Aguero double massacre United in Derby

MANCHESTER CITY   4   -  1  MANCHESTER UNITED

 

Aguero 16',47  Toure 45'  Nasri 50'                  Rooney 87'

 Yaya Toure scores to make it 2-0 for City                    PIC:BBCSPORTS

Two Sergio Aguero volleys helped Manchester City earn the bragging rights in Manchester till the return fixture next year, as him and his team mates in the sky blue shirts massacred Manchester United 4-1 in the 166th Manchester Derby at the Etihad Stadium. Manuel Pellegrini had said in the build up to the clash of the two Manchester rivals that they had to win to show their credentials in the title reckoning this season and that the game with arch rivals across town would be a good marker down for where they were.

The Chilean Manager at City had said previously that the most fiercely contested derby he`d been involved with was the Famous Argentina derby between River Plate and Boca Juniors in the Superclassico.

For United they were given a blow before kick off with the news Robin Van Persie was out of the game with a thigh strain as United added Marouane Fellaini to the line up for the derby clash.

Manchester United Manager David Moyes had never won an away derby with Everton in his tenure at the  Goodison Park club, but he did have a very successful record at the Etihad Stadium with Everton, so he was hoping his record would transfer over to his new club.

City went with a change of attacker as Spanish forward Alvaro Negredo was picked to partner Sergio Aguero up front as Pellegrini looked to set his side up in an attacking manor on his managerial debut in a Manchester derby.

From the first whistle it was City who pressured, punished and bossed United around for almost of the whole game, as the blue side showed they meant business in this derby game. In the 3rd minute of the game a sloppy pass by Nemanja Vidic went straight to Jesus Navas outside the United area and the Spanish midfielder struck a shot that went just over the bar and let their neighbours know that City were up for it.

Moments later saw the first card of the game brandished by Howard Webb, when the home side Matija Nastasic was the man to pick up the opening yellow card of this contest, when the Montenegro defender went up for a header with Chris Smalling and saw the defender slightly mistime his jump as he clashed heads with the United man and saw Webb show a yellow card which was a poor decision.

City`s midfielders were over running the non-existent midfield of United with Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri and Jesus Navas all working hard for the home side as they caused them a lot of problems. The home side kept possession fantastically well too as they pinned there visitors back in their own half and led to them breaking the deadlock eventually in the 15th minute.

Move was started by Frenchman Samir Nasri picking the ball up just inside the United half and running at Chris Smalling in the United defence, before the midfielder stopped just to the left side of the United penalty area, as he waited for the run of Aleskander Kolarov to come. Nasri then back heeled it into his path with the Serbian defender crossing into the area for an unmarked Sergio Aguero to volley home and give City a deserved 1-0 lead.

Aguero celebrates his first goal.      PIC: Yahoosports.com

City nearly went two up minutes later, when more pressing by home side saw the Red devils defense in trouble and from a Jesus Navas cross, Pablo Zabaleta went up for a header with Smalling and saw the ball come down to Nasri to which the midfielder struck it first time as it went inches over the bar with City very much in the ascendancy.

United`s only player on the pitch seemed to be Wayne Rooney as the rest of the team was nowhere to be seen in the match. Rooney and City Captain Vincent Kompany were having a real tussle all game with neither giving ground and giving as good as each other gave back to one another.

United rarely got out of their own half in the first half as attacks were few and far between for the away side, everything they did create came to nothing with City snuffing everything out that involved a red shir.

Rooney then picked up a yellow card after an accumulation of 4 fouls, with the official Howard Webb speaking to him and told him, it was his 4th offence in the game and so he had to show him a card for the persistent fouls he`d racked up.

Toure was running the show in the midfield, as the talk of who would win the battle between him and Fellaini in the build up was answered emphatically with Toure giving United a terrible time, along with Nasri too. City Strikers Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo were causing chaos for Rio Ferdinand and Nemandia Vidic in the defence especially Negredo, who is nicknamed "the Beast" and he shown his beast like strength throughout the game, as the Spaniard put in a great performance in his first outing in a derby.

United enjoyed their first bit of possession, but they wasn`t making any head way at all at the final third as they had their first chance of the game come in the 41st minute, when a Antonio Valencia shot was dragged wide of the target, much to the enjoyment of the home fans. 

Ashley Young then summed up United attacking threat in the first half, when the midfielder picked the ball up midway in the City half and then was caught into two minds what to do with the ball, Young then seemed to try a curler from a long way out with seemed to be like a half shot, half cross as he saw the ball go out of play and fair to say it wasn`t one of his best performances in a United shirt.

City doubled their lead before half time when all the pressure they put United under in the game saw them rewarded with second, when Yaya Toure directed a Negredo header goal wards into the back of the net from a Samir Nasri corner, with Toure giving City a commanding 2-0 lead at the break.

AGUERO puts city 3-0 up      PIC: Indianexpress.com

David Moyes will have given his troops a good grilling after their poor first half display, as he will have wanted a response from his side, however the one he got wasn`t the one he wanted. Two minutes after the restart saw Manchester City break up a United attack and led to them starting up their own attack, when Toure again was at the heart of the move as the Ivorian passed to Nasri, who collected the pass knocked it inside the area to Negredo who used all his strength to hold off Vidic, before he put a ball across goal for Aguero to volley side foot for 3-0.

The home fans couldn`t believe what they were witnessing and neither could Moyes as his defense was looking static and were getting embarrassed by the home side now, as this was anything but a Champions display by the away side. 

United were going to make a change as Tom Cleverly was stripped off ready to come on for United as the reds conceded the 3rd, the reds were stunned by City`s play as thoughts started to creep in to the minds of City fan`s that they could possibly replicate the 6-1 win they dished out a couple seasons ago.

Things got even worse for the visitors when Kompany broke up play by United just outside the City area and he set up another break, with the Belgian Captain setting Navas off down the right flank before he put deep across goal into the area with Samir Nasri volleying home for 4-0 much to the joy of the home fans and Captain Vincent Kompany as everyone was enjoying the massacre now on the Blue half of Manchester.

Nasri had been vilified by the City fans in the 3-2 derby loss against Manchester United back in December last year, when the Frenchman was adjudged by many fans to have wimped out of blocking Van Persie`s last minute winner against the blues. As Nasri seemed to shy away from making any real effort to block the free kick that led to the winning goal, so forward 10 months later and he got some retribution as he fired the goal that all but cemented the win for City with only 50 minutes gone in the game.

City came close to making it 5-0, when Jesus Navas spotted the movement of Alvaro Negredo towards the front of goals and if not for Vidic intervention then it was certainly looking like another goal for the home side. For United, it was nothing more now than a damaged limitations exercise for Moyes and his team and when Rooney had an effort go over the bar from a great position, it almost seemed to show that this was not to be their day at all.

Samir Nasri wheels away after he makes it 4-0  for City    PIC: theguardian.com

The blues seemed to take their foot off the gas after the fourth goal as United started to take over in the possession side, but they just couldn`t find a way past the City back line as they were stopped at every turn especially by Vincent Kompany, who had an immense game for the home side. 

Tom Cleverly gave United a bit of freshness in the midfield as they had more of the ball in the second half as they huffed and puffed at the City defense but nothing was doing for the men from Old Trafford, as they just couldn`t work anything at all that was threatening for Joe Hart.

Marouane Felliain then struck one from outside the area that saw Joe Hart come to life, with the England International tipping the ball over for a corner as it was the first real shot on the goal that United had created all game.

Antonio Valencia then went down far to easily inside the area after he battled with Kolarov down the right wing and seemed to wait till he reached the area before going to ground. He wanted a penalty that he was never going to get and Valencia voiced his displeasure toward Mr Webb as he ran up to Webb and earned himself a yellow card for dissent.

Negredo then had a chance before he pulled his shot wide of the target, when he snatched at a shot outside the area when the striker went fro power instead of accuracy.

Manuel Pellegrini then substituted Alvaro Negredo to a standing ovation from the home crowd, as he was replaced by a player who has fond memories of past derbies in Edin Dzeko, who scored 2 late goals in the infamous 6-1 win against United during their championship season. 

Dzeko tried a long range effort with wasn`t fully collected by De Gea in the United net, as he was almost embarrassed when the ball slipped from his grasp and headed towards the goal.

United then came close themselves, when from a Wayne Rooney corner Patrice Evra saw his header come back off the post and in the same passage of play, Rooney had two attempts at goal which was both stopped by Hart as he make a double save to keep the Champions at bay.

In the 85th minute Sergio Aguero came off for Javi Garcia as they tried to see the match out, but there was still time for Rooney to curl a spectacular free kick past Joe Hart to make it a 4-1 score line as it was nothing more than a consolation for the reds and a deserved goal for Rooney, as he was the only player for Manchester United to come out of the match with any credit at all.

The Last kick of the game saw Edin Dzeko go close with a shot that just went wide of the far post and had beat De Gea all ends up too.

Full time 

Full time whistle blew and Manchester City had not only thrashed their cross-city neighbours 4-1 but their main title rivals too as they showed the rest of the league that City are a force to be reckoned with after this performance by the Pellegrini`s squad.

Lancashire crowned League Champions

Glen Chapple receives Div2 title        pic: LCCC.co.uk

Friday saw the Red Rose county back where they belong in the top flight of Cricket`s elite with a drawn match against Gloucestershire down in Bristol. Lancashire also had help off Kent, who have played a hand in Lancashire promotion and title winning exploits too in the past couple of games of the L.V Championship.

With draws against Lancs rivals Essex and then holding off 2nd placed Northamptonshire in Northampton in a rain affected game.

Lancashire needed just 12 points for the Championship as they had gained promotion against Worcestershire last week.

The visitor`s found themselves in trouble on a rain affected day 1, where only 10 over’s were bowled in the day, but Gloucestershire gave their visitors problems as they lost 2 quick wickets as they ended on 33 for 2, with Paul Horton and Ashwell Prince making ducks.

Day 2 saw better luck for Lancashire, with them mounting a comeback despite Karl Brown making just 3 runs to his overnight score, as he went for 23.

Luis Reece and Luke Protor put a few runs on the fourth wicket stand with Reece departing for 35 as Will Gidman took his 3rd wicket of the Lancashire Innings.

Luke Proctor reached his hundred for the visitors before he was trapped lbw by that man again Will Gidman, as he headed back to the changing room scoring a good knock of 106.   

Alex Davies made 12 runs before Gloucestershire`s Matthew Taylor got the Lancs man out, with Roderick taking the catch behind.

Lancashire Captain and stalwart at Old Trafford Glen Chapple was then dismissed for a 1 off Benny Howell bowling and Will Gidman taking the catch.

Tom Smith was last man out for Lancashire as he was bowled for 88 by Gidman, to give the Gloucester bowler figures of 5 for 61 as Lancashire declared looking to try and force a result in the stop-start match.

Lancashire had their hosts in trouble too, when they got to 44 for 3 with the opener`s removed for the home side.

New Zealander Hamish Marshall and Alex Gidman put on a little recover for the Gloucester Innings, till batsman Marshall was out for 26 with Oliver Newby grabbing his second wicket of the Innings.

Tom Smith then took the wicket of Alex Gidman for 45 trapping him lbw as Lancashire restricted the home side to 133 for 5.

Tom Smith grabbed another two wickets to help the Lancashire title cause, as he removed Benny Howell for 6 lbw and then got Will Gidman out for 3, with Andrea Agathangelou taking the catch.

Oliver Newby picked up his 3rd wicket when he had Agathangelou take the catch of Tom Smith for 13 and then Lancashire`s own Tom Smith then got Craig Milnes out for 0 with Kyle Hogg taking the catch. 

Lancashire were then frustrated by the final pairing of David Payne and Matthew Taylor, as the two tail-ender`s put on a 50 Partnership as the Lancs bowlers saw the home side slowing up their progress to the title. 

Eventually Oliver Newby wrapped up the Innings, when he got Payne out for 16 with substitute fielder Agathangelou taking his 3rd catch of the Innings, as Lancashire dismissed the home side out for 209 with Matthew Taylor unbeaten on 30.

Lancashire open batsmen started off fantastic for the visitors in their Second Innings, as the pair hit nearly every ball as they reached 100 with no wicket falling in quick time.

Paul Horton then fell before he could reach his half-Century, as he went for 49 off Tom Smith bowling with Howell taking the catch. 

Ashwell Prince came to the crease to partner Luis Reece as Lancashire went in search of pushing on for victory and their title cause was being helped by Kent up in Northamptonshire.

Where Kent was forcing a draw in their game, which meant Lancashire needed just 7 points to take the title.

News was filtering through that the match at Northampton had been drawn and that saw a mix of emotion for Lancashire, as they knew they were champions of the division and then saw Luis Reece miss out on a Century,  with David Payne clean bowling him on 97 with Prince finishing unbeaten on 40.

Handshakes were offered and meant that the celebrations could start, as the Red Rose County could now celebrate a bounce straight back return to the top division and where there is some unfinished business after last time round.

 

  LANCASHIRE L.V DIV 2 Champions 2013     pic: LCCC.co.uk

UCL: City beat Plzen in opener

VIKTORIA  PLZEN     0  -  3 MANCHESTER CITY

                                                                                            

DZEKO 48`, TOURE 53` AGUERO 58` 

Tuesday night saw Manchester City open their Champions League group with an away fixture travelling to the Czech city of Plzen, home of the Pilsner beer and where City were hoping to avoid an occurring Champions League 'Hangover' that they have suffered with for the past two seasons.

The Manchester club has always seemed to come up on the wrong end of the draws in the tournament, as they have suffered two arguably 'groups of death' in their two seasons of Champions league football.

Last season saw them finish bottom of their group, as they failed to pick up a win in their 6 group games involving the likes of Ajax, Real Madrid and Last year`s Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund.

This time around though, they had the easier group than the past two seasons and had the easier match of the 3 opponents in their group. 

Manuel Pellegrini gave a shock recall to Blues Captain Vincent Kompany, who had recovered from a groin strain picked up back in the premier league opener v Newcastle back in August.

So having the talisman back for City, gave them the boost they needed going into this contest knowing that a victory was needed to get them off to a good start this time around.

