Issue 10, 18th January 1996: SPORTING ROUNDUP
ExNet On-line:
Sport

SPORT

Bringing you the best of British sporting news.

By Charles Hirst.


Football, Rugby, Cricket, Motor Racing, Others, Back Issues, Top Sporting Links.

18th: Computing, Law, Science&Tech, SciFi, Unexplained.


Football

Match Reports
Fixtures and Results
Premiership League Table
Latest News

Match Reports

Penalties Shoot Out Newcastle(18/01/96)
Everton Keep Dream Alive(18/01/96)
Ginola Sent Off as Arsenal March On(10/1/96)

Penalties Shoot Out Newcastle(18/01/96)

FA Cup 3rd Round Replay
Newcastle 2 Chelsea 2
Chelsea win 4-2 in penalties

After 210 minutes of football, the only way to seperate these two great clubs, was via a dramatic penalty shoot out. Before it came to this however Chelsea had had to achieve what no other club has managed this season, prevent Newcastle from winning at St James' Park.

Chelsea were desperately unlucky not to have won this contest in the first leg, but for a late Ferdinand equaliser. The prospects looked bleak for them as they had to travel to Newcastle and penetrate their fortress at St James' Park.

This looked an unlikely prospect, especially as Albert had put the home team ahead in the 41st minute. The goal came from a free kick in a central position, just outside the area. Albert's shot took a wicked deflection off Wise, leaving Hintchcock no chance to reach the ball.

Up until then Chelsea had produced as many chances as Newcastle, but they didn't allow the Newcastle goal to rattle them. The experienced heads of Wise, Gullit and Hughes, kept the Chelsea team together. Ginola came close to making it two for Newcaslte, with a fierce drive, after Beardsley had laid the ball into the Frenchman's path.

Chelsea's equaliser came from a messy incident. Darren Peacock brought down Spencer as he burst through into the Newcastle area. There was no question about the penalty decision, but to the crowds distress, Peacock was sent off, having already received a yellow card for dissent.

Wise stepped up to stroke the spot kick away and suddenly it looked as if Chelsea would have all the momentum. However, the Magpies responded well and were themselves awarded a penalty, in rather more dubious circumstances, when Kiston went down under pressure from David Lee.

Beardsley, playing on the eve of his 35th birthday made no mistake with the penalty, to put Newcastle back in front. Chelsea piled the pressure back on, and got their reward in the 88th minute, when Gullit poked in a John Spencer cross to take the game into extra time.

The extended period of play proved fruitless for both teams, but a result had to come. Penalty shoot out was the only way to sperate these two great footballing forces and it was always going to be cruel to one team.

The unlikely sinner was Beardsley, who crashed Newcastle's first effort against the bar, followed by Watson who was denied by Hitchcock. Lee, Wise, Gavin Peacock and Newton all converted for Chelsea, to give them a 4-2 victory in the shoot out. At the end of the two games that it took to get the result, it was probably justice for Chelsea, who have earned an away trip to QPR in the 4th round.

Everton Keep Dream Alive(18/01/96)

FA Cup 3rd Round Replay
Everton 3 Stockport 2

Everton overcame a plucky Stockport performance, to keep alive their dream of retaining the FA Cup. It was a classic 3rd round tie, bringing together the second division Stockport and Premiership giants, and for a while it looked like there might be an upset on the cards.

In the end it was inexperience that let down the second division club, having taken a deserved early lead, they fell behind as Everton punished them in a devastating late flurry. But with two minutes to go, Armstrong slipped past a series of outsretched Everton defenders, and kept his head to beat Southall and put Stockport back in the game.

With extra time looming,the Stockport defence went to sleep from the restart, and John Ebrell marched through the centre, releasing a twenty yard effort to bury the gallant Stockport effort. At the final whistle there were tears and cheers as a dream lived on, while another died.

Stockport had gone ahead in the 22nd minute, through a Matt Bound header, and held onto their lead until the 71st minute. Ferguson used his height and strength, to out jump the Stockport defence and head the Cup holders back into contention and a minute later had another effort cleared off the line.

The atmosphere was electric as the home crowd voiced their approaval of Stockport's fighting spirit. However, Everton took the lead when Stuart accepted a spilt ball after Kanchelskis had snapped in a shot, but the stubburn Stockport had not had their final say.

