FA Cup roundup: Harrogate pull off shock to knock out Wrexham

  • League Two side into second round after 1-0 victory
  • AFC Wimbledon beat MK Dons once again

Harrogate pulled off an FA Cup upset as the League Two side beat Wrexham 1-0 to reach the second round.

Jack Muldoon scored the only goal of the game with a glancing header midway through the first half and the League One high-flyers Wrexham struggled to create clearcut chances to equalise.

Continue reading...

Byron makes Champ 4, Bell out after NASCAR issues safety penalty

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Two years after Ross Chastain made himself a viral star with the “Hail Melon,” the complexion of the NASCAR Cup Series’ Championship 4 field again came down to a fateful last-lap meeting with Martinsville Speedway’s outside retaining wall. Christopher Bell’s version Sunday night was more of a half-melon that forced a tiebreaker […]

Ryan Blaney surges to Champ 4 with repeat walk-off Martinsville win

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — He did it again. For the second straight year, defending series champion Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8 elimination race at Martinsville Speedway to advance to the Championship 4. And as Blaney took the checkered flag to win Sunday’s Xfinity 500, Christopher Bell made a kamikaze move into […]

Steve Borthwick’s England must stop hiding and face a few home truths | Robert Kitson

After losing another game they should have won, England need fresh impetus if they are to avoid a dismal autumn

Let’s kick off with some good news. The Twickenham experience has been a slightly variable one in recent years but the vibe inside the now-retitled stadium on Saturday was a considerable improvement. A deep rumbling bass shook the concrete stands, adding to the thunderous feel of the whole occasion. And broadcasting the referee’s musings over the public address – why has that taken so long? – was unquestionably a welcome development, too.

The positives do not stop there. What a dramatic endgame it was. And how skilfully New Zealand prised open the coffin lid having seemed all but dead and buried. If the match-turning try by Mark Tele’a with four minutes left was a stunning intervention, what about the towering touchline conversion from Damian McKenzie which ended up separating the two teams? How good was Wallace Sititi? This was not a match defined wholly by missed opportunities.

Continue reading...