Early stages saw both sides playing cagey and going through the feeling out process, then in the 6th minute of the game a hard shot by Spaniard Jesus Navas saw it tipped over the bar by the Plzen goalkeeper Matus Kozacik. From the resulting corner kick by Samir Nasri, Edin Dzeko header was put towards the goal and Yaya Toure who should have hit the target from a couple of feet out, headed over the bar from close range with the goal keeper making himself big to stop it.

Plzen look bright going forwards as the half went on, although they weren`t taking shots on Joe Hart as they were enjoying a bit of possession and finding a lot of success down the City left side, as they targeted Kolarov who was the weakest link for City at the back.

Plzen made a few good moves, but their trouble was that they couldn`t find the telling pass or they struggled to control the ball when in good areas on a couple of occasions.

The home side finally created a chance, when a Tomas Horava free kick was whipped in and Joe Hart parried it away before Dzeko headed the ball away free from danger.

City not for the first time wasted another opportunity to break the deadlock, when in the 22nd minute Nasri found Kolarov free down the left wing, the Serbian defender put in a great ball into the area for Dzeko, whose attempt was headed right at the keeper at the back post and the rebound was smothered by Kozacik.

Sergio Aguero then went close for the away side, when he ran at the Czech defenders and saw his shot from outside the area hit the post and Kozacik collected after a weak Kolarov shot that came from the rebound coming off the post.

City had took charge of the game now and were the more threatening side of the two, as they looked like the side of a couple of seasons back with their play.

City then nearly finished off a well worked move, with Samir Nasri putting a lovely weighted ball in for Aguero and the Argentine was tackled in the area, but the ball came to Navas and just as he went to pull the trigger the Plzen defender kicked it away and Aguero hand ball it as it was going out.

Plzen had one more chance before the half ended, when Rajtoral crossed into the area for Horava and his acrobatic shot went wide of goals.

Second half saw Manchester City finally make the breakthrough when Kompany intercepted a pass outside his penalty area and saw the run of Aguero up field, so the Belgian International kicked it up the pitch and perfectly found Aguero who ran at the defender, out muscling him despite him grabbing shirt and falling by the wayside. Ageuro then rolled the ball across the area and Dzeko was on hand to side footed home to the far post in the 48th minute for 1-0.

Dzeko then fired two shots wide of the goal in a 30 second spell and the City striker could easily have had a hat trick by now as they were opening up now the Plzen defence with ease now and should have put the game to bed.

In the 52nd minute City pressure told as Yaya Toure scored a fantastic goal, as he and Nasri played a one-two before the Ivorian curled one top corner from 25 yards out and looked to have give City the game as Plzen didn`t look to be able to mount a comeback after Toure goal.

Things got even better for Pellegrini`s side, when Aguero got a deserved goal when he received a pass from Nasri in the area and the small Argentine striker collected the ball, then ran across the box before firing into the far corner past the goalkeeper`s outstretched arm for a 3-0 score line.

Yaya Toure had a free kick go over the bar bringing his recent run of set pieces to an end with a poor effort by his standards, James Milner then came on for Jesus Navas as City just controlled the game as Plzen tried their hardest to try and push forward and score a goal in the contest.

Aguero had another effort on goal, but Kozacik made a save to stop it being 4-0, City nearly made it four when Aguero was on a breakaway and waited for substitute Alvaro Negredo to get into the area before the fizzing ball to the Spanish striker was put over.

Full time whistle blew for full time with Manchester City winning their first Champions League game since beating their next opponents in their group Bayern Munich, 2-0 back in December 2011 at the Etihad Stadium and where City will hope lightning strikes twice in 2 weeks time on Matchday 2. However they have the Manchester derby to contend with on Sunday at home with United.

Phoenix goals raining like "Cats & Dogs"!

MANCHESTER  PHOENIX   11  -  2   SHEFFIELD STEELDOGS  

                                                                                      

Manchester Phoenix enjoyed a successful opening weekend to the new EPL season as they notched up a 4 point weekend to sit atop of the EPL table, after chalking up big wins over Telford and especially Sheffield.

Phoenix got their season underway in Telford Saturday night as they came out the victors in a 5-1 win, with Czech duo Michal Psurny and Frankie Bakrlik and Liam Chong all scoring within the space of 68 seconds as they blitzed the Tigers. Phoenix 3^rd Czech forward Robin Kovar got in on the act too, as he scored a well took goal with Joe Graham finishing off the scoring to get them off and running in the league campaign.

Sunday night saw the return of the Sheffield Steeldogs to Altrincham for the 2^nd Sunday in a row, the Yorkshire side were minus a few personnel in the shape of Lewis Bell, Injured Defenceman Ben Morgan and arguably the key man in the Sheffield line up Greg Wood. Wood was suspended for the clash after he was given a game penalty for spearing a Bracknell Bees player in their Saturday night game, in what was a very tough encounter between the two physical sides in the league.

The game was far from the blood and guts meeting between the two from last week`s War of the Roses double header, though that may have been due to the game being officiated with the 4 officials for the game.

Both sides had chances early on, Sheffield had the best chance when Andy Hirst broke away for the visitors after the Manchester defence committed themselves to high up the ice.

But the chance was stopped by Steve Fone between the pipes for the Phoenix as he turned away the opportunity for the Steeldogs. Manchester had a few chances of their own, with a Bakrlik shot flashing across goal as the home side looked to try and show that they meant business this weekend with more practice under their belts than last weekend`s encounters.

Sheffield Player-coach Andre Payette said during preseason that his side possessed "the Best Netminder, and best hockey team in the league", well their defence was certainly showing they could defend, as they had to with stand an onslaught of  Phoenix attacks. Steeldogs were then in deep trouble after a defenceman collided with his own netminder Dalibor Sedlar, when the puck went across goals and the netminder was in pain from the incident. Sedlar took a few minutes to try and stretch his groin as he had discomfort in that area.

Sedlar played on for a few minutes before, being forced to retire at the next whistle in play as he skated towards the bench to be replaced by 16 year old back up goalie ,Thomas Barkworth who came in between the pipes for the Steeldogs at the 6:27 area.

The 16-yo goalie made a couple of good saves from the Phoenix forwards as the youngster didn`t looked overawed by the occasion at first, However it was always likely the inexperience of him would show eventully. The home side broke the deadlock at 10-09 thanks to a rocket by Rob Schnabel from the blue line as the puck flew pass the youngster for a 1-0 lead with Andy McKinney and Richard Bentham getting assists on the goal.

Sheffield`s Craig Elliott then got penalised for Slashing at 14-35 and from that resulting power play, a breakaway by Phoenix saw Tony Hand pass towards the slot and Robin Kovar coolly directed it pass Barkworth for a neat finish making it 2-0 for the home side as we headed into the first intermission.

In the Second stanza, it was a goals overload for the home side as they really peppered the young goalie with shots and some that weren`t. It took just 1:12 into the period for the Phoenix to extend their lead to 3-1, when Jack Watkins made a wraparound attempt on the Sheffield nets as he forced it home  to pick up his first goal in a Phoenix Jersey at 21-12 with fellow Brit James Neil helping out on it.

Goal 4 soon followed, with Frantisek Bakrlik scoring from close range with Steve Duncombe pushing the Phoenix player goal wards and helped the Czech forward score his first of the game; Phoenix found then themselves on the power play, when Steeldogs Player-coach Andre Payette was in the penalty box for Slashing. Manchester made the most of the 2 minutes when they worked the puck round between Michal Psurny & Phoenix player coach Tony Hand, with the Scottish veteran forward finding Luke Boothroyd at the back post and the Captain bided his time, before he put it past Barkworth for a 5-1 score at 29:14.

As a contest it was all over, but it was now whether Manchester would hammer home their advantage or not.

Bakrlik hit one on the Steeldogs goal from just inside his own half and wasn`t picked up by the poor young goalie Barkworth, as he lost sight of it and the puck struck the bar which saw the goalie flinch, as the ping reverberated round the rink.

Sheffield then pulled a goal back with a well worked goal with Craig Elliott putting home the puck after Lee Haywood grabbed the puck doing well to stop it going out for an offside on the Phoenix blue line, he then passed to Greg Chambers who made a good pass across goal to Elliott who scored at 35-13.

A minute later though, Bakrlik fired a blast from down the right wing as he found the twine, to net Phoenix 6th goal of the game at 36-23 and Sheffield were in disarray in defense now.

Two minutes later the Czech man again found the net from a tight angle, to make it 7-2 with fellow countryman Michal Psurny assisting on the goal along with defenseman Joe Graham.

In the 3^rd and final period, the home side added another score in the goals column when a shot from Macclesfield-native Ben Wood, somehow found the net as he just threw it on target and the young goalie Barkworth just couldn`t deal with it and it went in for an 8-2 score line at 41:43.

This then saw 2 goals in 11 second, firstly Edgars Bebris was put in the box for a Boarding call on Liam Chong into the boards and then from that resulting power play, Robert Schnabel launched another rocket from the blue line as he made it 9-2 with Robin Kovar assisting on it.

Straight from the restart, Phoenix went right back up the Steeldogs end and hit double figures as Andy McKinney roofed one high over the right shoulder of Barkworth and the goalie was getting a serious welcoming to EPL level.

That then seemed to then spark the Steeldogs in to their normal overly-physical play which was mostly apparent from Andre Payette.

Payette attempted at try to get under the Phoenix players skins, but unlike last weekend, this time it wasn`t working as no matter how much he tried he got laughed at or had the Manchester players skate off to the bench ignoring it.

During the next passage of play, Payette tried to engage James Archer into the rough stuff, but the Sheffield-born forward resisted the advances of Payette and he frustrated the player-coach of the Steeldogs, by refusing to rise to the bait.

James Archer picked up 2 minutes for Roughing anyway along with Payette who earned himself a 2+2 for Roughing.

Sheffield then used their other "enforcer" to try and start a spark, in Callum Pattinson. Pattinson who was sporting a 'shiner' for his trouble was due to a beating he received from Bracknell Bees player Chris Wiggins in a fight the night before, but like Payette he couldn`t get anyone interested either.

Luke Boothroyd then completed the rout for the home side, as on the power play the Phoenix Captain put the puck home with an open net from Kovar pass on the goal at 51:29, for the remaining minutes of the game both sides seemed to settle down in the last 10 minutes and so Phoenix saw the game out 11-2 grabbing an early 4 point weekend and seeing them sit proudly on top of the English Premier League table after the opening round of games. 

PODCAST: http://manchesterphoenix.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/goals-groins-and-goalies.html

The Official Manchester Phoenix Podcast: Old Dogs, New Tricks?

The Official Manchester Phoenix Podcast: Old Dogs, New Tricks?: Welcome to series six of the Official Manchester Phoenix Podcast! Well, actually, series six starts next week.  This is the War of the Ros...

War of the Roses 2nd Leg: Psurny double sinks Sheffield, but Steeldogs retain Cup

WAR OF THE ROSE BOWL

MANCHESTER PHOENIX 4 - 3 SHEFFIELD STEELDOGS  

For the Manchester Phoenix in the 2nd leg of the War of the Roses cup it was a case of  "Winning the battle, but losing the War", as for the second season in a row the Sheffield Steeldogs took home the War of the Roses cup winning on aggregate, 8-6 but losing on the night 4-3 to Manchester.

Phoenix had an uphill task of having to try and pull back a 3 goal deficit from the 1st leg in Sheffield, as they were trailing by a score line of  5-2 at Ice Sheffield.

Unsurprisingly the game was played at a fast physical pace, with heavy hitting from both sides as they tried to gain an early advantage in the game. Steeldogs style of play will always draw penalties and so it did, as Greg Chambers was sent to the box  early in the game for Hooking.

Moments later, Greg Wood then went in the box for Cross Checking and this time round on the Powerplay, the Phoenix capitalised with the extra man advantage with Frankie Bakrlik blasting one from the blue line to make it 1-0 on the night 5-3 overall, with James Archer and Robin Kovar given assists on the goal.

Then fairly quickly after the goal chaos ensued not for the first time in this game, as a hard hit by Kovar on Greg Wood against the Steeldogs bench was met with fury by Wood and a few Sheffield player`s, who tried to retaliate and saw both sides getting involved as a scrum developed with the teams, before James Archer and Wood got into a heated discussion. 

Lee Haywood then caught Archer with punch and Robin Kovar wasn`t having none of that, as he grabbed Haywood and pounded on the Sheffield man as he went to Ice quickly covering up. Kovar continued to throw the punches on him as the officials struggled to stop him, this led to the Czech forward getting kicked out ofnthe match, picking up a 5 + Game for Roughing, while Wood and Archer both received 2 each minutes for Roughing at 4-49.

We then had another incident in the game, when Bakrlik gave the netminder a nudge on the whistle and Lloyd Gibson skated over and performed a Check to the Head on Bakrlik as well as throwing 4 or 5 punches on the Phoenix man while he was down on the ice, an exact replica of what Kovar had done, but the officials didn`t see it due to the Sheffield players and Phoenix player around the scene of the incident. Gibson earned himself a 2+10 minute penalty for the illegal hit to the head at 5-50 and was lucky to still be on the Ice too.

We then enjoyed some hockey that was played out, as both sides calmed down a bit with both sides having chances to score, but were denied by the opposing teams netminders. Andre Payette then boarded Robert Schnabel 11-36 which was borderline for a checking from behind call against him. 

At 12-03, Lubomir Korhor skated up ice and nearly through on goal, but the Slovakian was hooked down by Frankie Bakrik to which Korhorn took exception to and went after him and so after a scrum of players pushing and shoving some more, it was decided by referee James Ashton that it was Penalty shot and no penalty would be given against the Manchester player.

However, Korhorn found himself in the box for Roughing after he went for the Phoenix man in the lead up to the penalty shot, So responsibility fell to Greg Chambers to take it for the Steeldogs and he put it top shelf to tie the game at 1-1 and restore their 3 goal lead in the tie (6-3) overall.

Phoenix once again went ahead through an Andy McKinney goal, that was caused by a spill by Dalibor Sedlar in the Steeldogs nets and seen the puck fall to McKinney who put it home for 2-1 at 17-19, with Liam Chong added with the assist.

Sheffield then scored with under a minute to go in the first, with Korhor scoring five-hole on Steve Fone for a 2-2 scoreline at 19-03, with Korhorn stealing the puck off Schnabel to convert and bring an end to a roller coaster period of hockey with a fair few talking points and goals.

Second period of play saw was a more calmer period by the two clubs, with the game seemingly a mirror image of the 1st leg, with Manchester looking to do the attacking much like in Sheffield the night before in the period. 

Sheffield`s niggly play still continued on to a point, but not as much as earlier in the game as it seemed to be getting the pace taken out of it by Sheffield as they focused on defending and trying to hit the Phoenix on the break whenever they could again, much like in the 1st leg. The home side was pushing for this goal and were getting the luck in front of the net.

Bakrlik was then sent to the penalty box for a Boarding call which seemed harsh, as the 'Dogs' player had turned round and walked right into a hit that caused him to go backwards into the boards.

Phoenix were having to do some defending of their own now, as the Steeldogs pressed the home side back and some good work by Ben Wood in defence to cut out an attack for Sheffield saw him start off a move, with the Macclesfield-native chipping the puck to Player coach Tony Hand, who did a turn mid ice to collect the pass and from then on it was on a 2-on-1. Hand waited for Psurny to get up Ice and he eventually passed it cross ice with Sedlar comitting himself to the near post and left nearly a full net for Michal Psurny to aim at, which the Czech forward made no mistake from as he fired home for 3-2, to give the Phoenix a glimmer of hope in this cup match, with just 21 seconds left in the period and with no further action, the horn sounded for the end of the 2nd..

The third period saw both teams come out wanting to win this game, with Manchester wanting to try and set up a grandstand finish and see if they could pull another goal back. With Phoenix pressing hard and trying to get it to a one goal game in the tie, it was the visitors that scored with under 10 minutes of play left. As Greg Chambers coolly put the puck top corner of Fone left hand goal as he made it 3-3 with the Steeldogs tails wagging now.

With time ticking down and neither side wanting to make a mistake in the game now, it was going to take something good to score and it was, as with under 5 minutes of play and looking to be tied game, play from Bakrlik and Hand set up Michal Psurny, who had a small angle to work with but he somehow managed to put it high up in the Dogs goal for a 4-3 lead in the game and (6-8 in tie) at 56-41.

The goal seemed to energize the home team, so the final few minutes of the game saw the Dogs under the cosh with Manchester throwing men forward to try and find another goal.

Then with under 2 minutes left in the game, the Phoenix struck the post twice in 30 seconds as the Sheffield goals had really lived a charmed life this weekend, as it was the 5th time the pipework had pinged for the Phoenix.

Time had run out, but there was still time for some more shenanigans before the game ended, as Andre Payette tried to trip up a Phoenix player, which then led to Andy McKinney skating by and putting Payette on his backside and get called for Tripping as the referee spotted the incident, which led to Payette coming over to McKinney as he was led to the box and then as the linesman stopped him approaching the Phoenix man, Payette proceeded to celebrate the Cup victory early with 10 seconds left as the Sheffield player coach proceeded to hoist his stick across his head and celebrating like it was a trophy.

Horn sounded for a 4-3 Phoenix win, but a 6-8 aggregate lost, Greg Wood came up to receive the War of the Roses cup on behalf of the Sheffield Steeldogs and it was greeted with typical boos from their bitter rivals fans, as their side just found the three goal margain too much of a obstacle to drag back from. 

Manchester will hope to bounce back next weekend in the opening weekend of the new EPL season, with Telford Tigers away on the Saturday night at the Telford Ice Rink, followed up with a repeat home visit from the Reigning War of the Roses cup holders, the Sheffield Steeldogs in what will almost certainly be a feisty opener with league points on offer this time round.

Broncos trample over the Ravens in NFL opener

 

DENVER BRONCOS  49    -    27  BALTIMORE RAVENS 

This past Thursday night saw the return of the NFL (National Football League) as the opening match of the regular season pitted the Superbowl Champions the Baltimore Ravens, making the journey across the country to Colorado, where they came up against the Payton Manning led Denver Broncos.
The season was pushed back an extra 33 minutes due to a severe lightning storm overhead the Mile High Stadium in Denver.

DENVER BRONCOS tight-end Julius Thomas  Pic: Jack Dempsey/AP

Peyton Manning showed his true class in this game, as the quarterback produced a record-tying 7 touchdown passes,  a record no one had equaled in 44 years in the NFL.

Champions Baltimore, took the lead through a touchdown by Vontae Leach, as he received the pass from quarterback Joe Flacco and went on to scored for the Ravens with the extra point good for a 7-0 lead.
There was concern for the Ravens then, when from a punt down field by Britton Colquitt we saw Jacoby Jones and rookie team mate Brynden Trawick collide with each other after Jones had called for a 'Fair Catch' on the 15 metre line. The Broncos thought they had recovered possession as they stopped the ball going for a Touchback and finished up with them on the 1-yard line.



Jacoby Jones was taken to the locker room as he was injured on the play with a sprained knee and missed the rest of the game, replays shown also that a Denver player brushed the ball at the Ravens 15 yard line so the play was pulled back for the Ravens to start off from the Ravens 20.
From the opening play on the drive, Joe Flacco threw towards Brandon Stokley and Chris Harris jumped in front and caught the ball for an interception on the Ravens 24 yard line.
From the first down the Broncos scored straight after, with Manning dropping back in the pocket and faked a running play as well as a pump fake, before firing up field to Julius Thomas who run it in for a touchdown and tied the game up at 7-7.




Denver then suffered a fumbled punt return , when Wes Welker let the ball slip through his hands and was quickly jumped upon by five Baltimore Ravens, as they started possession on the Broncos five yard line. 
The Ravens quarterback then found Ray Rice who hurdled a tackle and jogged into the end zone giving the lead back to the Superbowl champions for 14-7 lead. 
Julius Thomas then made a catch and ran 44-yards as he turned Michael Huff and finished up outside the 20 in the Ravens half.
The following play saw Thomas again at the heart of the play as he took another catch from Manning, spinning away from a weak tackle by the Ravens defence as he went over for another touchdown to bring the scores all level again at 14 a piece.

Payton Manning throws another Touchdown in 49-27 win
pic : AP

Baltimore missed a glorious opportunity to re take the lead once again on a 3rd & goal, but Dallas Clarke dropped the ball as he had the endzone at his mercy. So the Ravens had to make do with a field goal with twelve seconds left as Tucker kicked it between the uprights for a half time score line of 17-14 in favor of the Superbowl champions.
Second half saw a controversial play stand, when Wes Welker dropped a catch from Peyton Manning and the officials gave it as a catch, though replays backed up the first view that it was a drop. However the resulting play saw that man Julius Thomas again give the Ravens defense nightmares, as he gave 5 of the Ravens the slip and they were made to look stupid as he got to the Ravens 23.




The Broncos were on a 2nd & 3, when Payton Manning threw towards the sidelines and found Andre Caldwell who run the ball in for a 28 yard touchdown, as he did pretty well to stay in bounce too. 
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh will have greatly wished he had challenged the play now as other wise that touchdown wouldn`t have happened.
Baltimore were on a 3rd & 3, when Flacco tried to find someone down field but was sacked by Shaun Phillips and to make it worst for the away side on their punt attempt, Denver blocked Koch kick and Koch recovered the ball on the his own 10 yard line, giving the Broncos perfect position to increase their lead. And increase it they did, Manning then found Wes Welker who dodged a tackle and danced over the line for a 28-17 score to the Colorado side.

Ravens Torrey Smith holds off Tony Carter   pic: Doug Pensinger/Getty images

Dallas Clark nearly caught a Flacco pass on a 3rd & 3 attempt, when Clark got smashed by Rahim Moore as he was coming down and the ball popped out for a in-completion.
The following drive saw Manning find an open Welker in the far corner for his 2nd Touchdown of the game with the Broncos now taking over and showing their superiority on the game now at 35-17.
Manning threw his 6th touchdown pass of the evening  early on in the 4th quarter,  when he found another Thomas , but Demayrius this time round and he scored for a 28 yard score to give the home side a 42-17 Broncos lead. 




Then we had Danny Trevathan make a complete fool of himself, with the phrase Hero to Zero easily being used on this occassion. 
Trevathan had picked off a Flacco throw and he ran the ball back for a touchdown, he then celebrated in the endzone, however it was premature.
As the Bronco`s player had finished off his dance routine, in all the excitement the Denver player had actually dropped the ball on the 2 yard line as he went over to start the celebrating. So not only was it not was it not a touchdown, but it was touchback for the Ravens too.
Joe Flacco then found Brown for an 18 yard touchdown for a 42 - 24 score line, then with a 4th & 12 on the Denver twelve yard line, the Ravens coach John Harbaugh told his side to go for it till the home side took a timeout. That then forced him to changed his mind as they went for the Field goal instead, making it 27 - 42 in favor of the home side with Tucker kicking over making and in the process making it,  a 2 possession game now with 5:29 left in the match.





Payton Manning then broke the Denver Broncos quarterback record by becoming the first player in their franchise history, to throw 7 touchdown passes in a game something that the Great John Elway never accomplished in his illustrious career with the Mile High outfit.
With the home side on 3rd & 8, the Quarterback found Demaryius Thomas once again and he set off to the races, as he run the ball for a 78 yard touch down, which gave Manning the equaling league record of players to have achieved 7 touchdown passes in a game. 
The Broncos led 49-27 as they tore the reigning Superbowl champions to shreds, with the Ravens poor record in Denver continuing on as the Denver Broncos opened up their season with a 1-0 record to start the new season off & running and could this Broncos side be a Superbowl contender, based on this performance they certainly could.