Ashley Barnes referee trip red card

Posted on March 10, 2013 by adminsports

VIDEO: Brighton's Barnes faces long ban after straight red card for tripping referee during defeat to Bolton

By
Joe Ridge

PUBLISHED:

11:11 GMT, 10 March 2013

UPDATED:

11:14 GMT, 10 March 2013

Brighton forward Ashley Barnes is facing a lengthy ban after being sent off for appearing to deliberately trip referee Nigel Miller at Bolton's Reebok Stadium on Saturday.

With his side trailing the npower Championship clash 1-0 deep into stoppage time, Barnes left a foot dangling in front of Miller as the official ran past him.

The trip did not send Miller to the floor, but it was enough to break the referee's stride. He then immediately stopped the game, turned to Barnes and gave him a straight red card.

Scroll down to watch footage of the incident…

Marching orders: Barnes is dismissed by referee Nigel Miller

Lengthy ban: Barnes has been sent off twice this season

The forward's face was a picture of disbelief as he was pointed to the tunnel, but despite the cameras not capturing the incident, this video evidence recorded by a fan in the stands is pretty damning.

VIDEO: Watch Barnes's trip on referee Miller from 50 seconds in

Final moments of Bolton Wanderers 1-0 Brighton & Hove Albion

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Miller did not address the media after the game, but The Argus report that a Bolton official who spoke to the referee said: 'It was for misconduct, trying to trip the ref.'

Seagulls boss Gus Poyet felt Barnes deserved his red card, though he sympathised with the 23-year-old.

Poyet told Sky Sports: 'In football sometimes you do things that regret after, but (I have) nothing to complain about.

Unhappy trip: Brighton were beaten thanks to a goal from Marcos Alonso (left)

'I think you would normally probably say you're not happy with him (Barnes).

'Angry It's difficult to say because I played football, I know when you're on the pitch you do things which sometimes you regret after but I was one of those players so I'm not going to say anything to Ashley Barnes – I hope it doesn't happen too much.

'He knows what he's done and I'm not going to kill him, you try to make sure he controls himself better the next time.'

The red was Barnes's second dismissal of the season. He was sent off only last month for violent conduct as he kicked out at Sheffield Wednesday's Kieran Lee during a 3-1 loss at Hillsborough.

Sympathy: But Poyet (left) felt that Barnes deserved his red

As a result, the former Plymouth player will miss the next four games of Brighton's run-in, starting with Tuesday night's trip to Barnsley.

Barnes' absence leaves Poyet facing a striker crisis. Craig Mackail-Smith has been ruled out for the season with an achilles injury picked up during last week's 0-0 draw at Bristol City, leaving Leonardo Ulloa as Brighton's only fit frontman.

Marcos Alonso's winner for Bolton on Saturday saw Brighton slip out of the Championship play-off places. They now sit one place and point adrift of Nottingham Forest in sixth, but they do have a game in hand on Billy Davies's side.

Chris Robshaw gains redemption

Posted on December 2, 2012 by adminsports

Robshaw's redemption as England's skipper hits back and becomes Captain Fantastic

UPDATED:

21:58 GMT, 1 December 2012

Chris Robshaw ended the most demanding week of his rugby career by becoming only the sixth England captain to lead his country to a win over New Zealand.

And if he woke up last Sunday in turmoil, he will wake up today with a mixture of disbelief and sheer, unadulterated joy.

The prize guys: Chris Ashton shows just what scoring against New Zealand meant

The prize guys: Chris Ashton shows
just what scoring against New Zealand meant

England's 38-21 win over the world champions was as emphatic as the scoreline suggests and while Robshaw left the Twickenham field just seven days ago with the sound of jeers ringing in his battered ears, he marched off the same pitch last night to a cacophony of cheers.

Silverware: Chris Robshaw leads the celebrations as he lifts the Hillary Shield - the first England skipper to do so

Silverware: Chris Robshaw leads the celebrations as he lifts the Hillary Shield – the first England skipper to do so

How the heroes rated

Alex Goode 8

Another composed display. Rock solid under the high ball and made several telling breaks.

Chris Ashton

Chris Ashton 6

After poor first half, broke try drought with barnstorming score – though he risked Stuart Lancaster's fury with showboating celebration.

Manu Tuilagi 9

Went head-to-head with Ma'a Nonu and came out on top. Defensively superb. Destructive in attack. World-class.

Brad Barritt 7

Sharp second-half break led to him scoring England's first try. Typically strong to subdue New Zealand's vaunted midfield.

Mike Brown

Mike Brown 8

Superb performance full of jinking running and powerful kicking. Perhaps lacks a yard of pace cleverly ran his lines.

Owen Farrell 9

Came into the game under pressure but Toby Flood's replacement again showed his temperament is first class.

Ben Youngs 7

Influential. Came into the game more and more as it went on and made several telling breaks. Bossed his forwards brilliantly.

Alex Corbisiero 8

A superb scrummaging performance. string of powerful drives that dented the hugely consistent All Blacks defence.

Tom Youngs 7

Young Leicester hooker held his nerve despite pressure. A few creaking throw-ins but not a bad day's shift.

Tom Youngs and Dan Cole

Dan Cole 8

Pack stalwart rarely has an off day. Unusually conspicuous at the break down without forgetting to do the basics.

Joe Launchbury 9

Another superb display that belied his lack of big-match experience. The young Wasp showed he surely has a magnificent international career ahead of him, often putting his body on the line.

Geoff Parling 7

Understated but hugely effective. Was tireless in the loose to ensure quick ball at the breakdown.

Tom Wood

Tom Wood 9

Has returned from injury and shown what England were missing. Yesterday his breakdown work was almost as good as his tackling.

Chris Robshaw 8

The England captain came into the game under intense pressure following last week's chaotic finish. Showed enormous character.

Ben Morgan 7

Not quite as prominent in the loose as he would have liked but still put in a decent shift. Has a long future ahead of him and surely has the edge over Thomas Waldrom.

It has been, even by sport's absurd standards, a dramatic road to redemption from Springbok misery to All Black joy.

His much-debated decision to ask Owen Farrell to kick a penalty when four points down with two minutes remaining last week against South Africa was roundly condemned, as was Farrell's very public and timecostly argument with his captain.

It was not the sole reason for England's one-point defeat, but it was an unfortunate end to an unfortunate result.

His week hardly improved when Warren Gatland suggested that Robshaw was not first in his thoughts for next summer's Lions tour to Australia.

After Saturday, Robshaw may not just be playing in the back row for head coach Gatland, he could be his captain.

The relief was etched on Robshaw's face – and there was anger over the treatment England received after the South Africa defeat.

'My confidence was high,' he insisted. 'My phone has been ringing all week with support. It was a case of going out there and playing as well as I could.

'I think we delivered the critics the best possible response. The crowd were fantastic and to score the number of tries we did was brilliant. That game rates as the best I've ever played in. Everyone who pulled on the England shirt today wanted to prove a few people wrong and we did just that.

'We went into the game with a bit of anger. They hadn't given us a chance all week, had they Some people were wondering how much New Zealand would beat us by. Andy Farrell had said New Zealand were beatable during the week.

'We came out to prove him right. Everyone was outstanding today.'

Indeed they were and such was the significance of England's record win that even New Zealand were insisting England could go on and win the 2015 World Cup, regardless of their fifth seeding for Monday's group draw.

'There were two sides out there today who can definitely win the World Cup,' stated All Blacks coach Steve Hansen.

'We have no excuses. We were beaten by the better team. This is a very good England side.'

Richie McCaw sat beside him and nodded his head.

'There's no doubt about the talent in the England team,' said New Zealand's captain.

'With experience they'll get better and better. I was very impressed with them. Can they go on and win the World Cup They'll be a big threat.'

The England management had been promising this kind of performance all autumn.

After a woeful defeat against Australia and then a loss against a South Africa team they should have beaten, the least likely team to finally come good against was New Zealand.

But England came good in a way few, if any, could have predicted, except of course Stuart Lancaster and his coaches.

'I'm very proud,' said the England head coach.

'To get a scoreline like that is testament to the coaches and the players. The win is reward for the effort we've put in and it shows the rugby public that this journey is the right one. A lot of our guys are 23 years of age and under.

'They should be playing for England for many, many years. There will come the day when this England team will be sporting 800 caps between them.'

Robshaw would be forgiven for basking in personal acclaim, but the England captain was instead reminding his players in a team huddle after the final whistle that they had to reproduce this level of performance in the 2013 Six Nations.

If England do that, then Lancaster's men, led by the comeback captain, will take some stopping.

Nasser Hussain: Ricky Ponting was a streetfighter, a panto villain… and a true great

Posted on November 30, 2012 by adminsports

Ponting was a streetfighter, a panto villain… and a true great

UPDATED:

20:19 GMT, 29 November 2012

This is good news for England. Ricky Ponting still had the potential to score big runs, even though he hadn’t done that for a while, and his retirement adds a bit more weight to England’s Ashes chances.

I’m not saying England should be breathing a sight of relief now Ponting has gone but this means another younger player will have to come into the Aussie side for the Ashes and there are not too many knocking on the door.

Ponting was right up there with the best. While Brian Lara was a genius and Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid almost machine-like in their run scoring, Ricky was a bit more human, if you like.

Fierce competitor: Ricky Ponting was so stung by Australia's 2005 Ashes loss that he masterminded a 5-0 whitewash over hapless England

Fierce competitor: Ricky Ponting was so stung by Australia's 2005 Ashes loss that he masterminded a 5-0 whitewash over a hapless England

He had some off-field issues — like that night he got himself in a fight in a Sydney bar and admitted to a drink problem — and he was more of a streetfighter than the other greats, a real scrapper who loved a battle.

When he was on top of his game, Ponting’s hand-eye co-ordination was incredible. In my day bowlers like Andy Caddick, Angus Fraser and Alex Tudor would bowl a natural length and he would just pull them dismissively. Other batsmen would have played a defensive shot.

I would see the looks on the bowlers’ faces, of sheer disbelief, and they would try to bowl fuller at Ponting and then he would just smack it back past them.

Yet at times, with his huge backlift, he looked vulnerable to the moving ball.
Ponting was very popular among his team-mates and a captain for whom players loved performing. But he was not the greatest of tacticians.

Calling it a day: Ponting holds some remarkable records, including most test victories as captain, most runs by an Australian, most centuries by an Australian and most consecutive test victories by a captain

Ponting was more of a Graham Gooch type, a captain who led from the front, and for a while the shadow of Shane Warne, who really was astute, hung over him.

After Ponting had wrongly decided to bowl first at Edgbaston in 2005, when Warne had advised him to bat, Ponting was always chasing the game tactically.

Ponting became a pantomime villain in England, probably after that time at Trent Bridge when he started chuntering at Duncan Fletcher after Gary Pratt had run him out, but I think the public liked the fact he could be vulnerable. He was clearly a decent and honest guy.

Way back when: Ponting (second left) celebrates as Nasser is bowled by Andy Bichel at Adelaide in 2002

We had our moments as opponents. There is a tape somewhere that a stump mic picked up of Ponting launching into me after I had clashed with Glenn McGrath — I might have made a comment about Ricky’s size in return — but that was what he did. He would always back up his players and I had absolute respect for that. It was never aimless and he would be the first opponent to say well done after you had made a score against him.

He deserves a great last Test.

Phillipe Mexes scores wonder goal in AC Milan v Anderlecht

Posted on November 22, 2012 by adminsports

Better than Ibrahimovic Mexes scores incredible overhead kick for AC Milan… and he's a DEFENDER!

UPDATED:

09:20 GMT, 22 November 2012

Could this goal be as good as Zlatan Ibrahimovic's ingenious propeller-kick against England

Phillipe Mexes scored AC Milan's second goal against Anderlecht as they beat the Belgian side 3-1 in Champions League Group C.

In sensational style, the French defender chested a lofty set-piece on the edge of the area before launching himself in pursuit of the ball and connecting with a sweet overhead kick.

What a goal: Phillippe Mexes fired a wonder goal in for AC Milan

Over it goes: Mexes' goal is similar to the masterful propeller kick scored by Zlatan Ibrahimovic some weeks ago

Did you see that Mexes, a centre half, looked in disbelief after he scored the second goal for Milan

The centre half's volley looped across the box, over the helpless goalkeeper and into the top corner.

Mexes' wonderful goal comes soon after Ibrahimovic scored four goals for Sweden against England in Stockholm.

The giant Swede latched onto an errant Joe Hart header from 25 yards out for his masterful fourth goal.

BETTER THAN THIS… RE-LIVE IBRAHIMOVIC'S WONDER GOAL

Before the ball could hit the ground Ibrahimovic had thrown himself into the air, swung his boot at the ball and fired it over Hart and into the empty England goal, being dubbed one of the greatest goals ever in the process.

Milan's win at Anderlecht meant
they will join Malaga in the knockout stages. Stephan El Shaarawy put the Italians in front before Bram Nuytinck was sent off for Anderlecht.

After Mexes scored the Ibrahimovic Mark II goal, Tom De Sutter clawed one back for the Belgians before Alexandre Pato fired home the third.

As good as mine Ibrahimovic (centre) and his Paris Saint-Germain side won elsewhere

In on it: Ezequiel Lavezzi opened the scoring against Dynamo Kiev

Malaga went through as Group C
winners despite blowing an early 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Zenit St
Petersburg in Russia. Diego Buonanotte and Sebastian Fernandez put the
Spaniards in front with just nine minutes gone, before Danny and Viktor
Fayzulin rescued a point.

Manchester City went out of the competition after drawing 1-1 at home to Real Madrid in Group D.

Meanwhile Borussia Dortmund guaranteed progression as group winners with Robert Lewandowski scoring twice in a 4-1 thrashing of Ajax at the Amsterdam ArenA.

Marco Reus, Mario Gotze and Lewandowski put the in-form Germans out of sight by half-time, and after Lewandowski had added his second of the night, Danny Hoesen grabbed a consolation for the home side with four minutes left.

No sweat: Borussia Dortmund progressed as group winners over Manchester City and Real Madrid

Battling it out: Porto's Lucho Gonzalez scores against Dinamo Zagreb

Porto and Paris St Germain will play off in Paris next month to determine the winners of Group A after both sides underlined their progression to the knockout stages with easy wins tonight.

Porto remain a point clear at the top of the group after a 3-0 home win over pointless Dinamo Zagreb, Lucho Gonzalez putting them ahead in the 20th minute before second-half strikes from Joao Moutinho and Silvestre Varela.

And the French side also rubber-stamped their qualification with a 2-0 win over Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine, with Ezequiel Lavezzi opening the scoring on the stroke of half-time and adding a second soon after the break.

Christian Fuchs scored the only goal of the game in the 77th minute as Schalke 04 beat Olympiakos to ensure qualification from Group B and give them a one-point advantage over second-placed Arsenal.

Champions League round-up: Phillipe Mexes scores wonder goal

Posted on November 22, 2012 by adminsports

Champions League round-up: Better than Zlat Mexes scores remarkable overhead kick to help AC Milan progress with Malaga

UPDATED:

23:09 GMT, 21 November 2012