GreenUN 04 November 2013

GreenUn

MON

Your 20-page Monday sports special

Rovers’

Pride

04 NOV 2013

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I’m very happy to be scoring goals on a regular basis and I hope to keep it going for the rest of the season if I can – City’s Jay Emmanuel-Thomas Pages 2-3

Hat-trick of tries for Bristol’s George Watkins

Pages 10-11

“ Non-league football | Pages 12-14

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The gaffer said to me before I came that there hasn’t been a problem with the work-ethic and that maybe the side were only suffering from a bit of naivety at times – Rovers’ new signing Chris Beardsley Pages 6-7

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Monday, November 4, 2013

Bristol City vs Oldham Athletic | Ashton Gate, Saturday, November 2

Player Rating (out of 10) ● Elliot Parish: Hardly tested and no chance with the goal, did what he had to.

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● Brendan Moloney: One great goal-saving tackle and got forward well.

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● Aden Flint: Looked tentative at times, especially when tested on ground.

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● Nicky Shorey: Struggled against Clarke-Harris, but classy on the ball.

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● Scott Wagstaff: Worked hard to make things happened, but shackled.

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● Marlon Pack: Concedes too many fouls, but his passing is excellent.

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● Bobby Reid: Tried to make things happen before tiring in second half.

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● Marvin Elliott: Strong presence in midfield without quite imposing himself.

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● Jay Emmanuel-Thomas: Scored a fine goal, but also gave ball away plenty.

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● Ryan Taylor: A good assist for Emmanuel-Thomas, but not at his best.

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Star man ● Derrick Williams: Stood up to the pressure and defended stoutly throughout.

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Oldham Athletic Mark Oxley – 6 Genseric Kusunga – 7 James Tarkowski – 7 Jonathan Grounds – 7

David Mellor – 6 Danny Philliskirk – 7 James Wesolowski – 7 Korey Smith – 8

James Dayton – 7 Jonson Clarke-Harris – 7 Adam Rooney - 6

Substitutions City: Joe Bryan for Reid (62 mins), Simon Gillett for Taylor (75 mins), Sam Baldock for Elliott (83 mins).

Oldham: Cristian Montano for Rooney (70 mins), Sidney Schmeltz for Dayton (83 mins), Anton Rodgers for Wesolowski (88 mins).

Referee Andrew Madley (West Yorkshire) . . . inconsistent at best

Match facts Shots on target Shots off target Corners

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Offsides

2 13 2

Attendance

11,352

Fouls conceded EPB-E01-S3

Home 3

Away 2

14 8 11 2

Jet’s strike fails to paper EXPECTANT City fans could be excused for believing a long-awaited home victory might be on the cards following last week’s return to winning ways at Carlisle.

But their hopes were once again dashed as the Robins flattered to deceive at Ashton Gate.

There was no question that City were second best to an Oldham side, who must still be wondering how they failed to return home with all three points.

Perhaps the one saving grace on this occasion was the presence within City’s ranks of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, a player of exceptional natural ability, whose 11th goal of the season enabled the Robins to emerge from a below-par showing with a rather fortunate draw.

Yet even his sublime 36th-minute strike could not quite atone for a performance that was as disjointed as it was disappointing for those who paid to witness it.

City’s performance was similarly dysfunctional on the pitch, a fact acknowledged by head coach Sean O’Driscoll.

Without a home win in the league since March, Robins fans might have been forgiven for anticipating a change of fortunes in BS3 following their team’s confidence-boosting 4-2 victory at Carlisle United last time out.

That the same players were unable to reproduce that level of performance was attributable to a number of factors.

Firstly, O’Driscoll admitted he should have altered personnel in order to address an imbalance in City’s midfield quartet. Playing Bobby Reid in an advanced position behind forwards Emmanuel-Thomas and Ryan Taylor meant Marvin Elliott being deployed on the left side and the Robins looked uncomfortable with the way they were set up.

Secondly, there was the debilitating effect of the nervous tension emanating from a crowd that supports more in hope than expectation of a victory on home soil. City have forgotten how to take all three points at Ashton Gate and, claims to the contrary notwithstanding, apprehension on such a scale simply has to transmit to the players.

With the wonderful benefit of hindsight, it can be suggested that

Andy

Stockhausen

Expert analysis Bristol City

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Oldham Athletic

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O’Driscoll’s decision to withdraw attacking focal point Taylor and send on defensive midfielder Simon Gillett in a bid to preserve his team’s slender lead for the final quarter of an hour also contributed to the final outcome.

Emmanuel-Thomas was asked to plough a lone furrow up front, a role he appears singularly unsuited to fulfil, City dropped deeper in to defence and Oldham took full advantage, James Dayton cutting inside

11 ● The number of goals Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has scored for City from the right and beating keeper Elliot Parish with a sweetly-struck shot from just inside the 18-yard box to restore parity.

All of a sudden, City had to try and win the game all over again and O’Driscoll sent on striker Sam Baldock at the expense of Elliott in a vain attempt to turn one point into three.

The fourth and final influencing event was the fluent nature of Oldham’s performance. A team forged in the image of their young manager, the Latics passed the ball as well as any team seen at Ashton Gate this season.

One thing is for sure, had they possessed a forward to rival Emmanuel-Thomas, they would more than likely have been out of sight by half-time.

Comfortable in possession, the visitors passed the ball out of defence more effectively than City, thereby establishing a fluidity that eluded the

home side virtually throughout. City sought to achieve a similar rhythm, only to be thwarted by opponents who worked tirelessly off the ball to close their rivals down and force mistakes.

A more or less constant threat on the counter-attack against a Carlisle side that failed to press them with the same intensity, City struggled to hurt the opposition on this occasion.

There were promising situations aplenty, but City lacked the cutting edge needed in and around the penalty area to work Oldham keeper Mark Oxley as often as they would have liked.

With the benefit of hindsight, O’Driscoll admitted he should maybe have made changes rather than keep faith with a winning team.

In the circumstances, it seems reasonable to assume new loan signings Karleigh Osborne and Gillett will feature from the start when Crawley come calling tomorrow evening.

It is equally reasonable to assume that Emmanuel-Thomas will be part of City’s attack following his telling contribution nine minutes before half-time.

He combined strength, timing and finesse to provide the contest’s one moment of true quality, keeping his eye on Taylor’s lofted cross before steering a left-footed volley past Oxley from eight yards.

Scoring 11 goals in a struggling side is quite something and, if City are to extricate themselves from their currently uncomfortable position at the wrong end of the table, one suspects the former Arsenal man will have a good deal to do with it.

Read Andy’s stories by following a_stockhausen at www.thisisbristol.co.uk

Match reaction CITY saviour Jay Emmanuel-Thomas sees no reason why he cannot achieve the 20-goals a season landmark that distinguishes top strikers from the rest.

Despite playing in a team struggling near the foot of the League One table, the former Arsenal and Ipswich raider has mustered a remarkable tally of 11 goals in all competitions so far this season.

Supremely confident in his own ability, the 22-year-old Londoner believes the sky is the limit in terms of how many times he can find the back of the net.

He said: “I’m very happy to be scoring goals on a regular basis and I

hope to keep it going for the rest of the season if I can.

“The most I’ve got in a season before is seven, so I’ve already gone past that, which is good.

“I think 20-plus is a realistic target this season. I don’t see why not. I’ll certainly try my best to get as many as I can.”

Recalling his latest strike, he said: “This goal was a bit different from some of the others I’ve scored recently. The wind was a major factor and the ball was moving around all over the place in the air.

“I decided to just try and keep my eye on it and get the best connection I could. It was an awkward angle and

I had to time it so as I could just hit the target.

“It was a good ball in by Ryan (Taylor) and (Scott) Wagstaff did well to create the space for me.”

Oldham manager Lee Johnson thanked City fans for the warm reception they gave him on his return to Ashton Gate.

Although Johnson felt his side should have left with all three points, he was delighted by the reaction of home supporters, who applauded him onto the pitch before kick-off.

“I thought I would get a good reception, because I always gave my all for the cause when I was here as a player,” said Johnson.

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Monday, November 4, 2013

over the cracks in City’s display

● Sean O’Driscoll gets his message across

● City’s on-loan signing Simon Gillett

● City striker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas celebrates his 11th goal of the season against Oldham

● Lee Johnson celebrates Oldham’s equaliser against City

● Oldham manager Lee Johnson

He said: “I felt we dominated the game pretty much from start to finish and were unlucky not to come away with three points.

“City are always a danger with the quality of some of their players, but I don’t think they had too many attacks and it was pretty comfortable.

“Overall, it was an excellent performance from us and the players have to keep on doing that. If there is one criticism, it is that they need to do more to put the ball in the back of the net when it flashes across goal.

“We have to do better when it comes to getting across people in the six-yard box. When we dominate like that, we have to score.”

Fan’s view by Matthew Withers AT the moment with Bristol City it seems it’s one step forward and two steps back. After last week’s thrilling 4-2 defeat of Carlisle United, I fully expected Sean O’Driscoll’s side to come out pumped up and full of enthusiasm and confidence ready to take the first home three points of the season. Sadly that was not the case, with the side only managing one shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.

I don’t think there is any City fan who is not aware of what the board are trying to do in terms of getting the club on a sounder financial footing and we understand that we are not the club we were and are realistic that this season is a season of transition and re-build, but what we saw against Oldham was simply not good enough.

Lee Johnson has taken over an Oldham side which has struggled over the last few season’s in this division. Lee is also trying to preach and teach a philosophy of playing football the right way and, for me, it was apparent that his side are listening. Oldham weren’t a Wolves or a Peterborough, but nonetheless, knocked the ball around nicely and had they had more composure on the ball and had Derrick Williams, Brendan Moloney and Scott Wagstaff not made excellent goal-saving tackles and clearances, Oldham would have been going back up the M6 with all three points.

I listened to O’Driscoll on a radio phone-in on Friday night and listened to his pre and post-match interviews. I like a lot of what he says as I keep saying.

We didn’t do anything excellently on Saturday. We didn’t attack well and our defending at times was last ditch and the midfield was dreadful.

The head coach said after the game how people keep telling him that we could do with a 1-0 scrappy win. His response was: “That’s what a 1-0 scrappy win would’ve looked like.” Sean we drew the game 1-1, I would’ve taken a 1-0 scrappy win.

Many fans pointed to the substitution of Ryan Taylor shortly before Oldham scored their equaliser as a key moment in the game. I actually think the change in itself wasn’t wrong, it was the wrong person to bring on. Taylor had been poor most of the game, didn’t hold the ball up well enough or link the play. For such a big lad he gets knocked off the ball way too easily. Marlon Harewood should have come on and I would have brought Simon Gillett on for Marvin Elliott at the same time.

I’m concerned that the side didn’t show any confidence following the Carlisle win and Tuesday’s game against Crawley is massive. I want to see a football performance and three points. The fans were behind the team yesterday and O’Driscoll got nothing in return. These are worrying time. The football is poor and fans are staying away, even season ticket holders and something has to change.

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“It was inevitable that there was always going to be a nepotism shout, because I played for my Dad, but if you look back over my record during the time I was here, it was pretty good.

“It was nice that the supporters recognised that. I appreciated it and would like to thank them for that nice reception.”

Happy to catch up with old friends at Ashton Gate before departing to spend the evening with his family in Bristol – father Gary still lives in the area – Johnson was nevertheless disappointed his players failed to translate territorial dominance into more goals.

Pictures: Joe Meredith

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Monday, November 4, 2013

Bristol City vs Oldham Athletic | Ashton Gate, Saturday, November 2

● Ryan Taylor congratulates Jay Emmanuel-Thomas after he scored City’s goal against Oldham Athletic at Ashton Gate on Saturday

Pictures: Joe Meredith

● Oldham’s Adam Rooney tries an overhead kick

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● City’s young mascot

● City’s Simon Gillett battles with Oldham’s Daniel Philliskirk

● Ryan Taylor is beaten in the air by Oldham’s James Wesolowski

● City’s Elliot Parish

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Bristol City vs Oldham Athletic | Ashton Gate, Saturday, November 2

● City’s latest on-loan signing Karleigh Osborne

● City’s Marvin Elliott clears his lines against Oldham Athletic ● City’s Bobby Reid and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas show their delight after the latter had given City the lead

● City head coach Sean O’Driscoll

● Oldham’s Lee Johnson

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● Jay EmmanuelThomas wheels away in delight after opening the scoring for Bristol City against Oldham Athletic

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Fan’s view with Dennis Payter IF only we could play all our away games at Oxford United.

It was ten years ago that Andy “Rambo” Rammell got that great goal which virtually kept us up and our 2-0 win at the Kassam Stadium last season helped to kick-start John Ward’s reign.

I know we got thrashed 6-1 there in the League Cup under Paul Trollope a couple of years ago, but Saturday’s win against the side top-of-the-table was a big win that can restore some confidence in our young players after the loss at Accrington.

I was critical of the commitment of our young players after that game, but on Saturday lads like Seanan Clucas and Ollie Clarke certainly put in a lot of effort and played a major part in such an impressive performance.

Clarke looks a highly-promising player and, if he can steer clear of injury, he has a very promising future. Young Alefe Santos also picked up from last week and is growing in confidence the more games he plays.

It was great to have an experienced striker like Chris Beardsley up front at last.

He looked a useful acquisition considering he hadn’t played for six months. I nearly said: “leading the line”, but the Preston man started up front on his own although John-Joe O’Toole cropped up frequently in the box to get onto his knock downs.

O’Toole did miss a great chance as an unselfish Beardsley set him up, but at least he did confidently put the penalty away.

It was unfortunate that O’Toole picked up another booking which triggers a ban, but at least the game he misses will be the FA Cup tie on Friday against York. On this form we should manage without him.

Beating Oxford was an indication that there is not much difference between top and bottom in this division. It is interesting that Fleetwood are the new leaders, while Chesterfield didn’t look that great at the Memorial Stadium last week either.

Our next league game on the road is at Burton Albion which should give us a good indication of how we are going to go for the rest of the season.

Before that we play Bury at home in the league and you feel it is another side we should beat and then we go to Cheltenham where we have done well in our last few visits.

I know the youngsters are doing well, but I hope it won’t be long before Danny Woodards and Matt Harrold return and, of course, Lee Brown also missed Saturday’s game. Once these guys are all back then suddenly it looks like a decent squad.

Meanwhile, it would be good to enjoy a good cup run starting with York. The atmosphere is always good under floodlights and the way the crowd has got behind this young team there is no reason why we shouldn’t win.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Oxford United vs Bristol Rovers | Kassam Stadium, Saturday, November 2

Rovers graduate with flying colours at Oxford BRISTOL Rovers produced the sort of performance on Saturday which suggests that attempting to over-analyse every word that comes out of manager John Ward’s mouth can sometimes be a pointless exercise.

Without a win in ten previous games, those of us lucky enough to follow the fortunes of Rovers assembled at Cribbs Causeway on Thursday morning to hear what Ward had to say ahead of a difficult-looking assignment at the home of an Oxford United side, who had moved to the top of League Two a matter of some five days earlier.

Ward offered the sort of stock answers you’d expect from a manager looking to halt a long winless run throughout an interview that lasted almost five minutes – yet one sentence that lasted no more than 15 seconds appeared to resonate with some of those Rovers fans that frequent the club’s own online forum ahead of the game.

“It won’t be easy because they are the best team in the league at this

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It won't be easy because they are the best team in the league at this moment in time

Rovers’ manager John Ward’s comments ahead of the game

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moment in time,” Ward reasoned.

“We have got to go there and make life difficult for them.”

It was a throwaway line, the sort of thing you wouldn’t usually be surprised to hear a manager say ahead of a game in which the expectations for his side to win any points at all are fairly low.

When you are the manager in the midst of a ten-game winless run, however, interpretations of what you say are clearly picked up in a very different way than if they had been uttered by a man in charge of a side on a ten-game unbeaten run.

Ward was quickly accused of being a manager with a preference for neg-

James

McNamara Expert analysis Oxford United

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Bristol Rovers

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ative tactics – a man with a defeatist attitude, who possibly didn’t believe that his side would in any way benefit from taking the game to opponents currently leading the way at the top of the league.

Seeing the side line-up in a 4-5-1 formation just prior to kick-off would have done little to change the minds of those incredulous by Ward’s perceived lack of ambition – yet it only took a matter of around 15 minutes to dispel those myths at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday.

Make no mistake about it, Ward was true to his word in making life difficult for his opponents – the fact that it took a frustrated Oxford United all of an hour to aim their first real attempt on target is testament to that fact – but, on this occasion, making life difficult did not amount solely to, as José Mourinho might say, ‘parking the bus’.

It was refreshing to watch midfielders, who are often levelled with a charge of being more worried about what goes on behind their own halfway line instead of ahead of it, prepared to burst forward in support of new signing and lone striker Chris Beardsley as Rovers set about their task with real purpose.

There was also a noticeable patience in the approach of Ward’s side; often accused, sometimes quite rightly, of being too quick to aim hopeful long passes forward, on this occasion, were prepared to go sideways and back until opportunities to progress up the pitch whilst retaining the ball presented themselves.

It was a method that made for an

interesting first half; an opening period during which midfielder John-Joe O’Toole squandered one good chance from close-range, which probably should have handed Rovers a tangible advantage by the time it came to an end.

Rovers, meanwhile, also posed questions in wider areas with Alefe Santos in particular relishing the opportunity to exploit an Oxford side forced to deploy a central defender as an emergency left-back because their two recognised specialists were unavailable.

As a result, Rovers goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall was a virtual bystander – although Oxford striker and former Rovers transfer target James Constable misguided two good headed opportunities before aiming another over the crossbar of an open goal when the two sides returned for the second half.

Constable was punished for that unexplainable miss when Rovers grabbed what proved to be the decisive goal in the 71st minute when O’Toole kept his composure to jab home from the spot after the impressive Eliot Richards was felled inside the penalty area after breaching Oxford’s defences with an energetic burst from the middle of the pitch.

Controversy reigned in the aftermath; Dave Kitson lambasting referee Mark Brown for awarding a penalty for an offence that had taken place two yards shy of the penalty area, allegedly. The decision looked sound to this reporter from all of 100

● Rovers’ player Eliot Richards is yards away and it was interesting to note that Kitson’s final analysis failed to touch on Brown’s decision not to even book Jake Wright for an offence that probably should have seen him sent off.

Maybe Kitson was still smarting from being denied a late equaliser following a fine save from Mildenhall that served to eventually secure a timely victory that ended the long wait for an away win that had stretched back as far as April Fools’ Day. Ward’s wasn’t laughing in the final stages, however, when O’Toole picked up another silly booking that will see him miss the FA Cup first-round tie against York City at the Memorial Stadium on Friday.

Match reaction NEW boy Chris Beardsley says he was impressed with what he saw from his team-mates on his first outing for Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

John-Joe O’Toole scored a second-half penalty to help Rovers upset the odds to claim a 1-0 victory over an Oxford United side that were sitting proudly on top of League Two before the start of play.

Beardsley, meanwhile, played a significant part in helping Rovers halt a winless run of ten games after agreeing to join on loan from Preston North End on Thursday.

He said: “The gaffer said to me before I came that there hasn’t been a problem with the work-ethic and

that maybe the side were only suffering from a bit of naivety at times.

“Sometimes you get punished from making the wrong decisions at vital times, and that happens when you have a number of young lads who have yet to have played 20 senior games.

“When you put young and game lads all in together it takes time for them to adapt, but we really stuck together as a group on Saturday and hopefully this result will give them a lot of confidence.”

Beardsley, meanwhile, worked tirelessly up front on his own when completing 84 minutes of what was his first competitive game in over

eight months and he said: “I don’t mind running the channels at all.

“It can be a bit tiring, particularly when you haven’t played competitively in about eight months or so. I just tried to put in as much effort as I could for as long as I could and I was pleased to get through the majority of the game.

“I played 90 minutes in a reserve game on Tuesday night, so my legs were a bit heavy and travelling down the M6 for three-and-a-half-hours to get to Bristol on Thursday didn’t help either!”

Beardsley had played the majority of his career at Conference Premier and League Two level prior to gain-

● Rovers’ players celebrate O’Toole’s match-w

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Monday, November 4, 2013

Player Rating (out of 10)

brought down for a penalty which John-Joe O’Toole converted for the win over Oxford

Pictures: Neil Brookman

● Steve Mildenhall: Made a great save to keep out a Dave Kitson header in the final few minutes.

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● Michael Smith: Another dogged display to keep Rovers old boy Sean Rigg relatively quiet.

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● Tom Parkes: Produced his best performance for a number of weeks.

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● Tom Lockyer: Has struggled a bit at left-back since replacing Lee Brown, but showed that he is quickly adapting to yet another unfamiliar position.

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● Will Packwood: Has proved to be another astute signing by Ward.

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● Alefe Santos: He posed Oxford a lot of problems during the first half, but was a bit quieter after the break.

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● John-Joe O’Toole: Looked the Rovers player most likely to score before finally doing so from the penalty spot.

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● Seanan Clucas: Worked hard and won a lot of headers and second ball.

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● Eliot Richards: Played well and was felled to win the penalty after bursting through the Oxford defence with an electric turn of pace.

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● Chris Beardsley: Led the line well for a man who hasn’t played a competitive game for some eight months. It was a promising debut.

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Star man

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● Ollie Clarke: Did a great job in anchoring the midfield. Broke up the play and did all the simple things that allowed others around him to flourish.

Oxford United Ryan Clarke – 7 Michael Raynes – 6 Jake Wright – 5 Sean Rigg – 7

David Kitson – 6 James Constable – 6 David Hunt – 6 Ryan Williams – 6

Andy Whing – 6 Danny Rose – 6 Johnny Mullins – 6

Substitutions ● John-Joe O’Toole is booked

Oxford: Alefe Potter for Williams (60 mins), Deane Smalley for Hunt (78mins), Scott Davies for Potter (88 mins).

Rovers: Ryan Brunt for Beardsley (84mins), Ellis Harrison for Santos (90 mins).

ing promotion with Stevenage before following manager Graham Westley to Preston North End in the summer of 2012.

“I have only seen one game of League Two football all season, so I didn’t really know what to expect from Oxford,” Beardsley said. “I felt they were definitely the more direct of the two teams and that our lads were the ones trying to get the ball down and play in the right way.

“Our wide players caused them problems all day and I thought we were very patient in our approach.

We didn’t force the play and even at times in the first half we were guilty of over-playing in our midfield third

when it probably wasn’t the right time to do so.”

On the award of the penalty from which O’Toole jabbed home what turned out to be the winning goal, Beardsley added: “Eliot (Richards) was well inside the penalty area when he was fouled and I was surprised the defender didn’t get sent off actually.

“He was the last man and it was a tackle from behind in a situation where he was never going to get the ball.

“John-Joe tucked the penalty away nicely, though, and it was a good win away from home. What more can you ask for on your debut?”

Referee Mark Brown. . . got the penalty decision perfectly correct

Match facts Shots on target Shots off target Corners Fouls conceded Offsides Attendance

Home 6 9 5 13 3 6,374

Away 4 3 7 7 4

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atch-winning penalty

● Oxford’s players can’t believe Dave Kitson’s late effort goes wide

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Monday, November 4, 2013

Oxford United vs Bristol Rovers | Kassam Stadium, Saturday, November 2

● Bristol Rovers’ goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall shows his delight at the final whistle having beaten top-of-the-table Oxford United 1-0 at the Kassam Stadium

Pictures: Neil Brookman

● Rovers’ Alefe Santos threads a ball through the Oxford defence

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● Michael Smith

● Rovers’ Will Packwood wins an aerial battle against Dave Kitson

● Bristol Rovers’ Seanan Clucas challenges Oxford’s Sean Rigg

● John Ward

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Monday, November 4, 2013

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Oxford United vs Bristol Rovers | Kassam Stadium, Saturday, November 2 W:15.9983cm H:23.7233cm

● Rovers’ Seanan Clucas outjumps Oxford’s Danny Rose

● Eliot Richards bears down on the Oxford goal

● Bristol Rovers’ Seanan Clucas, left, celebrates with John-Joe O’Toole

● Rovers’ Seanan Clucas is challenged by Oxford’s Danny Rose

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● The travelling Rovers fans were in good voice for the second year running at the Kassam Stadium

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Minute by minute

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Plymouth take the lead off the back of a Bristol error as Tom Bowen races in and Declan Cusack converts – 7-0

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Jack Arnott races down the left to give Bristol further problems by scoring a second Albion try – 14-0

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Ben Skirving capitalises on a poor Plymouth line-out throw to dive over from close range – 14-5

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The hosts hit back when Bowen seizes on a loose Bristol pass and tears up-field to grab his second try – 21-5

Plymouth lose Arnott to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on – Bristol capitalise immediately when George Watkins scores – 21-12 Watkins is at it again, racing away and bamboozling a couple of defenders to score his second try of the match – 21-19

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Nicky Robinson’s pass is intercepted and Sean-Michael Stephen sets up Bowen for his hat-trick – 28-19

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Robinson makes amends by scoring his first Bristol try following a scrum in Plymouth territory – 28-26

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Watkins seals his hat-trick – and gives Bristol the lead for the first time in the match – 28-33

Bryan Rennie dives over in the left-hand corner to grab Bristol’s sixth try of a thrilling match – 28-38

Deep in stoppage time, Plymouth grab their second bonus point of the match when Chris Elder slots a penalty – 31-38

Monday, November 4, 2013

Plymouth Albion v Bristol | Brickfields, Saturday, November 2

Bonus-point win sets up a thriller next weekend GEORGE Watkins said it was an honour to overtake his Bristol wing hero, David Lemi, and move into second place on the club’s league try-scorers’ list after his hat-trick rescued victory at Brickfields.

Samoan flyer Lemi crossed 33 times for Bristol – a feat Watkins matched with his first try at Plymouth and bettered with his second, before giving his team the lead for the first time in the match with his third.

Watkins, who has now scored seven tries in his last three GKIPA Championship games, is behind only Sean Marsden (39) when it comes to league tries for Bristol.

And the 23-year-old had to be at his best against Plymouth, after the hosts stormed into a 14-0 lead after eight minutes, and then led 21-5 at one stage as Bristol made an error-strewn start.

However, for the fifth league game running, Bristol won with a bonus point to set up a mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash with London Welsh this weekend.

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It’s pretty good to go ahead of David Lemi. He was a bit of a Bristol hero of mine, so I’m happy to get to that stage.

Having watched David play for Bristol when I was younger, it’s an honour for me to get to that point

George Watkins

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“It’s pretty good to get ahead of David Lemi,” said Watkins. “Growing up, he was a bit of a Bristol hero of mine, so I’m happy to get to that stage.

Having watched David play for Bristol when I was younger, it’s an honour for me to get to that point.”

Given his age and the form he is currently enjoying, it is surely only a matter of time before Watkins usurps Marsden as the club’s leading league try-scorer – with the club’s former full-back now firmly in the Bristo-

Steve

Cotton

Expert analysis Plymouth Albion

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Bristol

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lian’s sights. Watkins’ three tries against Plymouth comprised a simple finish from close range after a line-out had been driven inside; a wonderful show of pace and footwork that took him past two home defenders; and then an unusual move he had started by heading a restart up-field in the style of a central defender.

“The forwards called it over, and I honestly don’t know what happened, because I don’t know how I could get my chest and my eye so confused,” he said.

“Somehow it hit me in the eye – and a series of pretty random events ended up with me scoring. I put the ball down, not really knowing what was going – but I’ll take it!”

That try, in the 67th minute, gave Bristol the lead for the first time in a game where they were tested to the full by an attack-minded Albion side.

Bristol’s modus operandi of late has been to start in rampant, high-tempo fashion and force teams onto the back foot. But they were on the receiving end of such methods in the early stages against Plymouth, albeit contributing heavily to their own poor start.

Tom Bowen found his way to the line in the second minute as a result of a missed tackle, before Jack Arnott was allowed to slip down the left to give the hosts a 14-0 lead inside eight minutes.

And, although Ben Skirving stole a Plymouth line-out on their five-metre line and burrowed over, the home side hit back when the impressive

Bowen seized on a loose pass and raced in to make it 21-5.

“We can’t afford to give sides leads like that, but, at the same time, I think we showed great character to come back into the game,” said Watkins.

“And maybe that was the kind of thing we needed at some point in the season, to have that kind of experience, because it shows how tight we are as a group.”

A simple mark of Bristol’s recent improvement is that it would have been difficult to see them coming back to win a game in such circumstances last season.

However, on this occasion, they worked their way back into the contest, through force of character as much as technical superiority.

Watkins, who had seen a score ruled out for a forward pass from Jack Tovey, finished off from a couple of metres after Bristol had driven a line-out following Arnott’s yellow card for a deliberate knock-on. Then he received a legitimate pass from Tovey and beat Plymouth’s defence with his pace and footwork.

Bristol suffered a setback at the start of the second half, when Nicky Robinson’s pass was intercepted and Bowen sped up-field to complete a hat-trick of his own.

But the introduction of Ruki Tipuna and Marco Mama, in particular, seemed to offer Bristol both greater control and a more significant attacking threat.

Robinson made amends for his earlier error by beating opposite number Declan Cusack following a scrum and scoring his first Bristol

try, before Watkins’ header from the restart led to his third try.

That saw Bristol lead 33-28 with 13 minutes to go – but, even though they had trailed up to that point in the game, the winger said: “There was never any panic under the posts. It was always a case of, ‘that’s what’s wrong, let’s fix it’.”

Bryan Rennie crashed over to give Bristol a ten-point lead, before Chris Elder’s late penalty saw Plymouth – who had already secured a try-scoring bonus point – gain a losing bonus point as well.

Read Steve’s stories by following Steve.Cotton at www.bristolpost.co.uk

Key incidents GEORGE Watkins’ hat-trick helped Bristol to claim a fifth successive bonus-point victory in the GKIPA Championship – but they had to fight back from 14-0 and 21-5 down to do so.

In a ten-try thriller at Brickfields, Plymouth appeared to catch Bristol cold during the opening exchanges – capitalising on their visitors’ missed tackles, turnovers and loose passes to take what appeared a commanding lead.

But Bristol – inspired by a hat-trick that saw Watkins leapfrog David Lemi and move up to number two on the club’s leading league try-scorers’ list – showed real character to fight back in Devon.

Plymouth winger Tom Bowen –

who also went on to score a hat-trick – opened the scoring in the second minute, when Bruce Douglas missed a tackle and Declan Cusack and Chris Elder combined to send Bowen down the right to score.

Bristol thought they had pulled a try back, when Watkins dived over on the right, only for referee David Rose to rule out the effort for a forward pass from Jack Tovey.

Three minutes later, Plymouth took full advantage, when Cusack and Elder again combined, this time to send Jack Arnott away down the left. Cusack, as he had with the opening try, converted the second to make it 14-0.

Bristol hit back when Max Crumpton overthrew a line-out and Ben

Skirving dived over to score, but Albion responded with Bowen pouncing on a loose pass to sprint in from halfway, with Cusack’s conversion making it 21-5.

Plymouth had Arnott sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on – and, from the resulting penalty, Bristol kicked to touch, and, after the drive, James Grindal found Watkins in the corner.

The prolific Watkins struck again three minutes later, taking Tovey’s pass and racing away, before wrong-footing both Bowen and Rob Langley to score his second try.

When Nicky Robinson converted, Bristol were right back in the game at 21-19 down.

Plymouth, though, struck first after half-time, when Robinson’s

pass was interceptedH:5.6936cm

by Sean-MichW:11.3939cm ael Stephen, who freed Bowen to complete his hat-trick from long range, before Bristol – inspired by some smart changes from the bench – turned it around.

Robinson grabbed his first Bristol try after beating his man following a scrum, before Watkins – having started the move in bizarre fashion by heading the restart up-field – got on the end of a sweeping move to complete his hat-trick.

From that point on, Bristol looked the better side, and they scored again when Ruki Tipuna, Tovey and Ben Mosses combined to set up Bryan Rennie, who dived over. Plymouth rescued a second bonus point when Elder knocked over a penalty.

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Monday, November 4, 2013

Player Rating (out of 10)

● Bristol’s George Watkins races away for the first of his three tries against Plymouth

● Ben Mosses takes the ball into contact

Pictures: johnwhitemedia.co.uk

● Bristol’s Nicky Robinson goes in search of space

● Jack Tovey: Recovered from a difficult start to the match to set up a try for Watkins and add attacking impetus.

6

● Andy Short: Had a quiet game in midfield before being replaced by Rennie, who capped his return from a niggling injury with a try.

6

● Ben Mosses: Competed fiercely, and bravely got the pass away for Rennie’s try, which left him dazed and requiring a stretcher.

7

● Ryan Edwards: Was not able to take a good chance to score during the first half, but was a willing and committed worker all afternoon.

6

● Nicky Robinson: Grew in stature as the game went on, and his first try for the club, plus an assured kicking display, should give him confidence.

7

● James Grindal: Laid Watkins’ first try on a plate for the winger – but the tempo of Bristol’s play went up a few notches when he made way for Tipuna.

5

● Kyle Traynor: Performed well both in the tight and the loose as he delivered another uncompromising shift.

7

● Ollie Hayes: Worked hard, hit his jumpers, and looked as if he was in for a first-half try, only to be stopped short. Enterprising display.

7

● Bruce Douglas: Came into the side with Hobson and Hall both injured and produced a solid 80-minute showing.

6

● Glen Townson: Was not as visible as he had been in previous games but still continued his solid run of form with a hard-working performance.

7

● Mark Sorenson (Capt): As with Townson, the skipper worked relentlessly and did a lot of the unglamorous nuts and bolts for Bristol.

7

● Iain Grieve: Put his body on the line and competed well, but the flanker may feel he did not make the most of his opportunity to impress.

6

● James Merriman: Another tireless worker, who got around the field well, but the openside’s final output was short of his brilliant best.

6

● Ben Skirving: Had it not been for Watkins’ hat-trick, Skirving’s ball-carrying, try-scoring masterclass would have been Bristol’s standout performance.

8

Star man ● George Watkins: The in-form winger moved into second place in Bristol’s league try-scorers’ table with a scintillating hat-trick.

Referee

9

David Rose

Plymouth Albion

Match facts Home Pens conceded 11 Turnovers 10 Line-outs won 6/11 Successful kicks at goal 5 Missed kicks at goal 1 Attendance

2,216

Chris Elder – 7 Tom Bowen –– 8 (3) Ben Woods – 6 Toby Howley-Berridge – 7 Jack Arnott – 7

Declan Cusack – 7 Paul Rowley – 7 Ben Rogers – 7 Max Crumpton – 6 Dave Morton – 6

Dan Williams – 5 GIen Ashcroft-Leigh – 6 Sean Stephen – 7 Rob Langley – 6 Rhys Oakley (capt) – 6

Replacements Plymouth: Eoghan Grace for Langley (52), Heath Stevens for Woods (58), Harrison Tovey for Williams (64), Martin Rice for Rogers (73), James Shanahan for Cusack (73), Gareth Evans for Crumpton (80).

Bristol: Ross Johnston for Hayes (45), Ruki Tipuna for Grindal (45), Marco Mama for Grieve (49), Bryan Rennie for Short (52), Mitch Eadie for Merriman, (76), Mark Lilley for Traynor (80), Tristan Roberts for Mosses (80).

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● Bristol prop Kyle Traynor

Away 8 12 11/12 4 2

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Monday, November 4, 2013

Calor Southern League

Toolstation Western League

Haldane is a proper menace as his double books Yate victory Swindon Supermarine

1

Yate Town

2

YATE were good value for the three points at Swindon Supermarine, as Rob Cousins’ side moved up to 11th in the Division One South & West table.

The home side started strongly, with the lively Luke Abrahart shooting over the crossbar in one of their early raids.

Former Bristol Rovers star Lewis Haldane picked up a loose ball to fire

Yate into a tenth-minute lead, only for Abrahart to equalise five minutes later when he headed in a cross.

Just before the break, Yate went back in front when Haldane rounded the home goalkeeper to score his second goal of the game and his 13th of the season.

Haldane continued to trouble the home defence during the second half and came close to completing his hat-trick when he hit the crossbar on two occasions.

Yate, though, were indebted to goalkeeper Martin Horsell, who pulled off good saves to deny Chris Taylor and Ashley Edenborough.

McCootie is scorer and provider Thatcham Town

0

Paulton Rovers

3

PAULTON remained second in the Division One South & West table after a convincing victory at Thatcham.

Paulton took a seventh-minute lead when Josh Klein-Davies was fouled just outside the penalty area and Brandon Barnes fired home the free-kick.

The visitors increased their lead four minutes later after Nick McCootie’s shot was deflected for a corner. Barnes’ flag-kick was flicked

on by Ollie Price and McCootie scored from close range.

Thatcham lost their goalkeeper early in the second half through injury, and Paulton effectively wrapped up victory with a third goal on 68 minutes. McCootie split the home defence with a pass for Ben Lacey, who fired his shot past substitute goalkeeper Paul Taplin.

Paulton’s domination continued and Barnes missed two good opportunities to add a fourth goal. James Billing and Paddy Doyle also went close for the visitors.

Thatcham’s only meaningful effort came when Ben McCracken’s shot went just wide in the final minute.

FA Trophy

Strike duo too hot for Clevedon Margate

4

Clevedon Town

1

CLEVEDON’s hopes of a good run in the FA Trophy ended with defeat to Ryman League opponents Margate at Hartsdown Park.

Clevedon were close to scoring in the second minute when Adi Adams played the ball through for Ibz Diallo, whose shot flew just wide.

The home side took the lead on seven minutes when Charles Ademeno stabbed the ball home following a corner from Matt Bodkin.

Adams went close to levelling, but it was Margate who went further ahead on 20 minutes. Ademeno latched on to a loose ball and chipped the ball over Bristol City youngster

Joseph Wollacott, who was in Clevedon’s goal owing to injuries to Danny Greaves and Ollie Barton.

Ademeno was denied a first-half hat-trick by a fine save from Wollacott. Just after the half-hour, the game was all but over, though, when Margate scored again. John Beales had a shot deflected for a corner, from which Phil Walsh scored with a powerful header.

Just before the break, Clevedon reduced the arrears when Louis Feeley set up Matt Thorne, who dinked the ball over goalkeeper Craig Holloway.

Five minutes into the second half, Margate were awarded a penalty after Clayton Fortune brought down Ademeno. However, the Margate striker missed the spot-kick.

Margate’s fourth goal arrived on 65 minutes when Walsh headed home from Bodkin’s free-kick.

Farm’s narrow win is especially sweet for Lee Mark Easterbrook m.easterbrook@b-nm.co.uk

BRISTOL Manor Farm continued their rise up the Premier Division table with a 1-0 triumph at Bishop Sutton.

Manor Farm are up to fourth after a victorious return for manager Lee Lashenko to Sutton, whom he guided to the Premier Division title last season. Pete Sheppard scored the decisive goal after 20 minutes.

Larkhall Athletic are eight points clear at the top following a 1-0 win at third-placed Street, while Odd Down did well to draw 0-0 at home to second-placed Gillingham.

Following their superb run to the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup, Jeff Meacham’s Brislington will be looking to challenge strongly at the top-end of the table.

They are in eighth spot following a 1-1 draw at Buckland Athletic, where substitute Luke Meacham scored a spectacular equaliser in the 68th minute with a long-range shot. Buckland had taken a 47th-minute lead through Gavin Hammon.

Bitton suffered a 3-1 defeat at Willand Rovers, whose goals came from Craig Veale, Dean Stamp, and Dan Wester n.

Longwell Green consolidated their mid-table position with a 2-0 home success against struggling Slimbridge, thanks to two second-half goals from Charlie Stevens.

Hengrove Athletic twice took the lead at home to Melksham Town, but

had to settle for a 2-2 draw in the end.

All the goals came in the second half, with Andrew Nash and Charlie Kew on target for Hengrove and Gary Higdon and Matthew Cooper scoring for Melksham.

Hallen were 2-1 winners at Sherborne Town. Ben Bament gave Hallen a half-time lead and Mark Fear added a second goal for the visitors on 82 minutes. Sherborne replied with a penalty from Mark Kane on 85 minutes.

Winterbourne United had a confidence-boosting 4-1 home win against Ilfracombe Town. Karim Rendall scored twice for Winterbourne, whose other goals came from Ben Dowdell and James Mainstone, while Stan Paxton netted for the visitors.

In the First Division, Bradford Town marched on at the top with a 3-1 home victory against Chard Town.

Sam Jordan scored a hat-trick for Bradford, while Lee Bailey scored late on for Chard.

Ashton & Backwell, who have games in hand on all the other teams, moved up to 15th with a 1-0 success at Chippenham Park, where Ricky Briggs secured the points with a first-half strike.

High-flying Cribbs had a 4-2 win at Calne Town, while Roman Glass St George were 5-3 victors at Wells City.

Paul Coles hit a hat-trick for St George, whose other goals came from Kelvin Williams and Andy Hamilton-Dunn. Jamie Howson struck twice for Wells and Billy Manning also netted for the hosts.

● Kris Lee is foiled by Slimbridge goalkeeper D Simon McElvoy (2) and Junior Nglouve scored for Almondsbury UWE in a 4-3 reverse at Barnstaple Town.

Oldland Abbotonians went down 2-1 at Corsham Town, where Jamal Chevolleau and Dan Lardner scored for the home side before a late reply from Miles Allen.

Struggling Portishead lost 4-0 at home to Shepton Mallet, whose goals came from Josh Ferguson, Joe Morgan, James Vincent and Ben Cleverley.

Hellenic League

White strike keeps Rocks on top TYTHERINGTON Rocks stayed top of the Hellenic League Division One West with a 3-2 home win against Purton.

Rob Goock gave Purton an early lead, but Jack Smyth and Stuart Nel-

son, with a penalty, hit back for Rocks.

Steve Childs levelled for Purton before the break, but Joe White scored a second-half winner for the hosts.

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Mangotsfield make a quick exit Tiverton Town

3

Mangotsfield United

1

MANGOTSFIELD United were knocked out of the FA Trophy at fellow Southern League Division One South & West side Tiverton, who registered a seventh successive victory in all competitions.

Mangotsfield goalkeeper Kevin Sawyer did well to turn a shot from Sam Malsolm around the post in the fourth minute. At the other end, Kyle Tooze tested home goalkeeper Jon Viscosi three times in the first half.

The deadlock was broken four minutes before the break when Sawyer parried a shot from Matt Wright, but John Heveran pounced on the rebound to slam the ball home through a crowded goalmouth.

Tiverton increased their advantage five minutes into the second half when Wright slotted the ball past Sawyer. Six minutes later, Tiverton effectively sealed their place in the next round when Matt Villis headed in a free-kick from Dan Smith.

Charlie Hutchings pulled a goal back for Mangotsfield, but Tiverton came close to scoring again in the closing stages as Sawyer denied Smith, Malsolm and Wright.

● Tom Andrews plays a pass for Rocks

Pictures: Michael Lloyd

● Joe White, left, celebrates his winning goal f

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Monday, November 4, 2013

Skrill South

No end in sight to Weston’s miserable run

eper Dave Evans during Longwell Green’s 2-0 home victory

Pictures: Artur Lesniak

● Dan Hunt wins a header for Longwell Green and, left, Charlie Stevens runs away after scoring one of his two match-deciding goals at Shellards Road

Farnborough

4

Weston-super-Mare

0

WESTON’S alarming loss of form continued as they crashed to their fourth defeat in five games and dropped to tenth in the table.

Against Farnborough, who succeeded in bouncing back from defeat against Bath City in midweek, Weston enjoyed most of the midfield play, especially in the first half, but their attack lacked penetration. At the other end, the Seagulls defence was guilty of simple schoolboy errors.

The visitors started well enough with Chas Hemmings, Dale Grubb and Ashley Kington testing Farnborough keeper Kevin Scriven.

However, with their first real attack on 20 minutes, Dave Tarpey opened the scoring for the home side from ten yards when the Weston defence gave possession away from Elvis Hammond’s cross.

Farnborough struck again just before the break when Weston’s keeper lost the ball from Scott Donnelly’s cross and defender Josh Huggins nipped in to score from close range.

Five minutes into the second half, Tarpey hit his second goal of the game when he was put behind the defence by substitute Dan Bennet.

Scott Donnelly completed the scoring on 58 minutes after Hammond wriggled his way through a retreating Weston defence.

Weston’s best chance of the half fell to Kane Ingram, who forced the game’s best save from Scriven.

In further Farnborough attacks, Bennett rattled the Weston crossbar and Tarpey was unlucky not to notch a hat-trick when his angled effort beat Purnell but shaved an upright.

Glos County

Southmead still on the slide after slumping to fourth defeat in row SOUTHMEAD CS Athletic dropped to fourth spot after losing for the fourth game running.

Their latest conquerors were King’s Stanley, who pulled off a 2-0 away win. The home side never really got going and went behind on 30 minutes when Stanley’s Liam Gale cracked the ball home.

The second goal arrived just three minutes later from Paul Buckland.

Conditions were tough at Frampton United, but the home side mastered the strong wind the better

to beat Henbury 4-0. Frampton took the lead in the 22nd minute through Steve Jackson and Alex Parrott set up Chris Fower to make it 2-0.

Jack Mills hit the crossbar for Henbury, who were undone when a long ball left Ryan Vincent with the task of sliding home the third. Frazer Wilson hit Frampton’s fourth goal.

Berkeley Town and Thor nbury Town fought out a 3-3 draw.

The visitors were the first to net through Nathan Irwin, but Toby Bennett wasted the chance to double the

lead when his spot-kick was saved by Berkeley keeper Pete Lavis.

Sam Strickland levelled, but Thornbury went ahead again through Dan Thompson. Strickland made it all-square, but Irwin’s second restored the visitors’ lead only for Rod Stringer to cancel it out.

Ellwood moved into third place with a 3-1 win over Bristol Academy, whose marksman was Mark Parsons, while Yate Town Reserves’ meeting with Patchway Town was decided by two penalties,

one scored and one missed. Jason Henley was brought down in the box on 70 minutes and Jack Parker netted from the spot to put Yate ahead, but Patchway wasted the chance to level after Matt Tovey was felled. Mark Stoneham took the spot-kick, but blasted it well wide.

A double from Lee Williams gave Kingswood a 2-1 success over Chipping Sodbury Town. An own-goal by Josh Stokes counted for the losers, who were denied a point when Alex Fox’s late spot-kick was saved.

Somerset County

Shire add to pressure as Stockwood knock Nailsea off the summit STOCKWOOD Green replaced Nailsea United at the top of the Premier Division with a 1-0 away win against last season’s champions.

Third-placed Shirehampton let slip a two-goal lead in the first half at home to Bishops Lydeard, but scored three times in the second half to run out 5-2 winners.

Scott Bamford scored a hat-trick for

Shirehampton, whose other two goals came from Kyle O’Donovan. Luke Desave and Dave Richardson scored for the visitors.

Fry Club are in sixth following a 2-2 draw at Langford Rovers, while fast-improving Cutters Friday moved up to seventh on the back of a 4-0 home win against Street Reserves.

Yatton Athletic lifted themselves away from the danger zone with a 2-0 home win against bottom side Odd Down Reserves, thanks to goals from Ben Stanley and Alex Bird.

In Division One, Cong resbury moved up to fourth with a 1-0 home win against local rivals Clevedon United. Ollie Clements scored the winner midway through the second

half, and soon after Congresbury’s Dan Sprague and Clevedon’s Greg Barnes were dismissed.

In the third round of the Somerset Senior Cup, Division One side Saltford battled well at Premier Division high-flyers Minehead, who triumphed 2-0 following extra-time goals from Matt Cracknell and Martyn Phillips.

EPB-E01-S3

goal for Rocks with Justin Bishop

13

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Monday, November 4, 2013

Skrill South

Stearn hat-trick has Bath on the move up table Bath City

3

Havant & Waterlooville

1

ROSS Stearn hit a hat-trick as Bath City produced a fine display to beat Havant & Waterlooville and record back-to-back league wins for the first time since February.

Stear n’s first-half free-kick was cancelled out by substitute Sahr Kabba just after half-time, but he lashed home from close range to restore the advantage before winning and converting a 75th-minute penalty.

An incident-packed match saw an 18-minute delay at the start after Havant got stuck in traffic, then a ten-minute hold-up in the second half when one of the assistant referees suffered an ankle injury and had to be replaced – following an appeal to the crowd – by a Bath fan.

Andy Watkins’ dipping half-volley dropped just the wrong side of a post in the seventh minute as Bath made a lively start.

There was another sniff of an opening when Dan Ball’s deflected cross dropped to Dave Pratt at the back post, but his header across goal was behind Watkins.

Scott Bevan kept out Noah Keats’ long-range strike, but the Havant keeper, once of Bristol Rovers, was at fault moments later as Bath took the lead.

Havant conceded a free-kick 25 yards out and Stearn produced a trademark driven strike which fizzed through the wall and through Bevan into the net.

Bath almost extended their lead when Stearn produced a clever turn and chip over the defence, which was

just inches in front of Pratt. Bath were easily the better team in the first half, but they paid the price for failing to put the game to bed as the visitors levelled four minutes into the second half.

Havant made two changes at half-time, bringing on Kabba and Christian Nanetti for Alex Przespolewski and Scott Jones.

And it was Kabba who equalised, drilling home from close range after Jesse Kewley-Graham’s cross from the right was cleverly back-heeled into his path by Dennis Oli. The home side looked to have lost their momentum, but regained it in emphatic style in the 71st minute when Stearn surged into the box and laid the ball off to Watkins, who in turn pulled it back from the byline for the winger to slam into the roof of the net.

The points were effectively wrapped up four minutes later when Stearn was checked in the box and picked himself up to send the keeper the wrong way from the subsequent penalty to complete his hat-trick.

Stearn had the ball in the net for a fourth time from Pratt’s lay-off following a flowing team move, but the assistant’s flag had already gone up for offside.

It was a good afternoon for Bath, although there were a couple of disappointments – the low crowd of 451 and injuries to Ben Adelsbury and Watkins, who pulled up during the lengthy injury-time and was replaced

by Chris Allen.

Up next for Bath is a home Somerset Premier Cup tie tonight (7.45pm) against local rivals Larkhall Athletic. ● Weston-super-Mare report on Page 13

● Longwell Green’s Sam Thomas is pursued by Slimbridge’s Leon Sterling in the Toolstation League game at Shellards Road. Report and more pictures on Pages 12 and 13

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Results SATURDAY Football League Youth Alliance, South West Under-18: Swindon 0 Plymouth 2, Torquay v Bristol Rovers pp.

FA Trophy First Qualifying Round replay: Poole Tn 3 Frome Tn 1 (aet).

FA Trophy Second Qualifying Round: Bognor Regis Tn 4 Chippenham Tn 1, Chesham Utd 2 Weymouth 1, Folkestone Invicta 1 Hungerford Tn 1, Hemel Hempstead Tn 9 North Greenford Utd 1, Margate 4 Clevedon Tn 1, Marlow 2 Burnham 0, Matlock Tn 2 St Neots Tn 0, Merthyr Tn 3 Dunstable Tn 2, Mickleover Spts 1 Stourbridge 2, Redditch Utd 5 Brigg Tn 0, Scarborough Ath 0 Cambridge City 0, St Ives Tn 1 Nantwich Tn 4, Tiverton Tn 3 Mangotsfield Utd 1, Wingate & Finchley 1 Daventry Tn 1.

Calor Southern League, Premier Div: Corby Tn v AFC Totton pp, Hitchin Tn 2 Truro City 3.

Div I South & West: Evesham Utd 2 Shortwood Utd 1, Godalming Tn 0 Wimborne Tn 1, Guildford City 0 Cirencester Tn 5, North Leigh 2 Bridgwater Tn 1, Stratford Tn 5 Bishop’s Cleeve 2, Swindon Supermarine 1 Yate Tn 2, Taunton Tn 4 Didcot Tn 0, Thatcham Tn 0 Paulton Rov 3.

Toolstation Western League, Premier Div: Bishop Sutton 0 Bristol Manor Farm 1, Bridport 2 Radstock Tn 1, Buckland Ath 1 Brislington 1, Hengrove Ath 2 Melksham Tn 2, Longwell Green Spts 2 Slimbridge 0, Odd Down 0 Gillingham Tn 0, Sherborne Tn 1 Hallen 2, Street 0 Larkhall Ath 1, Willand Rov 3 Bitton 1, Winterbourne Utd 4 Ilfracombe Tn 1.

Div I: Barnstaple Tn 4 Almondsbury UWE 3, Bradford Tn 3 Chard Tn 1, Calne Tn 2 Cribbs 4, Chippenham Park 0 Ashton & Backwell Utd 1, Corsham Tn 2 Oldland Abbots 1, Devizes Tn 4 Cheddar 3, Portishead Tn 0 Shepton Mallet 4, Warminster Tn 2 Keynsham Tn 1, Wellington 3 Westbury Utd 1, Wells City 3 Roman Glass St George 5, Welton Rov 3 Wincanton Tn 3.

Uhlsport Hellenic, Div I West: Carterton 0

Clanfield 7, Easington Spts 4 North Leigh Utd 1, Malmesbury Vic 1 Hook Norton 4, Old Woodstock Tn 2 Letcombe 0, Shortwood Utd v New College Swindon pp, Tuffley Rov 0 Fairford Tn 3, Tytherington Rocks 3 Purton 2.

David Wilson Homes Gloucestershire County: Berkeley Tn 3 Thornbury Tn 3, Bsl Telephones 2 Rockleaze Rgrs 1, Ellwood 3 Bristol Academy 1, Frampton Utd 4 Henbury 0, Hanham Ath 2 Bishop’s Cleeve Res 1, Kingswood 2 Chipping Sodbury Tn 1, Longlevens 1 Gala Wilton 1, Southmead CS Ath 0 Kings Stanley 2, Yate Tn Res 1 Patchway Tn 0.

Somerset FA Intermediate Cup, Round I: Aces 1 Meadow Rgrs 7.

Somerset County, Premier Div: Cutters Friday 4 Street Res 0, Langford Rov 2000 2 Fry Club 2, Nailsea Utd 0 Stockwood Green 1, Shirehampton 5 Bishops Lydeard 2, Yatton Ath 2 Odd Down Res 0.

Div I: Brislington Res 3 Banwell 2, Congresbury 1 Clevedon Utd 0, Larkhall Ath 3 Westfield 2, Shepton Mallet Res 1 Castle Cary 0, Keynsham Tn Res 3 St George(EIG) 4.

Div II East: Ashton & Backwell Utd Res 1 Peasedown Ath 1, Farrington Gurney 0 Tunley Ath 3, Fry Club Res 0 Chew Magna 1, Stockwood Green Res 2 Imperial 3, Timsbury Ath 1 Welton Rov Res 1, Radstock Tn Res 0 Long Ashton 2.

Div II West: Cheddar Res 2 Nailsea Utd Res 0, Combe St Nicholas 3 Burnham Utd Res 0, Kewstoke Lions 3 Nailsea Tn Res 1, Staplegrove 7 Churchill Club 70 0, Uphill Castle 0 Winscombe 0, Weston St Johns Res 0 North Curry 4, Glastonbury 3 Worle 2.

Gloucestershire FA Junior Cup, Round II: DAC Beachcroft LLP 1 Shirehampton Res 2, Nicholas Wdrs Res v Bsl Telephones Res (home w/o), Retainers 2 Tyndalls Park Rgrs 1, De Veys 1 Hambrook 4, Stoke Rangers 2 Iron Acton 2 (Iron Acton won 5-4 on pens), Pucklechurch Spts 2 Ashley 2 (Ashley won 4-2 on pens), Henbury Res 5 Wick Res 1, Real Thornbury 5 Lebeq Sat Res 0,

Filton Ath 2 Crosscourt Utd 2 (Crosscourt won 5-4 on pens), Talbot Knowle Utd 1 AFC Bohemia 1 (Talbot Knowle won 5-4 on pens), Soundwell Vic 1 Old Cothamians 4, Lawes Jrs 0 Avonmouth Res 0 (Lawes won 3-2 on pens), Bsl Barcelona 3 Longwell Green Spts A 1, Ridings High Res 3 Bradley Stoke Tn 2, Winterbourne Utd 3 Cotswool 1, Chipping Sodbury Tn Res 4 Portville Warriors 1.

Gloucestershire FA Intermediate Cup, Round II: Lloydy Coalpit 1 Hillfields OB 5, Olveston Utd Res 4 Hanham Ath A 1, Bradley Stoke Tn Res 1 Sneyd Park Res 5, Downend Forresters Res 5 Severn Beach Res 1, Saints OB Res 0 Tebby 1, Hare On The Hill 4 Bristol Barcelona Res 0, Stapleton 1 South Bristol Central 0, Old Cothamians Res 1 Bristol Bilbao 9, Roman Glass St George A 2 Clifton Rockets 9, Cribbs A 3 AEK Boco A 1, Bendix 1 Torpedo Res 1 (Bendix won 13-12 on pens), Highridge Utd Res 4 Sporting Greyhound Res 0, Lion FC 2 Easton Cowboys 6, Patchway NE 1 Yate Ath 0.

Bristol Premier, Premier Cup Round I: AEK Boco 2 Sea Mills Park 0, Brislington Cktrs 2 DRG Frenchay 0, Eden Grove 2 Longwell Green Res 1, Highridge Utd v Bitton Res (home w/o), Lebeq 5 Cribbs Res 0, Nicholas Wdrs 1 Oldland Abbots Res 0, Old Sodbury 4 Seymour Utd 4 (Old Sodbury won 5-4 on pens), Shaftesbury Crusade 5 Mendip Utd 5 (Shaftesbury won 4-3 on pens), Totterdown Utd 2 Winterbourne Utd Res 0.

Premier Div: Wick 2 Hallen Res 2.

District, Div I: St Pancras v Soundwell Vic pp.

Div III: Hallen B 4 Henbury A 3.

Div IV: Greyfriars Ath A 3 Lawrence Rov Res 0, Old Sodbury Res 2 Fishponds Ath 9, Shaftesbury Crusade Res 3 Frys Club B 1, Soundwell Vic Res 3 Wick A 3, Westerleigh Spts 6 Talbot Knowle Utd Res 0.

Div V: Brislington Cktrs Res 0 Iron Acton A 5, Oldland Abbots A 3 Cesson 0, Rangeworthy Res 4 Crosscourt Utd Res 7, Stanton Drew Res 3 Mendip

Utd A 2, Staple Hill Orient 5 Shireway Spts 0.

Div VI: Saltford Res 0 Hanham Ath Colts 3, Brimsham Green Res 1 Stapleton Res 7, Cribbs B 1 Cutters Friday 5, Seymour Utd A 0 Yate Ath Res 3, Stoke Lane 12 Greyfriars Ath B 0.

Suburban, Premier Div I: Avonmouth 1 Little Stoke 1, Mangotsfield Spts 3 Lawrence Weston 4, Old Georgians 0 Tytherington Rocks Res 0, Ridings High 2 Ashton Utd 2, St Aldhelms 1 Severn Beach 4.

Premier Div II: Brislington A 1 Totterdown POB 2, Bristol Ath 3 Lebeq Utd 1, CAB Olympic 0 AFC Mangotsfield 12, Downend Forresters 6 Almondsbury UWE Res 0, Glenside 5 OB 2 Wessex Wdrs 4, Southmead CS Utd 2 Rockleaze Rgrs Res 1.

Div I: Ashton Backwell Colts 3 St Aldhelms Res 2, Oldbury 0 Broad Plain House Res 7, Stoke Gifford 4 Cleeve Colts 1.

Div III: AEK Boco Colts 8 Corinthian Spts 1, Long Ashton Res 2 Broad Walk Community 4.

Div IV: North Bristol Catalans 5 Stoke Gifford Utd A 3, Oldbury FC Res 0 Old Georgians Res 7, Severnside 4 Brandon Sports 3, Winford PH 2 Filton Ath Res 1.

Div V: Imperial Res 3 AFC Mangotsfield A 1, Kellaway Rgrs Res 2 Fishponds OB A 1, Lawrence Weston A 0 Lockleaze Community 1, North Bristol Utd 7 Avonmouth A 0, Whitchurch Spts 2 Real St George 5.

Div VI: AFC Mangotsfield B 3 Cosmos 1, Long Ashton A 6 Frys OB Res 0, Winford PH Res 4 Brandon Spts Res 1.

Bristol & Avon: Bristol Revolution 3 Dodington 2, Broad Plain A 7 Bradley Stoke Tn B 3, De Veys Res v Iron Acton B pp, LS Utd 3 AFC Hartcliffe Res 2, Wessex Wdrs A 0 Westerleigh Sports Res 2, Whitchurch Phoenix 6 Broad Walk Community Res 1.

Downs, Div I: Jersey Rgrs 3 Clifton St Vinc 1, Saints OB 2 Sneyd Park 5, Sporting Greyhound 1

Portland OB 1, Torpedo 3 Jamaica Bell 1.

Div II: Clifton St Vinc Res 3 Corinthians 2, St Andrews 2 Old Cliftonians 1.

Div III: Evergreen 3 Torpedo A 0, Green Park Rgrs 2 Easton Cowboys Res 1, Helios 3 Cotham OB 5, Luccombe Garage 2 Clifton St Vinc A 3, Old Elizabethans AFC 2 Bengal Tigers 3, Portland OB Res 1 Wellington Wdrs 5, Retainers Res 1 Sneyd Park A 5.

Div IV: Conham Rgrs 5 Clifton St Vinc B 1, Cosmos 2 Clifton Rockets Res 6, DDAS 2 West Town Utd 3, Jersey Rgrs Res 3 Torpedo B 0, Lion FC Res 2 Tebby AFC Res 1, NCSF Utd 2 Sneyd Park B 2, Retainers A 1 Warmley Utd 5.

Weston-super-Mare & District, Davis Shield Prelim Rd: Portishead Tn B 0 Nailsea Utd B 1.

Davis Shield quarter-final: St George (EIG) A v Banwell A (I Smith).

Atwell Shield Round I: Worle Res 1 Clevedon Utd Res 7.

KO Cup Round I: Berrow Res 3 King Alfred SC 1, Cheddar A 4 Wedmore 1, Clevedon Dons 3 Banwell Res 2, Dolphin Ath 2 Clapton in Gordano 1, Draycott 3 Axbridge Tn 0, Congresbury Res 5 Burnham Utd A 1, Selkirk Utd 0 Uphill Castle Res 3, Weston Super Seagulls 3 Nailsea Utd A 6, Winscombe Res 2 St George(EIG) Res 3, Worle Rgrs 2 Locking Park 4.

Div I: Portishead Tn A 1 Tickenham Utd 6.

Div III: Westend 3 AFC Nailsea 2, Winscombe A 1 Shipham 2.

Div IV: Cleeve West Tn A 5 Kewstoke Lions Res 0, KVFC 0 Wrington Redhill Res 3.

Div V: Priory Rgrs 5 South Park Rgrs 1.

Div VI: AFC Nailsea Res 2 Clevedon Utd B 1, Axbridge Tn Res 4 Worle Rgrs Res 2, Wedmore Res 1 Berrow A 5.

Arsenal ....................(1) 2 Cazorla 19 Ramsey 59

Fulham .....................(0) 1 Kacaniklic 65 Att 25,700

Liverpool .................(0) 0

Att 14,070

Valencia 9 van Persie 20 Rooney 22

Lowe 76 Att 16,645

Man Utd ...................(3) 3 Sunderland .............(0) 0

Man City ..................(4) 7

Norwich ...................(0) 0

Johnson 16 (og) Silva 20 Nastasic 25 Negredo 36 Toure 60 Aguero 71 Dzeko 86 Att 47,066

Birmingham.............(0) 0

Att 60,042

Hull ...........................(1) 1 Cuellar 25 (og)

Att 24,677

Blackburn ................(0) 1 Bournemouth ..........(0) 0 Att 10,015

Doncaster ................(0) 1

Att 38,828

P W Arsenal ............10 4 Chelsea ...........10 5 Liverpool ..........10 4 Spurs ...............10 3 Man City ..........10 5 Southamptn .....10 3 Everton ............10 3 Man Utd ...........10 2 Newcastle ........10 2 Hull ..................10 3 West Brom .......10 2 Cardiff ..............10 2 Swansea ..........10 1 Aston Villa........10 1 West Ham ........10 1 Fulham.............10 1 Stoke ...............10 1 Norwich............10 1 Sunderland ......10 1 Crystal Pal .......10 1

Yeovil .......................(0) 0

Derby .......................(1) 1

Aston Villa...............(0) 0

Everton ....................(0) 0

Spurs .......................(0) 0

HOME D L F 0 1 11 0 0 12 0 1 9 1 1 5 0 0 20 2 0 7 2 0 6 2 1 7 2 1 7 2 0 4 1 2 6 1 2 5 2 2 8 0 4 4 1 3 5 1 3 5 3 1 3 2 2 4 0 4 5 0 4 4

A 5 3 3 4 2 1 3 5 5 1 4 5 8 9 7 9 3 6 10 10

W 4 1 2 3 1 2 2 3 2 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 0 0

AWAY D L F 1 0 11 2 2 4 2 1 8 1 1 4 1 3 8 2 1 4 2 1 8 0 2 10 0 3 7 0 4 4 3 1 4 2 2 4 0 3 4 2 1 5 3 1 3 0 3 5 0 4 4 0 4 2 1 4 2 0 5 2

A 4 5 7 1 9 3 7 8 11 9 6 8 4 3 1 6 8 14 12 11

Pts 25 20 20 20 19 19 19 17 14 14 13 12 11 11 10 10 9 8 4 3

Alfreton Town......................3 FC Halifax ......................... 0 Barnet ..................................1 Kidderminster ................... 0 Chester FC ..........................1 Aldershot .......................... 1 Forest Green .......................1 Dartford ............................. 0 Gateshead ...........................0 Luton ................................. 0 Hyde .....................................2 Nuneaton........................... 2 Macclesfield ........................3 Wrexham ........................... 2 Southport ............................1 Cambridge Utd ................. 0 Tamworth.............................0 Braintree Town ................. 0 Welling .................................1 Lincoln City ...................... 0 Woking.................................1 Grimsby............................. 2 HOME AWAY A 5 11 9 8 12 6 10 15 17 12 9 21 14 11 22 15 17 18 15 12 13 17 5 28

Pt 38 32 31 30 30 29 28 28 28 27 26 25 22 22 21 21 19 18 17 17 14 14 13 3

Vokes 39 Lowry 55 (og)

Att 21,581

Dobbie 90

Dawkins 23 Att 18,171

Sheff Wed ................(3) 5

Reading ...................(1) 2 Pogrebnyak 35 Le Fondre 90 (pen)

Att 16,011

Wigan .......................(1) 2 Barnett 21 Powell 50

Basingstoke ........................2 Dover ................................. 0 Bath City..............................3 Havant and W ................... 1 Bishop’s Stortford ..............2 Tonbridge Angels ............. 1 Bromley ...............................4 Dorchester ........................ 1 Chelmsford..........................0 Boreham Wood................. 6 Eastbourne Borough..........2 Maidenhead Utd ............... 0 Ebbsfleet United .................4 Concord Rangers ............. 0 Farnboro ..............................4 Weston-S-Mare ................. 0 Staines Town.......................2 Hayes & Yeading .............. 1 Sutton Utd ...........................1 Eastleigh ........................... 1 Whitehawk ...........................1 Gosport Borough ............. 1 HOME AWAY P Bromley ...............13 Eastleigh ..............13 Bishop’s Stortford 12 Sutton Utd ...........12 Basingstoke .........13 Ebbsfleet United ..14 Hayes & Yeading .13 Eastbourne Boro . 14 Weston-S-Mare ...13 Farnboro ..............12 Dover ...................13 Staines Town ....... 12 Havant and W......14 Bath City ..............12 Whitehawk ...........13 Concord Rangers 12 Chelmsford ..........13 Boreham Wood....12 Maidenhead Utd .. 12 Tonbridge Angels .12 Gosport Borough .12 Dorchester ...........12

W 6 5 5 5 5 3 1 4 3 5 2 6 3 2 1 2 3 1 1 2 2 1

D 0 2 0 2 1 4 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 2 4 1 1 2 1 2 1 0

L 0 0 1 1 1 1 3 1 3 2 3 0 3 2 2 2 3 2 4 2 2 5

F 21 8 13 17 11 11 6 14 9 14 4 12 11 9 6 8 10 6 7 8 5 6

A W 5 3 2 3 6 3 7 1 5 2 6 2 6 6 9 2 10 3 6 1 5 4 5 0 12 1 8 2 9 2 6 1 14 1 9 2 13 2 9 1 5 0 19 1

D 1 1 2 2 0 2 0 1 1 1 0 1 4 2 0 3 0 1 2 1 2 1

L 3 2 1 1 4 2 3 4 2 3 3 5 2 2 4 3 5 4 2 4 5 4

F 8 9 13 6 9 15 14 4 7 11 8 5 7 9 9 5 4 9 7 7 5 5

A 7 7 12 2 10 9 8 12 8 14 4 14 8 8 13 15 12 9 7 14 14 9

Pt 28 27 26 22 22 21 21 21 20 19 19 19 17 16 13 13 13 12 12 12 9 7

Williams 34

Att 2,702

Bury .........................(1) 1

Torquay ...................(2) 3

Cheltenham .............(2) 2

York..........................(1) 2

Chesterfield .............(1) 1

Scunthorpe .............(0) 1

Fleetwood Town......(1) 4

Newport County .....(0) 1

Hartlepool ................(1) 2

Dag & Red ...............(0) 1

Oxford Utd...............(0) 0

Bristol Rovers.........(0) 1

Plymouth .................(0) 1

Northampton ...........(0) 0

Portsmouth .............(1) 3

Exeter ......................(0) 2

Rochdale .................(1) 1

AFC Wimbledon .....(0) 2

Brentford .................(1) 1 Bradford ..................(0) 0

Gillingham ...............(0) 1

Carlisle ....................(0) 0

MK Dons ..................(0) 1

Walsall .....................(0) 0

Peterboro.................(1) 1

Leyton Orient ..........(1) 3

Richards 8 Att 6,346

Preston ....................(0) 1

Tranmere .................(0) 1

Schumacher 4 (pen), 48, 59 (pen) Ball 78 Att 2,354

Rotherham...............(2) 2

Colchester...............(1) 2

Shrewsbury .............(1) 2

Sheff Utd .................(0) 0

Swindon...................(1) 5

Port Vale ..................(0) 2

Wolves .....................(1) 2

Stevenage ...............(0) 0

Forshaw 5 (pen)

Att 5,428

Kedwell 63 (pen)

Att 5,697

Williams 65

Att 7,711

Rowe 26 Att 10,026

Mooney 39, 58 Cox 49

Garner 90

Atkinson 55 Att 9,496

Tubbs 9, Agard 22 Att 7,096

Bean 7 Lee 90

Jacobson 39 McAlinden 80

Huddersfld ..............(1) 1

HOME AWAY P W D L F A W D L F A Pts Burnley ............14 5 2 0 14 3 5 1 1 12 6 33 Leicester ..........14 6 1 0 13 6 4 1 2 11 7 32 QPR .................14 6 1 0 10 2 3 3 1 6 5 31 Blackpool .........14 4 3 0 8 4 3 3 1 9 7 27 Reading ...........14 4 3 0 13 6 2 2 3 9 11 23 Nottm For ........14 4 2 1 11 6 2 3 2 10 10 23 Watford ............14 3 2 2 13 10 3 2 2 12 8 22 Leeds ...............14 4 1 2 12 6 2 1 4 6 10 20 Blackburn.........14 4 1 2 11 5 1 3 3 9 11 19 Wigan ..............13 4 3 0 12 7 1 1 4 4 5 19 Derby ...............14 1 3 3 10 14 4 1 2 16 9 19 Brighton ...........14 2 3 2 10 9 2 3 2 5 5 18 Ipswich.............14 4 1 2 12 6 0 4 3 8 12 17 Huddersfld ......14 3 3 1 13 8 1 2 4 5 8 17 Bournemth .......14 4 0 3 11 10 1 2 4 9 19 17 Middlesbro’ ......14 2 4 1 15 9 1 2 4 8 13 15 Charlton ...........13 1 3 2 3 4 2 2 3 7 10 14 Millwall .............14 2 2 3 10 12 1 3 3 7 16 14 Bolton ..............14 0 5 2 6 8 2 2 3 7 12 13 Doncaster ........13 2 1 4 7 11 1 2 3 5 12 12 Sheff Wed ........13 1 3 2 10 9 0 5 2 7 11 11 Birmingham .....14 2 1 4 10 7 1 1 5 4 14 11 Barnsley...........14 2 3 2 10 16 0 1 6 6 15 10 Yeovil ...............14 1 1 5 4 9 1 2 4 5 12 9

Stewart 72

Crewe .......................(0) 0

Att 4,177

Doyle 7 Henry 81

Norwood 45 Att 16,112

Att 2,693

Murphy 90 Att 1,268

Crawley Town..........(0) 0

Leicester .................(1) 3 Wood 10 Knockaert 53 Dyer 86

Dayton 77

L Clarke 47, 58 Wilson 64

N’Guessan 24 Ranger 50 Luongo 57, 90 Byrne 82

Att 20,368

Watford ....................(0) 0

Emmanuel-Thomas 36 Att 11,352

Att 6,226

Pope 73 Hughes 80 Att 7,637 Att 17,700

HOME AWAY P W D L F A W D L F A Pts L Orient ............15 6 1 0 17 5 6 1 1 19 7 38 Wolves .............14 6 1 1 16 5 5 1 0 11 3 35 Peterboro ........15 5 1 2 9 7 5 1 1 16 5 32 Preston ............15 3 4 1 12 9 4 2 1 11 7 27 Brentford ..........15 4 1 2 8 5 4 2 2 12 12 27 Bradford ...........15 4 1 2 15 6 2 4 2 9 8 23 Swindon ...........15 6 1 1 20 9 1 1 5 9 11 23 MK Dons..........15 5 2 1 15 8 1 2 4 9 12 22 Walsall .............15 2 2 3 7 10 4 2 2 10 5 22 Rotherham .......15 2 4 2 11 13 3 2 2 10 9 21 Coventry ..........15 6 1 1 22 14 3 2 2 12 8 20 Port Vale ..........15 3 2 2 10 10 3 0 5 11 14 20 Crawley Town ..14 4 1 3 10 11 1 3 2 8 9 19 Colchester .......15 2 3 2 6 8 1 5 2 9 12 17 Shrewsbury......15 3 4 1 10 5 0 3 4 5 11 16 Oldham ............15 3 2 2 8 6 1 1 6 11 17 15 Gillingham........15 3 2 3 9 9 1 1 5 9 15 15 Carlisle.............14 2 0 4 6 15 2 3 3 7 10 15 Stevenage .......15 2 1 4 9 11 2 1 5 6 12 14 Tranmere .........15 1 2 4 9 19 2 2 4 6 10 13 Crewe ..............15 2 3 3 8 15 1 1 5 4 16 13 Sheff Utd..........15 3 2 2 9 7 0 1 7 4 16 12 Bristol City .......14 0 4 3 7 12 1 3 3 14 15 10 Notts Co ..........15 3 0 4 11 9 0 1 7 6 20 10 *Coventry deducted 10 points for entering administration

Calor Lge Premier

Corby .................................. P AFC Totton ........................P Hitchin .................................2 Truro City .......................... 3 HOME AWAY

P Chesham .............14 Hemel Hempstd... 12 Cambridge City....13 Bideford ...............12 Stourbridge ..........12 Poole Town .......... 11 St Albans .............13 Banbury ...............12 Hungerford Town . 11 Biggleswade Tn ... 11 Arlesey.................13 Redditch ..............14 Truro City .............14 Weymouth .............9 Burnham ..............13 Corby ................... 11 Hitchin..................13 Frome Town ......... 11 Bedford Town.......12 Chippenham ........13 AFC Totton...........12 St Neots Town ..... 13 Bashley ................ 11

W 5 6 3 5 4 2 4 3 3 2 1 1 1 3 1 3 3 0 2 2 1 1 0

D 1 0 1 2 0 3 1 0 0 2 3 1 2 1 1 0 3 2 1 0 1 0 1

L 0 0 1 0 2 0 2 3 3 1 2 4 5 1 4 1 2 4 3 5 4 5 6

F 17 24 9 19 13 9 11 9 7 7 9 7 9 8 8 6 14 5 8 8 11 5 7

A W 6 6 2 4 5 5 6 2 8 4 7 4 8 2 9 4 7 3 4 2 11 3 19 4 19 3 5 1 14 2 5 1 9 0 15 3 13 1 20 2 18 1 15 1 18 0

D 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 0 0 3 1 0 1 1 4 2 1 1 2 0 0 0 1

L 2 1 1 0 2 1 2 2 2 1 3 4 2 2 1 4 4 1 3 4 5 6 3

F 19 15 11 9 21 13 16 14 9 11 11 12 12 6 10 7 3 7 12 9 7 6 3

A 7 5 5 6 6 10 11 12 4 8 10 19 13 6 7 15 8 5 21 12 16 14 10

Pt 34 31 27 26 24 22 21 21 18 17 16 16 15 14 14 14 13 12 12 12 7 6 2

Cameron 24 Att 2,997

Bowman 20, 54

Waterfall 88

Poole 12 Monkhouse 79

Zebroski 71 (pen)

Hines 56 Att 3,450

Att 6,374

O’Toole 71 (pen)

Alessandra 90 Att 6,547 Holmes 45 Bird 49, 71 Att 16,168

Coles 75 O’Flynn 84

Allen 35 Att 2,483

S Moore 54 Frampton 84

HOME AWAY P W D L F A W D L F A Pts Fleetwood Tn ...15 4 1 3 17 11 5 0 2 9 5 28 Oxford Utd .......15 2 3 3 7 8 5 2 0 16 5 26 Chesterfield .....15 4 2 2 10 7 3 3 1 11 7 26 Rochdale .........15 6 1 1 17 8 2 1 4 6 11 26 Morecambe......15 3 3 1 13 10 4 1 3 9 10 25 Exeter ..............15 4 0 3 9 9 3 3 2 11 8 24 Burton Albion ...15 2 2 4 8 10 5 1 1 12 8 24 Scunthorpe ......15 4 2 1 8 6 2 4 2 9 11 24 Southend .........15 4 1 3 10 6 3 1 3 8 8 23 Newport Co .....15 5 1 1 16 7 1 4 3 6 12 23 Dag & Red .......15 4 2 1 12 6 2 3 3 10 14 23 Wycombe.........14 3 1 3 9 9 3 2 2 11 8 21 Hartlepool ........15 4 0 4 10 10 2 3 2 9 7 21 Mansfield .........15 2 3 2 10 8 3 3 2 5 7 21 AFC Wimbledn 15 4 1 2 10 8 2 2 4 7 11 21 Portsmouth ......14 4 0 3 11 9 1 5 1 12 13 20 Plymouth..........15 3 3 2 4 6 2 0 5 6 9 18 Cheltenham .....15 2 4 2 14 13 2 1 4 7 14 17 York .................15 3 1 3 10 9 1 3 4 11 15 16 Bristol Rvrs ......15 2 3 2 7 8 1 2 5 5 10 14 Torquay ............15 1 4 2 7 10 2 1 5 10 15 14 Bury .................15 2 3 3 9 9 1 1 5 7 11 13 Accrington St ...15 1 3 4 7 10 1 2 4 5 12 11 Northampton ....15 1 4 2 9 9 1 0 7 4 13 10

Calor Lge South & West

Evesham ..............................2 Shortwood Utd ................. 1 Guildford City .....................0 Cirencester ....................... 5 North Leigh .........................2 Bridgwater Town .............. 1 Stratford Town ....................5 Bishops Cleeve ................ 2 Swindon Supermarine .......1 Yate .................................... 2 Taunton................................4 Didcot Town ...................... 0 Thatcham Town ..................0 Paulton .............................. 3 Godalming Town.................0 Wimborne Town ............... 1 HOME AWAY P North Leigh ..........13 Paulton ................13 Cirencester .......... 11 Merthyr Town ....... 11 Supermarine ........14 Tiverton ................12 Wimborne Town ... 14 Bridgwater Town .. 10 Stratford Town ..... 12 Mangotsfield ........ 11 Yate ..................... 11 Taunton ................14 Evesham..............13 Godalming Town .. 13 Cinderford ............12 Thatcham Town ... 12 Bishops Cleeve ...13 Shortwood Utd....... 9 Clevedon Town ...... 9 Didcot Town .........12 Fleet Town ...........12 Guildford City.......13

FA Trophy

First Qualifying Round Replays: Poole Town 3, Frome 1 (AET) — FC United of Manchester A, Witton Albion A. Second Qualifying Round: Mickleover Sports 1, Stourbridge 2 — Rushall Olympic 0, AFC Fylde 1 — Blyth Spartans 0, Ramsbottom Utd 1 — Coalville Town 5, Marine 0 — Scarborough Athletic 0, Cambridge City 0 — Redditch 5, Brigg Town 0 — Kidsgrove Ath 0, Curzon Ashton 4 — Northwich 2, Mossley 0 — Matlock Town 2, St Neots Town 0 — Gresley 2, Trafford 0 — Sheffield P, Buxton P — St Ives Town 0, Nantwich Town 4 — Soham Town Rangers 1, Chorley 2 — Carshalton Ath 2, Egham Town 1 — Chesham 2, Weymouth 1 — Folkestone Invicta

Downes 18 McCallum 29, 57

Harrison 12 Richards 45 Att 2,706

W 7 5 4 5 5 4 4 2 3 2 3 3 2 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 2

D 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 2 1 1 0 3 3 1 0 2 0 2 1 1 2 1

L 0 1 1 0 2 2 0 1 2 2 3 2 2 4 4 3 4 1 2 3 2 4

F 25 23 12 15 16 12 26 9 13 9 11 15 14 7 8 3 11 11 4 7 5 11

A W D 4 4 0 10 4 1 10 5 0 6 3 0 8 2 3 9 3 2 9 2 2 6 4 0 11 2 2 8 3 1 12 2 2 10 1 1 15 1 1 12 2 0 10 1 3 10 2 1 16 2 0 11 1 1 6 1 1 11 0 1 7 0 2 21 0 0

L 2 1 1 2 2 1 4 1 2 2 1 4 4 4 2 3 5 3 3 5 5 6

F 10 19 15 12 11 14 9 12 17 11 9 9 6 7 9 9 13 8 7 5 5 5

A 6 9 6 11 11 12 11 5 15 8 9 13 15 15 11 10 21 7 8 19 17 28

Pt 33 29 27 25 24 23 22 20 18 17 17 16 13 13 12 12 12 9 8 8 7 7

1, Hungerford Town 1 — St Albans 3, Billericay 3 — Ramsgate 4, Three Bridges 1 — Enfield Town 0, Grays Athletic 1 — Hastings Utd 0, AFC Sudbury 1 — Wingate & Finchley 1, Daventry Town 1 — Wealdstone 2, Maidstone Utd 2 — Merthyr Town 3, Dunstable 2 — Hampton & Richmond 5, Met Police 0 — Marlow 2, Burnham 0 — Dulwich 3, Leatherhead 0 — Margate 4, Clevedon Town 1 — Bury Town 2, Chatham Town 1 — Hemel Hempstead 9, North Greenford Utd 1 — Bognor Regis Town 4, Chippenham 1 — Tiverton 3, Mangotsfield 1 — Hythe Town 2, Whitstable 2 — Canvey Island 0, East Thurrock 2. Yesterday: Hendon 1, Bideford 0.

1 1 2 1 1 1 3 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 3 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1

HALF TIME

TREBLE CHECK:

Complete check for Littlewoods, Vernons and Zetters: 3 = Score Draws, 2= No Score Draw or Void 1= Home or Away

EPB-E01-S3

FULLTIME

1 2 2 1 1 1 3 1 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 3 1 3 1 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49

P W D L F A W D L F Cambridge ...........17 8 0 0 18 2 3 5 1 7 Kiddermnstr .........17 6 1 1 18 7 4 1 4 10 Luton....................17 5 3 0 17 7 3 4 2 13 Grimsby ...............17 5 1 2 17 9 4 2 3 8 Salisbury ..............17 7 1 1 17 6 2 2 4 7 Braintree Town.....17 4 1 3 12 9 4 4 1 12 Barnet ..................17 4 3 1 14 8 3 4 2 12 Welling .................17 5 3 1 14 7 3 1 4 13 Alfreton Town ....... 17 7 1 1 21 10 2 0 6 8 Nuneaton .............17 4 3 2 15 13 3 3 2 10 Gateshead ...........17 4 2 3 14 12 4 0 4 11 FC Halifax............17 7 2 0 20 7 0 2 6 8 Lincoln City ..........17 5 1 2 9 3 1 3 5 8 Macclesfld............17 4 2 3 13 12 2 2 4 9 Forest Green .......17 5 1 2 18 7 1 2 6 12 Southport .............17 5 2 1 11 7 1 1 7 6 Wrexham .............17 4 2 2 12 9 1 2 6 11 Dartford................17 4 1 3 12 10 1 2 6 6 Hereford...............17 3 3 2 7 7 1 2 6 9 Tamworth .............17 2 3 4 10 13 2 2 4 6 Woking.................17 1 4 4 8 14 2 1 5 9 Chester FC ..........17 1 5 3 4 8 2 0 6 8 Aldershot .............17 4 2 3 16 14 2 3 3 5 Hyde ....................17 0 2 7 5 16 0 1 7 9 *Aldershot deducted 10 points for entering administration

Morecambe .............(1) 1

QPR ..........................(1) 2 Fryatt 18, 63 Antonio 25 Morrison 42 (og) Wickham 57

Caulker 62 Att 27,463

Burton Albion..........(0) 0

Blackpool ................(0) 1

Jenas 11 Hill 63

Yesterday Cardiff ......................(0) 1 Swansea ..................(0) 0

Notts County...........(0) 0

Nottm For ................(0) 0

Crystal Palace.........(0) 0

Att 34,977

Coventry ..................(0) 3

Burnley ....................(1) 2

West Brom...............(1) 2 West Ham ................(0) 0

Middlesbrough .......(0) 0

Forster-Caskey 8 Lita 85 Lopez 90

McDonald 23 Shittu 38 Att 10,168

Southamptn ............(1) 1

Berahino 45 McAuley 83 Att 26,397

Wycombe ................(0) 1

Millwall .....................(2) 2

Stoke ........................(1) 1

Rodriguez 42

Accrington Stanley.(0) 1

Brighton ..................(1) 3

McCormack 48, 67 Att 25,351

Begovic 1 Att 26,053

Oldham ....................(0) 1

Ngog 37 Beckford 90

Leeds .......................(0) 2

Gouffran 68 Remy 89 Att 51,674

Bristol City ..............(1) 1

Bolton ......................(1) 2

Att 7,396

Chelsea ...................(0) 0

Charlton ..................(0) 1 Stephens 57

Brown 75

Newcastle ................(0) 2

15

www.bristolpost.co.uk

Monday, November 4, 2013

16

www.bristolpost.co.uk

Monday, November 4, 2013

Football | Premier League

Wenger wants to let the Gunners’ flowing football do all the talking

’Fluke’ goal is worth point to gritty Potters Stoke City

1

Southampton

1

STOKE manager Mark Hughes was more than grateful to accept the gift of goalkeeper Asmir Begovic’s goal after just 13 seconds, but admitted conditions spoiled the game overall.

The Bosnia international scored after his wind-assisted hoof downfield took a huge bounce over opposite number Artur Boruc to give the Potters the perfect start, only for Jay Rodriguez to equalise for Southampton just before half-time.

“It was a fortunate goal, quite bizarre really, and we were grateful for it,” said Hughes, who celebrated his 50th birthday on Friday.

“I think he just wanted to get his foot through it. You could tell as soon as the two centre-halves made the decision to let it bounce that the goalkeeper was going to be in trouble because it took a hop, skip and a jump and he was never going to get anywhere near it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a goalkeeper do that, which was great for

● Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey, left, turns away after scoring his side’s second goal against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium

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Arsenal

2

Liverpool

0

MANAGER Arsene Wenger has challenged Arsenal to continue to let their football deliver all the right answers in the quest to stay top of the Barclays Premier League.

The Gunners produced the perfect response to the midweek Capital One Cup exit at home to Chelsea with a cohesive display to defeat Liverpool 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium and move five points clear.

Wenger’s men weathered some early pressure from the Reds before Santi Cazorla fired them in front on 19 minutes with a well-taken finish after his header hit a post.

Aaron Ramsey cracked home a sublime second goal, his tenth of the season, on the hour to secure an eighth Premier League win for the Gunners, who head to Germany for a crucial European tie against recent conquerors Borussia Dortmund before travelling to Manchester United on Sunday.

“I felt conclusions were a bit too quick this week, it was only one game,” said Wenger. “We live in a world where you are questioned. The only response we can give is on the football pitch. I said that many times and that is part of our job.

“I am pleased we have won a big game at home, I think it was important for the future.”

Arsenal managed to shackle the threat of in-form Reds strikers Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge. There were, though, some moments of concern for the Gunners, notably when Jordan Henderson waltzed through

their half and into the penalty area before scuffing his shot horribly.

Liverpool also had a ‘goal’ ruled out, which would have made it 1-1, after taking a free-kick too quickly for the liking of referee Martin Atkinson, while Suarez – the subject of two summer transfer bids from Arsenal – also brushed the outside of a post and then dragged a late chance wide.

However, Wenger’s men also stretched Liverpool’s three-man defensive line, with Ramsey denied by goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and Olivier Giroud chipping just wide in the second half.

“You could see that the (confidence) level is high,” said Wenger, who will

8 ● The number of Premier League wins for Arsenal already this season

check on the fitness of Jack Wilshere after the England midfielder missed out against Liverpool because of an inflamed ankle.

“We had a great defensive solidarity, we were always quick and sharp going forward, and that is the kind of game we want to play.

“This win will increase the level of confidence in our group and it will maybe convince some sceptical people that we have a chance at challenging for the title.”

Full-back Kieran Gibbs is also doubtful for the match against Dortmund tomorrow night after he limped off with ten minutes left because of a calf problem.

● Saints scorer Jay Rodriguez us. Obviously, the idea in the first half was to take advantage of the conditions, but unfortunately conditions spoiled the game.

“We wanted to get on the scoresheet first because it is common knowledge that if you score first in the Premier League, statistically you have a better opportunity of winning games.

“We weren’t expecting our goalkeeper to do it for us, but give him credit. It was a great strike and he is very pleased with it. He is looking to score a few more, he tells me!

“We turned them around to try to take advantage of the conditions, but in hindsight the wind was more difficult to play with than against.

“I thought Southampton were the better side in the first half and I thought we edged it in the second half against the wind in terms of chances.”

Southampton boss Mauricio Pochettino attached no blame to Boruc and put the opening goal down to bad luck. “As a manager that is the first time I’ve had to experience a moment as unlucky as that,” he said.

“I don’t blame him (Boruc) at all. I think it had more to do with the weather conditions, it was something completely unexpected, but we are aware these things can happen in football.”

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Monday, November 4, 2013

17

Football | Premier League

Zabaleta: Hart’s axing is sign of high standards Manchester City

7

Norwich City

0

MANCHESTER City defender Pablo Zabaleta believes the axing of team-mate Joe Hart is a reminder of the high standards expected at the Etihad Stadium.

The England goalkeeper paid the price for his costly last-minute mix-up with Matija Nastasic at Chelsea a week earlier, the latest in a long line of errors, by losing his place on Saturday.

Hart was left on the bench as City roared back to form in the Barclays Premier League by crushing Norwich 7-0 at home.

His replacement Costel Pantilimon had a quiet afternoon as City benefited from a Bradley Johnson own-goal before David Silva, Nastasic, Alvaro Negredo, Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko all got on the scoresheet.

Few doubt Hart’s quality, but Zabaleta feels there is a warning in his omission to all the team that optimum performance needs to be maintained.

The Argentinian said: “Well, you know, that is football. The manager makes decisions. We know in this team now the performance of everyone should be good week-in, week-out because we have two players in each position who can play.

“Sometimes mistakes might cost the place but we are a big squad and we need to try to do well to keep the place in the team.”

Pantilimon, 26, had waited 27 months to make his Premier League debut after joining the club in the summer of 2011 as replacement for Shay Given.

He could not have asked for a quieter introduction as he was hardly called into action. He made one good save from a long-range Anthony Pilkington strike late in the first half, but City were already 4-0 ahead by then.

In the game’s wider context, Zabaleta felt the result and performance were the perfect response to the late slip at Chelsea.

The 2-1 loss at Stamford Bridge, City’s third of the season in the Premier League, had raised questions over their title credentials and of manager Manuel Pellegrini.

There was no doubting City’s determination to put that right as, back in the comfort of their own stadium after four successive away games, they swept the Canaries aside.

John Ruddy, a potential rival to Hart for a spot in the England team, had an afternoon to forget, but still made three good saves in the second half.

Samir Nasri had already hit the post when Aguero’s 16th-minute shot was blocked by Michael Turner and rebounded in off Johnson for the opener. Aguero teed up the second for Silva, Nastasic headed the third via a deflection from a corner, and Negredo rounded off a fine team move before the break.

Toure’s free-kick for the fifth was another fine effort, coming before Aguero volleyed in a poor clearance and Dzeko came off the bench to complete the scoring.

Moyes believes in ‘growing’ side Fulham

1

Manchester United

3

MOMENTUM is building at Old Trafford and manager David Moyes is confident the reigning champions will soon be challenging for the title.

Life after Sir Alex Ferguson was always going to be hard, but few predicted Manchester United being eight points off the pace after nine matches.

They remain eighth in the table after Saturday’s 3-1 defeat of Fulham, although Moyes’ side are slowly quietening the doubters.

The victory at Craven Cottage was their fourth in succession in all competitions and the first time United have secured back-to-back league wins under the ex-Everton manager.

“We knew we would have to pick up points as we went along and I was always confident that would happen,” said Moyes.

United’s win came via three goals in 13 first-half minutes, with dodgy defending and clinical finishing allowing Antonio Valencia, Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney to net.

Fulham pulled one back when Alex Kacaniklic’s shot deflected in off Rooney.

● Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero celebrates scoring the sixth goal during the 7-0 Barclays Premier League thrashing of Norwich City at the Etihad Stadium

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● Fulham’s Kieran Richardson, right, and Manchester United’s Adnan Januzaj in a tussle

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Monday, November 4, 2013

Rugby | QBE Autumn International

Lancaster hails ‘great start’ to England’s year England

20

Australia

13

STUART Lancaster has hailed England’s 20-13 victory over Australia at Twickenham as “a great start” to the autumn internationals.

Second-half tries by skipper Chris Robshaw and fly-half Owen Farrell, who also kicked ten points, guided England home after they trailed 13-6 at the interval.

While much of the performance was dour and dogged, rather than exhilarating attacking rugby, head coach Lancaster was delighted to avenge last season’s home defeat against the Wallabies, who are in England’s 2015 World Cup group.

“I was delighted with the composure we showed in the second half and I thought we deserved the win,” said Lancaster.

“We had some big players missing, three players making their first start in a Test match at Twickenham, a new guy running the line-out and Australia had been together since before the (British and Irish) Lions series.

“To go out and get the win like we did, it is a great start for us. We didn’t

“

...............................................................

I was delighted with the composure we showed in the second half and I thought we deserved the win

Stuart Lancaster

EPB-E01-S3

............................................................................

start chasing the scoreboard early in the second half, and we built pressure on Australia.

“I thought our substitutes made a difference when they came on, and overall the pressure began to tell and we got the two tries.”

Lancaster paid tribute to man-of-the-match Mike Brown after the Harlequins full-back hardly put a foot wrong, while he also had praise for back-row warriors Robshaw and Tom Wood.

“Mike Brown was outstanding,” added the head coach. “His ability to beat people with his feet and break tackles and the general fight he shows in his game, it’s a real important quality we want in the team.

“And I thought Chris and Tom Wood were outstanding. They both led from the front and showed their experience. While they are still relatively new in terms of caps, I thought both of them led the pack very well.

“Chris scored a good try and was involved right the way through the game, as he always is. This time last year the scoreline was the other way around. It is better to have won than lost, that’s for sure.”

Farrell recovered well from miss-

ing three successive penalties in the first half, and Lancaster said: “Credit to Owen’s temperament.

“He will be disappointed with himself, I am sure, for missing those kicks. He has a great self-belief, and when the big kicks came around in the second half and he had a chance to score (a try), he took them.

“The main areas for us to look at are restarts and managing the game within that 22-metre to halfway line zone. A couple of times we didn’t kick when there was a lot of space in backfield, or we kicked when we could have played.

“Last year, we lost to Australia in the equivalent game, which put us under pressure. It is a lot easier to build momentum from a win.”

The game was watched by members of England’s 2003 World Cup-winning squad, including captain Martin Johnson and drop-goal hero Jonny Wilkinson, as the tenth anniversary of that cup final victory over Australia in Sydney looms.

Lancaster said: “We saw quite a few of that squad today. We were very aware of them being in the crowd and we wanted to do them proud. They inspire the players in our team with their achievements.

“It will mean a lot to the (current) players when they sit back and think they won with those guys watching.”

England backs coach Andy Farrell, meanwhile, saluted debutant centre Joel Tomkins, whose first Test in the white shirt came on the same day as his brother Sam lined up for England’s World Cup rugby league team against Ireland.

Like Tomkins, Farrell had also switched rugby codes and progressed to England’s 15-a-side team.

“Joel stood up in front of the boys on Thursday and he told them the reason why he came over was to wear the shirt and his main focus was to do his team-mates proud. It was an emotional day for him,” said Farrell.

Australia coach Ewen McKenzie admitted his team had been punished for their second-half display.

There were Australian concerns about England’s opening try, which was started by a Brown break, although video replays appeared to show the full-back had his foot on the touchline.

“We didn’t handle the second half as well as we would have liked. England squeezed us a bit at crucial moments and were able to manage the game,” said McKenzie.

“I thought we did pretty well in the first half. We fought a 7-1 penalty count against us at the 35-minute mark, yet we led at half-time.

“Obviously, it (England’s first try) was flashed up on the big screen. That was a 90-metre turnaround and there is seven points at the end of it.

“Theoretically, we should have been having a line-out five metres out (from England’s line). You can’t say those things don’t have an impact on the game, but I guess that is the vagaries of rugby.”

Head coach has warning for his winning team

● England captain Chris Robshaw with the Cook Cup

STUART Lancaster believes England’s victory over Australia will have been in vain if they fail to deliver against Argentina and New Zealand.

The Wallabies were defeated 20-13 to launch the QBE Internationals at Twickenham in triumphant fashion, but, despite the character on show, the performance on Saturday left much to be desired.

Lancaster accepts there were shortcomings, but reckons the result has given England some breathing space.

“I always feel the pressure of winning as England head coach, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.

“We’ve won eight out of our last nine games now, but I felt it here because I knew it builds some momentum and allows the team some space to grow.

“But it means nothing if we don’t turn up and perform and win next weekend. It’s a good start, but we’re not getting carried away.”

Lancaster will be assessing his midfield options closely after the centre partnership of Billy Twelvetrees and Joel Tomkins disappointed within a disjointed back line.

Twelvetrees, who was flattened by Matt Toomua for Australia’s try, could make way for Luther Burrell or Kyle Eastmond after struggling against the Wallabies.

England have viewed the Gloucester centre as a key part of their midfield plans, but Burrell’s explosive form for Northampton demands his participation at some point this autumn.

Lancaster insists he has the scope to make changes at centre, where injuries to Brad Barritt and Manu Tuilagi are testing his depth in the position.

“I’ll be looking at the whole side in terms of selection. You have to build and win the next game,” he said.

“Both Kyle and Luther are genuine options – Luther on form, certainly.”

Prop Alex Corbisiero and second row Geoff Parling are expected to return from a knee injury and concussion, respectively, against Argentina on Saturday.

● Sir Clive Woodward, head coach of England’s 2003 World Cup winning team, shows off the trophy during Saturday’s match against Australia at Twickenham to mark the tenth anniversary of the triumph

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Monday, November 4, 2013

19

Rugby | National League Two South

New boy Jeffery takes final glory as Britton guides Clifton to win

● Clifton scrum-half Matt Britton was in inspirational form in the victory over Chinnor at Cribbs Causeway

Clifton

24

Chinnor

20

John White epsport@b-nm.co.uk A SUPERB performance by Matt Britton inspired Clifton to a deserved victory over Chinnor at a wet and windy Cribbs Causeway.

The scrum-half was in the thick of

the action from start to finish, and was the heartbeat of the Henbury-based side’s effort during his two-try, man-of-the-match display.

James Stephenson, who was back in the side at No 8 following injury, also put in a strong display, as Clifton bounced back from last weekend’s 34-10 reverse at Southend to climb to fourth in SSE National League Two South behind Hartpury College, Cambridge and Canterbury.

The home side took the lead when Britton broke from the base of a ruck

to scamper down the blindside, after his pack had rumbled forward following a catch-and-drive. Fly-half Brad Barnes added the extras.

Chinnor responded immediately, with centre Will Millett kicking a penalty before converting wing Will Marston’s try, to edge the visitors into a 10-7 advantage.

Clifton’s forwards battled to gain parity, which was rewarded when wing Auguy Slowik went over in the corner for an unconverted try.

Millett added a penalty for Chinnor,

before Britton added a second try, converted by Barnes, to give Clifton a 19-13 lead at the break.

The visitors, now with the elements in their favour, dominated the opening exchanges of the second half, and regained the lead when scrum-half Frank Jones crossed the for a score converted by Millett.

Clifton were not to be denied, though, and secured the bonus-point victory when new recruit Cameron Jeffery came off the bench to score a dramatic late winner.

Agony for Dings as late red card costs them dear Canterbury

21

Dings

18

DINGS will be wondering how they managed to lose a match they led for most of the afternoon.

An outstanding effort in the first half into a howling gale and driving rain saw Dings 15-14 up at the break.

The visitors then dominated the first 30 minutes of the second half and extended their advantage to 18-14, only to see the game snatched away with the last play of the match.

Referee Rob Warburton handed out six yellow cards, including five in one go, after a fairly innocuous tussle between the packs. The sixth – and his second, therefore red – went to Dings lock Joe Joyce in the last minute, with the home side scoring the winning try from the resulting penalty.

Canterbury were on the scoreboard after just two minutes, with a try for wing Aiden Moss. Stand-off Guy Hilton added the conversion. Two minutes later, Dings replied with a Mark Woodrow penalty and were soon in front when wing Ollie Reyland muscled his way over. Woodrow added the conversion.

The lead was short-lived with home prop James Green touching down from close range with Hilton adding the extras. Shortly after the restart kick, a flare-up between the packs saw Dings trio Sam Steer, Joyce and Mike Uren yellow-carded along with home flankers Brook Cowan and Tom Sherston.

Despite being a man down for ten minutes, Dings dominated the remainder of the half and took a 15-14 lead with a try from scrum-half Steve Plummer after good work by Uren, Plummer and wing James Oakley.

With a penalty from fly-half Mitch Burton, Dings were heading towards their second away win of the season until Joyce was penalised, and Canterbury full-back Martyn Beaumont claimed a converted try.

EPB-E01-S3

20

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Monday, November 4, 2013

Bristol Rovers 2013-14 The season so far . . .

Bristol City 2013-14 The season so far . . .

Bristol Rugby 2013-14 The season so far . . .

LEAGUE ONE AUGUST

3 Bradford (H)................................................................................................................ 2-2 6 Gillingham (Capital One, First Round) (A) ................................................................. 2-0 11 Coventry (A) ............................................................................................................ 4-5 17 Wolverhampton (H) ................................................................................................. 1-2 24 MK Dons (A) ............................................................................................................ 2-2 27 Crystal Palace (Capital One, Second Round) (H)................................................... 2-1 31 Gillingham (A) .......................................................................................................... 1-1

SEPTEMBER

SEPTEMBER

SEPTEMBER

15 Cornish Pirates (Sandy Park)................................................................... 21-23 22 London Scottish (H) .................................................................................. 31-18 28 Jersey (A) ................................................................................................. 26-17

4 Bristol Rovers (JPT, First Round) (H) ........................................................................ 2-1 14 Peterborough (H) ..................................................................................................... 0-3 17 Shrewsbury (H) ....................................................................................................... 1-1 21 Swindon (A) ............................................................................................................. 2-3 24 Southampton (Capital One) (A)............................................................................... 0-2 28 Colchester (H) ......................................................................................................... 1-1

4 Bristol City (JPT, First Round) (A) .............................................................. 1-2 7 Plymouth (A) .............................................................................................. 0-1 14 Dag & Red (A) ......................................................................................... 0-2 21 Hartlepool (H) .......................................................................................... 2-2 28 Southend (A) ........................................................................................... 1-1

OCTOBER

5 Fleetwood (H) ............................................................................................ 1-3 12 Mansfield (A) ........................................................................................... 1-1 19 Wycombe (H) .......................................................................................... 0-1 22 Accrington Stanley (A) ............................................................................. 1-2 26 Chesterfield (H) ....................................................................................... 0-0

NOVEMBER

2 Oxford Utd (A) ........................................................................................... 1-0 8York City (FA Cup) ..................................................................................... (H) 16 Bury ......................................................................................................... (H) 23 Burton Albion ............................................................................................(A) 26 Cheltenham ..............................................................................................(A) 30 AFC Wimbledon ...................................................................................... (H)

OCTOBER

6 Bedford (H) ................................................................................................. 45-27 12 Leeds B& I Cup (H) .................................................................................. 21-17 19 Aberavon B&I Cup (A)........................................................... abandoned 24-20 27 Nottingham (H) ......................................................................................... 33-18

LEAGUE TWO AUGUST

3 Exeter (A) .................................................................................................. 1-2 6 Watford (Capital One Cup, First Round) (H) ............................................. 1-3 10 Scunthorpe (H) ........................................................................................ 0-0 17 Newport County(A) .................................................................................. 0-1 24 York (H) ................................................................................................... 3-2 31 Northampton (H) ...................................................................................... 1-0

OCTOBER

5 Port Vale (A) .............................................................................................................. 1-1 8 Wycombe (JPT Second Round) (A) .......................................................................... 1-2 19 Crewe (A) ................................................................................................................ 0-1 22 Brentford (H) ............................................................................................................ 1-2 26 Carlisle (A) ............................................................................................................... 4-2

NOVEMBER

2 Plymouth (A) ............................................................................................... 38-31 9 London Welsh ................................................................................................ (A) 17 Rotherham.................................................................................................... (H) 23 Cornish Pirates ............................................................................................. (A)

DECEMBER

1 Leeds .............................................................................................................. (H) 6 Gala B&I Cup .................................................................................................. (H) 10 Aberavon B&I Cup ........................................................................................ (A) 14 Gala B&I Cup ................................................................................................ (A) 21 Ealing ........................................................................................................... (A)

JANUARY 2014

5 Moseley .......................................................................................................... (H) 12 Aberavon B&I Cup........................................................................................ (H) 18 Leeds B&I Cup ............................................................................................. (A) 26 Plymouth ...................................................................................................... (H)

FEBRUARY

2 Jersey ............................................................................................................. (H) 8 Bedford ........................................................................................................... (A) 15 Nottingham ................................................................................................... (A)

DECEMBER

DECEMBER

14 Rotherham ................................................................................................................(H) 21 Notts County ............................................................................................................. (A) 26 Walsall ......................................................................................................................(H) 29 Stevenage ................................................................................................................(H)

MARCH

1 Leyton Orient .............................................................................................................. (A) 4 Coventry .....................................................................................................................(H) 11 Bradford .................................................................................................................... (A) 18 MK Dons................................................................................................................... (H) 25 Wolverhampton ........................................................................................................ (A) 28 Brentford ................................................................................................................... (A)

APRIL

MAY

3 B&I Cup ................................................................................................ semi-final 10 Championship semi-final ......................................................................... 1st leg 17 Championship semi-final ....................................................................... 2nd leg 23 B&I Cup ....................................................................................................... final 29 Championship final.................................................................................. 1st leg

1 Cheltenham ............................................................................................... (H) 4 Scunthorpe .................................................................................................(A) 11 Exeter ....................................................................................................... (H) 18 York .......................................................................................................... (A) 25 Newport County ....................................................................................... (H) 28 Accrington Stanley .................................................................................. (H)

FEBRUARY

1 Carlisle .......................................................................................................................(H) 8 Oldham ....................................................................................................................... (A) 15 Tranmere.................................................................................................................. (H) 22 Sheffield United ........................................................................................................ (A)

1 Chesterfield ................................................................................................(A) 8 Oxford Utd ................................................................................................. (H) 15 Bury ..........................................................................................................(A) 22 Burton Albion........................................................................................... (H)

MARCH

MARCH

5 Moseley .......................................................................................................... (A) 12 B&I Cup .......................................................................................... quarter-final 18 London Welsh .............................................................................................. (H) 26 London Scottish............................................................................................ (A)

14 Morecambe ..............................................................................................(A) 21 Portsmouth .............................................................................................. (H) 26 Torquay ....................................................................................................(A) 29 Rochdale ..................................................................................................(A)

JANUARY

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

1 Rotherham...................................................................................................... (A) 9 Cornish Pirates ............................................................................................... (H) 22 Leeds ............................................................................................................ (A) 30 Ealing ........................................................................................................... (H)

JUNE

NOVEMBER

2 Oldham (H) ................................................................................................................ 1-1 5 Crawley Town .............................................................................................................(H) 9 Dagenham & Redbridge (FA Cup) ............................................................................. (H) 16 Tranmere .................................................................................................................. (A) 23 Sheffield United ........................................................................................................(H) 26 Leyton Orient ............................................................................................................(H) 30 Preston ..................................................................................................................... (A)

1 Gillingham .................................................................................................................. (H) 8 Shrewsbury ................................................................................................................ (A) 11 Peterborough............................................................................................................ (A) 15 Swindon.................................................................................................................... (H) 22 Colchester ................................................................................................................ (A) 25 Port Vale................................................................................................................... (H) 29 Rotherham ................................................................................................................ (A)

1 Northampton............................................................................................... (A) 8 Plymouth ................................................................................................... (H) 11 Dag & Red............................................................................................... (H) 15 Hartlepool ................................................................................................. (A) 22 Southend ................................................................................................. (H) 25 Fleetwood .................................................................................................(A) 29 Morecambe ............................................................................................. (H)

APRIL

APRIL

5 Preston .......................................................................................................................(H) 12 Walsall ...................................................................................................................... (A) 19 Notts County............................................................................................................. (H) 21 Stevenage ................................................................................................................ (A) 26 Crewe .......................................................................................................................(H)

5 AFC Wimbledon ......................................................................................... (A) 12 Torquay ................................................................................................... (H) 19 Portsmouth ............................................................................................... (A) 21 Rochdale ................................................................................................. (H) 26 Wycombe .................................................................................................(A)

MAY

4 Championship final.................................................................................. 2nd leg

MAY

3 Mansfield ................................................................................................... (H)

3 Crawley Town............................................................................................................. (A)

Columnist

EPB-E01-S3

A football manager’s job is never an easy one and none more so than at United IT IS a thankless job at times being the manager of a football team.

Recently, Ian Holloway stood down as manager of Premier League side Crystal Palace, explaining to the press that the job had worn him out, both physically and mentally.

The signs are not that positive regarding the managerial positions here in our fair city.

The managers of our two local professional clubs, Bristol City, and Rovers have also shown signs of unease over the past few weeks.

When you are in charge at a professional football club, there is obviously a lot at stake in every match your team play.

If you win, then everyone associated with your team thinks you are

Dave Payne Writes for the Green ’Un the best thing since sliced bread, but if you lose they want you sacked.

I was thankful that City finally won a match the other Saturday, after what seemed like an eternity.

That Monday morning was the first time that I saw my City fanatic neighbour smile in months.

Fans of both City and Rovers have become very restless lately and I

wouldn’t be surprised if changes are made in the very near future, if only to appease some supporters.

At the very top level, I can’t believe that people are already giving David Moyes the new Manchester United. manager a hard time.

Look at the job he has done at his previous club, Everton. In 11 years there he never finished below halfway, and even once managed a top-four place.

I am pretty sure that he can repeat this success with United.

One disgruntled supporter was sounding off on the radio about how poor this United team has been so far this campaign.

He wittily suggested that the club should consider getting sponsored by

Nectar Cards, reasoning that any team visiting old Trafford now comes away with extra points.

As you may know I am the manager of the Toolstation League side, Bishop Sutton.

There is no real pressure on me, as I do the job for the love of football.

However, it would be nice if my side could actually try playing it on a Saturday afternoon.

To be honest, it is quite a decent level of football, and I have found it very challenging trying to get players of a certain standard to come along and play for us.

I have to say though, that a few managers at other local football clubs have gone out of their way to help me out, notably Brislington boss, Jeff

Meacham, and Bridgwater supremo Richard Fey. These aside, I am not to sure about the anonymous text messages I received recently offering me the services of a few foreign players that are available to sign.

The message I received read: “Three players who all have great ability, are looking for a club in your area.”

It went on to list the players names, which were defender Mark de Man, striker Skor de gaulle, and goalkeeper Bloc de Shott!

I am not too sure if those players are genuine, but I have enquired about international clearance for them anyway!