Archive August 9, 2025

Carrick Rangers produced a stunning comeback from three goals down to beat Crusaders 4-3 in a dramatic Irish Premiership opener at Seaview.

Trailing 3-0 after 32 minutes, two goals from Danny Gibson and two controversial penalties from Jack Scott helped Stephen Baxter’s side claim a remarkable victory.

Glentoran started their campaign with a narrow 1-0 win against Portadown, courtesy of a fine strike from Danny Amos.

Ballymena also made a winning start to their league season as a Donal Rocks double that included a stunning second goal, eased them past Glenavon.

With the first attack of the game and only two minutes on the clock, Crusaders hit the front.

The ball was crossed into the Carrick box and former Ayr man Fraser Bryden was on hand to head into the right-hand corner of the goal.

On 21 minutes, Crusaders had a second through fellow debutant Adam Brooks.

A strong run from midfield by Elliot Dunlop saw him slide Brooks through on goal down the right-hand side and he rounded Nathan Gartside and slotted home from an acute angle.

The game looked over on 32 minutes when Finley Thorndike scored a third for the Crues.

Brooks turned provider as he unselfishly slid the ball to his right, allowing Thorndike the easiest of finishes into an empty net.

Five minutes later and it was game on as Dunlop brought down Aidan Steele, allowing Scott to score from the spot.

Soon after, Carrick had another as Joe Crowe’s cross bounced off the crossbar with the rebound nodded towards goal by Luke McCullough and poked home by Gibson from a yard out.

The second half began in similarly pulsating fashion as Carrick found an equaliser.

Former Crues man Paul Heatley slid the ball into the path of Gibson, who finished past Musa Dibaga.

Just as the game looked set to end all square, there was final drama in the 92nd minute.

Crowe crossed from the left with the ball striking the hand of Robbie Weir and the referee pointed to the spot again.

The Ports threatened first at Shamrock Park as, inside six minutes, James Teelan threaded a precise pass for Eamon Fyfe, whose first-time drive skidded across the face of goal.

The home side then wasted a golden chance on the counter-attack, with Fyfe leaning back and firing over with Josh Ukek and Ahu Obhkhan waiting for the cut-back.

The breakthrough then came against the run of play for the Glens, three minutes before the interval.

Jordan Jenkins clipped a teasing ball to the back post where Amos arrived unmarked to volley home from close range.

After the restart, Liam Burt thought he had doubled the Glens’ lead when his half-volley wrong-footed McCarey, only for an offside flag to intervene.

The Ports had similar frustration on 65 minutes, with Ukek tapping in Steven McCullough’s free-kick before again seeing the assistant’s flag raised.

In a fairly pedestrian first period, Ballymena came close to breaking the deadlock on the half-hour when Ben Kennedy collected a low cross from Calvin McCurry and, with his back to goal, tried an audacious back-heel which hit the side netting.

The visitors eventually drew first blood five minutes before the break when they worked the ball up the left-hand side and Matthew Clarke stood up a lovely cross to the back post where Rocks arrived to guide the ball past Jacob Carney.

Glenavon were enjoying a dominant spell when Rocks doubled his and Ballymena’s tally with a spectacular strike on 64 minutes.

There didn’t appear to be any obvious danger when Rocks picked up a loose ball from a knockdown 30 yards from goal, but he immediately let fly and his effort sailed over Carney and went into the net via the underside of the crossbar.

The Hundred men’s competition, The Oval

Manchester Originals 128 all out (100 balls): Salt 41 (32); Rashid 3-19

Oval Invincibles 129-1 (57 balls): Jacks 61 (26), Muyeye 59* (28)

Invincibles won by nine wickets

Will Jacks and Tawanda Muyeye shared a blistering 114-run stand as defending champions Oval Invincibles inflicted a nine-wicket thrashing on Manchester Originals in The Hundred.

Having skittled the visitors for 128 at The Kia Oval, Invincibles bludgeoned their way to victory from 57 balls – the joint second-fastest win in the men’s competition in terms of deliveries remaining – to maintain their perfect start to the tournament.

Muyeye finished unbeaten on 59 from 28 balls, while Jacks fell for 61 from 26 with just 15 required for victory.

Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan was the pick of the Invincibles bowlers, taking 3-19, while fast bowler Saqib Mahmood also impressed with 2-26.

After being put in to bat, Originals were in trouble early, with opener Matty Hurst and England star Jos Buttler both dismissed without scoring.

Captain Phil Salt smashed three sixes in his 41 from 32 balls and put on 50 with New Zealand’s Mark Chapman to give the away side hope before both fell to the irresistible Rashid.

The wickets kept tumbling and matters only got worse for the Originals with the ball as Jacks and Muyeye went to work.

