mike is Rusty Mike" said Bruno after watching Tyson dispose of Mathis in three rounds.
Tyson should have finished this one in the first. The flabby Mathis was never a threat, but Tyson failed to connect with anything that he threw at his opponent. The fight resembled more of a wrestling match as Tyson and Mathis grappled for position. Eventually however, Tyson managed to slip from Mathis' clutches and landed two thirds of a three punch combo, which was enough to put Mathis on the canvas.
Bruno will certainly be delighted about the number of punches Tyson missed, as he wildly struck out into the night air. This was not even a fast opponent either. On this form Tyson should nottrouble Bruno. It is just a question of whether Iron Mike can find the devastating power that was once his trade mrk, before he takes on our Frank.
Bruno Under Fire From Tyson(13/12/95)
The war of words has already begun between the Heavyweight title contenders, Frank Bruno and Mike Tyson. Tyson has one the first round, promising to bash Bruno! He declared he knew how to fight big Frank, and tht it would not be a difficult task to overcome the British World Heavyweight Champion.
Tyson shrugged off any suggestion that Bruno hurt him with a powerful left hook, the last time they met. Tyson eventually won that contest in the sixth round, but only after Bruno had shaken him up some.
Meanwhile Big Frank had to be content with runner up in the BBC's annual Sports Personality of the Year award. Thought to be heading the list, he bowed out to Johnathan Edwards, who smashed the world record for triple jump during the summer.
CarlingNet- the official FA Carling
Premiership site.
Soccer Virtual Library: has links to every football page on the web.
Coopers & Lybrand Ratings of Test Cricketers
Formula One Grand Prix Page
1996 Olympics Home Page
WWW Rugby Server
The Electronic Telegraph
1995
November:
1, 2, 3, 4.
December:
5, 6, 7.
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WebCrawler,
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Lycos,
InfoSeek.
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Copyright (c) ESL 1996.