Category Sports News

Rothesay County Championship Division One, Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton (day three)

Essex 206 & 259: Cox 103* (retired hurt); Pretorius 3-36

Somerset 145 & 216-6: Rew 65*; Harmer 3-80

Somerset (3 pts) need 105 more runs to beat Essex (3 pts)

An injury to centurion Jordan Cox marred a strong Essex display on the third day of the County Championship Division One match with Somerset at Taunton.

Fresh from his recall to the England squad, Cox extended his overnight score of 61 to an unbeaten 103 as his side stretched their second innings total from 163-4 to 259 all out.

But he retired hurt immediately on reaching three figures, having collapsed clutching his lower left side after taking the single that put him on 99.

Cox took no further part in the Essex innings and was replaced in the field when Somerset began their quest for 321 to win on a pitch still offering assistance to seam and spin.

They closed on 216-6, Lewis Gregory making 57 and James Rew 65 not out.

The first hour’s play saw Cox and Michael Pepper build rapidly on the Essex overnight advantage of 224.

Cox reverse swept Jack Leach for boundaries off successive deliveries before greeting the introduction of Craig Overton with a glorious extra cover drive for four. Pepper leant good support and the pair had taken the total to 234-4 when misfortune struck.

Cox had been in some discomfort and the quick single off Leach on the cusp of his ton ended with him prostrate the bowler’s end. After several minutes of treatment, he was helped to his feet, but he continued only long enough to slog-sweep Leach for four and complete a 155-ball hundred.

Pepper glanced a four off Overton to take the lead past 300, but on 36 became the first of three victims in quick succession for Migael Pretorius, leg before on the back foot.

Noah Thain edged to wicketkeeper Rew, while Sam Cook top-edged a pull shot to be caught at fine leg. Leach weighed in with the wickets of Kasun Rajitha and Simon Harmer as Essex plunged from 252-4 to 259 all out.

A lead of 321 still looked secure enough on a pitch which had aided bowlers from the first morning. So it appeared, as Somerset’s fragile top order misfired again, leaving the 91-5 at tea.

Andy Umeed edged a catch to second slip off Jamie Porter to depart without a run on the board and soon it was eight for two as Archie Vaughan top-edged a shot to leg off Cook to give a simple catch to mid-wicket.

Harmer was introduced from eighth over and struck first with the total on 54, Tom Lammonby falling lbw for 30 to a ball that turned past the left-hander’s forward defensive shot and struck his back pad.

Tom Abell played well to reach 29 before a sharply turning delivery from Harmer nipped back to clip his off stump and make it 71-5.

With only seven runs added, Tom Banton, on 13, went to reverse sweep the spinner and was judged to have got a touch on the way to the ball reaching Dean Elgar at slip, a decision which clearly frustrated the Somerset player.

Skipper Gregory and Rew were unbeaten at the tea interval and both came out for the final session in positive mood.

Anything remotely loose was punished mercilessly with boundaries in a counter-attacking partnership that only served to highlight previous batting inadequacies. Gregory raced to a half-century off 80 balls, with seven fours.

Rew was equally impressive and was unbeaten on 37 when his captain brought up the 100 stand with a flashing cut for four off Rajitha. But the same over saw Gregory attempt another back-foot forcing shot only to get a thick inside edge onto his stumps.

Rew’s 10th four, guided to third-man off Cook, brought up a fluent fifty off 91 balls and the Somerset 200.

He was still there at the close with a further 105 needed against a refreshed attack and the second new ball tomorrow.

The angst of a football manager’s life was writ large over Barry Ferguson’s contorted frame in the dying seconds of the last Old Firm derby of the season.

A Rangers throw-in down the Celtic end and an opportunity for James Tavernier to hurl one towards the box in the hope of something happening to turn a 1-1 draw into a win.

Instead, Hamza Igamane gets it and flings it back towards his own goal, whereupon Rangers are mugged and Celtic are away. Daizen Maeda, their principal goalscorer all season, is scampering into the Rangers penalty area – and Ferguson is practically jumping out of his own skin in frustration.

Gesticulating madly, he’s like a man who’s been given electric shock treatment. From the gantry up above, you could almost feel his pain.

Celtic blew that moment, of course, but in real time you’d have bet money on Maeda picking out Johnny Kenny for a fairly routine tap-in winner.

In the wake of Philippe Clement’s demise, Ferguson and his coaches – Billy Dodds, Neil McCann and Allan McGregor – were sent into Ibrox as some kind of survival experts, but it hasn’t worked. Too many ills, too much damage done before they arrived, too little time to work on a solution.

You sense Ferguson has dedicated all his waking hours to this cause, that he’s emptied himself into the role with abandon. He’s spoken brilliantly, he’s sent out all the right messages, he’s practically tattooed the word BELIEVE on his forehead in an attempt to drag his players out their torpor.

It’s not been enough to address the bizarre contradictions at the heart of this team, a gang of players with a twin personality; confident and dangerous against good teams, afflicted by uncertainty and impotence against supposedly inferior opposition.

Rangers have gone away to Fenerbahce and won a Europa League match but have been knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Queen’s Park, the eighth-best team in the Championship.

Under Ferguson, they’ve beaten Brendan Rodgers’ runaway champions in their own backyard at Celtic Park (scoring three times) and yet they’ve lost at home to Queen’s Park, St Mirren and Motherwell (scoring once), though only the latter fixture was on Ferguson’s watch.

They reached the last eight in Europe but haven’t won in seven games at Ibrox. They’ve lost one in four in the league against Celtic, but they’re 17 points behind them. They’ve outscored Celtic 7-6 in Old Firm games, but Celtic can’t even see them in their rear-view mirror.

Across the span of the league, Rangers’ record against Celtic is markedly better than their record against St Mirren, who are sixth. They’ve dropped as many points against Hibernian, Aberdeen and Motherwell as they have against Rodgers’ serial league winners. Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur only got a draw against them in Europe. Seven different domestic teams (including cup ties) have beaten them.

The fans have repeatedly turned on Cyriel Dessers, who has now scored 25 goals this season and has 47 goals in 107 games, while giving little of the same kind of vitriol to Danilo, who they signed for £6m for a return (when fit) of 12 in 46.

Rangers were combative on Sunday, as predicted. They were fired up and, at times, threatening. Nothing about that was surprising. They scored first. Again, it wasn’t a shock-horror moment. They’ve now taken the lead in four Old Firm games in a row.

The puzzle about how they can look pretty coherent in these games and look so bereft in others remains unsolved. Yes, they have more freedom to play when up against strong opposition who don’t resort to the low block to frustrate them, but that only goes a certain part of the way in explaining the vast disparity in performances.

How can you go toe-to-toe with the likely Europa League finalists Spurs and Manchester United – scoring in both, drawing one and losing the other to a late, late goal – and yet fall in a goalless heap against teams with a fraction of your playing resources and questionable defensive records?

At their worst this season, Rangers have lacked nous, steel, pace, leadership, creativity, goals from midfield, apart from Vaclav Cerny, and goals from a striker other than Dessers.

All four of Celtic’s starting defenders on Sunday have scored more times this season than Conor Barron, who’s on zero. Liam Scales, a centre-half, has as many as Nico Raskin, a defensive midfielder.

Of the XIs who began at Ibrox, Rangers had two players in double figures for the season, Celtic had five – and that was with Nicolas Kuhn injured and Kyogo Furuhashi sold. Luke McCowan, an unused substitute on the day, has scored more goals than seven of Rangers’ outfield starters.

Despite all of this, they can live with Celtic on any given day. They just can’t live with the pressure of should-win and must-win games.

We’re told none of this is lost on the prospective new owners. They know the team and its foibles, they know the Scottish landscape and who dominates it, they know the distance they must travel across some rocky terrain and they know every inch of progress is going to be hard-won.

Rangers are capable of flash-in-the-pan performances, like Sunday and the other ones that went before against Celtic, but there’s an empty feeling, an irrelevance when you suspect their next slip is just days away.

Betfred Super League

Wigan (12) 22

Field, French, Miski, Keighran 3 Goals: Keighran

Warrington (4) 20

In a Magic Weekend thriller at St James’ Park, the Wigan Warriors held on to beat Warrington Wolves to finish second overall.

Before Warrington’s Jake Thewlis turned in at the corner, Jai Field dived in to give Wigan the lead. Soon after, Bevan French added to their lead.

After the break, Rodrick Tai attempted to close the gap for Wigan, but Abbas Miski and Adam Keighran failed to do so.

Thewlis’ second clawed Warrington within two points, but Stefan Ratchford missed the extras as Wigan held on in the dying moments thanks to Joe Philbin’s powerful carry over the line.

Wigan’s victory puts them back in second place after borough rivals Leigh’s defeat of Catalans on Saturday bumped them down.

When Field received French’s offload and saw a gap before running in the line, Wigan went ahead with Field’s 14th try of the year in all competitions.

French’s try was quickly followed, but Wigan were given an odd advantage by referee Chris Kendall, who misplaced Jake Thewlis before he could try to take the Warriors’ talisman.

Thewlis unapologetically responded to Warrington’s first try by going in style, but Ratchford missed his kick at goal, keeping an eight-point lead.

Oli Leyland and Ratchford were fielded in the halves by Warrington, with George Williams, Marc Sneyd, and Danny Walker serving as the Warriors’ starting lineup. Leyland made his first appearance in the lineup since he was withdrawn after the Warriors’ humiliating defeat in Las Vegas.

Wigan believed Field had advanced further, but Junior Nsemba was found guilty of blocking Leyland during the build-up.

When Kruise Leeming and Wigan touched down just before half-time, it was a case of deja vu, but it was once more attributed to Nsemba obstructing Leyland in the build-up.

After the break, Josh and Jake Thewlis worked together to prepare Tai for the score, but Miski ran in with ease after French and Field’s outstanding work helped Wigan maintain pace.

Keighran added a try to his impressive points total by failing to initially receive a high kick that luckily fell for Jake Thewlis. However, when the ball came in, Keighran ran in from distance, but not before wrong-footing Matt Dufty as he cantered in on the wing, he accidentally hit Matt Dufty.

With six minutes left, Philbin touched down with an extended arm to ensure Wigan would work for the points, though Warrington made sure Wigan would do the same.

Dufty made amends for the error that caused Keighran’s score by slashing his way through the Wigan defense and running the entire field before handing it to Josh Thewlis, who then touched down his brother Jake.

Matt Peet, the head coach of the Wigan Warriors:

“I’m pleased I got the points, but I had a feeling it might be that game.” Nothing about the lads would have surprised me, despite my best efforts.

“A few years ago, everything we were talking about was quickening things up, including any dead time, without any indication that we were heading in the wrong direction.

“This isn’t just about the game of today,” he said. It has been discussed for some time. Really strange . Today’s game won’t likely feature many tired players, in my opinion.

Sam Burgess, the manager of Warrington:

“I believed we didn’t have a great start, missed a few opportunities, and will probably end up feeling a little more disappointed,” she said.

You can’t dispute the team’s commitment to one another and the bravery to continue competing, even though it would have been nice if we had kicked that goal.

“I believe our performances have been improving, and we will have a challenging match on Sunday in the]Challenge Cup] semi-final.”

Leeming, Dupree, Hill, Walters, and others.

Warrington: Dufty, Josh Thewlis, Lindop, Tai, Jake Thewlis, Ratchford, Leyland, Yates, Powell, Vaughan, Holroyd, Fitzgibbon, Currie, and others.

Harrison, Philbin, Musgrove, and Crowther swap.

The Old Firm Derby on Sunday was, in some ways, a two-number tale.

Cyriel Dessers, the much-denigrated Rangers hitman, is in the blue corner, stomping on chances with harrowing regularity but wallowing in abundance.

Adam Idah, who arrived with a rumored £9.5 million budget and has so far failed to persuade some Celtic supporters, is in the green.

Idah was rewarded for his performance in Norwich City’s second half of the previous season while on loan there on loan, scoring nine goals, the most notable of which came in defeating Celtic’s city rivals to win the Scottish Cup at the death.

The 24-year-old’s performances have received a lot of negative feedback since permanently moving north this summer, especially since Kyogo Furuhashi’s striking fulcrum left in the middle of the season.

Idah fits a very different mold from Daizen Maeda, a fellow Japanese rapier, who has netted a staggering 33 times this term.

Should Celtic alter their possession-based strategy to adopt a more direct approach, he offers size, muscle, and points of interest.

And his output is not at all disappointing.

The Republic of Ireland international started only five of the 14 games that ended in November and the middle of January without scoring.

This term, he has scored 18 goals, three of which were in the Champions League.

A minute of wailing, end-to-end drama felt akin to the microcosmed Old Firm Striker saga.

Idah was sent through on goal with half-time approaching. He shot clumsily at goalkeeper Liam Kelly after grabbing a few earlier chances. The Ibrox roared.

Dessers, Vaclav Cerny’s cunning dummy, rolled calmly into the Celtic net after passing Liam Scales, who was Rangers went up the other end.

However, Idah remained unaffected. He was successful in making an effective play with Maeda down the left, linking it with accuracy, and receiving the winning goal.

Pat Bonner, a former Celtic goalkeeper, believes his former team needs to find another striker for the upcoming season and that his countryman would be better suited in the front two.

On BBC Radio Scotland, he claimed, “They have spent about £9 million on Adam Idah.”

They could reach that height once more to get that out-of-touch striker who can score goals.

They must employ someone there, they say. They can’t just put Maeda and Adam in there.

Adam has scored today, but I’m not sure if he needs to work with him.

Idah’s qualities have been mentioned frequently by Brendan Rodgers, and the Celtic manager once more resolutely praised them at full-time.

We are aware of Adam’s qualities, he said, and he doesn’t get criticism from us.

He only has a season to go, and he’s only going to get better. He plays in the big situations. He scores significant goals and victories. He will always improve.

He doesn’t set his price tag, but people are judging him based on it.

He has consistently demonstrated that he can score goals at every level, according to the company.

Brendan Rodgers’ manager was pleased with the leveller from Idah, which kept Rangers’ 17-point lead over their second-placed city rivals and prevented a third straight loss.

Rodgers continued, “I still believed we were in a good position in the game at half-time.”

We had complete control over the second half of the game. You occasionally have 10-15 minutes where you feel really pressured or pushed against the wall when visiting Ibrox, but I never felt that way.

The Old Trafford crowd elicited a rousing applause as Melvine Malard celebrated her equalizer like it was a stoppage-time winner. The significance of Manchester United’s outcome was reflected in the result.

It confirmed Champions League football for the upcoming season by coming from 2-0 down to win against bitter rivals Manchester City with 10 players after Aoife Mannion was sent off.

With one game left, United put an end to City’s own hopes of playing in Europe by four points clear.

City will assess where everything went wrong while Marc Skinner’s side now has a chance to look at unique hiring tactics and potential financial gains.

Simply put, United’s 2-2 draw on Sunday was a victory.

It feels like a win to go 2-0 up, then come back, then go down to 10 players, manager Skinner said.

Before moving up to the Champions League in 2023, United had previously been in this position before, but they ultimately fell short of the qualifying stages a few months later.

Chelsea, the women’s champion of the Super League, will enter the group stage of the competition the following year, while second and third places will enter the qualifying stages, causing United to have to navigate that.

However, they want to go one step further and make an effort to entice the biggest names in Europe to participate.

There are advantages financially. They would receive just over £430, 000 in starting fees and bonus payments in addition, depending on results, if they advanced to the Women’s Champions League group stages.

“It’s huge. We need to recruit the right way next, Skinner said.

We must add the depth necessary to reach the depths of the Champions League and, in our opinion, to reach the group stages.

That’s what the Champions League gives you. A Champions League team is a popular choice. Hopefully, it will help us find that market.

United is also elevated in the women’s game thanks to European football.

They no longer need to rely on Manchester United’s reputation as a club for their success as a whole.

They are also encouraged by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Ineos chairman, and his staff’s efforts to persuade them that the women’s team is worthwhile.

Skinner continued, “The women’s team has a young status, but the club has a big status.” We once qualified for Europe, but we have since done it once more, which is a big boost.

The agents are stating that “when we have recruitment calls, it’s always about whether we get to the Champions League.”

United must prepare well for the crucial transfer window Skinner has repeatedly cited while making bigger plans.

United signed Brazilian winger Geyse, goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, and World Cup Golden Boot winner Hinata Miyazawa when they last entered Europe.

Although Geyse is currently on loan at Gotham FC, American Tullis-Joyce did not make the first team until this year, alongside Miyazawa consistently.

They needed more skill and physicality, according to Skinner, but recruiting players with the same level of experience and skill is a must.

In terms of our recruitment, I have not stopped all year. “We haven’t just waited,” Skinner remarked.

We have a moment to reflect, but it will undoubtedly be a big summer.

How will United ensure that the window is successful?

The club is developing a proprietary analysis system that helps them identify the best players for them based on data and statistics.

The task is being led by technical director Jason Wilcox and women’s recruitment manager Harvey Bussell.

It is becoming much stronger, she said. Although it is still in its early stages, I believe that is the strategy we will employ, Skinner added.

We’ve spoken as a team, we win the Champions League, and then we need to evaluate our budget and market performance.

We are competing in a market, he said. Therefore, I need to use my expertise to discover ways to improve a player.

Rangers have condemned supporters for displaying an “unacceptable” banner that depicts former manager Graeme Souness holding a gun during Saturday’s Scottish Premiership game against city rivals Celtic.

Before Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Ibrox, the tifo display was visible as the players exited the tunnel.

A supporter’s actions were also condemned by Rangers as being inappropriate during the Old Firm derby.

After reaching a settlement over ticket allocation issues, it was the first time Celtic fans could watch an Old Firm game at Ibrox since January 2023.

A Rangers spokesman said, “Rangers Football Club condemns the actions of the person who threw a bottle during today’s game.”

“Our stadium should not tolerate this behavior,” he declared. Once their identity is confirmed, the club will take the strongest course of action against the person responsible. Steps have already been taken to identify them.

We also acknowledge that the tifo displayed prior to kick-off was unacceptable. Our approach to supporting displays has always been based on trust and group responsibility for using fair judgment.

We will examine how these displays are run and speak with supporters’ groups to ensure that the right balance between trust, responsibility, and oversight is maintained going forward.

We all have a duty to maintain the standards and reputation of our club, and Rangers is proud of its devoted fan base.

We are aware of the banner, and inquiries are ongoing, according to a Police Scotland spokesman.