Issue 13, 9th Febuary 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

FA Cup Fourth Round

Wolves Tamed By Fox

Wolverhampton 0 Tottenham 2

Spurs subjected Wolves to a misserable night at Molineux, home of the Birmingham side. The Tottenham display highlighted the chasm of the standards between the Premiership and Division One. Tottenham scored two early goals to secure a potentially awkward tie, leaving Wolves with barely a chance all game to get a look in.

Several inches of snow had to be removed from the pitch before the game could procceed, but the efforts of the home groundsmen never seemed emulated on the pitch by the home team. An electric break from a corner taken by Wolves led to Spurs' first goal. Mabbut cleared the corner with a header that reached Ruel Fox. Fox took the ball in his stride and ran at a bewildered, backpeddaling defence. Ahead of him Armstrong made a veering run to the right, leavig Rosenthal to gallop through the middle onto Fox's incisive pass, which he tucked away past the despairing Mike Stowell. 1-0 to Spurs.

Within a couple of minutes, the shell shocked home team conceeded a miserable goal. Ian Walker cleared long down field, and with no danger looking iminent, Andy Thompson attempted to head back to his keeper. However, he had not anticipated Sheringham's predatory skills, as he slipped in to reach the back pass first and tucked it passed Stowell. It all looked too easy for Spurs.

A dubious offside decision denied Tottenham their third in the 17th minute, whenSol Campbell headed in a deep corner, which crashed against the crossbar and Colin Calderwood reacted first to poke home the rebound.

Bull, the stalwart of the Wolves attack, found himself in a one on one sittuation with Ian Walker, late in the second half, but could only hit weakly straight at the 'keeper.

Wolves had a more impressive second half, but could not find a way around the Tottenham outfit. Gerry Francis has gelled a team that are now as consistant away from home as they are at White Hart Lane.


Fixtures and Results

FA Cup Fourth Round

Wednesday 7th Febuary

Charlton 3 Brentford 2
Coventry 2 Man City 2
Middlesbrough 0 Wimbledon 0
Notts Forest 1 Oxford Utd 1
Southampton 1 Crewe 1
West Ham 1 Grimsby 1
FA Cup Fourth Round Replays

Wolves 0 Spurs 2
Tuesday 6th Febuary Huddersfield 2 Peterbrough 0
FA Carling Premiership

Sunday 4th Febuary

Chelsea 5 Middlesbrough 0

Saturday 3rd Febuary

Arsenal 1 Coventry 1
Aston Villa 3 Leeds 0
Blackburn 3 Bolton 1
Liverpool 0 Tottenham 0
Man City 2 QPR 0
Newcastle 2 Sheff Weds 0
Southampton 2 Everton 2
West Ham 1 Notts Forest 0
Wimbledon 2 Man Utd 4
FA Carling Premiership

Wednesday 31 January

Aston Villa 0 Liverpool 2
Nottm Forest 2 Leeds 1
Southampton 1 Man City 1
West Ham 3 Coventry 2

FA Cup Fourth Round

Monday 29th January

QPR 1 Chelsea 2
Sunday 28th January

Sheff Utd 0 Aston Villa 1

Saturday 28th January

Everton 2 Port Vale 2
Reading 0 Man Utd 3
Tottenham 1 Wolves 1
Sunday 21st January

Aston Villa 2 Tottenham 1

Saturday 20th January

Arsenal 1 Everton 2
Blackburn 3 Sheff Wed 0
Chelsea 1 Notts Forest 0
Liverpool 5 Leeds 0
Man City 1 Coventry 0
Newcastle 2 Bolton 1
Southampton 2 Middlesbrough 1
Wimbledon 2 QPR 1

FA Carling Premiership League Table

                P    W    D    L    F    A    W    D    L    F    A    Pts
Newcastle       24   13   0    0    30   6    5    3    3    17   13   57
Man Utd         25   8    4    0    24   9    6    2    5    22   20   48
Liverpool       25   9    3    1    32   8    4    4    4    16   13   46
Aston Villa     24   7    3    2    19   9    5    3    4    13   9    42
Tottenham       24   6    3    3    17   12   5    6    2    16   12   42
Blackburn       24   11   1    1    35   9    1    4    7    5    18   41
Nottm Forest    25   8    4    0    21   9    2    6    5    14   25   40
Chelsea         25   6    5    2    20   12   4    4    4    10   13   39
Arsenal         25   6    5    2    21   13   4    3    5    12   12   38
Everton         25   6    3    3    21   12   4    4    5    17   16   37
Leeds           25   7    2    3    16   10   3    3    7    15   27   35
Middlesbrough   25   7    2    3    20   12   2    4    7    6    19   33
West Ham        24   5    3    4    14   16   3    2    7    12   16   29
Sheff Wed       24   4    4    4    21   19   2    4    6    12   19   26
Southampton     25   4    6    3    14   13   1    4    7    11   23   25
Wimbledon       25   3    4    6    19   24   3    2    7    16   26   24
Man City        25   5    4    4    10   9    1    2    9    6    25   24
Coventry        25   3    4    5    16   19   1    5    7    16   30   21
QPR             25   3    3    6    12   19   2    0    11   6    19   18
Bolton          25   3    3    6    9    16   0    1    12   15   33   13

FA Carling Premiership Leading Goalscorers

L F C E O T Shearer (Blackburn) 24 0 5 1 0 30 Fowler (Liverpool) 21 1 2 0 0 24 Ferdinand (Newcastle) 20 1 3 0 0 24 Sheringham (Tottenham) 14 4 3 0 0 21 Wright (Arsenal) 11 1 7 0 0 19 Yeboah (Leeds) 10 1 1 3 0 15 Yorke (Aston Villa) 10 1 3 0 0 14 Dublin (Coventry) 13 1 0 0 0 14 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 Stuart (Everton) 8 2 1 1 0 12 Scholes (Man Utd) 8 0 2 1 0 11 Bergkamp (Arsenal) 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

Asprilla Deal Finally Through(09/02/96)

Faustino Asprilla is set to fly into Newcastle for this Saturday's North East derby match against Middlesbrough. Asprilla will have to watch from the bench though, as his team-mates try to win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.

The deal with Parma had threaten to fall through, due to suspect injury worries over Asprilla. However, Parma's lawyers resurrected the deal, which has now been completed, subject to a work permit.

Asprilla cost Newcastle a staggering 6.7 million pounds, but the Colombian has made a goal pledge in order to win over the Geordie fans.

Another new signing in the area was that of Brazilian World Cup defender and free kick specialist, Branco joining `Boro on a free transfer. However the price tag is likely to be made up by the players wages.

Bryan Robson, the Middlesbrough player manager, rates his new signing as one of the best left backs in the world. He will link up with counryman Juninho, in what will be an exciting prospect for the Middlesbrough fans.

Elsewhere in the transfer market, Dave Basset has joined former club, Crystal Palace as manager. His first stint in charge lasted just 3 days, but he is confident of leading Palace back to the top flight. His opening game in charge will be against Sheff Utd, his old club, from whom he retired in December.

Clarke Hints Of Desire For England Job(09/02/96)

Frank Clark, the Notts Forest boss, has hinted at his desire to take on the England managerial job. Up until now, prospective candidates from the Premiership, such as Keegan, Robson, Francis and Hoddle, have all turned the job down, avoiding it like the plague.

However, Clarke has sujested that he may yet take it on and lead England into the World Cup in France. Clarke has lead a succesful European campaign with Forest so far this season, being the only British club left in a European competion. The Forest boss though may lack the experience to take on such a big job. Other candidates left include, Wilkinson, Daglish and perhaps an outside chance of Howard Kendall.

Arsenal Deny Venables Rumour(01/02/96)

Arsenal managing director, Ken Friar, angrily denied rumours that the Gunners have lined up Terry Venables to take over from Bruce Rioch, once he has stepped down from the England job.

Friar called the allegation "total garbage", refusing to be drawn into the subject. However it is believed that the Arsenal board have become increasingly frustrated with Rioch's failure to sign his contract, which would keep him at Highbury for four years.

Rioch in turn has been frustrated at being unable to build on his squad since his early signings of David Platt and Denis Bergkamp. Arsenal's recent exit in the FA Cup to lowly Sheff Utd, highlighted their need for more resolve from their players. Rioch openly questioned his player's commitment after their defeat.

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Rugby

Dreary England Silence The Crowd(05/02/96)

England 21 Wales 15

England showed only momentry glimpses of their "champaigne rugby", as they overcame an upbeat Wales, to score their first victory in this year's Five Nations Championship. Meanwhile, at Murrayfield, Scotland brilliantly beat the French, in an exhibition of flowing, fast rugby, that was a credit to the World stage.

The first half at Twickenham was dreadful. At least from an English point of view. Wales romped over for an early try, created by their forwards, who seemed to come out on top during the early contests. Grayson proceeded to miss clear chances to bring England ahead with a series of failed penalty kicks.

It was Wales' daring that brought them their first try. In stead of opting for a routine penalty kick, Arwell Thomas, the gifted but slight Welsh fly half, span the ball wide. Hemi Taylor eventually burst through the English defence, after some fine movement in the line.

After their early lead, the Welsh contrived to let England back in lightly, by giving away needless penalties. Although Grayson was struggerling to find his mark, he was being presented with so mnany opportunities, that they just had to start goinng over.

The end of the first half saw England score their first try. Consistent forward pressure and electing to scrum rather than than take a penalty, gave the platform for a line movement, resulting in Rory Underwood going over.

Early in the second half, England were gifted a second try, as Guscott charged down a Justin Thjomas clearance and easily ran on to make the score. England, with a handsome lead under their belt, then proceeded to scrum in midfield, keeping the ball locked up in their forwards in possibly the dulloest moment of international rugby ever witnessed.

As a result, many of the home crowd cheered on the Welsh as they faught back to close the score to 21-15, but the English had enough control to kill off the game, playing out for the final whistle. Thaey left the field to an eary silence.

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Cricket

Cork and Smith in Injury Scare For England(09/02/96)

Robin Smith and Dominic Cork have thrown England into a possible crisis having both contracted injuries in the last 48 hours. Robin Smith was struck down first with a groin strain, closely followed by Cork, who limped away from a practice game.

Smith's injury may keep him out of the competition altogether, but Cork, with rest, should still make the tournament.

England's most recent practice game came against a Lahore Cricket Assoc team, whioch they won by six wickets. Atherton was top scorer with 41. A number of players are on stanby at home, including Nasser Hussain and Mark Ramprakash.

Australian's May Boycott Sri Lankan World Cup Stage(01/02/96)

Australia have reitterated their fears of playing their World Cup stages in Sri Lanka, after a suicide bomb by Tamil Tigers left 55 dead in Colombo. The Australians have debated the possibility of forfeiting their match in Sri Lanka.

The final decision will be made by the Australian board at the beginning of next week. Only last week, the players decided to conditionally go ahead with the tour, but the bombing has put new implications on their travel plans. They had already cancelled a warm up in Sri Lanka, after degenerating relations between the two nations since Sri Lanka's recent tour of Australia.

Sri Lanka, who felt that they were treated harshly by their Australian hosts, clashed in a war of words several times with the Australian board. The culmination of the heated exchanges were death threats issued to Shane Warne and Craig McDermott, by Sri Lankan supporters.

West Inies, also scheduled to play in Sri Lanka, are simularly waiting for developments, before confirming their travel arrangements. It looks set to be a fiery World Cup, but my favourites for the tournament have to be South Africa.

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Motor Racing

Black Box to be Instlled in F1 Cars by 1997(01/01/96)

New safety measures ar being implimented by hte FIA president, Max Mosley, who has backed plans to install black box devices in F1 cars by the 1997 season

The black boxes will be used primarily to investigate accidents, reducing the chances of long drawn out enquiries, such as the ongoing one into the cause of Ayrton Senna's death.

Mosley has assured the teams that the boxes will only be used in the event of a serious accident, and will not be used to assertain the fault of any collision between drivers.

The Williams team is currently still under investigation in the aftermarth of Senna's death. The results of the enquiry should be released soon,and their is speculation that the team may be blamed for faulty wealding on the car's steering collumn.

As expected Olivier Panis, the Frenchman, has secured a drive with Ligier for next season. His teammate will be the Brazilian Pedro Paulo Diniz.


Others

Britain's Hockey Team Left With Plenty To Do

Great Britain will clash with Spain today(24/01/96) and Holland tomorrow in their Olympic qualifying contest. David Whitaker, the British coach has set a target of two points fromthe two games, in order for the team to progress.

With those points in the bag against two of the strongest teams competing, Britain would be in a good position to get amongst the top teams if they go on to beat Belgium and Malaysia.

five of the eight teams competing will book a place in the Olympics, but Belgium and Belurus are both still without any points after three games, are virtually aalready out of it.

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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