Ginola Sent Off as Arsenal March on (10/1/96)

Coca Cola Quarter Final
Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0

Arsenal blasted their way through this blood and guts Coca Cola Cup quarter final, at the expense not only of Newcastle, but more specifically, David Ginola. Ginola's automatic red card for an elbowing offence on Arsenal full back Lee Dixon, eclipsed the majestic double strike of Ian Wright.

The sending off incident escallated into a violent war of words between Arsenal's manager Bruce Rioch and his counter part Kevin Keegan. The clash hit boiling point as Keegan's right hand man Terry McDermott stepped in shooting from the lip. Whatever he said incensed Rioch and the two began an eyeball to eyeball finger wagging confrontation.

Police and stewards stepped in to seperate the warring factions as the ugly scenes were broadcasted to millions of viewers worldwide. Ginola had been closely marked by Lee Dixon all night, who epitomised Arsenal's phsyched up approach. He dogged Ginola all night, and was lucky to get away with a crunching tackle in the first half. As they tustled for position off the ball, Ginola took a swipe at Dixon, who had been pulling him back by his shirt. The knock left Dixon on the ground, and after consulting his linesman, the referee, Gerald Ashby had no hesitation in sending Ginola off.

Before the incident Arsenal had had the best of the play, forcing early chances through Wright, Bergkamp and Merson. A minute before half time Wright gave Arsenal the lead they deserved, after being put through by an incisive pass from Jensen. Wright looked to have few options as he struggled to control the ball, wide on the right hand side of the area. However some quick thinking saw him smash a half volley home, beating Pavel Srnicek with the swerve.

The second half saw Newcastle depleted to ten men, and Arsenal edging the advantage in every area of the pitch. None stood out more than Tony Adams, who was a rock in defence for Arsenal, and reacted quickly to a sloppy back pass that nearly let in Les Ferdinand. A minute before full time, the Gunners lead was doubled when Wright converted an immaculate header from a superb Helder cross.

Arsenal meet Aston Villa in the semi final, Leeds play either Birmingham or Norwich.


Fixtures and Results

Littlewoods FA Cup 3rd Round Replays

Wednesday 17th January

Man City 5 Leicester 0
Newcastle 2 Chelsea 2
Notts Forest 2 Stoke 2
Sheff Utd 1 Arsenal 0
Stockport 2 Everton 3
Tottenham 5 Hereford 1
Wimledon 1 Watford 0
Wolves 2 Birmingham 0
Tuesday 16th January

Blackburn 0 Ipswich 1
Oxford Utd 1 Milwall 0
Port Vale 4 Crystal Palace 3
Shrewsbury 2 Fulham 1
Sunderland 1 Man Utd 2
FA Carling Premiership

Sunday 14th January

Coventry 0 Newcastle 1
Bolton 1 Wimbledon 0
Everton 1 Chelsea 1
Leeds 2 West Ham 0
Man Utd 0 Aston Villa 0
Middlesbrough 2 Arsenal 3
Notts Forest 1 Southampton 0
QPR 0 Blackburn 1
Sheff Wed 1 Liverpool 1
Tottenham 1 Man City 0


FA Carling Premiership League Table

                P    W    D    L    F    A    W    D    L    F    A    Pts
Newcastle       22   11   0    0    26   5    5    3    3    17   13   51
Man Utd         23   8    4    0    24   9    4    2    5    17   18   42
Tottenham       23   6    3    3    17   12   5    5    1    15   10   41
Liverpool       22   8    2    1    27   8    3    4    4    14   13   39
Arsenal         23   6    4    1    19   10   4    3    5    12   12   37
Nottm Forest    22   7    4    0    19   8    2    6    3    14   23   37
Aston Villa     21   5    3    1    14   6    5    3    4    13   9    36
Blackburn       23   9    1    1    29   8    1    4    7    5    18   35
Leeds           22   7    2    3    16   10   3    3    4    14   17   35
Everton         23   6    3    3    21   12   3    3    5    12   13   33
Middlesbrough   23   7    2    3    20   12   2    4    5    5    12   33
Chelsea         23   4    5    2    14   12   4    4    4    10   13   33
Sheff Wed       22   4    4    4    21   19   2    4    4    12   14   26
West Ham        21   3    3    3    10   13   3    2    7    12   16   23
Wimbledon       23   2    4    5    15   19   3    2    7    16   26   21
Southampton     21   3    4    3    9    9    1    4    7    11   23   20
Coventry        22   3    4    5    16   17   1    3    6    12   25   19
Man City        21   4    3    4    7    8    1    1    9    5    24   19
QPR             22   3    3    6    12   19   2    0    9    5    15   18
Bolton          22   3    3    6    9    16   0    1    10   13   28   13

FA Carling Premiership Leading Goalscorers

L F C E O T Shearer (Blackburn) 20 0 5 1 0 26 Ferdinand (Newcastle) 19 1 3 0 0 23 Fowler (Liverpool) 18 1 2 0 0 21 Sheringham (Tottenham) 14 3 3 0 0 20 Wright (Arsenal) 10 1 7 0 0 18 Yeboah (Leeds) 10 1 1 3 0 15 Armstrong (Tottenham) 8 0 5 0 0 13 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 Scholes (Man Utd) 8 0 2 1 0 11 M Bright (Sheff Wed) 7 0 3 0 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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Latest News

England Pleased With "Balanced" World Cup Fixtures(18/01/96)

Terry Venables and Graham Kelly traveled together to Poland to bash out the agenda for the World Cup qualifying fixtures list. They came back cheerfull and upbeat, claiming that they had negotiated a "balanced" fixture list.

England will open their World Cup campaign with a tough fixture away to Moldova. The game will come just two weeks into next season, on Sunday Sept 1st.

This will be the first fixture for Venables' succesor, as our Tel has announced he will step down after the Euro '96 competition. Likely succesors include Bryan Robson, Kevin Keegan, Howard Wilkinson and Gerry Francis, although all have stated their intention to stay on at club level.

Other teams in Group Two include Italy, Poland, and Georgia. The three games set for this year include two away fixtures and a home tie with Poland. The final crunch game comes away to Italy as England's last qualifying game. There looks to be an air of do or die around that fixture, as the result may decide the destiny of England's World Cup fortunes.

The top team from each group and the best runner up are guaranteed a place in the finals. The rest of the runnersup must play off in a home and away knock out round. The group will be a tough contest for England with Poland and Italy being old adversaries, and Georgia and Moldova likely to prove just as tough. Both the later teams have recently beaten Wales in European qualifiers.

Ince Given an England Call Up(18/01/96)

Paul Ince the former Man Utd midfielder has been given an England recall for the first time since his move to Italian giants Inter Milan. Ince has been overlooked since he turned down the chance to play for England in last summers Umro Cup tournament. He then struggled to come to terms with the Italian game and was linked strongly with a move to Arsenal. However Ince has since shown consistent form in Italy and has impressed Inter coach Ray Hodgson.

Also included in the England squad, for what will just be a training session, is a newcomer Alan Wright, Aston Villa's promising left sided full back. Other uncapped players in the squad are Ugo Ehiogu (Villa), Ian Walker and Sol Campbell (Spurs), and Trevor Sinclair(QPR).

Venables in the Balance(10/1/96)

Terry Venables has given the FA an ultimatum on his future services as the England head coach. Disturbed by reports that the FA committee was not fully behind him to renew his current contract, which runs to the end of the Euro '96 competition, Venables has asked for a decision to be made sooner rather than later.

Venables has backing from the two big fish of the FA, Sir Bert Millichip and Graeme Kelly, who were both hoping to secure Venables' services until the end of the World Cup in 1998. But the general lack of enthusiasm amongst the remaining of the FA committee, for general reasons, mostly contrived from Venables' alledged financial irregularities in the buisiness world, may leave our Tel out in the cold.

It is believed that the committee want only to extend the England coach's contract after the forthcoming European Championship. Venables hoewver, wants an earlier decision and has the backing of Kelly and Millichip. Venables has stated that he hopes the sittuation to be resolved before a ball is kicked in Euro '96.

Leyton Orient Player in Positive Drugs test

The first positive drugs test for a "performance inhancing" substance has been anounced by the FA. The perpertrator of the illegal substance is Roger Stanisluas, the Leyton Orient defender. The decision on his future will set a precedence for any future positive tests. It is thought that the player is facing a lengthly ban after cocaine traces were found in his urine.

Earlier drugs cases involved in the football fraternity have included Paul Merson's admition to experimenting with cocaine and Chris Armstrong testing positive for canabis. However neither case bears any parallel to Stanisluas' as Merson confessed his use of the drug socially, but did not fail a test, and in Armstong's case , canabis was not regarded as performance enhancing.

It is debatable whether Stanisluas was use cocaine to enhance his performance, or whether he simply used it for recreational purposes. Either way however, the player has failed a dope test abd will therefore have to face the consequences.

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Rugby

Rowell Calls For a Disciplined Performance(18/01/96)

Jack Rowell has called for a disciplined performance from England in their opening game in the Five Nations Championship against France. Ben Clarke, England's pack leader was confirmed fit, giving the team a boost, but they go into this fixture knowing that they have not produced good rugby this season. Previous fixtures against South Africa and Western Samoa have produced dissapointing displays.

Rowell has urged that England must contain the French running game and not allow them to cut loose. Once contained England would then have the correct platform from which to play their own game. The match has been billed as the fixture of the tournamant, with the winners coming out clear favorites to win the title. It is vital therefore that England get a good start.


Cricket

Latest scores from England's tour of South Africa
England lose the One Day Series

Latest Scores from South Africa

Scoreboard


5th One Day International

England

M A Atherton c Richardson b Donald    17
A J Stewart b Donald                  31
R A Smith c Richardson b Donald        8
G A Hick c Richardson b Donald         6
G P Thorpe b Matthews                 63
C White b Pollock                     16
R C Russell run out                   21
D G Cork b Matthews                    1
P A J DeFreitas b Pollock              3
D Gough b de Villiers                  3
P J Martin not out                     2
Extras                                13

Total                                184

S.Africa

A C Hidson lbw Cork                    5
G Kirsten c Russell b Cork             0
W J Cronje b White                    78
J H Kallis c Hick b DeFreitas         67
B M McMillan c Hick b DeFreitas       13
J N Rhodes not out                    12
S M Pollock not out                    1
Extras                                 9

Total                                105 

Result: S.Africa win by 5 wkts      





England lose the One Day Series

England lost the 5th One Day International in Durban to give South Africa an unsurmountable 4-1 lead in the series. The lose means England will come away with nothing from this tour, except more experience of what it is to be on the losing end of things. They will also know that they will desperately want to avoid meeting South Africa in any of the later stages of the World Cup.

Thorpe was the only England man to impress, hitting out to reach 63, before losing his leg stump to Matthews. That saw the virtual end of England's scoring rate,as they only managed 38 from the last 10 overs.

England began their bowling well, having South Africa on 9 for 2, but this brought together the partnership of Kallis and Cronje who put on a superb 118. This gave South Africa the foundation that they required to go on and win the match by 5 wickets with 10 balls to spare. England, having lost the series will now look to experiment in the remaining games, in order to reshuffle their team structure for the impending World Cup.

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Motor Racing

Hakkinen Returns to Training(18/01/96)

Mika Hakkinen the Finnish Formula One dirver, has recovered from the fractured skull that he sustained in a practice run for the Australian Grand Prix last season. Hakkinen has now begun training in preperation for the start of the new season after being declared fit be the Formula One medical unit.

Schummacher has had problems test driving the new Ferrari, culminating in a crash in recent testing that left him unhurt. A new multiple choice examination paper may have to be completed by drivers for the 1997 season. The questions will relate to safety aspects and any driver failing will be forced to resit.

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.


Others

Rusedski Bows out to Boris

Greg Rusedski, Britain's top ranked tennis player, was knocked out of the first round of the Australian Open by Boris Becker. Rusedski was slightly unfortunate to be drawn against the seeded player so early in the competition, but he still gave a good account of himself.

The first set went to Becker,6-3 after Rusedski had made too many unforced errors. However the Brit fought back to take the next two sets, leaving Becker in a frustrated and irritated mood. It is in this sort of position though that Becker is at his most dangerous. The German rallied himself, adjusted his mentality and turned the game to his favor, eventually winning in five sets, 6-3,3-6,4-6,6-3,6-3.

The crunch point came in the fourth set when Becker escaped two break points in the third game. It seemed that Becker suddenly focused on the game at this point, and the 1991 champion went on to steal victory. It was a noble effort indeed though from the young Brit.


Top Sporting Links Around the WWW

Try some of these links for the best sporting action around the Web.

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


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