| Ingram returns, Martinez excels for Huskers By The Associated Press2010-09-19T11:03:33ZMark Ingram immediately showed he was healthy for Alabama. Taylor Martinez proved that he could handle a hostile environment for Nebraska.... hosted.ap.org |
Gloucester 22-20 Wasps | Premiership match report Gloucester 22-20 WaspsGloucester's decision to drop Mike Tindall and Nicky Robinson to the bench after a disjointed and directionless start to the season was eventually vindicated, if not quite in the manner intended.The home side's play was typically hit-and-miss while the pair were sitting on the sidelines, a mixture of the sublime and the absurd. They have a tendency to make the difficult look elementary and the simple seem impossible. Progress was too often halted by unforced errors, but the introduction of Tindall and Robinson in the second-half brought some control to the chaos.Robinson came on at the start of the second half after Tim Taylor, who kicked 11 points in the opening period, suffered a knee injury, while Tindall's was also a forced substitution because Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu had been sick during the interval.Tindall acted as a steadying influence when he came on. Gloucester had been unable to hold on to the lead, but the England centre, who is not renowned for his kicking, pinned back Wasps with accurate touch-finders and kept his forwards in the right position.Robinson, who could not kick anything except himself during the opening day defeat to Exeter, landed two penalties from five metres inside his own half, the second with six minutes to go when the lead changed hands for the seventh, and final, time. Wasps had a final chance of redemption but Dave Walder, who had kicked eight out of eight the previous week, was fractionally short with a penalty from 45 metres with 70 seconds remaining.It was a match neither side deserved to win because so much of the play was sloppy. Wasps have never been more vulnerable this season than when they have just scored and soon after they had taken the lead with a Walder penalty five minutes in Gloucester were level.Wasps last week conceded three tries to Leicester last week after restarts were kicked to them and they stood and watched today while Charlie Sharples helped himself to Taylor's kick. Gloucester coughed up the ball, but not before Tim Payne had been spotted loitering offside and Taylor levelled the scores.Taylor's second penalty on 32 minutes gave Gloucester the lead. Little in the way of excitement had occurred other than Payne and Brett Deacon exchanging punches on the touchline and earning themselves a visit to the sin-bin. The Cherry and Whites had indulged in fighting talk all week and slowly they started to assert themselves.It was Wasps, though, who scored next, Dan Ward-Smith breaking through Andy Hazell and Tim Molenaar's challenges with ludicrous ease and running 35 metres to the posts. It was the first time the visitors had come anywhere near the home line and the test for Gloucester was how they would respond.Taylor pulled them back to within a point after Joe Simpson was penalised at a ruck and they went into the interval ahead when, after Dave Attwood had stolen a Wasps throw on half-way, Fuimaono-Sapolu flattened Dominic Waldouck with a hand-off and beat the cover to the line.The first score in the second half came in the final quarter. Richard Haughton, a replacement for the defensively suspect Tom Varndell, caught a kick ahead, broke three tackles and Joe Simpson had the pace to outstrip the defence for Walder to convert and put Wasps back in front.Walder was then held back by Rory Lawson off the ball as he chased his kick to the line but the referee Andrew Small, who otherwise struggled not to award penalties, waved play on. Tindall cleared and Robinson then put Gloucester back in front. Walder replied only for Robinson to restore his side's advantage after Richard Birkett had taken out Attwood in a line-out.It may not have been a full house at Kingsholm, but the faithful were full of it at the final whistle, anticipating Friday's trip to Bath.PremiershipGloucesterWaspsRugby unionPaul Reesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Cardinals expect to sell out Saints game, will start Max Hall The Arizona Cardinals expect to sell out Sunday’s game in Glendale against the New Orleans Saints. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Brave Bangladesh beat New Zealand • 'We played great cricket throughout the series'• Bangladesh 3-0 ahead with one game to playShakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh captain, praised his side's character after they earned a first ever series victory against top-level opposition today. Their nine-run win against New Zealand secured an unassailable 3-0 lead in the four-match series.New Zealand were set 242 in Mirpur to win but Shakib, who scored a superb century in the Bangladesh innings, led an inspired bowling performance with three wickets as the Kiwis were bowled out for 232 in the 50th over. Without Kane Williamson's 108, New Zealand would have been hammered out of sight."We played great cricket throughout the series and our guys showed their character when they needed to," Shakib said. "In the bowling part, there were some critical moments, but the boys held themselves together and finally got the result we needed."Shakib did admit Williamson's knock could have turned the game, with the 20-year-old battling cramp to lead New Zealand's fight during the run-chase. "Williamson came in and batted really well and he gave us a lot of thinking to do," he added. "He played our spinners exceptionally well so full credit to him."New Zealand's captain, Daniel Vettori, conceded that Bangladesh deserved the series win. "I think they have played better cricket than us in these first three games," he said. "They've shown us how to play in these conditions. So tough luck, but I suppose we look on Kane Williamson's innings with a lot of fondness and he showed a lot of us how to bat in these conditions."He added: "I think everyone plays in the subcontinent a lot now and they should be able to adapt to the conditions better than we did. Unfortunately, in all three games, we put ourselves in tough positions. It's something we need to rectify in the last game. It's a must-win for us to restore a little bit of pride to our series."Bangladesh Cricket TeamNew Zealand cricket teamCricketguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
NBA commish David Stern: League wants to reduce player salaries The NBA wants to reduce player salary costs by $750 million-$800 million, or nearly 35%, NBA Commissioner David Stern told news reporters Thursday. ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |