| 'Completely fake' Togo national team played Bahrain in friendly The chairman of the country's federation says his group did not know the players that claimed to represent Togo in the match at Bahrain's National ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Manning Matchup II: Peyton bests Eli as Colts rout Giants To end it, Peyton took a knee. That final act, killing off the last seconds of a 38-14 laugher, was about the most merciful gesture of long night ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Ryder Cup live: USA leads 6-4, but Europe surging Day 2 of the 38th Ryder Cup matches begins in Newport, Wales, and there is a long day of golf ahead. Because of a more than seven-hour rain delay ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Vettel keeps title hopes alive in Japan • German leads from start to finish in incident packed race• Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso join Vettel on podium • Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton finish fourth and fifthRed Bull put on a demonstration run in the Suzuka sunshine, with Sebastian Vettel leading home team-mate Mark Webber. It was the German's third win of the season and the result moves him seven points closer to the Australianat the top of the standings. Webber now has 220 points, just 14 clear of Fernando Alonso, who finished third here, and Vettel. The McLarens trailed in fourth and fifth with Jenson Button ahead of Lewis Hamilton and the two Britons must now realise that, with just three races left, a realistic shot at the title is now over, whatever the mathematicians may say.Button was the only one of the front runners to start the race on the hard tyre and led for a while as the pit stops played out, but it was just an illusion and when he peeled in on the 39th of 53 laps Vettel assumed the postion he had held from pole position until lap 22 when he pitted for hard tyres.If the race at the front was somewhat processional, Button getting past his team-mate on lap 44 with the greatest of ease was the only significant change, there was plenty to keep the crowd entertained. When the lights went out at the start the midfield had only gone a few hundred metres when Vitaly Petrov swerved his Renault across the bows ofthe Williams of Nico Hulkenberg and eliminated the pair of them. Just down the road at the first corner Felipe Massa got his Ferrari on the grass on the inside and as he rejoined the track he collected Vitantonio Liuzzi andboth cars were out on the spot. The Safety car spent seven laps leading the field round while the mess was cleared up.The star of the show for the spectators though was local Kamui Kobayashi. The Sauber driver has a robust style at the wheel to say the least but today he kept it all together. He started on the hard tyre and produced a couple of wonderful overtaking moves, one an old-fashioned shoulder barge on Jaime Alguersuari at the hairpin, which he negotiated in the manner of a speedway rider.After the Japanese dropped down the field after his pit stop, he did it all again with some masterful moves to huge applause from the stands. It is safe to assume that the title race is now down to three: Webber, Vettel and Alonso. McLaren might talk up their chances but this season looks cooked for them. The momentum is with Red Bull and Webber will be looking nervously over his shoulder as Vettel has finally found his form.Podium places: 1) Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 1:30:27.323, 2) Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault 1:30:28.228, 3) Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1:30:30.044.Championship standings: 1) Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 220, 2) Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 206, 3) Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 206, 4) Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 192, 5) Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 189, 6) Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 128, 7) Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) 122, 8) Robert Kubica (Renault) 114, 9) Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) 54, 10) Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) 47.Formula OneMotor sportOliver Owenguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Leicester 21-15 Bath Leicester Tigers 21-15 BathNo Moody for Bath, just the familiar blues in the lair of the Tigers.Torrential rain in the opening half helped defences dominate on an afternoon that showed, ahead of next month's internationals, that England's foundation is not as solid as some would hope.Neither team was able to rise above the conditions and conjure a try. It was not that, in Leicester's case, ambition was dampened, merely that skills were washed away. Bath, who have won once at Welford Road in the Premiership, in 2003, played with none of their usual flamboyance, eschewing risk for caution, and got the bonus point that was their minimum aim. They had a chance to snatch victory at the end, maintaining possession for two minutes in the home 22 after the countdown clock had reached zero, but they were comfortably repulsed.If the England captain, Lewis Moody, was denied a quick return to the place he called home for 12 years, Sam Vesty lined up at outside-half for the visitors five months after leaving the Tigers in frustration at rarely making the bench, let alone the starting line-up.Vesty did nothing to make the Leicester director of rugby, Richard Cockerill, regret the loss. His mistakes at the start of each half ultimately proved the difference: in the first minute his kick from his own 22 went dead and provided the scrum from which Toby Flood dropped a goal, albeit scruffily.In the second half, Leicester were given an immediate opportunity to improve their 12-6 interval lead when Vesty flopped on the wrong side of a ruck and stayed there. His miserable return was encapsulated in an attempted drop goal at the end of the first half: all he succeeded in dropping was the ball.Olly Barkley missed six points with the boot in the final minutes of the first half, penalties from 45 and 40 metres off target as he lost his footing in the wet. Otherwise, he and Flood rose above the conditions, the latter kicking six penalties out of six in confirming his return to fitness after a knee injury.Flood would like to play for Leicester at Gloucester Saturday to give him more match time ahead of England's meeting with New Zealand on 6 November but he is likely to be kept with the national squad. Moody, though, will play for Bath at Harlequins next Sunday, one month after injuring his left eye.The Leicester prop Boris Stankovich suffered a suspected fractured eye socket five minutes into the game. Bath had already had to change their tight-head, David Wilson, who suffered a back strain during the warm-up.Then came the rain, drizzle followed by a deluge. Leicester were six points to the good at the time and tried to carry on playing. It turned into a right carry-on. Errors and whistle abounded and Bath settled into a kicking, territory-based game.Leicester did not help themselves. When Geordan Murphy held on to a high kick, Alesana Tuilagi stood and watched as Bath forwards swarmed over the Leicester captain, who was penalised for holding on, presenting Barkley with the first of his five penalties. When the same thing happened 30 minutes later, Tuilagi got stuck in, but only to the extent of forming a bridge.It was a day when it helped to be in front. Barkley's misses stopped Bath going into the interval level and, at 18-6 down after 50 minutes, even a bonus point looked beyond them.Leicester carried on giving away stupid penalties but for the watching England manager, Martin Johnson, there would have been a familiar feeling: why do English teams, unlike most New Zealand ones, lose their attacking skills in the wet?Leicester Murphy (capt); Hamilton, Smith, Allen, A Tuilagi; Flood, Youngs; Stankovich (Ayerza 5), Chuter, Cole (Castrogiovanni 56), Slater, Skivington, Croft, Newby (Woods 78), WaldromPens Flood 6 Drop goal FloodBath Abendanon; Carraro, Hape, Barkley, Banahan; Vesty, Claassens (McMillan 70); Flatman (Catt 69), Dixon, Wilson, Hooper, Fernández Lobbe (Skirving 76), Beattie, Watson (capt), TaylorPens Barkley 5Welford Road 21,194Referee Andrew SmallMatch rating 5/10LeicesterBathRugby unionPremiershipPaul Reesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |