Everybody’s got to move on.”I don’t think the players were harmed by the experience. They played against the best and were exposed to different ideas and different coaches. We’ll know more after the autumn.”Ruddock was invited by Sir Clive to join the Lions party and politely declined It was one of his wisest decisions. In the Super 12 and the Tri-Nations the southern-hemisphere teams have raised the bar. On the following consecutive weekends Wales also play host to Fiji, South Africa and Australia.They will have to pace themselves. With the Celtic League, the new Anglo-Welsh Powergen Cup, in which England’s Premiership clubs will take on the Principality’s four regions, the Heineken Cup and a considerable Test programme, the leading players, if they are still standing, will be required to make up to 40 appearances.”It’s a very big workload, but I’m hoping that greater exposure will benefit the players,” Mike Ruddock, the Wales coach, said “The level of competition is exciting I think we’re all going to be riding a rollercoaster. The tour de farce that resulted in a 3-0 whitewash by the All Blacks suggests that the four home countries might have done better individually rather than collectively.

The theory will be put to the test in the autumn when Graham Henry’s squad bid for a grand slam against Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland. For the Welsh, who lost a 51-point thriller by a point to the All Blacks in Cardiff 10 months ago before going on to complete a clean sweep in the Six Nations, the new season has all the makings of an epic voyage.

The match against New Zealand at the Millennium Stadium on 5 November celebrates 100 years of Test rugby between the countries and lights the blue touch-paper to the WRU’s 125th anniversary. Defenders of Sir Clive Woodward and the Lions brand claim that whatever team he had fielded against New Zealand the result would have been the same. Yet the Boks very nearly tore the match from the All Blacks’ grasp.New Zealand: M Muliaina; R Gear, T Umaga (capt), A Mauger, J Rokocoko; L MacDonald (L McAlister, 70), P Weepu; T Woodcock, K Mealamu, C Hayman (G Somerville, 68), C Jack (J Ryan, 68), A Williams, J Collins, R McCaw, R So’oialo.South Africa: P Montgomery; J de Villiers, J Fourie, DW Barry, B Habana; A Pretorius (J van der Westhuyzen, 36), R Januarie; O du Randt (E Andrews, 71-75), J Smit (capt), C J van der Linde, B Botha, V Matfield, S Burger (J Cronje, 36-45), J Smith, J van Niekerk.Referee: J Jutge (France).. Then Januarie burgled a pass by Jerry Collins – who was later cited for punching – and sent the centre Jaque Fourie under the posts, Montgomery’s conversion making it 27-24 to the Springboks.South Africa did not deserve victory, as the New Zealanders had a smarter gameplan. Montgomery then dropped a high kick and Mealamu took it on to send Leon MacDonald over.When Rokocoko grabbed a third, smashing through Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield and Juan Smith, the Springboks were staring down the barrel.

The All Blacks were more dynamic, especially around the fringes, where the scrum-half Piri Weepu had a fine game.But the Springboks fought their way back with such fierce determination that they snatched the lead with 15 minutes left. Bryan Habana had picked up a loose ball to scoot over for his 13th try in 12 Tests, and the scrum-half Ricky Januarie charged down MacDonald’s kick for a try to make it 21-17 at the break.Jaco van der Westhuyzen replaced Pretorius and began to push New Zealand back. Montgomery missed two penalties, but a 50th-minute kick trimmed the New Zealand lead to a point MacDonald stretched that to four with a penalty. Joe Rokocoko swept in for the first try, brushing aside Percy Montgomery’s challenge after Andre Pretorius’s kick had been charged down. This time, their hooker Keven Mealamu, by some margin the man of the match, detached from a maul near the Springbok line to burrow over for the winning score with four minutes left.New Zealand established a 21-10 lead in 27 minutes after calamitous defensive errors by South Africa.

And, after you have adapted your growing techniques, there are the problems of storage – as well as people’s perceptions.”As one wine critic said, “I still find it hard to believe that New Latitude wines will ever be seriously good – but then that’s what we said about New World wines not so long ago.”If you are looking for a perfect claret or Bordeaux you aren’t going to find it here: such wines simply don’t stand a chance against the power of the Thai chilli. He is the first to admit that, “Everything is different when you are growing wine in Thailand, so you need to adapt. Located in the Samut Sakhorn Province, these are not floating in a literal sense, as vines still need their roots to remain in the ground. However, each vineyard is interlaced canals, which produces the impression of a series of islands, each shaded by a canopy of the vines, with large bunches of grapes dangling above the water’s surface. Thus, a new industry was born.Out of the five wineries that are now found in Thailand, there is one that stands out from the rest, and that is the Siam Winery, situated 100km south-west of Bangkok, in the Chao Praya Delta. Siam Winery has been producing wine since 1999, and it is now Thailand’s largest exporter of the product.Siam Winery differs from its country counterparts in using “floating vineyards”. For years the drink remained a privilege reserved exclusively for the upper classes but, due to increasing demand, two varieties of grape were brought over in 1957 to be tested for their suitability in the Thai climate.

Now such notions are having to be re-considered to take into account Siam Winery, at just 13 degrees north.
It was actually in 1685 when the first grape vines arrived on Thai soil, along with some fine bottles of French claret. They were a gift for King Narai, courtesy of Louis XIV of France. The Thai nobility had never drunk anything like wine before, and rapidly developed a taste for it. But now you can, thanks to the success of one winery, New Latitude, whose characterful vintages are increasingly finding their way on to wine lists in Europe and the US.

Not only are they challenging conventional concepts of Thai tradition, but also the basic rules of winemaking itself. Accepted wisdom has it that the only areas of the world suitable for viniculture lie between 30 and 50 degrees latitude on either side of the equator. In a land far, far away from the famous wine regions of the world, you would never expect to find vineyards and grapes. Think Thailand and floating markets, sun-drenched beaches, elaborate temples and spicy food might come to mind. The draw has ordained that an all-Belgian final could be possible. Don’t bet against it, unless Sharapova can derail the Clijsters express in the semi-finals.. However, the in-form contender is Kim Clijsters, still seeking her first Grand Slam.So successfully has the 22-year-old Clijsters come back following wrist surgery last year that she has won six titles this season, the most pleasing of them being the latest, in which she defeated her compatriot and deadly rival Justine Henin-Hardenne in Toronto last weekend.However, Henin, who has also had injury and illness woes, is a tough cookie when the Slams come around, as she proved at Roland Garros in June.

Back in those days we had people like Michael Duberry and Frank Sinclair, and if it wasn’t good, you were in for some tough punishment. Last year we went go-karting and paintballing as a team and everybody turned up, whereas usually half the side turn up, so it was very refreshing to see that.”The essential Terry, a beguiling combination of banter and seriousness, is evident in most interviews and can also be found each home game in his programme column. We’ve had some bad ones – Shaun Wright-Phillips got up there and literally just spoke it He tried “Ordinary People”. I’m a big part of that, as well as Lamps [vice-captain Frank Lampard] and the manager. We have got a backbone of English players in the side who like the banter, and the manager likes a laugh in the dressing room as much as anyone.”One thing that’s been going on is everybody has to get up and sing, which is quite hard in front of everyone. If you’re not playing well at Chelsea or Manchester United or anywhere else you’re not going to be picked.

If I was dropped, it would be down to me to improve and work even harder to get back in.”We’ve got a great team spirit, the players get on so well together and that’s a key thing. As a link between manager and team-mates, he is even sufficiently diplomatic to give the impression of backing both the dissident players annoyed at not being in the side and the manager leaving them out: “If players aren’t playing you need to go about it the right way We sat down and talked about it, and it’s out in the open. Always anxious to learn, he paid particular attention to Tony Adams whenever Arsenal or England were on TV, and would pester Chelsea’s World Cup winning central defenders Marcel Desailly and Frank Leboeuf after training sessions; the latter might have been less generous with his time and advice if he had known quite how soon Terry’s development would make him superfluous.Given a Worthington Cup game against Aston Villa by the then Chelsea manager, Gianluca Vialli, before his 18th birthday, and a League appearance at Southampton shortly after it, he became a regular from Christmas 2000; at the end of that season Leboeuf took his leave, and after that it would be William Gallas (and now Ricardo Carvalho) who found their appearances limited by Terry’s consistency.For both Claudio Ranieri, who first handed him the captain’s armband, and Jose Mourinho he has been a key figure, a natural leader on and off the pitch, who now takes particular responsibility for the impressive team spirit that Carvalho recently threatened to disrupt. But moving him into the back line proved an inspired decision by Ted Dale, the sort of unknown youth coach who makes – or breaks – so many careers.

Yet May chested the ball down and firedan enormous shot past Lewis Price.Things went from bad to worse for Ipswich when they were reduced to 10 men in the 76th minute, Naylor being sent off for dragging back Barry Hayles. But they secured the win four minutes later when Currie crossed to Sam Parkin, who outjumped the Millwall defence to score.”Our basic defending is letting us down,” Lee said “Today it was frightening. Having May wide on the right meant that Ipswich found themselves a shade more stretched, but Richard Naylor was sharp, quick and decisive in the centre of their defence.When Naylor was eventually unable to create an intervention, May was left a few yards outside the penalty area with a good sight of goal but, on earlier evidence, there seemed little chance of anything spectacular ensuing. Lee attempted to enliven his midfield and attack by bringing on Ben May and Marvin Elliott for the second half, soon followed by Don Hutchison To some extent that had a beneficial effect. Basic lack of ball control continuously jeopardised Millwall’s chances of recovery Hardly any of them seemed capable of effective trapping.

On it, Lee has admitted there is no longer enough quality to getnear the top of the division and little money to do much about it.Among other problems, Millwall are short of goalkeepers. They have borrowed Paul Jones from Wolves but yesterday felt some reassurance since Andy Marshall was back after suspension, or that was what they thought until the 13th minute when the Ipswich fans delighted in seeing their former keeper offer them a goal. Marshall cleared directly to Jim Magilton, who knocked the ball forward for Darren Currie to beat the embarrassed goalie.That was slightly more than Ipswich merited, but they had been playing some modestly attractive football. After all, Ipswich had already won a couple of Championship matches while Millwall were simply grateful that their own cup win over Bristol Rovers had given the slightest of hints that there might be hope amidst the chaos.
Colin Lee, their latest manager after the 36-day reign of Steve Claridge and the earlier departure of Dennis Wise, accepts it is going to be the “toughest job of my career”.Behind the scenes, the former chairman, Theo Paphitis, who is still a director, is said to remain the major player off the pitch.

Trevor Sinclair passed from the right and, with a defender hard on his back and others buzzing round him, the former England striker looked to have no chance of getting in a shot. A supreme first touch, a turn and a flick of his right boot later and the ball was in the corner of the net.”When you look at Andrew Cole from afar, you are aware of his record,” Pearce said, ” but when you work with him day in, day out you realise what a clever footballer he is.” Cole, a rare smile on his face, made a point of racing to the dug-out after the goal, which surprised his manager, who had played against him in the past. We didn’t want to get into a scrap with Blackburn and wanted to keep the ball moving rather than stopping and starting for fouls.”That was some wish against a side who came in with a foul ratio of more than 18 per game in this campaign, especially as Mark Clattenburg was standing second in the table of Premiership referees for cards dished out – 12 yellows in three games.That Mark Hughes’s side came off no worse and no better on his charge sheet is probably evidence enough that their “dirty” reputation is slightly over the top, although that was scant consolation for the mystified Welshman. The Portsmouth goalkeeper came, fumbled the ball like and Australian cricketer trying to take a catch, and, from the rebound, Reyna volleyed in.The match had been crying out for a touch of quality, however, and it came when Cole showed why he was once one of the most feared strikers in Europe. Joey Barton had been marking Viafara, tugging at his shirt, but did not even attempt to get off the ground.Pompey celebrated, but too soon, because City, with the fear of their first defeat of the season to prod them forward, at last began to show some urgency and scored twice in three minutes.Barton crossed from the right after 66 minutes and Vassell’s attempt at a diving header missed but had the virtue of distracting Westerveld. Viafara is a hard-running beanpole of a midfield player in the Patrick Vieira mode – in other words, he is hard not to notice in a penalty area – yet no one rose with the Colombian when he jumped to meet Robert’s free-kick from the left and he headed easily past James at the near post. A free-kick on the right from Kiki Musampa was behind his strikers, but as the Pompey defence relaxed, Andrew Cole made the most of a bad pass and flicked over his head.

Anders Westerveld managed to parry that piece of improvisation and then drop on the ball as it bounced menacing two yards from the line.Lomana LuaLua was fractions away from Lauren Robert’s cross after 23 minutes, but that was out of character from the action around it and City went in at half-time rueing a cross that struck the bar from Musampa and a shot from Darius Vassell that hit the side-netting.The were regretting their inability to show a bit of wit in front of the packed Pompey ramparts even more after 53 minutes when Portsmouth, completely out of the blue, took the lead. One point from four games is desperate form and a glance at their line-up yesterday did little to inspire confidence. To include one player surplus to requirements at undistinguished Newcastle United might suggest St James’ Park could have made a mistake; to have four reeks of second rate.There were suggestions of weakness on paper and they became megaphone loud within seconds on the pitch. Instead, they left the City of Manchester Stadium without reward and they are in the bottom three. It is going to be a hard winter on the south coast.”It was a good result after an hour,” Portsmouth’s manager, Alain Perrin, said, clutching at straws because, at the moment, his players might as well have “beatable” tattooed on their foreheads.

The visitors put 10 men behind the ball, got an unlikely break with their goal and looked likely to steal away with the points. A familiar route to embarrassment opened up, only this time City, normally willing travellers, refused to take it, Claudio Reyna and Andrew Cole giving them their third win in eight days.”Portsmouth made it difficult for us and their game plan was working nicely,” Pearce said “But I have to give tribute to my players The way they scrapped away was fantastic. They deserved to turn things round.”As Pearce intimated, it was a success City merited, if only because they refused to be frustrated by Portsmouth’s tactics. The indefatigable midfielder had Pollitt in a flap with a shot from wide on the right and also fed Stead for a low drive that was smartly smothered by Wigan’s veteran keeper. At the other end, Alan Mahon had a shot deflected on to a post in the final minute. It was a solitary crumb of consolation for McCarthy and his points-starved Sunderland..

Aliadi?’s penchant for running at the opposition did bring a free-kick near the edge of the penalty area and Sheringham smacked it back into play off the underside of the bar. If that had counted, who knows?As it was, said Allardyce: “Our character and experience told The Premiership can be cruel if you don’t take your chances. Other cautions quickly followed for Kevin Davies, Giannakopoulos and Tomas Repka but it was not all hard grind, Campo lighting up the afternoon with a stunning 30-yarder which Roy Carroll managed to tip on to the bar.West Ham removed Harewood as well as Etherington, bringing on Bobby Zamora, and the new loan man, J?mie Aliadi? and they certainly helped rouse the crowd, but failed to rattle Bolton’s old pros. No wonder.Allardyce’s second-half tactic was to tighten up in defence, introducing Campo in front of the back four and withdrawing El Hadji Diouf seconds after he had collected the game’s first booking. Early in the second half Etherington went off because, said Pardew, “he was feeling a bit poorly”. There was one fine, clawing save from Jussi Jaaskelainen to deny Benayoun reward for his clever, curling effort from an angle, but the Bolton keeper should have been left helpless when Matthew Etherington laid one on a plate for Harewood, only to join the general chorus of dismay as it was hoofed high and wide on the volley.Chances like that were not easily come by against Allardyce’s Fusiliers, a collection of wise heads, old heads and bald heads who looked well drilled, smooth and impressive in stifling West Ham.Jaaskelainen saved brilliantly when Danny Gabbidon’s touch-on of an Etherington shot could have confounded him, but right on the interval Etherington served up another offering for Harewood It was wasted in much the same manner as the first.

The penalty which came West Ham’s way in the final minute of normal time when Nicky Hunt brought down Hayden Mullins was put away by Teddy Sheringham and ensured a lively three minutes of scuffling in added time, but no further joy for the Hammers.A bit more finishing earlier on – along the lines of that Sheringham spot-kick – could have made all the difference to the Premiership newcomers. It was smoothly taken on the break, Okocha drilling a ball of such precision that it defeated desperate appeals for offside and sent Ivan Campo through to score at leisure. All through the first half Okocha had been unrolling his midfield skills at frustrating West Ham and setting his own side on the attack. Now, as only he can, Okocha let fly from outside the penalty area. That shot was blocked on the line by Yossi Benayoun, the Israel international who had another fine game, but as the ball spun loose it was tucked away by Kevin Nolan.It was the signal for Bolton to gather round to protect that lead, mostly by fair means but by other methods if necessary, as they frustrated West Ham and their excited followers, still dazed by four points from the first two games.Six minutes from time a second goal “knocked the stuffing out of West Ham”, in Allardyce’s words. As it was, the set-piece ploy just short of the hour produced a bonanza for Bolton. It was a left-side corner, taken by Stelios Giannakopoulos, who has just declared his undying faith to the club and spurned Liverpool’s advances.The ball was cleared, but only as far as the lurking Jay-Jay Okocha.

This bread aims to redress the balance by using wheat specially grown in selenium-enriched soil. According to the maker, four slices a day maintain a healthy immune system. Selenium is also thought to help the heart by acting as an anti-oxidant.FLORA PROACTIVEContains AmealPeptide, a combination of two peptides derived from milk protein. Consumed daily for two to four weeks, tests have shown it to help in controlling high blood pressure.ACTIMELL. casei Imunitass is a probiotic bacteria.It reinforces resistance to salmonella and increases protection against dysentery.

According to studies, it aids in the prevention of certain kinds of diarrhoea.PROBIOTICS The makers say that Omega-6 this contains is an essential fat that comes from vegetables, helping the body to conserve carbohydrate while shedding fat. Omega-6 supports healthy skin and hair and also aids in the regulation of joint inflammation.PROBIOTICS ACTIVA Contains Bifidus digestivum that has been selected, the makers say, because of the positive effects it has on the digestive system. It is a live culture that tests have shown can improve the performance of the digestive tract when eaten every day.FLORA SEMI-SKIMMED MILK WITH PLANT STEROLS The makers say the plant sterols this contains are clinically proven to lower cholesterol and maintain a healthy heart. They say cholesterol reduction begins within two weeks of drinking the milk regularly.Additional reporting by Kunal Dutta and Tom Pettifor. Male bankers collecting the best bonuses for years are spending some of their new wealth on plastic surgery to reshape their noses or slim their flabby stomachs. One of the largest cosmetic surgery companies says it took 40 per cent more bookings from workers in London’s financial district in October than its previous record month early this year.
Rising mergers and acquisitions activity and a soaring stock exchange in 2005 have contributed to the highest amounts of bonus money sloshing around the Square Mile for four years.But financial traders, analysts and lawyers are realising that the “live hard, play hard” ethos which may have earned them their fortunes has also given them craggy faces and bulging waistlines.With cosmetic surgery becoming more acceptable and money no option, many are choosing to go under the knife.

Shadowy figures, veiled in black as if already in mourning, bind her waist in preparation for the wedding. The ritual complete, Puccini at last does for the ear what Minghella has already done for the eye.
One might have expected this most refined and seductive of film-makers to have graced the Coliseum stage with a series of beautiful images. Anthony Minghella steals a march on even Puccini, ravishing the senses before so much as a note of the score has sounded. Slick vocal counterpoint lent reassurance to The Levellers’ “One Way”.Yet it’s where the desolation peered through that this concert consistently scored: the tragic resignation in Abbie Lathe’s solo, “False”, of a scorned, suicidal girl; or Prior’s gorgeous rendering of Kristina Olsen’s “The Truth of a Woman”.

His much-anticipated staging of Madam Butterfly begins in stunning silence. A young Japanese bride – a prototype of Butterfly herself – slowly appears over the distant horizon and makes her way downstage trailing crimson sashes from her kimono. Keyboardist Nick Holland tossed in a raunchy stop like a Renaissance regal to mock the gleeful thrown rhythms of “Sheela Na Gig”. The rocking ostinati of Sting’s “Love Is the Seventh Wave” surge like a gutsy medieval round, tousled by African cross-rhythms.There’s crystal clarity and thrust to this trio’s a cappella singing. “Down” is a polished gospel gem, “Fear Of Life”, by Sam Brown yields a breezy Claudia Gibson solo, while Gibson’s keyboard background to “Melody Moon” springs surprise modulations.There was fun, too: impish satire in Chrissie Hynde’s “Complex Person”, a cheeky comic ditty laced with a mock-medieval vocal drone; or the threesome’s shoot-from-the hip, sizzling deftness in Mark Knopfler’s “Postcard From Paraguay” – sheer delight.Wry rhythmic finesse added sparkle to Sinead O’Connor’s “Perfect Indian”, cheered by warming chords. Martin Luther King said: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.” For the gay community, this is no longer just a metaphor.A version of this article appears in this month’s ‘Attitude’. Like Lichfield’s panelled Guildhall, Maddy Prior and the Girls – the folk singers Abbie Lathe and Claudia Gibson – reach across the centuries, just as their music spans the genres Cross-currents mingle.

Prior and her companions have been on the road, unveiling their new double album, Under the Covers A lot emerges from beneath the awnings. “Meeting Point”, detailing a couple’s rendezvous in a forlorn coffee shop – “a moment when time stands still” – is a classic, one of several MacNeice settings.
Prior sustains the melody (“Time was away and she was here”), while enticing harmonies are woven around her Lyric and music alike are beauty itself. “I cannot understand,” Kramer says, “how, life having been given back to us again, you treat your life with such contempt.”Yes, it will be tough for gay people to deal with these questions – but if we don’t, rising HIV levels and super-Aids may well deal with us. Starting in 1984, when we were told definitely that it was a virus, this behaviour turned murderous. I have recently gone through my diaries of the worst of the plague years I saw day after day a notation of another friend’s death I listed all the ones I’d slept with There were a couple of hundred. Was it my sperm that killed them? Have you ever wondered how many men you killed? I know I murdered some of them.

Substitutes not used: Ferguson, McPherson, McStay, Twaddle.Celtic: Boruc; Telfer, Camara, Bald?McManus, Petrov (Pearson, 75), Lennon, Nakamura, McGeady, Maloney (Virgo, 83), Hartson (Wallace, 83). Matt Glennon then did well to save Maloney’s powerful shot but it fell to his strike partner to send the keeper the wrong way.”There’s better players than me who’ve never done that achievement at Celtic like [Jorge] Cadete, [Pierre] van Hooijdonk and [Paolo] di Canio,” Hartson said. “So to join a list of other famous names who have done it makes me very proud.”Goals: Maloney (41) 0-1, McGeady (42) 0-2, Hartson (69) 0-3.Falkirk: Glennon; Lawrie, Scally, Milne, Ireland, Latapy (McBreen, 70), Steven Thomson, Moutinho (Lima, 57), O’Donnell (O’Neil, 68), Gow, Duffy. On the hour, however, Hartson’s persistence got him behind the Falkirk defence but his weak shot was saved before Stilian Petrov fired over. The wing-back then fired low into the area and Maloney arrived to sweep the ball past Glennon from 10 yards. McGeady completed a stunning minute for Celtic when accepting Maloney’s pass before sending the ball low into the Falkirk net from 11 yards.Falkirk refused to lie down and Artur Boruc was tested by Darryl Duffy’s 22-yard strike in the 49th minute. But they were living dangerously at the back.Maloney’s quick thinking piled the misery on the home side when he slid the ball through the gap for Mo Camara down the left flank.

It was the Welshman’s 182nd game for the Hoops but by the time he scored, the points had been secured by the man of the match Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady. McGeady, who had failed to start since the opening-day 4-4 draw at Motherwell, sent out a reminder of his talent and he quickly made Celtic forget about the loss of Chris Sutton in the only change from the win at Dundee United.
The Republic of Ireland international winger’s quick free-kick saw Maloney open the scoring and then they exchanged roles a minute later for McGeady to score before the young Scot played a part in Hartson’s record goal.Falkirk had to wait 18 minutes for their first chance when Steven Thomson drove Gow’s knock-down wide from 20 yards out. John Hartson scored his 100th goal for Celtic as they went back to the top of the Scottish Premier League at the Falkirk Stadium yesterday. Cheltenham will host Eastbourne Borough or Oxford.Two ties ensure there will be some non-League presence in the third round with Southport or Woking playing Northwich and Nuneaton facing Histon.. Tamworth, who overcame Bournemouth, face a trip to League One Hartlepool.One non-League team who may fancy their chances of reaching the third round – and earning a possible date with a Premiership club – are Conference leaders Grays Athletic, who will face League Two strugglers Mansfield.Chippenham and Worcester, who drew 1-1, will replay for the right to host League One high-flyers Huddersfield.Harrogate Town will host Notts County if they win their replay against Torquay while Weymouth could could play Chester if they beat Nottingham Forest. However, an alert Day thwarted Damien Whitcombe’s curling free-kick.Chris Porter and Eyres both spurned chances for Oldham to seal the win as the League side’s superior fitness edged the closing exchanges.Chasetown could have another home tie, against Brentford, in the next round if they can win the replay at Boundary Park.Non-League Burscough could face a trip to Peterborough as reward for knocking League One Gillingham out of the Cup.The UniBond League Premier Division side beat the Gills 3-2 on Saturday and will now travel to League Two Peterborough or Conference strugglers Burton Albion in round two.

However, the lead lasted less than 10 minutes as 41-year-old Eyres equalised following a neat one-two with Andy Liddle.The non-leaguers should have restored their lead just after the break. Substitutes not used: Ince (gk), Morrell, Jorgensen, Whing.Referee: C Penton (Sussex).Attendance: 11,424.. Chasetown defied all the odds to earn a lucrative FA Cup replay against League One side Oldham Athletic yesterday after their first-round tie finished 1-1. Nicky Harrison sent the Staffordshire crowd wild with a 23rd-minute goal but veteran David Eyres spared the Latics’ blushes.
Signs of an upset were evident from the kick-off with Neil Aulton twice going close to giving the non-league side the lead.Chasetown finally went ahead when Harrison unleashed a 25-yard strike which ricocheted off keeper Chris Day and trickled over the line. Substitutes not used: Margetson (gk), Cox, Ardley.Coventry City (3-5-2): Fulop; Page, Shaw, Heath; Duffy, Nalis, Hughes, Thornton, Hall; Scowcroft, McSheffrey (Adebola, 70). “Our goalkeeper had so little to do he could have read the Sunday newspapers,” said Jones.

Neil Alexander may even have flicked to the Championship table. And sighed.Cardiff City (4-4-2): Alexander; Weston, Purse, Loovens, Barker; Koumas, Whitley, Ledley, Cooper (Ferretti, 85); Lee (Parry, 75), Jerome. Twice Lee found the billboards when the goal was gaping; once from a Joe Ledley cross to the far post and again with his head from close range as the break approached. Marton Fulop proved able in the Coventry goal all afternoon, especially when superbly turning away Lee’s curling right-footer on 51 minutes.And that was Cardiff’s loudest shout, despite rarely having to venture back into their own half. “He’s not going anywhere.”And neither are Cardiff unless Jerome and Alan Lee learn to make the most of the scraps such dogfights afford.

But with people like Umaga and Smith among his supporting cast, and with the Welsh doing their best to make him look better than ever, he still managed to play unnaturally well for someone who broke a leg during the summer.If truth be told, this was heavyweight rugby’s equivalent of the George Foreman-Joe Frazier title fight: an eagerly-awaited meeting of two champions (Six Nations and Tri-Nations) that quickly descended into no-contest territory. Back in July, he slaughtered the British and Irish Lions on his own, accumulating 33 points in the Wellington Test in a performance bordering on the celestial. Here, he was something less than the perfect outside-half – for instance, he threw two bullet-like passes at poor Carl Hayman, apparently under the delusion that prop forwards can catch, and saw both hit the deck in double-quick time. He was too modest to dwell on the apres-knuckle part of his day out, but it was pretty damned good, not least when, late in the game, he beat the fleet-footed Shane Williams to Conrad Smith’s oblique-angled kick to present Daniel Carter with his second try.
Generally speaking, Carter does not require this kind of help. “I guess I was showing my age,” the New Zealand captain said as he pondered the dropped passes and missed tackles that marked his contribution in the opening half. Tana Umaga was having a rotten time of it before Brent Cockbain clocked him Thereafter, he played like a world-beater.

If it could have gone wrong for Wales on Saturday evening, it did – with knobs on. Their line-out imploded, they scrummaged like a pack of Brownies until Chris Horsman roughed things up a little, and they were ripped up for loo-paper on the floor by the All Blacks’ second-choice flanker, Chris Masoe

Even when they thumped someone, it backfired. The champions of Europe opened their new season by exploring the deepest implications of Sod’s Law and they emerged from their studies uncomfortably aware of its full weight. Irish were inspired by young New Zealander Riki Flutey who set up the first try with a neat chip, scored one himself to put the game beyond Bath’s reach in the second half and also dropped a goal and made two conversions..

Sale: Try Courrent; Penalties Courrent, Larrechea; Drop goals Courrent, Larrechea.Leeds: R de Marigny; D Doherty, R Vickerman, A Snyman, T Biggs; G Ross, J Marshall (capt); K Lensing, G Bulloch (R Rawlinson, 58), R Gerber, S Morgan, T Palmer (C Murphy, 58), J Dunbar (J Crane, 48), R Parks, N Thomas.Sale: D Larrechea; O Ripol, E Seveali’i (E Taione, 16), R Todd, J Robinson (capt); V Courrent (C Mayor, 55), S Martens; B Coutts (L Faur?50), A Titterrell, B Stewart (S Turner, 55), C Day (B Stewart, 78), D Schofield, J White, M Lund, N Bonner Evans (P Angelsea, 52)Referee: D Pearson (Northumberland).Attendance: 4,206.* London Irish ended Bath’s six-match winning run in fine style on Saturday, picking up a four-try bonus point in the 36-13 win. While Courrent scored the Sale try, slotted a drop goal and a penalty, as did Larrechea.Leeds: Try Vickerman; Penalty Ross; Drop goal Ross. Gordon Ross kicked Leeds’ other points with a drop and a penalty. In Valentin Courrent and Daniel Larrechea they possessed the two most creative players in the match, while Magnus Lund and Jason White mopped up effectively at the breakdown. A losing bonus point was all Leeds deserved and they remain rooted to the bottom of the table.What had gone before the Faur?pisode seemed not to matter much.