Hamilton: The Clown

Lewis Hamilton became possibly the most arrogant and outrageous sports star over the course of this Bank Holiday weekend. Hamilton has been in and out the headlines, for the right and wrong reasons, ever since he came onto the Formula One scene. He has been cited for numerous driving offences and even tax evasions in his short career that saw him win the World Driving Championship in 2008 at the age of 23. After winning the championship he decided to release an auto-biography which, at the age of 23, sounds like an absurd thing to do. He was then awarded an MBE in 2009 in the New Year's Honours list.

Since his World Championship win, Hamilton has become one of the most irritating figures in sport. His constant moaning when things don't go his way shows a spoilt attitude especially when he blamed the McLaren car for not being ready at the start of last season and again this season. However when Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix this year, he quickly changed his mind on the readiness of the McLaren car and suddenly the car was now able to win Championships.

This weekend was the Monaco Grand Prix and it served its usual dose of drama but it also highlighted the prima-donna attitude of Lewis Hamilton. During the third stage of qualifying, Hamilton was setting out on his first lap, which coincided with the crash of Perez, he had Felipe Massa ahead of him but he wasn't causing Hamilton to slow down. As there are limited obvious passing places, Massa waited a few corners before letting Hamilton pass and although Hamilton still hadn't been forced to slow down, he threw his hand up in the air in annoyance to Massa.

It got worse on race day as Hamilton caused two crashes during the race. The first was a collision with Massa as Hamilton tried to under-cut the Ferrari by going through a kerb:


Paul Di Resta did the same sort of manoeuvre a few laps earlier on Sebastien Buemi and was duly given a drive through penalty. The stewards shown consistency by also giving Hamilton a drive through penalty, much to Hamilton's disgust. A few corners later Hamilton over-took Massa in the tunnel, causing Massa to go onto the dirty side of the track and ultimately crash into the barrier. If that wasn't enough for Hamilton, he decided to go one better and cause Maldonado to crash just two laps after the red flag. Again Hamilton ignored the kerb before sailing into Maldonado and causing the Williams car to go into the barrier:



After the race, the stewards again duly awarded Hamilton with a penalty. This time it was a twenty second penalty but it didn't actually change the race result. For some reason Hamilton thought it unfit to be brandished yet another penalty and decided that the stewards were ganging up on him. What was worse was that Hamilton then decided to play the race card and claimed that the stewards were ganging up on him because 'he is black'. Not only is this an outrageous statement to make, it could land many people in hot water. Since his outburst he has now threatened to quit Formula One which, after this weekend's antics, will not be a huge miss as no-one likes seeing an over-paid sports star acting like a spoilt kid especially when he clearly caused both of those avoidable collisions. But, unfortunately, everyone knows it is an empty threat before he calms himself down and just gets on with racing again. Please just grow up.

Sinclair Is Swansea's Superhero

It's not often you see a cup final, of any kind, that is blessed with an array of goals from two teams that are completely attack minded. Well today we were given six goals at Wembley as Swansea and Reading battled for the final place in next season's Premiership.

Reading ultimately started the game off better and had the best opening chances to take the lead. But football isn't always a kind game and Reading found themselves 1-0 down just after twenty minutes; Khizanishvili brought Dyer down in the box and referee Phil Dowd had no choice but to point to the spot and arguably should have sent the already booked Khizanishvili off. Former Chelsea youngster Scott Sinclair stepped up and sent Federici the wrong way. Reading were reeling and a quick breakaway saw Swansea double their lead a minute later with Sinclair getting his second goal of the game. It looked to be all but over when Dobbie tapped home to make it 3-0 Swansea five minutes before half-time.

Reading showed signs of distaste at half-time as substitute Jay Tabb and Reading's assistant manager were both sent off for dissent towards Dowd in the tunnel, although Dowd seemed to have done nothing wrong throughout the game. But Reading were fired up for the second half and came out the better side, they managed to pull a goal back four minutes after the restart when Hunt headed a corner past De Vries and the unattended front post. Swansea didn't learn their lesson and Reading made it 3-2 when captain Mills headed from another corner eight minutes later. It should have been 3-3 but Jimmy Kebe was denied by the post before Hunt's follow up was blocked by the toe of Williamson. The match was sealed though, ten minutes from time Andy Griffin decided to lunge in on Borini and Dowd had no choice but to award another penalty. Again Sinclair stepped up and went the same way with Federici millimetres away from saving it, but Sinclair had his hat-trick and Swansea will become the first Welsh team in the Premiership.

Yesterday saw Peterborough become the latest boing-boing club. They met Huddersfield at Old Trafford in the League One playoff final and Darren Ferguson's secured a late victory. Goals from Tommy Rowe (78), Craig Mackail-Smith (80) and Grant McCann (85) made it 3-0 within seven minutes to secure their Championship place after being relegated from there last season.

Congratulations Wimbledon and Stevenage

This time last year Stevenage Borough were celebrating the fact they had just earned promotion into the Football League for the first time in their history. This year that accolade went to AFC Wimbledon who formed via disgruntled fans when the original Wimbledon moved and became MK Dons. But Wimbledon have made their way up and earned themselves a place in next year's League Two after beating Luton in the Blue Square Premier playoff final.

Yesterday saw the League Two playoff final between Stevenage and Torquay at Old Trafford. John Mousinho scored the only goal of the game four minutes before half-time to earn Stevenage back-to-back promotions into the NPower League One.

Monaco Massacre

After the incidents in yesterday's qualifying, no-one could guess what on earth would happen in today's Monaco grand prix. Before the race had even started there was drama as a suspicious package caused a bomb scare, luckily nothing came of it and the race was able to start as normal. After his big crash yesterday, Perez was unable to participate in the race but both Hispanias were allowed to race despite not setting any times in qualifying.

From the start, Alonso again pipped Webber to the first corner making it to fourth place. The big battle early on was between Hamilton and Schumacher and lap ten saw Hamilton over-take Schumacher into ninth place. Red Bull were slow with the initial pit stops as a sticky blanket meant Vettel couldn't get a rear tyre on quickly. This meant that Button had taken the lead after lap eighteen with the all the pit stops taken care of.

The first incident of the race came in lap 27 when Di Resta tried to overtake Buemi around the tightest corner in F1. The Force India had no room to manoeuvre and caused front wing damage as he cut across the kerb, Di Resta was given a drive through penalty for causing a collision. The first retirement saw Glock suffer rear-suspension collapse on lap 33, Button pitted in anticipation of the Safety Car but it didn't arrive until a lap later and it cost him dear.

A lap later Hamilton caused a collision with Massa in an exact incident to Di Resta's, however the two continued to squabble and Hamilton tried to over-take in the infamous tunnel. This forced Massa onto the dirty side of the track causing the Ferrari to lose control and crash into the side barrier. Also in that lap Michael Schuamcher had broken down just outside the pit lane meaning the Safety Car had to come out.

The incident between Hamilton and Massa was investigated and Hamilton received a drive through for the collision on the bend. The biggest incident of the race saw Sutil lose control and crash into the barrier which resulted in a loss of a rear tyre, this caused Alguersuari to go up the back of Hamilton and cause rear-wing damage to the McLaren, Petrov also crashed into the barrier and was supposedly knocked unconscious. Right behind the incident was the leader Vettel who was being closely chased by Alonso and Button because Vettel didn't stop again and his tyres were degrading. The crash caused an initial Safety Car before the race was red flagged due to Petrov's injury as he complained of back problems. Fortunately Petrov is okay and just has bruising to his legs.

The red flag was shown on lap 72 which meant a result could have been called there and then. However the officials decided the race would continue once given the all clear, this meant that all the drivers had to wait on the grid but car repairs are allowed up until three minutes before the restart. This worked perfectly for Vettel as he had no intention of pitting before the crash despite his tyres reaching 'the cliff', the leader was now able to change his tyres which would win him the race. The first lap after the restart was led by the Safety Car before racing resumed for the final five laps. Hamilton caused a second crash just a lap later when he undercut Maldonado, Hamilton was behind the kerb for the first corner and sent Maldonado into the barrier, the latest news was that the incident was under investigation. The results are as follows, pending that investigation:

1.Vettel (Red Bull), 2.Alonso (Ferrari), 3.Button (McLaren), 4.Webber (Red Bull), 5. Kobayashi (Sauber), 6.Hamilton (McLaren), 7.Sutil (Force India), 8. Heidfeld (Renault), 9.Barrichello (Williams), 10.Buemi (Toro Rosso), 11.Rosberg (Mercedes), 12.Di Resta (Force India), 13.Trulli (Lotus), 14. Kovalainen (Lotus), 15.D'Ambrosio (Virgin), 16.Liuzzi (Hispania), 17.Karthikeyan (Hispania) DNS: Perez (Sauber) DNF: Glock (Virgin), Massa (Ferrari), Schumacher (Mercedes), Petrov (Renault), Alguersuari (Toro Rosso)

Veteran's Performance In Prague

The third round of the Speedway GP series headed to Prague in the Czech Republic. The weather was fine and we got a full meeting full of the thrills and spills that speedway has to offer. Chris Holder won the last meeting in Gothenburg and set out his stall early by winning the opening heat of the night. Current leader Gollob won heat two with Artem Laguta earning his second point in two meetings and a heat. Jason Crump suffered a dislocated shoulder in Gothenburg but was able to race yesterday and won his opening heat which saw Chris Harris retire from after his bike packed up. The wildcard Matej Kus took to the track in heat four but finished last with the veteran American taking the flag.

The second set of heats saw Hampel take heat five before Holder and Crump secured their second heat victories. Heat eight saw the first restart as Lindgren moved before the tapes rose, Gollob won the restart to also make it two heats from two.

Heat nine was won by the wildcard Kus, this saw him temporarily overtake Laguta in the standings, Crump finished second in that heat. Holder also blinked in heat ten as he finished third with Hancock securing his second win. Heat eleven saw Sayfutdinov get squeezed out and he fell, the heat restarted with the Russian excluded and Gollob won his third consecutive heat. Hampel won his second heat in the twelfth.

Kenneth Bjerre became only the seventh heat winner in the thirteenth. Heat fourteen saw Hampel beat Gollob, Crump and Holder to claim his third victory. Rune Holta won the fifteenth heat. Lindback was sent flying off his bike in heat sixteen but thankfully didn't require the on-track ambulance, all four riders were able to restart and Hancock won his third heat of the night.

Heat seventeen was a battle between Hancock and Gollob, the American again won the heat with the Pole finishing third. Nicky Pedersen won heat eighteen with Holta earning his second victory in the nineteenth. The final heat saw Emil Sayfutdinov take the chequered flag.

The first semi-final saw Hancock and Crump beat Bjerre and Pedersen into the final. Gollob and Hampel also made it into the final after a restart when Holder crashed and got himself excluded, Lindgren could only manage third. Crump was squeezed out in the final and he put his bike down, all four riders restarted the race and the veteran American won the final with Hampel second, Gollob third and Crump fourth.

On the night Hancock won the meeting and the points tally with 23. Hampel came second with nineteen and Gollob seventeen. Crump finished with thirteen with Holder, Bjerre, Pedersen and Lindgren all winning nine points. The overall standings see Hancock now overtake Gollob into the lead with 47 points, Gollob has 41. Hampel is third on 36 with Pedersen on 30. Holder and Sayfutdinov have 28 points, Lindgren has 26 and Crump is currently eighth on 24. Artem Laguta remains seventeenth in the standings despite there only being fifteen continuous riders.

Barcelona Overwhelm United

Barcelona line-up: Valdes, Alves (Puyol, 86'), Pique, Abidal, Xavi, Iniesta, Mascherano, Busquets, Villa (Keita, 86'), Messi, Pedro (Afellay, 90')
Manchester United line-up: Van Der Sar, Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Fabio (Nani, 69'), Giggs, Park, Carrick (Scholes, 76'), Valencia, Rooney, Hernandez

Wembley hosted the 2010/2011 UEFA Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United. On the paper the teams couldn't be closer; both teams had previously won three European Cup trophies, both teams won their first trophy at Wembley and they had identical goals scored/goals conceded records in their European history. The big news was that Mascherano would play centre back in replace of the injured Puyol who was on the bench. As for United, Berbatov was not even included in the squad and the disconsolate Bulgarian left the stadium.

United made it three finals in four seasons, Barcelona's second but Barcelona beat United in the 2009 final. The match started in the same vain as in Rome with United enjoying the early parts of the game. They pressured Barcelona for the opening ten minutes and forced mistakes. But it didn't take long for Barca to get a stronghold and start barraging the retiring Van Der Sar's goal. The opening goal was coming and Xavi fed in Pedro, who had slipped in between Vidic and Evra, to tap in past the Dutchman to make it 1-0 after twenty-seven minutes. United were able to regain some control following the goal and equalised seven minutes later; United pressuring Barcelona from their throw-in, Rooney stole the ball and played a couple of one-twos before Giggs played it back to him and Rooney smashed it home. There was the slightest hint of offside when Giggs received the ball but the goal stood in a move that Barcelona would have been proud of.

United came out earlier before the second half, but it did them no good whatsoever. Barcelona took full control after the restart and their second goal was just as imminent. It came nine minutes into the half when Messi was given time to turn and blast his shot past the surprised Van Der Sar from twenty five yards out, the ball nestled into the back of the net. United still couldn't get into the game and Fabio had to be replaced due to an injury. This saw Nani enter the fray with Valencia now at right back. Nani's first involvement was to defend a short corner, he failed to get rid of the ball when he had the chance before the ball fell to David Villa who placed a fantastic shot into the top corner to end the game and give Barcelona their fourth European crown.

Dangerous Monaco

This weekend Formula One is in Monaco, the tightest track in the calender and arguably the most dangerous. This morning's practice session certainly proved its case as both Liuzzi and Rosberg suffered major crashes. Luckily for Rosberg he was able to participate in Q1 whereas Liuzzi was not and may suffer from the 107% rule. Liuzzi's teammate Karthikeyan was also unable to set a time in Q1 due to a rear suspension failure and could also be ruled out of tomorrow's race. The usual six plus one applied in Monaco although Toro Rosso's Alguersuari will start behind both Lotus' in twentieth place, depending on a steward's enquiry as Alguersuari contacted with Kobayashi during the session. The two Virgins will start behind Alguersuari with Glock ahead of D'Ambrosio and Kovalainen beat Trulli to eighteenth. It was looking to be a good session for McLaren as Hamilton went fastest.

Hamilton again went fastest in Q2 as both Force Indias and Renault cars were eliminated. Buemi rounded off a miserable qualifying for Toro Rosso and will start seventeenth, behind Heidfeld in sixteenth. The Force Indias will start side by side with Di Resta out-qualifying Sutil yet again. Kobayashi will start thirteenth again pending that possible steward's enquiry. Williams looked good in qualifying as Maldonado made it to Q3 for the second consecutive race and Barrichello will start twelfth with Petrov eleventh.

Monaco again proved why it is one of the most feared race tracks in the world. With two minutes and twenty-six seconds of Q3 remaining the session had to be red flagged. This was because Sergio Perez suffered a horrible crash; it was a carbon copy of Rosberg's in practice as Perez also lost control as he came out of the tunnel. He then crashed into the barrier before careering side-on into the pro-tech safety barrier whereas Rosberg had just missed it. There was a thirty eight minute delay as everyone sent their prayers to Sauber, Perez and his family. Fortunately, he was conscious and talking when paramedics got him out of the car and into the ambulance and, perhaps luckily, he suffered no broken bones, only concussion so may be able to participate in tomorrow's race where he would start tenth. Once the barrier had been put back in place the final minutes of qualifying resumed but Hamilton and Maldonado hadn't put a time in before the crash and suffered for it. Maldonado will start ninth and Hamilton seventh with Rosberg in between them. The Ferrari's looked improved again with Massa sixth and Alonso remaining fourth, Schumacher claims his best start by providing the meat in the Ferrari sandwich. Webber will start third from Button, meaning that Vettel claimed yet another Pole position but his first in Monaco and the German will be looking to win his first Monaco grand prix tomorrow.

Final Barclay's Premiership Table

Team PL GD PTS
1 Man Utd 38 41 80
2 Chelsea 38 36 71
3 Man City 38 27 71
4 Arsenal 38 29 68
5 Tottenham 38 9 62
6 Liverpool 38 15 58
7 Everton 38 6 54
8 Fulham 38 6 49
9 Aston Villa 38 -11 48
10 Sunderland 38 -11 47
11 West Brom 38 -15 47
12 Newcastle 38 -1 46
13 Stoke 38 -2 46
14 Bolton 38 -4 46
15 Blackburn 38 -13 43
16 Wigan 38 -21 42
17 Wolves 38 -20 40
18 Birmingham 38 -21 39
19 Blackpool 38 -23 39
20 West Ham 38 -27 33

Survival Sunday: How It Happened

Five teams were still able to go down at the start of yesterday's final matches. As it stood Blackburn and Wolves had forty points and were playing against each other at Molineux, Blackburn had a goal difference of -14 and Wolves -19. Birmingham started the day on 39 points with -20 GD away to Tottenham. Blackpool were at Old Trafford also on 39 points with a GD of -21. Wigan were away to Stoke and also had 39 points with a GD of -22, here's how Survival Sunday panned out:

21 minutes: Manchester United 1-0 Blackpool, Park slots home after Berbatov puts him through. Blackpool moved down to nineteenth.
22 minutes: Wolves 0-1 Blackburn, Salgado's shot was deflected in off Roberts. Wolves stayed sixteenth on goals scored.
37 minutes: Wolves 0-2 Blackburn, Emerton volleyed home after Robinson's free-kick wasn't dealt with. Wolves now moved to seventeenth, ahead of relegation by a goal.
40 minutes: Man Utd 1-1 Blackpool, Adam converts a free-kick after Taylor-Fletcher was fouled by Vidic. Blackpool now moved out of relegation on goals scored, putting Wolves and Wigan down.
45 minutes: Wolves 0-3 Blackburn, Hoilett ends a horrible half for Wolves. Half-time table: 15.Blackburn 43 -11, 16.Birmingham 40 -20, 17.Blackpool 40 -21, 18.Wolves 40 -22, 19.Wigan 40 -22
49 minutes: Tottenham 1-0 Birmingham, Pavlyuchenko fires Spurs ahead to see Birmingham head to nineteenth.
57 minutes: Man Utd 1-2 Blackpool, Taylor-Fletcher tapped home a Puncheon cross to give Blackpool perceived safety heading to 42 points, although there was a hint of off-side.
63 minutes: Man Utd 2-2 Blackpool, Anderson equalises for United to see Blackpool safe only by a goal.
73 minutes: Wolves 1-3 Blackburn, O'Hara pulls one back for Wolves to see them move a goal ahead of Wigan but behind on goals scored to Blackpool.
74 minutes: Man Utd 3-2 Blackpool, it's often you feel sorry for a footballer but Ian Evatt puts through his own net after Smalling's cross to give United the lead. Blackpool subsequently drop to nineteenth and look out of it.
78 minutes: Stoke 0-1 Wigan, Hugo Rodellaga heads Watson's cross to give Wigan salvation .
79 minutes: Spurs 1-1 Birmingham, Gardner equalises for Birmingham to see Wolves back in the relegation zone by a goal.
81 minutes: Man Utd 4-2 Blackpool, Owen seals Blackpool's fate after Anderson's through ball to give the champions the win.
87 minutes: Wolves 2-3 Blackburn, Hunt pulls another goal back to see Birmingham in the relegation zone on goals scored.
93 minutes: Spurs 2-1 Birmingham, Pavlyuchenko scores another screamer to seal Birmingham's fate. Final Table:

15. Blackburn 43 -13
16. Wigan 42 -21
17. Wolves 40 -20
18. Birmingham 39 -21
19. Blackpool 39 -23

End Of Season Results

Although only four of the ten final Barclay's Premier League games really mattered, the other six games still produced high entertainment. Manchester City knew a win away to Bolton would secure third place. It was City who took the lead two minutes before half-time when a corner hit Lescott on the head before looping over Jaaskelainen. Edin Dzeko wrapped things up for City after 62 minutes but Danny Sturridge's loan spell at Bolton ended with the former City player getting sent off four minutes from time for a high challenge on Dzeko. Bolton end the season fourteenth.

Liverpool were denied Europa League football next season as they lost away to Aston Villa. The only goal came after 33 minutes when an Albrighton cross was put away by Stewart Downing. Villa finish the season in ninth as the highest Midlands club.

Despite nothing to play for, St.James' Park witnessed a six goal thriller as Newcastle entertained West Brom. Steven Taylor made it three goals in three matches to give Newcastle the lead after sixteen minutes. Lovenkrands made it 2-0 six minutes before half-time and Olsson scored an own goal, thirty seconds into the second half to make it 3-0. But West Brom came back and Tchoyi made it 3-1 after 62 minutes and then made it 3-2 nine minutes later. The comeback was complete in injury time when Tchoyi headed home his hat-trick to make it 3-3. West Brom finish just ahead of Newcastle in eleventh.

With West Ham already down and now manager-less, Sunderland visited Upton Park to finish West Ham's Premiership in style. Zenden will be leaving Sunderland this summer and signed off with the opening goal after seventeen minutes. Sessegnon ended a bright debut half-season with another goal six minutes into the second half before Riveros scored his first Sunderland goal in injury time. Sunderland finish tenth.

Arsenal ended yet another disappointing season with a draw away to Fulham. Fulham took the lead after 26 minutes through Sidwell but that was cancelled out three minutes later with Van Persie scoring in his ninth consecutive away game. Zamora gave Fulham the lead again twelve minutes into the second half, Fulham were also on hand to receive Europa League football via the fair play award but Gera received red after 75 minutes for a two-footed challenge. This means that they or Blackpool will receive the accolade. Arsenal took advantage and equalised through Walcott a minute before injury time. Arsenal will now have to qualify for the Champions League and Fulham finish the season eighth.

Chelsea wasted no time in relieving Carlo Ancelotti of his managerial job. He was given the sack within an hour of Everton beating them 1-0 at Goodison Park. Beckford scored the winner with sixteen minutes left after Coleman had seen red eight minutes into the second half, but a win wouldn't have been enough for Ancelotti as a trophyless season means a job-less Chelsea manager.

Four Out Of Five

Although Formula 1 hasn't lost its drama, the results are becoming a little predictable as Vettel stormed to his fourth win out of five already this season. Pole sitter Webber got off to a bad start with Alonso managing to take the lead from fourth and Vettel went second. Button also had an awful start and fell to tenth, Kobayashi also suffered a puncture but carried on after the pit stop but his race was already belittled.

The first set of pit stops occurred around lap ten. Vettel blinked first and it looked to have been the wrong move after coming back out into ninth but he immediately over-took Button and Massa into seventh. Lap eleven saw Alonso pit and come out in third. Hamilton pitted on lap twelve and he also managed to re-enter in third place with Webber behind him in fourth, leaving Vettel with the lead.

Webber and Alonso pitted for a third time on lap thirty and almost came together in the pit lane. But Alonso benefited and managed to come out in third ahead of Webber. Webber looked to over-take Alonso but Alonso was quick to return the favour on lap thirty-five. The squabbling cost them both as Button joined in and over-took the pair of them to get into third and head for an unlikely podium.

Liuzzi retired quite soon in the race but the only 'crash' saw Kovalainen head into the tyre wall on lap fifty-one. Massa also retired ten laps later with some sort of mechanical failure. Hamilton tried his hardest to beat Vettel but the German held on to take his fourth chequered flag. Results in full:

1.Vettel (Red Bull), 2.Hamilton (McLaren), 3.Button (McLaren), 4.Webber (Red Bull), 5.Alonso (Ferrari), 6.Schumacher (Mercedes), 7.Rosberg (Mercedes), 8.Heidfeld(Renault), 9.Perez (Sauber), 10.Kobayashi (Sauber), 11.Petrov (Renault), 12.Di Resta (Force India), 13.Sutil (Force India), 14.Buemi (Toro Rosso), 15.Maldonado (Williams), 16.Alguesuari (Toro Rosso), 17.Barrichello (Williams), 18.Trulli (Lotus), 19.Glock (Virgin), 20.D'Ambrosio (Virgin), 21.Karthikeyan (Hispania). DNF: Liuzzi (Hispania), Kovalainen (Lotus), Massa (Ferrari)

Vettel Is Beaten To Pole

It's took five qualifying seesions but finally Vettel has been beaten to Pole position. Formula 1 is in Spain this weekend with the race taking place on the Catalunya track. Q1 saw a host of odd occurences which added a little spice to tomorrow's race. The six plus one scalp scenario had looked to have happened early as Nick Heidfeld was unable to participate due to his car catching fire in practice earlier today. That led to assume that the six bottom drivers would then just be competing for places 23-18, but we were wrong. D'Ambrosio was beaten by the two Hispanias with Liuzzi out-qualifying Karthikeyan into 21st. D'Ambrosio's teammate Glock finished 20th but the other 'scalp' saw Barrichello suffer gearbox problems and only qualified eighteenth, this meant that a Lotus would be heading to Q2. That Lotus was Kovalainen as Trulli managed seventeenth but the other shock of Q1 saw Michael Schumacher post the best time.

The new blood of Q2 was obviuosly expected to just be making up the numbers and finish seventeenth. But that wasn't the case as Kovalainen out-qualified both of the Force Indias and will start fifteenth in tomorrow's race, Di Resta out-qualified Sutil yet again in the Force India cars. The Saubers and the Toro Rossos are mixed together with Buemi and Alguersuari in eleventh and thriteenth, Perez and Kobayashi are in twelfth and fourteenth. No surprises that Vettel secured the fastest lap in Q2.

Q3 saw Michael Schumacher play the strategy game and decided not to post a time so that he would have an extra set of soft tyres for tomorrow's race, thus starting tenth. Maldonado was extremely impressive and quite a shock getting into Q3 and the Venezuelan will start ninth. Massa struggled throughout qualifying and will start eighth behind Rosberg. Petrov secured sixth behind the top five although really it was Red Bull follwed by the other three. Alonso splits the two McLarens with Hamilton in front of him and Button behind. This meant that Webber finally knocked Vettel off of Pole position and the man on Pole has won the Spanish grand prix for the last ten years.

Finals Night

Fourteen weeks ago, there were eight hopefuls all battling to win the Darts Premier League. Yesterday there were just four and the victor emerged in front of the Wembley Arena.

The first semi-final saw Taylor battle Lewis. Lewis thrashed Taylor on the opening round in the O2 8-2 before Taylor replied with an 8-3 victory later on. But Lewis came storming out in this semi-final with Taylor looking well below par. Jackpot took the first three legs before Taylor fought back to be 4-2 behind at the break. Lewis won the following three legs after the break to be within one of the final before Taylor denied the inevitable in the tenth leg but he still lost 8-3.

The second semi-final was between Van Barneveld and Anderson. Barney beat Anderson 8-4 in Brighton and 8-5 a couple of weeks ago. It was looking good again for the Dutchman as he quickly took a 3-0 lead although the second leg saw both players suffer double trouble. Again Anderson found himself 4-2 behind at the break but he carried the momentum over with him and took the following three legs to lead 5-4. Barney checked-out with 137 in the twelfth to make it 6-6 but Anderson won the remaining two legs to win 8-6. Barneveld has now lost five times in the Premier League semi-finals.

As the finalists got themselves ready, we were given a third/fourth place play-off between Taylor and Barneveld. Taylor beat Barney 8-3 in both of their league meetings but both players were off key in this one. Barney hasn't beaten Taylor since 2008 and his Tayloritis could have been cured last night. The first three legs went with throw as Taylor equalised with a ton in the second. But Barney broke first to take the fourth leg but Taylor battled back to 4-4. Barney managed to make it 6-4 before tiredness got the better of him and Taylor reeled off the remaining four legs to win 8-6 and keep Barney's Tayloritis apparent.

The final was a repeat of the World Championships between Lewis and Anderson. Lewis beat Anderson 8-3 in Glasgow when Anderson let the game go with the tempestuous crowd going over the top. They then drew 7-7 in last week's affair but it was apparent that there was only going to be one winner in this race to ten. Anderson roared into gear early by taking the first four legs with a 121 in the second. Lewis earned a leg but Anderson quickly replied with a 101 and then went onto be 9-1 ahead. Lewis tried making the result look more respectful and he managed to to make it 9-4 before Anderson dispatched the win in the fourteenth leg to be crowned the Darts Premier League Champion 2011 in his debut Premier League season.

FA Cup Final Replay

Just three days after Stoke's disappointment in the FA Cup final against Man City, they had to travel to Eastlands for the scheduled Premiership game that would have taken place at the weekend if it wasn't already the cup final. The FA Cup final was slightly disappointing in the way that it was only City you could see scoring but yesterday was even more one-sided than Saturday.

It took just fourteen minutes for City to carve open Stoke with Tevez returning to the starting line-up in the Premiership with a goal. Lescott made it 2-0 for City eight minutes into the second half before Tevez netted a second to round it off, this left the media reporting how Tevez will now be staying after doubts just a few weeks ago. City now move ahead of Arsenal into third and that last automatic Champions League place. Stoke remain ninth and will be a vital role in the relegation battle as they host Wigan on Survival Sunday.

One Down, Two To Go

We finally got one answer to the relegation battle yesterday as five Premiership matches took place in a Super Sunday bonanza. The early kick-off was a dead rubber as Chelsea hosted Newcastle but it was still a very eventful match. It took just two minutes for Stamford Bridge to celebrate something as Ivanovic broke the deadlock. But Newcastle were level eight minutes later through Gutierrez to spoil Chelsea's last home game of the season. Chelsea did re-take the lead seven minutes from time with another defender, Alex, finding the net. But Chelsea were undone yet again, this time in injury time courtesy of Steven Taylor. The point means Chelsea cement second place, but whether it'll be enough for Ancelotti to remain in charge is very debatable. Newcastle are in twelfth.

The other matches kicked off at 4PM with two of them concerning the relegation battle. The televised match though was between Arsenal and Aston Villa at the Emirates. Villa were logically safe but needed a point to be completely, mathematically safe. It was Villa who came flying out of the traps and Kyle Walker floated a ball to Bent, who broke the offside trap, he controlled it majestically on his chest before poking past Szczesny after eleven minutes. Four minutes later Bent broke the offside trap again as Ashley Young slipped the ball in and Bent tapped it through the keeper's legs to make it 2-0. Arsenal arguably should have had penalty later in the first half when Dunne missed ball and Ramsey but in my opinion the referee got it right. Arsenal through everything at Villa in the second half but they stood strong until Van Persie managed to scramble the ball over in the final minute. Arsenal stay only two points ahead of Man City with City playing Stoke again on Tuesday, Villa jump up to thirteenth and are now guaranteed Premiership football next season.

The other non-relegation battle match was actually a battle for Europa League as Liverpool hosted Tottenham. Liverpool came into this game on the back of that 5-2 thrashing of Fulham but looked a different team yesterday. Van Der Vaart opened the scoring after just nine minutes with a brilliant placed lob from outside the box. Tottenham wrapped it up eleven minutes into the second half when Flanagan fouled Pienaar just inside the box, Modric converted the spot-kick. Tottenham now over-take Liverpool into fifth by a solitary point.

Birmingham had the chance to almost book their safety yesterday at home to Fulham. That didn't happen as Mark Hughes' men bounced back from that Monday Night thrashing. Brede Hangeland made the difference as he opened the scoring after just five minutes before finishing the match off four minutes into the second half. Fulham move into eighth place.

It was win or bust for West Ham as they took on fellow relegation candidates Wigan at the DW Stadium. It was looking good for West Ham as Demba Ba broke the deadlock after twelve minutes. The Hammers were then on cloud nine when Ba made it 2-0 fourteen minutes later. But Wigan pulled one back twelve minutes into the second half through N'Zogbia. Panic bells started ringing and it allowed Wigan to equalise through substitute Conor Sammon with twenty-two minutes to go. The final nail in the West Ham coffin was struck in injury time when N'Zogbia scored his second to give Wigan the 3-2 victory. Unfortunately for Avram Grant, he was given his marching orders shortly after the game and West Ham will be looking for a new manager in the Championship.

So West Ham are now officially relegated but the rest of the bottom end of the table couldn't be any closer:
15. Blackburn 40
16. Wolves 40
17. Birmingham 39
18. Blackpool 39
19. Wigan 39
20. West Ham 33
The final game of the season sees Blackburn take on Wolves in their winner takes all battle. Birmingham have to travel to Tottenham and Blackpool have to ravel to Champions Manchester United while Wigan have to travel to Stoke.

Great Day For Manchester

There were four Barclay's Premiership matches yesterday, all of which kicked-off at 12:45 due to the FA Cup final which kicked-off at 3PM. The penultimate fixtures of the season still left us none the wiser as to who will be relegated this season.

The Hawthornes saw a match with little to play for as West Brom hosted Everton. The game was settled after just ten minutes when Youssouf Mulumbu scored for West Brom. Everton were reduced to ten when Bilyaletdinov was shown a straight red for leaving the ground while tackling Morrison. Everton stay seventh while West Brom move to tenth.

At the start of play Blackburn and Manchester United both needed a point to secure safety and the Championship respectively. Despite Nani hitting the bar early on, United didn't play very well at all and deserved to be a goal down at half-time. After an earlier hesitation from Kuszczak, a cross was punched away but the Polish keeper started to run for the ball. Once he realised he wasn't going to get it, he ran back as Olsson just about managed to keep ball in. Olsson then found a cross that an unmarked Emerton half-volleyed home at the back post. United did get the point they needed when Hernandez was brought down by Robinson, although the ball was going out of play and Hernandez wouldn't have got to it, referee Phil Dowd consulted with his linesman and the penalty was given. Rooney stepped up and converted with seventeen minutes to go. United are now the guaranteed Premiership Champions for the record nineteenth time.

Wolves secured a vital win away to Sunderland. Jody Craddock gave Wolves the lead after 22 minutes before Sessegnon equalised twelve minutes later. Wolves re-took the lead through Flecther nine minutes into the second half before Elokobi secured the win twelve minutes from time.

All the goals came at Bloomfield Road as Blackpool hosted Bolton. The game reflected the Stanely Matthews FA Cup final as Blackpool won the affair 4-3. Kevin Davies gave Bolton the lead after six minutes but DJ Campbell equalised three minutes later. Puncheon then gave Blackpool the lead after nineteen minutes before Matthew Taylor equalised five minutes later. Blackpool then went 3-2 up at half-time with DJ Campbell getting a second just before the interval. Danny Sturridge made it 3-3 eight minutes after the restart but captain Charlie Adam gave Blackpool the vital win ten minutes later.

This mean that West Ham are on 33 and Wigan on 36, they meet today with the loser surely destined for relegation. Blackpool remain in the drop on 39 points but Birmingham are only ahead on goal difference and meet Liverpool today. Wolves move up to sixteenth on forty points level with Blackburn who still aren't safe.

The FA Cup final was unfortunately very one-sided as Manchester City took on Stoke. It was settled by the solitary goal as City's semi-final hero Yaya Toure struck again after 74 minutes to give Manchester City the FA Cup, meaning that next season's Community Shield will be a Manchester derby.

Premature End In Gothenburg

The second round of the Speedway Grand Prix series took place in the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg. Unfortunately the weather made it difficult for the riders but we were able to get a result. The fans were given the best possible start as Swede Antonio Lindback secured the win in the first heat. The second heat saw Jason Crump see off three Poles in the shape of Kolodziej, Gollob and Holta. The first exclusion can in the third heat as pointless Artem Laguta drove off the track to ensure he remained without a point, Greg Hancock won the heat ahead of Pedersen and the Wildcard Thomas Jonasson. Sweden celebrated again in the fourth heat as Freddie Lindgren took the chequered flag.

Heat five saw Kenneth Bjerre fall after he was squeezed out by Lindgren. All four riders restarted and Crump made it two wins from two, but there was controversy as Lindgren again sent Bjerre to the floor in the final corner but the referee let the result stand. The other Australian, Chris Holder took heat six followed by the Wildcard Jonasson in heat seven and fellow Swede Lindback won his second heat in the eighth.

Bjerre's night got worse as his bike temporarily packed up in heat nine meaning he lost again, Janusz Kolodziej took the victory. Heat ten saw Jason Crump suffer a bad crash which resulted in a shoulder injury, this meant Laguta was guaranteed his first Grand Prix point but Sayfutdinov won the restart. Chris Holder won his second heat of the night in the eleventh. The twelfth heat saw Lindgren crash in the treacherous conditions but all four riders restarted and Lindback won his third consecutive heat.

Heat thirteen saw substitute Gustaffson replace the injured Crump and he managed to finish third as reigning champion Gollob won his first heat of the night. Emil Sayfutdinov won his second heat of the night before heat fifteen saw the second substitute Andersson replace Bjerre, he finished fourth with Swede Jonsson taking the flag. Heat sixteen saw Lindback become the next rider to crash on the final lap with Hancock winning his third race of the night. Due to the poor weather conditions, the referees decided to abandon the race meeting but because sixteen heats had taken place we were able to call a result. This meant that Chris Holder won the meeting with ten points and better finishes ahead of Hancock.

After two rounds, Gollob still leads the overall standings level on points with Hancock on 24. Sayfutdinov in on 22 with last round's winner Pedersen on 21. After his win, Holder moves to fifth on nineteen points with Hampel, Lindgren and Kolodziej all on seventeen. Despite having fifteen concrete riders, Artem Laguta stands seventeenth on one point with last round's Wildcard Damian Balinski on four and this round's Wildcard Thomas Jonasson on eight.

Premier League Darts: Week Fourteen

Commentator Sid Waddell returned to his hometown as the final league round of the Darts Premier League was staged in the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle. The fixtures reflected week six's which was just above the border in Glasgow.

Wade managed to do the double over Jenkins after his 8-6 win in Glasgow. Neither player could qualify for the semis but Wade could move up a place with a win. With the pressure off, Wade was in stunning form as he took a 3-0 lead with a 170 top checkout in the second leg. Wade then made it 4-1 with a 142 before making 5-2 with a 104. Jenkins did pull it back to 6-4 as Wade dipped in form but The Machine soon regained momentum to win 8-4.

There was a touch of deja vu as Webster faced Van Barneveld. Barney won 8-4 in Glasgow and he repeated the feat yesterday. Although, it was Webster who took the lead with a 109 checkout before the Dutchman retaliated with a 107 and took a 3-1 lead. Webster managed a 108 checkout to make the score 4-3 but he couldn't level and Barney went onto win 8-4.

In Glasgow, Lewis received an array of abuse that lead to Anderson becoming so frustrated he threw the match away. This time though Anderson was in fighting mood but Lewis stormed into a 4-1 lead. It went to 5-2 before Anderson hit the gas and won five legs on the spin to make it 7-5. But the World Champion fought back to earn the draw that would be enough to see him progress into the next week's Finals Night.

The final match of the night, and indeed the league stage, saw Taylor take on Whitlock. Taylor beat Whitlock 8-5 in Glasgow and he went two better in Newcastle. With the first three legs going with throw, Taylor went onto take the next five legs to make it 7-1. Whitlock was able to deny the inevitable by two legs before Taylor won 8-3. Here's the final table:


1. Taylor 23
2. Van Barneveld 18
3. Anderson 17
4. Lewis 14
5. Wade 13
6. Whitlock 11
7. Jenkins 8
8. Webster 5

Taylor will face his protege Lewis in the semi-finals with Van Barneveld going head-to-head with Anderson.

Liverpool Over-Take Tottenham With City In Champions League

There was the return of Monday Night Football this week plus the final rescheduled Premiership match yesterday, all of which concerned the matter of European football. Firstly, Liverpool travelled to Craven Cottage and it took thirty-two seconds for Maxi Rodriguez to put them ahead against Fulham. The Argentine then made it 2-0 after seven minutes before Kuyt pretty much finished the game off after just sixteen minutes thanks to a Schwarzer blunder. Fulham did start the second half better and pulled a goal back from Moussa Dembele twelve minutes after the restart But Rodriguez managed to bag his second hat-trick in three games with twenty minutes to go. The fantastic Suarez rounded the rout off five minutes however, the best goal of the night arguably came from Steve Sidwell four minutes from time when he curled one into the top corner to make the final score 5-2. Fulham remain tenth in the table.

The final rescheduled match saw Manchester City host Tottenham. The only goal of the game came on the half hour when Crouch turned a cross into his own net to give City the three points. Perhaps better news for City fans was that Carlos Tevez made a substitute appearance so should be fit for the FA Cup final on Saturday. The win for City also means that they are now guaranteed Champions League football but the defeat for Tottenham sees Liverpool over-take them in fifth. Stoke will also be pleased with result because no matter what happens on Saturday, Stoke will also be in Europe next season.

Three Is the Magic Number

There was a Super Sunday hat-trick with the results causing further twists and turns in the Barclay's Premier League. First off there was the Black Country derby as Wolves hosted West Brom. With all the sides around them picking up a point, Wolves couldn't afford to lose this game. Poor defending cost West Brom dear as Wolves took the lead after fifteen minutes when Fletcher took full advantage of an ill defended corner. Wolves were two up thirteen minutes later when another corner fell to Fletcher before bouncing off him for Guediora to tap home. Wolves sealed the match two minutes after the restart through Fletcher again but West Brom did score a consolation eight minutes later when Thomas fell under a Guediora slide tackle in the box, Odemwingie converted the penalty. The win sees Wolves move out of the relegation zone but still remain a point ahead of it. West Brom stay thirteenth and comfortably in a mid-table position.

The second installment saw Arsenal take on Stoke at the Britannia. Arsenal needed to win to secure third whereas Stoke needed momentum to take into the FA Cup final on Saturday. Again poor defending was punished as Stoke took the lead through Kenwyne Jones after 28 minutes. Stoke went 2-0 ahead five minutes before the break when a poor clearance was intercepted by former Arsenal student Pennant, he ran towards the goal before unleashing a deflected shot from outside the area past Sczcesny. Arsenal pulled one back nine minutes from time through Van Persie but any hopes of an equaliser were squashed instantly as Walters made it 3-1 a minute later. Stoke move ahead of Bolton into eighth on goal difference, Arsenal remain five points clear of Man City.

The final installment of the Super Sunday hat-trick saw three goals in the potential title decider. Manchester United took on Chelsea and it took just thirty-six seconds for United to show their title credentials in front of the Old Trafford faithful, Giggs found Park before the excellent Korean played Hernandez through one-on-one with Cech and the Little Green Pea secured his twentieth goal in his debut season for United. Chelsea were shell shocked and found themselves two down after twenty-three minutes; a short corner was poorly defended and a Giggs cross was headed home by Vidic, who may have been lucky to be playing after his handball last week. Branislav Ivanovic was also lucky to still on the pitch at half-time after persistent fouling could have led to a second yellow but Howard Webb was lenient. United should have had a penalty eight minutes into the second half when Lampard blocked a cross with his hand but again Webb gave nothing. It was then Lampard who pulled a goal back for Chelsea after sixty-eight minutes but it wasn't enough as United managed to see out the game 2-1. This means that Manchester United only need one point from their remaining two games to be crowned Champions for the record nineteenth time.

Red Bull Dominate Turkey

Another race, another win for Vettel. He makes it three wins from four but behind him was a lot of drama. From the start Rosberg over-took Webber into second and Hamilton fell back to sixth. Only twenty-three drivers started the race though as Glock had a gear-box problem.

Lap three saw Schumacher defend too hard and ended up clipping into Petrov which resulted in Schumacher damaging his front wing. Two laps later, Webber regained second place as he over-took Rosberg. Laps six and seven saw a great battle between the two McLarens as Hamilton initially over-took Button before Button retaliated a lap later. Lap seven also saw Alonso over-take Rosberg into third while his teammate Massa had climbed to seventh. The Brazilian then went one better as he over-took Hamilton for sixth place before they both pitted, Hamilton was quickest but Massa was fed into the Pit Lane and nearly collided with Hamilton but the Ferrari was able to heed and let Hamilton through.

Lap fourteen then saw Hamilton over-take Rosberg into fourth before Massa tried it four laps later but Rosberg was able to regain the fifth place. Lap twenty-one to twenty-two saw Massa and Button then over-take the slowish Mercedes to see Massa fourth, Button fifth and Rosberg sixth. Two laps later Button then over-took Massa before the Ferrari pitted just as Alonso was finishing his pit-stop.

Lap twenty-nine saw Alonso make a big move on Webber into second place and Massa over-took Button who decided on a three stop strategy compared to mostly every one's four stop strategy. Lap forty-six saw the only retirement of the race in the shape of Paul Di Resta for Force India. Button's strategy was beginning to show the flaws as Hamilton made it into fourth after lap fifty. Two laps later saw Webber get revenge over Alonso and secure the second place for a Red Bull one-two. Lap fifty-five saw Rosberg take advantage of Button's lacking car to take fifth. Full race standings:

1.Vettel (Red Bull), 2.Webber (Red Bull), 3.Alonso (Ferrari), 4.Hamilton (McLaren), 5.Rosberg (Mercedes), 6.Button (McLaren), 7.Heidfeld (Renault), 8.Petrov (Renault), 9.Buemi (Toro Rosso), 10.Kobayashi (Sauber), 11.Massa (Ferrari), 12.Schumacher (Mercedes), 13.Sutil (Force India), 14.Perez (Sauber), 15.Barrichello (Williams), 16.Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), 17.Malodonado (Williams), 18.Trulli (Lotus), 19.Kovalainen (Lotus), 20.d'Ambrosio (Virgin), 21.Karthikeyan (Hispania), 22.Liuzzi (Hispania) DNF: Di Resta (Force India) DNS: Glock (Virgin)

Bottom Sides Make A Point

With now only two games to go, yesterday's action still left us none the wiser as to who will finish where this season. There were another six games but no lunch-time kick-off so again we had to wait for the clock to strike three for the action to begin.

With Manchester City facing Tottenham on Tuesday and Stoke in the FA Cup next weekend, they were hoping to secure that final Champions League spot with a win away to Everton. It looked very much on the cards when Yaya Toure put City ahead after 28 minutes. But Everton fought back in the second half and former City player Sylvan Distin equalised for Everton although Hart probably should have saved it after 65 minutes. Everton then stole the points seven minutes later when Osman placed a superb header over Hart into the bottom corner. City remain six points ahead of Tottenham but both have three to play, as they both meet on Tuesday. Everton move to four behind Liverpool in sixth who play on Monday.

With Wolves not playing until today, West Ham, Wigan and Blackpool had the chance to take advantage. Wigan were away to Aston Villa and the Latics took the lead after ten minutes through N'Zogbia. But Wigan had to settle for a point when Ashley Young equalised with a good free-kick just seven minutes later. Wigan remain in the bottom three by a solitary goal, Villa stay fourteenth on 43 six points ahead of the drop.

West Ham also secured a point but it was a very nervy affair at home to Blackburn. Rovers took the lead after twelve minutes with Roberts tapping home. West Ham fought hard and managed to find that equaliser twelve minutes from time with Hitzlsperger smashing it home. West Ham remain three points behind seventeenth, Blackburn remain three points ahead of the drop in fifteenth.

With a catalogue of injuries and no recognised strikers, it was hard to see how Sunderland would score let alone win. Well they took the lead at the Reebok just before half-time when Zenden managed to beat the offside trap before taking it round Jaaskelainen. Bolton though they had rescued a point three minutes from time when Klasnic scored but Muntari fired a cross-shot that pin balled off Jaaskelainen then Knight before rolling into the net in the depths of stoppage time. Bolton remain eighth while Sunderland climb to eleventh.

Birmingham are still pressingly close to the drop after defeat away to Newcastle. Birmingham were the creators of their own downfall as Ridgewell received a straight red for hand balling on the line nine minutes before half-time, Ameobi converted the following penalty. If it wasn't for the outstanding Foster, Newcastle would have romped it and they did find themselves two up two minutes before half-time with Steven Taylor scoring on his return and on his 150th appearance. Birmingham did pull a goal back just before half-time through Bowyer but it wasn't enough. Newcastle stay tenth but Birmingham are just three points from the drop.

The tea-time kick-off saw Blackpool travel to Spurs. After seeing both Wigan and West Ham earn a point Blackpool knew they needed to follow suit or even better it. The deadlock was broken after 76 minutes with huge controversy; a minute before, Blackpool were awarded a penalty when Dawson handled, Adam stepped up but Gomes saved it. The resulting corner came in which Gomes flapped at before then bringing down Taylor-Flecther for a second penalty. Adam again stepped up, despite arguments with Campbell, and this time the Scot fired it home. But Spurs equalised before injury time through Defoe to leave Blackpool with just a point. Spurs move to six behind City but Blackpool remain seventeenth by that single goal.

Red Bull Control Istanbul

The qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix took place earlier although next year's race in Turkey may not happen for financial reasons. Q1 saw the usual six plus one, although the one was identified within minutes when Sauber's Kobayashi couldn't get back to the pits due engine failure. This means he will start last in tomorrow's race but at least he will be able to start despite falling under the 107% rule. No surprises with Karthikeyan 23rd but Liuzzi did manage to qualify ahead of Glock in the other Hispania car. D'Ambrosio qualifies twentieth behind the two Lotus' with Kovalainen beating Trulli. Perhaps the other surprise of the session was Massa recording the fastest time.

Q2 saw a disappointing qualifying for the Toro Rosso's with Buemi beating Alguersuari to sixteenth. Perez rounded off a poor Sauber performance with fifteenth place. The two Force India's sit twelfth and thirteenth with Sutil finally out-qualifying Di Resta, the are the double filling in the Williams sandwich with Maldonado fourteenth and Barrichello just missing out on Q3 in eleventh. No surprises with Vettel recording the quickest time.

Despite his impressive time in Q1, Massa became invisible to the rest of the pack and will start tenth in tomorrow's race. Renault developed a one lap policy throughout the qualifying session and it saw Heidfeld into ninth and Petrov seventh with Schumacher the meat in that sandwich. Alonso separates the McLarens in fifth with Hamilton out-doing Button again. But the surprise of the session sees Rosberg start off third tomorrow behind Webber and Vettel, Vettel makes it four Poles from four equalling the record that Mika Hakkinen set in the start of the 1999 season.

Premier League Darts: Week Thirteen

The penultimate of the Darts Premier League took place in possibly the smallest venue of the league, the BIC in Bournemouth. The penultimate fixtures are the rematches to the seventh week in Brighton.

The first match saw Whitlock take on Webster, Whitlock thrashed Webster 8-2 in Brighton. But with Webster consigned to last place the pressure has been taken off and it allowed him to play some good darts. After the two initial legs, the first six legs went with throw to leave the score at 3-3 at the break. Webster then broke Whitlock's throw in the seventh but the Aussie hit straight back. The highlight of the match came in the eleventh leg where Webster checked-out 127 as the match ended at 7-7.

Van Barneveld was able to the double over Anderson after an 8-5 win in Brighton, tonight's match looked to be a dress rehearsal for the semis. This match saw the first eight legs go with throw but unfortunately Anderson lost his way and allowed the Dutchman to capitalise with an 8-4 victory.

Brighton witnessed the first draw of the league between Jenkins and Lewis. The same pattern occurred as in the previous two matches with all first six legs going with throw. But after the break Lewis was on incredible form, taking out 100, 112 and 144 in legs seven to nine. Lewis then went onto win 8-3.

The final match of the night saw Wade play against Taylor. Taylor annihilated Wade 8-1 by the seaside but Wade desperately needed at least a point tonight. Taylor checked-out 157 in the second leg before taking a 5-2 lead. Wade managed to fight back to 5-4 but Taylor was able to see of Wade 8-4.

Taylor's unbeaten run now extends to twelve with 24 points. Anderson was already through but has now been joined by Barney with both players on sixteen. Lewis now looks favourite to clinch that final semis place on thirteen with Whitlock on eleven, Wade is also on eleven but his legs difference rules him out. Jenkins in consigned to seventh on eight points with Webster moving up to five.

Six Of The Best For United

With Manchester United carrying a 2-0 lead into their Champions League semi-final second leg, Schalke were already all but out. The German side needed nothing short of a miracle but, with Chelsea in mind, Ferguson made nine changes to his side from the first leg with only Van Der Sar and Valencia staying put.

Much like the first leg, United looked in control but Schalke did pressurise their defence and mid-field a lot more. But Schalke's miracle was forthcoming and United took the lead after 26 minutes when Darron Gibson played a beautiful through ball into Valencia's path who slotted neatly through Neuer's legs. It was the young German keeper's most impressive night as United were 2-0 up five minutes later when Gibson fired a shot that hit Neuer's leg before bouncing in. Schalke did get a consolation ten minutes before half-time when United failed to deal with the ball before Jurado fired it into the top corner.

Although, Schalke's goal wasn't the biggest surprise of the night because after, many months of waiting, Anderson fired United 3-1 ahead with a nice swivel shot into the bottom corner after 72 minutes. As the saying goes; you wait for one and two come along at once, and that's exactly what happened as Berbatov played a square ball along the box for Anderson to tap into the empty net four minutes later. United win 4-1 on the night and 6-1 on aggregate to set up that Wembley final against Barcelona.

Nou Camp Stalemate Sees Barca Through

Last night saw the final El Classico of the season as Barcelona hosted Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final second leg. After the poor performances and the backlashes of last week's anticlimactic first leg, no-one really wanted to see this match especially with Barcelona having a 2-0 aggregate lead.

Although there were no real 'hairy' moments in this leg, both teams were doing all they could to earn free-kicks via theatrics. The first half saw Barcelona own the ball and mount countless attacks on Casillas' goal but they couldn't find that breakthrough. But, as expected, Barca did the break the deadlock nine minutes into the second half with Pedro sinking Real's chances of a comeback. Marcelo equalised on the night ten minutes late but the Spanish giants played out the draw with Barca through to the Wembley final, expectant to see Manchester United there as they hold their 2-0 aggregate lead advantage at Old Trafford tonight.

This One's For You Dad

Last night saw the climax to one of the best World Snooker Championships for a long time. The final consisted of three time World Champion John Higgins and young superstar Judd Trump.

Trump beat his Welsh Open final opponent Niel Robertson in the first round, followed by Martin Gould and Graeme Dott before beating the plucky Ding Junhui in the semi-finals. Higgins started off his UK Championship route with a win over Stephen Lee before eventually winning his comeback tournament. Higgins did it again here before dismissing Rory McLeod in the second round. It only got harder for Higgins as he had to overcome Ronnie O'Sullivan in the quartes and world number one Mark Williams in the semis.

Trump got off to the best start in the final by taking a 2-0 lead but Higgins fought back to make it 2-3. They were locked on 4-4 after the first session but Trump again got clarity at 7-5 before Higgins again fought back for parity. Again Trump built up momentum and took a 10-7 followed by a 12-9 lead in the best of 35 frames. But Higgins again fought back like a true champion and took the lead himself at 12-14 before Trump continued to battle to 15-15. But Higgins' experience prevailed and he went onto win 18-15 for his fourth World Championship crown, a fitting tribute to his late father who sadly passed away in February this year.

A Sunday Supplement

Yesterday saw an unusual four games in the Barclay's Premiership. Perhaps even more surprisingly, three of the matches were televised so could witness all the drama from both ends of the table.

The first of the matches to kick-off was at Anfield where Liverpool hosted Newcastle on ESPN. It was a midday kick-off and Liverpool were ahead after just ten minutes with Rodriguez following on from his hat-trick last week. The second half saw Williamson foul Suarez in the box just before the hour and Dirk Kuyt stepped up to make it 2-0 for Liverpool. The match was finished six minutes when a sweet Liverpool move was rounded off by Suarez. Liverpool move ahead of Tottenham in fifth on goal difference while Newcastle remain twelfth.

The non-televised match also kicked-off at midday with Birmingham taking on rivals Wolves at St. Andrews. Wolves took the lead after seven minutes when Fletcher converted a penalty after Foster brought down Ward. Birmingham equalised after 27 minutes with Larsson making it 1-1. Wolves may be a little disappointed with the point because two minutes after Birmingham's equaliser, Gardner received a red card after picking up to yellows but the Blues hung onto the draw. Wolves are now a point from safety whereas Birmingham are four points ahead of the relegation zone.

The first of Sky's televised matches saw Arsenal host Manchester United in a crucial match for the title. After Chelsea's two pieces of immense luck yesterday, United also received a little bit of their own; Walcott produced a cross on 32 minutes which Vidic got to before Van Persie as it went away for a corner, however replays showed that Vidic used his hand and the Serb was extremely lucky to get away with it because it may have resulted in a red card as well as a penalty. The only goal of the game came eleven minutes into the second half with Ramsey slotting home to give Arsenal a deserved win as United didn't really turn up. Justice prevailed in the end because United also had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down when Clichy fouled Owen from behind with two minutes to go. The defeat sees Chelsea remain three points behind United with the two meeting next Sunday at Old Trafford, they also both have identical goal difference. Arsenal are now six points behind with three games to go.

The final game yesterday saw Manchester City take on West Ham. The game looked to be all over after just fifteen minutes when de Jong opened the scoring on ten before Zabaleta made it 2-0. But West Ham fought back and Demba Ba pulled one back after 33 minutes but City were able to hold on to the win. City are now seven points ahead of Liverpool and Tottenham in fourth, although City and Tottenham will meet in their game in hand. West Ham remain rooted to the bottom of the league but are still only just three points from safety.

Grand Prix Speedway Returns

The start of the 2011 Speedway season got under way last month and yesterday saw the return of Grand Prix Speedway. There were three new names to added to the fifteen man roster: Janusz Kolodziej from Poland, Antonio Lindback from Sweden and Artem Laguta from Russia. The first meeting of the season was held in Leszno, Poland and with four Polish representatives plus the wildcard, Damian Balinski, the crowd was in full volume.

The opening heat of the night saw reigning World Champion Thomasz Gollob get off to the best possible with a comfortable win. The second heat saw debutante Kolodziej prove his growing reputation with his first win also. The first bit of controversy came in heat three when Jaroslaw Hampel looked to have clipped Kenneth Bjerre's bike before falling off. Unluckily, Bjerre was excluded and the returning Emil Sayfutdinov, who was out for much of last season due to injury, won the restart. World number three Jason Crump won the fourth heat.

American veteran Greg Hancock rolled back the years with the win in heat five. Heat six saw major drama with Balinski guilty of a false start and, despite having already dropped to last, the race was restarted much to Gollob's disgust. The restart then Nicky Pedersen overtake Gollob but the Champion tried too hard to defend and ended up becoming un-seated and getting excluded from the second restart. In the end Sayfutdinov won the heat despite being nowhere near in the first two attempts. Fredrik Lindgren won heat seven in the battle between three Swedes and Bjerre won heat eight.

Nicky Pedersen won heat nine before Gollob won his second heat of the night. Hancock also won his second heat of night in heat eleven before Great Britain's Chris Harris won the twelfth heat.

Heat thirteen saw Balinski fall and despite getting back up, the referee excluded him and restarted the heat which Bjerre won for his second heat. Heat fourteen saw the top four of last season race; number two Hampel won it ahead of Gollob with number four Holta beating Crump to third. Young Kolodziej won his second heat in the fifteenth before Hancock made it three wins in heat sixteen.

The final heats saw Holta win the seventeenth. Gollob won his third race in the eighteenth. Lindgren won his second in the penultimate heat before Kolodziej suffered a bad crash in the final heat and was lucky to be able to walk away seemingly unscathed, Hampel eventually won the final heat.

The first semi-final saw Hampel and Sayfutdinov make it into the final with Hancock finishing third and Holta fourth. The second semi-final saw Gollob and Pedersen go through with Bjerre third and Lindgren, who initially crashed, in fourth. The final was won by Denmark's Pedersen with champ Gollob second, Sayfutdinov third and Hampel fourth.

Despite finishing second, Gollob leads the standing at this early stage with eighteen points. Pedersen is on seventeen in second behind Hancock and Sayfutdinov who are both on fourteen. Hampel is on twelve ahead of Lindgren on eleven, Bjerre on ten and Holta on nine. Unfortunately for debutante Laguta, he failed to score a single point in any of his heats.

Barcaly's Premiership: 30/4/11

With four games taking place today, yesterday's Premiership roster only had six games. Without an early kick-off we had to wait for the five three o'clock kick-offs before Chelsea took on Tottenham at half past five.

Blackburn helped their chances of survival with a win at home to Bolton in the Lancashire derby. Bolton were again without Sturridge and again looked nonthreatening up front. The only goal came from Martin Olsson after twenty minutes to see Blackburn move three points ahead of the relegation zone.

Wigan missed their chance to move out of the bottom three but are now eighteenth on goal difference after their draw at home to Everton. Wigan took the lead through N'Zogbia 21 minutes, N'Zogbia then became the villain when he conceded a penalty for fouling Arteta after 35 minutes, but Arteta's penalty was saved by Al-Habsi. Everton equalised twelve minutes from time via a second penalty; Rodallega penalised for handball and with Arteta off the pitch, Baines stepped up and converted to give Everton the point to stay seventh.

Blackpool could only muster a goalless draw against Stoke but the point keeps them out of relegation on goal difference. Stoke are in tenth. With Sunderland's injury list full of strikers, a goal against Fulham was never really going to materialise. Fulham made it back to back 3-0 wins with Kakuta scoring his first English goal after 33 minutes. Simon Davies made it 2-0 just after the hour before then making it three after 73 minutes. Fulham move to ninth with Sunderland sixth points from safety with a clump of teams on 41 points.

One of those in that clump is Aston Villa who lost away to West Brom. Villa did take the lead after just four minutes with Meite scoring an own goal. Odemwingie equalised for West Brom on the hour but the Baggies were reduced to ten two minutes later when Scharner received his second yellow. But West Brom went onto win the game with Mulumbu scoring six minutes from time.

Chelsea had the chance to move within three points of Manchester United at home to Tottenham and they managed to do so in controversial circumstances. Spurs did take the lead through Sandro on nineteen minutes. Chelsea equalised just before half-time when Lampard's long shot was spilt through his own legs by Gomes, the ball trickled on the line but Gomes looked to have stopped the ball before the whole of it went over, but the goal was given and Chelsea were level. Chelsea won the game just before stoppage time when Kalou finished off a through ball but replays showed that Kalou was offside and again the goal shouldn't have stood. But Chelsea keep the pressure up but Tottenham's chances of Champions League football seems to be all but over.