Jacks was responsible for 21 of the 25 runs taken from Jimmy Anderson’s first 10 balls but the England legend was not alone in going the distance.

Every bowler was under threat as Jacks made the early running, hitting 10 fours and two sixes in total, before Muyeye joined the party and briefly overtook his opening partner.

It’s another four-game day on Sunday with double-headers in Southampton and Nottingham.

It starts at the Ageas Bowl with Southern Brave against Birmingham Phoenix (11:00/14:30 BST) before Trent Rockets face Northern Superchargers (14:30/ 18:00 BST) at Trent Bridge.

NBA legend LeBron James said that Shedeur Sanders was “looking good out there” as he made an impressive debut for the Cleveland Browns.

Sanders threw two touchdown passes in the Browns’ pre-season opener, his first game since enduring the most dramatic draft slide in NFL history.

The 23-year-old quarterback was the initial favourite to be the first overall pick in this year’s draft but slid to the fifth round, where he was taken 144th overall by Cleveland.

Sanders has been thrown into a four-way fight to be the Browns’ starting quarterback this season and with rivals Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel carrying minor hamstring issues, he was named as starter for Friday’s game at the Carolina Panthers.

The Browns won 30-10, with Sanders completing 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and making four carries for 19 rushing yards.

Cleveland were leading 21-7 when Sanders was replaced late in the third quarter.

“That young [prince emoji] looking good out there,” said James. “Keep going up. Head down on the grind and head high to the most high.”

After each NFL team passed on Sanders multiple teams during the draft, Friday’s game could barely have gone any better for the rookie.

Cleveland actually drafted another quarterback before Sanders – Gabriel in the third round – so he is currently fourth on the Browns’ depth chart, behind veteran Joe Flacco, new signing Pickett and fellow rookie Gabriel.

The amount of media attention Sanders has had during the off-season is unprecedented for a fifth-round draft pick and a fourth-string quarterback.

He had a bigger profile than any previous draft prospect. His father and college coach is two-time Super Bowl winner Deion Sanders and Shedeur earned about $6.5m (£4.9m) through NIL deals in college.

During the pre-draft process he was branded arrogant and entitled, but before his first NFL game Sanders showed he will continue to be himself.

He arrived at the stadium in Charlotte with an entourage, playing his own music and wearing a diamond chain featuring his own ‘legendary’ brand.

Sanders was wearing a different chain as he came on to the field to warm up and after throwing his first touchdown pass at the start of the second quarter, he performed his signature watch celebration from college.

Soon after, one of his sponsors Nike released an advertisement featuring the celebration and the words “only a matter of time”.

James was one of many to praise his performance on social media, and Sanders said afterwards: “That’s love. I’m playing for a lot of people and a lot of beliefs.”

Carolina went into a 7-0 lead during the first quarter as Sanders was “just getting comfortable”.

“I got pockets of finding my rhythm, and I’ve got to get into that quicker, regardless of anything,” he added. “But overall, I felt like me out there.”

Sanders is not guaranteed a spot on the Browns’ active roster, never mind the starter’s job, and he says he is focused on “just doing what I gotta do”.

“Everything else is not in my hands, so I don’t worry about it,” he said. “Why put energy in something that you can’t control?”

Ireland lost their opening game of the EuroHockey Championships 2-0 to reigning Olympic, world and European champions the Netherlands in Monchengladbach.

Goals from Joosje Burg and Yibbi Jansen were enough for the Dutch as temperatures in north-western Germany edged towards 30C on a brutally hot day.

Ireland coach Gareth Grundie will take plenty of positives from a strong defensive performance that bodes well for the rest of the tournament.

“I think that’s probably the closest we’ve come to them in competition in a long time,” Grundie told BBC Sport NI after the defeat.

The only goal in the first half came with a little luck after nine minutes against the run of play when Ireland were settling in the game.

Ireland goalkeeper Lizzie Murphy made an outstanding save, only to see the ball ricochet off the chest of Sarah McAuley and into the path of Burg who had a simple tap-in.

Roisin Upton and Hannah McLoughlin brilliantly marshalled the Ireland defence as they frustrated the Dutch in the second quarter as the heat began to take its toll on both sides.

A harsh penalty corner call on Upton was punished by the Netherlands in the third quarter when Jansen‘s shot beat Murphy.

Ireland were not deterred, however, and came close through Katie Mullan after great work from Mikayla Power.

Mullan was denied by Dutch keeper Josine Kosing, who was on hand again to save from McLoughlin‘s shot at a penalty corner as Ireland pushed forward and refused to sit back.

“The idea was always to make sure that we were really disciplined,” Grundie added.

“They’re an outstanding side, so the longer that we could stay in the game we knew we might get an opportunity, and if one had gone in then we might have been able to push towards the end.