TOP 100 SPORT SITES
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| Arsenal and Hull City charged by FA The FA has charged Arsenal and Hull City with failing to control their players during their Barclays Premier League match on December 19. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
San Antonio Spurs fans embrace paperless ticket technology The San Antonio Spurs were among the top sports teams that utilized Ticketmaster’s Paperless Ticket option in 2009. (TKTM) bizjournals.com |
Rafael BenĂtez fears club may sell Fernando Torres RAFAEL BENITEZ has revealed the extent of his budgetary worries by suggesting he might not be given any money raised by selling Ryan Babel to reinvest in the transfer market and conceding, for the first time, that he is not certain his club’s hierarchy would reject a “silly money” bid for Fernando Torres. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Carlos Tévez shows Sir Alex Ferguson what he is missing with message from across town On the website of AIG, Manchester United’s sponsor, there is a banner advert that declares that the embattled American insurance giant “sees the value of teamwork in creating success”. To illustrate the point, there is a picture of two players celebrating a goal — Carlos Tévez and Cristiano Ronaldo. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Gloucester ensure qualification for Challenge Cup with win over Dragons • Coach Bryan Redpath happy with emphatic away victory• Biarritz crush Glasgow 41-20 to ensure home quarter-finalGloucester secured a place in the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup after recording a bonus-point victory over Newport Gwent Dragons.The English side ended their Heineken Cup Pool Two campaign with a 32-23 win at Rodney Parade, meaning they will drop down into the second-tier European tournament where they will be joined by five group winners of that competition and two other Heineken Cup sides."There was a quarter-final place at stake today, and it is a big thing," said the Gloucester coach, Bryan Redpath. "It was a big match for us. A European quarter-final gives us something to look forward to. We haven't had a great record away from home, and we were aware of that. We got the four tries that we needed."Fijian flanker Akapusi Qera was Gloucester's star performer, scoring a hat-trick of tries before the bonus point was sealed through a 74th-minute penalty try."Qera is a talent, a handful when he plays like that. It is great to see him back from injury," said Redpath. "I was frustrated with our first-half performance – we did not look energised – but we were a lot stronger in the second period, particularly the forwards. To score four tries away from home is a good return."The Dragons, six points clear at the break, managed a Rhodri Gomer-Davies try and late Ashley Smith touchdown, plus two penalties, a drop-goal and conversion from James Arlidge, and one Jason Tovey conversion. But Gloucester were good value for the win, condemning the Dragons to a sixth-successive defeat in all competitions.In the day's other Pool Two game, Biarritz made sure of a home tie in the quarter-finals following a second-half demolition of Glasgow Warriors which helped them to a 41-20 victory.The Scottish side led 20-11 early in the second half following scintillating tries from Thom Evans and Chris Cusiter. But Biarritz rallied with 30 unanswered points, clinching the crucial bonus point 50 seconds from the final whistle to guarantee home advantage in the last eight.Eduard Coetzee and Takudzwa Ngwenya crossed before Ilikena Bolakoro followed a penalty try to wrap up maximum points and inflict a fourth defeat on Glasgow, who finished the group in third.Like Gloucester, Cardiff Blues will remain in European competition after recording an emphatic 45-20 win over Harlequins at The Stoop. The Welsh side drop into the Challenge Cup at the expense of Sale, who lost 19-13 at home to Toulouse.The Blues ran in six tries against Quins, with Gareth Thomas, Ben Blair, Ceri Sweeney, Xavier Rush and Jamie Roberts (twice) all crossing the whitewash. The full-back Blair contributed 20 points in all, with a penalty and six conversions to go alongside his try.Despite taking the lead after just 70 seconds through a George Lowe try, Harlequins failed to score in the second half as they completed a dismal set of six defeats from six in Pool Five. Nick Easter and Danny Care scored their other tries, while Rory Clegg kicked six points.At Edgeley Park, Toulouse were good value for the win that secured them a home quarter-final despite having to hold off a late Sharks fightback. The scores were tied at 6-6 at the break as fly-half Charlie Hodgson knocked over two penalties for the hosts, with opposite number Jean-Baptiste Elissalde kicking two drop goals for the visitors.But the hooker Virgile Lacombe went over for Guy Noves' side with Elissalde adding the conversion and two penalties, while Mathew Tait scored a converted try for Sale.Heineken CupGloucesterNewport Gwent DragonsBiarritzGlasgow RugbyEuropean Challenge CupRugby unionguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |