20 Medals After Day Two

The second day of the Paralympics closes with Team GB on 20 medals, which has seen us slip down to fifth in the medals table. Two medals were claimed in today's Athletics events; 21-year old Aled Davies from Cardiff claimed bronze in the Men's Shot Put F42/44 class. Davies scored 961 points for his 13.78m throw, it wasn't enough to beat Darko Kralj from Croatia who threw 14.21m or Denmark's Jackie Christiansen who threw a Paralympic Record 18.16m to claim gold.

20-year old Hannah Cockroft was one of the stone wall favourites to win gold this Paralympics and she didn't disappoint. Cockroft set a Paralympic record of 18.06 to win the Women's 100m T34 class. She finished 1.43 seconds ahead of silver medallist Amy Siemons of the Netherlands and 1.89 seconds ahead of Australia's Rosemary Little who set a Regional Record.

Mark Colbourne added gold to his silver medal he won yesterday. Colbourne beat China's Li Zhang Yu in the Men's Individual C1 Pursuit final. There were two medals won in the Men's Individual C3 Pursuit; Shaun McKeown took silver after losing out to USA's Joseph Berenyi in the final, Darren Kenny took the bronze.

Two other medals were won in the Velodrome today; Jon-Allan Butterworth claimed silver in Men's Individual C4-5 1km Time Trial. Butterworth lost to Spain's Alfonso Cabello in the final with China's Liu Xinyang winning bronze. Aileen McGlynn, with pilot Helen Scott, also took silver in the Women's Individual B 1km Time Trial. Australia's Felicity Johnson, with guide Stephanie Morton, set a Paralympics Record with a time of 1:08.919, beating McGlynn who recorded a time of 1:09.469. New Zealand's Phillipa Gray, with pilot Laura Thompson, claimed bronze with a time of 1:11.245.

The Hynd brothers, Sam & Oliver, won silver and bronze in the Men's 440m Freestyle S8 class. China's Yinan Wang set an Asian Record to take bronze with a time of 4:27.11. Oliver Hynd beat his brother into second with of 4:27.88 with Sam claiming bronze in 4:32.93.

Silver would be the colour of the day in the pool; James Crisp finished 1.23 seconds behind Australia's Matthew Cowdrey, who set a Paralympics Record of 1:02.39, in the Men's 100m Backstroke S9 class. Aaron Moores finished 2.59 seconds behind Netherlands' Marc Evers, who set a World Record of 1:01.85, in the Men's 100m Backstroke S14 class. Heather Fredriksen finished a whole 18.22 seconds behind USA's Jessica Long, who set a World Record of 4:42.28, in the Women's 400m Freestyle S8 class. Stephanie Millward also took the silver medal after finishing 1.65 seconds behind Australia's Ellie Cole, who set an Oceania Record of 1:09.42, in the Women's 100m Backstroke S9 class.            

Capital One Cup Third Round Draw

Manchester United v Newcastle
Manchester City v Aston Villa
MK Dons v Sunderland
West Brom v Liverpool
Crawley v Swansea
QPR v Reading
Norwich v Doncaster
Bradford v Burton
Preston v Middlesbrough
Arsenal v Coventry
Southampton v Sheffield Wednesday
Chelsea v Wolves
Carlisle v Tottenham
Swindon v Burnley
West Ham v Wigan
Leeds v Everton

Golden Double For GB On Opening Day

The opening day of the Paralympics saw Team GB secure seven medals, including two golds, as the team sit in third place. The awe-inspiring show kicked-off this morning with the swimming heats, watching a no-armed athlete win his backstroke heat followed by one-legged Sini Zeng take gold for China in the Women's Individual C1-2-3 Pursuit. Just the beginning of what will be an eye-opening spectacle.

Jonathan Fox took one of GB's two gold medals in the Men's 100m Backstroke S7 Class. Fox took the gold in a time of 1:10.46, over a second ahead of silver medallist, Yevheniy Bohodayko of Ukraine. Partially sighted, 16-year old, Hannah Russell began what could be an illustrious career after taking silver in the Women's 400m Freestyle S12 Class. Russell finished 0.71 seconds behind gold medallist Oxana Savchenko of Russia and 1.15 seconds ahead of bronze medallist Deborah Font of Spain. Nyree Kindred also took silver in the Women's 100m Backstroke S6 Class. China's Lu Dong secured a World Record time of 1:24.71 to claim gold, 1.52 seconds ahead of Kindred.

Then it was the turn of GB's answer to Michael Phelps. Sarah Storey had accumulated 16 medals, five of which were golds, in her Paralympic career so far. Well that became 17 today after Storey claimed her sixth gold medal after winning the Women's Individual C5 Pursuit by overtaking Anna Harkowska of Poland in the final. This is just one of four events that Storey is participating in after just missing out on selection for the Olympic team.

42-year old Mark Lee Colbourne claimed silver in the Men's Individual C1-2-3 Pursuit. Colbourne finished nearly three seconds behind China's Li Zhang Yu who claimed gold with a World Record time of 1:05.021. Germany's Tobias Graf claimed the bronze.

Ben Quilter won bronze in the Men's 60kg Judo after beating Japan's Takaaki Hirai via Ippon in the Bronze medal match. Azerbaijan's Ramin Ibrahimov took the gold after beating China's Li Xiaodong in the final. The final medal of the day was won by 20-year old Zoe Newson in the Women's -40kg Weightlifting. Newson took bronze with a score of 88, Zhe Cui won silver with 97 with Turkey's Nazmiye Muslu claiming gold with 106kg.                    

2012/2013 UEFA Champions League Draw

Group A: A very open group sees Portuguese champions FC Porto, who finished third in their CL group last season, face Dynamo Kyiv, making their first CL appearance since 2009/10. Big spending PSG, finished second in Ligue 1 last season, will play a big part in this group and can get through this group. Croatian side, Dinamo Zagreb, are the minnows of this group. They took part in group stage last season after an 11-year absence. Porto and PSG look the most likely to get through, but Kyiv will have a big say.

Group B: Arsenal will be rather pleased with this group. The English side will face 2011 semi-finalists FC Schalke of Germany, who finished third in the Bundesliga last season. Olympiacos meet Arsenal again, the Greek side finished third in the group last season after losing 2-1 and 3-1 to Arsenal. Champions League débutantes, Montpellier, complete group B after winning Ligue 1 last season, a reunion for Olivier Giroud. Slight deja vu for Arsenal who had French and German competition last season as well as Olympiacos. Should be pretty comfortable for Arsenal with Schalke and Montpellier battling it out for second.

Group C: AC Milan will also be pretty pleased with their group. They face Russian champions, Zenit St.Petersburg, who managed to get through the group stage before being knocked out by Benfica last season. Belgian champions, RSC Anderlecht, make their first Champions League appearance since 06/07 but made it into the second round of the Europa League last season. Big spending Malaga enter the CL for the first time but have financial trouble as of late, they could still be a team to watch in this group though. Milan and Zenit are the most likely to progress.

Group D: This is the Group of Death, or more aptly, the Group of Champions. Premier League Champions, Manchester City, thought they had a difficult group last season after finishing third. But they now face Spanish Champions, Real Madrid, who made it into the semi-finals last season. Dutch Champions, Ajax, face Real Madrid once again after losing 3-0 on both occasions last season and ultimately finishing third in the group. The group is finished off with German Champions, Borussia Dortmund, who will be looking to do better than last year's disappointment of finishing fourth. It's such a hard group to decide, Real Madrid should win it with City and Dortmund fighting for second.

Group E: Defending Champions, Chelsea, face a mixed bag but should be pretty pleased with their draw. They face Ukrainian Champions, Shakhtar Donetsk, who finished fourth in their group last season. Serie A Champions, Juventus, should be the biggest threat for Chelsea with debutante minnows, FC Nordsjaelland, rounding off the group after winning the Danish league last season. Chelsea and Juventus should get through with Donetsk trying to push for progression.

Group F: Last season's runners-up, Bayern Munich, should also be pretty happy with their group but will face a couple of tough challenges. Third in La Liga last season, Valencia, will be looking to build from their third place in the group stages last season. Third in Ligue 1 last season, Lille, will also be hoping for a better campaign this time around after finishing fourth last season. BATE Borisov continue their CL adventure but may not be able to progress from their fourth place from last season. Munich should win the group with Valencia possibly pipping Lille to second.

Group G: Celtic's return to the Champions League sets up a mouth watering tie with Barcelona. Last year's quarter-finalists, Benfica will also give Celtic a tough match with 2010/11 Europa quarter-finalists, Spartak Moscow. Could be rather elementary for Barcelona with Benfica probably out-muscling Celtic for second. Spartak will also provide tough competition for an Europa League.

Group H: A touch of deja vu for Manchester United who will be looking to do much better than they did last season. United faced Portuguese and Romanian competition last campaign and face SC Braga, third in the Portuguese Liga last season, and CFR Cluj, Romanian Champions, this season. A familiar foe in Galatasaray, who were quarter-finalists in 2000/01. United should be quite happy with their group despite a few tough away trips. Galatasaray could easily finish second with Braga their main competition.              

Capital One Cup: Round Two

Aston Villa 3-0 Tranmere: Goals from Fabian Delph (38), Chris Herd (66) and Darren Bent (81) give Villa their first win of the season against lower league opposition.
Burnley 1-1 Plymouth AET (3-2pens): Charlie Austin (37) put Burnley ahead before a penalty from Robbie Williams (90) force extra time. But it was the Championship side that would win on penalties.
Carlisle 2-1 Ipswich AET: Massimo Luongo (23) put Ipswich ahead. Mark Beck (90) then forced extra time where David Symington (99) put the League One side through.
Coventry 3-2 Birmingham AET: Peter Lovenkrands (4) put Birmingham ahead before Cody McDonald (20) and Kevin Kilbane (22) gave Coventry the lead. Jonathan Spector (44) made the game go into extra time with Carl Baker (97) putting Coventry through.
Crawley 2-1 Bolton: Benik Afobe (21) did give Bolton lead early on. But Billy Clarke (81) levelled before Nicky Ajose (90) sealed the shock victory for the League One team.
Doncaster 3-2 Hull: Goals from Aaron McLean (1) and Jay Simpson (10) gave Hull a commanding lead. But Dave Syers (30) and Rob Jones (57) made it 2-2. Paul McKenna (79) was then sent off for Hull before Syers (90) took full advantage to put the League One side through.
Gillingham 0-2 Middlesbrough: Mustapha Carayol (23) gave Boro an early lead before Cameron Park (90) made sure of the victory for the Championship side.
Leeds 3-0 Oxford: Goals from Rodolph Austin (26), Sam Byram (34) and Tom Lees (74) gave Leeds a convincing victory over Oxford.
Leicester 2-4 Burton: Chris Palmer (20) and Cleveland Taylor (53) gave Burton a 2-0 lead before Anthony Knockaert (60) pulled one back. A penalty from Robbie Weir (64) followed by a fourth goal from Jacques Maghoma (68) put the result beyond all doubt. Marko Futacs (90) did make it 4-2 but it wasn't enough to prevent the League Two side from progressing.
MK Dons 2-1 Blackburn: Two goals from Luke Chadwick (52 & 68) were enough to dump the Championship side out. David Goodwillie (83) scored Blackburn's consolation.
Norwich 2-1 Scunthorpe: Simon Lappin (32) put Norwich ahead before Mark Duffy (34) equalised in sublime fashion. A penalty from Wesley Hoolahan (56) was enough to separate the sides.
Nottingham Forest 1-4 Wigan: Mauro Boselli (25), Maynor Figueroa (35) and Jordi Gomez (44) gave Wigan a 3-0 lead. Simon Cox (47) pulled one back before Antolin Alcaraz (78) was sent off. Callum McManaman (90) ended the rout for the Premiership side.
Preston 4-1 Crystal Palace: Goals from Nicky Wroe (2) and Akpo Sodje (18) put Preston ahead before Aaron Wilbraham (37) pulled one back. Jeffrey Monakana (41) and Wroe (68) prevented any comeback to put themselves into the third round.
QPR 3-0 Walsall: Shaun Wright-Phillips (29), Bobby Zamora (66) and new signing Jose Bosingwa (84) eased QPR to victory.
Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Fulham: A penalty from Gary Madine (50) was enough to dump the Premiership side out.
Stevenage 1-4 Southampton: Goals from Tadanari Lee (53), Billy Sharp (74) and Jason Puncheon (76) eased Southampton through. Michael Thalassitis (90) thought he gave Stevenage the last word until Ben Reeves (90) made it 4-1.
Stoke 3-4 Swindon AET: James Collins (27 & 41) gave Swindon a 2-0 lead before Kenwyne Jones (63) and Jon Walters (86) forced extra time. Aden Flint (105) put Swindon ahead again before Peter Crouch (111) again levelled. Collins (119) secured his hat-trick to dump the Premiership team out.
Sunderland 2-0 Morecambe: A James McClean brace (24 & 65) secured Premiership side's passage.
Swansea 3-1 Barnsley: Danny Graham (24) and Luke Moore (59) gave Swansea the lead. Bobby Hassell (69) pulled one back before Moore (88) sealed Swansea's victory.
Watford 1-2 Bradford: Ikechi Anya (71) put Watford ahead before Kyel Reid (84) and Garry Thompson (90) put the League Two side through.
West Ham 2-0 Crewe: Nicky Maynard (34) and Modibo Maiga (55) was enough to put the Premiership side through.
Yeovil 2-4 West Brom: Reuben Reid (15) put Yeovil ahead. Goals from Chris Brunt (39) and Shane Long (45) turned the game around. Reid (48) levelled the game before Yassine El Ghanassy (73) and Long (81) put the Premier League side through to the third round.
Reading 3-2 Peterborough: Paul Taylor (12) and Lee Tomlin (17) put Peterborough 2-1 ahead after Pavel Pogrebnyak (16) had levelled. Chris Gunter (19) equalised again before an own goal from Nathaniel Knight-Percival (38) put Reading through.
Everton 5-0 Leyton Orient: Debut goals from Kevin Mirallas (16 & 29) followed by goals from Leon Osman (22), Victor Anichebe (35) and Magaye Gueye (67) eased Everton into the third round.
Northampton 1-3 Wolves: Danny Batth (16) gave Wolves the lead before Clive Platt (40) equalised. Frank Nouble (45) and Bakary Sako (90) gave Wolves the victory.  
    

Arsenal Can't Buy A Goal, City Gifted A Point

The second weekend of the Barclay's Premiership comes to a close with another addition Super Sunday. It began with Stoke entertaining Arsenal which was followed by Liverpool versus Manchester City. Both games ended in a draw but one was much more exciting than the other.

Arsene Wenger has been known to take a dislike to Stoke's style of football. But it led for a very defensive match with neither team really being able to break the other down. As expected, Arsenal did carry a greater attacking as their 12-0 corner statistic suggests. But it was Stoke who struck first with a goal ruled out for offside. A Peter Crouch knock down was followed up by Jon Walters who smashed the ball home, in an offside position.

Arsenal then had a soft shout for a penalty turned down when Andy Wilkinson looked to block a Lukas Podolski shot with his arm. In truth, the striker never really appealed as it happened far too quickly and it did initially look as if Wilkinson had headed the ball.

Most chances throughout the game from outside the box, the best came 11-minutes before half-time when a Santi Cazorla shot was magnificently saved by Asmir Begovic. If Arsenal's penalty shout in the first was tame then Stoke definitely had a bigger shout in the second half. Jermain Pennant was tackled to the ground Kieron Gibbs in the box, replays showed Gibbs just about got to the ball before sliding Pennant out. The best chance of the half fell to Olivier Giroud who tried lobbing Begovic from long range, the effort hit the roof of the net and it was perhaps a better option to cross the ball to substitute Aaron Ramsey who was busting a gut. The draw was probably the right result despite Arsenal's dominance in possession. This leaves Arsenal still searching for their first win this season and their first goal. Stoke have also drawn their opening two fixtures.

There was much more goalmouth action in the second game as Brendan Rodgers took charge of his first Liverpool game at Anfield. He had the unenviable task of stopping Manchester City and arguably threw the three points away.

After a good spell in the first half, Liverpool deserved a goal and finally got their rewards 11-minutes before half-time. A corner from Steven Gerrard was headed powerfully home by Martin Skrtel to break the deadlock. City never really got going in the first half and deserved to be 1-0 down at half-time.

Their attacking threat wasn't much more exciting in the second half and were gifted an equaliser. A Carlos Tevez cross was rather flapped at by Pepe Reina and the ball fell to Martin Kelly. Kelly failed to take the ball down on his knee and it rolled to Yaya Toure who gladly smashed the ball home.

But parity only lasted for three minutes before Liverpool re-took the lead. Substitute Jack Rodwell came on to a frosty reception and felt rather aggrieved when he gave a free-kick away for handball. Rodwell was sliding to block a shot and the ball ricocheted off of his knee and onto his arms. Luis Suarez took the free-kick and sublimely curled around the wall and into the bottom corner, leaving Joe Hart no chance.

Liverpool were then the makers of their own downfall yet again ten minutes from time, gifting City a point in calamitous circumstances. Skrtel went from hero to villain when he attempted to play a pass back. But it was far too short and Tevez was on hand to nip in, round Reina a roll the ball home to score his 100th goal in English football. Rodgers is still without a win in the Premiership for Liverpool, but should take a lot of positives from this performance. Maybe extremely premature, but City stay a point ahead of United but are five behind Chelsea with a game in hand.

World Championship Blown Wide Open

Two weeks ago, Greg Hancock had a ten point lead in the overall Speedway standings, but that has now been cut down to just a single point as Chris Holder mesmerised in Cardiff. The Australian won four of his fives heats on his way to winning the British GP, leapfrogging Nicky Pedersen into second place.

Holder took the meeting ahead of 2008 World U-21 Champion, Krzyszstof Kasprzak, who replaced the injured Kenneth Bjerre. Antonio Lindback followed his Terenzano victory by getting third place in Cardiff, ahead of fellow Swede Freddie Lindgren.

Holder also won the first semi-final ahead of Lindback, forcing Tomasz Gollob and Hans Andersen to depart at the penultimate stage. Lindgren had an awful start to the night, but came through to win the second semi-final ahead of Kasprzak. Emil Sayfutdinov came third with Nicky Pedersen getting forced out into fourth.

Kasprzak started the night finishing fourth in the opening heat, Sayfutdinov came third behind Hancock and Lindback. Nicky Pedersen started the night by gaining a point of the World Champion, taking heat two ahead of Holder, Andreas Jonsson and Gollob. Martin Vaculik continued his run deputising for Jaroslaw Hampel by winning heat three. Hampel is due back for the next round and Vaculik will then deputise for Bjerre for the remaining three rounds. Andersen took heat four ahead of wildcard Scott Nicholls, Chris Harris and Lindgren.

Nicholls would make it two second places in two heats as he finished behind Hancock. Andersen then made it two wins in two, taking heat six ahead of Crump and Nicky Pedersen. Then it was the turn of Kasprzak to light up the stage with a win in heat seven, Gollob could only manage third behind Vaculik whilst Harris picked up the rear. Holder started his charge to the podium by winning heat eight .

Nicky Pedersen continued to put pressure on Hancock by taking his second heat in the ninth, the American would only finish third, meaning Pedersen had gained a further two points in the overall standings. Lindback was pushed to floor on the start of heat ten, forcing a restart. All four riders came back and it would be Jonsson who beat Lindback to the chequered flag. Holder made it two wins in a row before Jason Crump lost control in heat-12 and hit the fence hard. He was subsequently excluded, allowing Gollob to kick start his night with his first victory.

There was a false start in heat-13, causing another restart. Again it would be Gollob who was the quickest at the second time of asking to make it two in two, Hancock again could only finish third. Holder began to put serious pressure on the American by winning his third heat in the 14th. Lindgren turned his night around with victory in heat-15, ahead of Kasprzak, Crump and Jonsson. Sayfutdinov also took his first heat of the night in the 16th with Nicky Pedersen only managing third.

Holder made it four from five in heat-17 after Hancock packed up, closing the gap even further. Lindgren then made it two in a row ahead of Gollob before Nicky Pedersen won his third heat of the night. Nicholls was overtaken by Kasprzak on the last lap of that heat, putting Kasprzak through to the semi-finals and Nicholls out. Sayfutdinov ended the heats with his second victory in a row.

Hancock does remain in the lead with three rounds of the Championship remaining. He's on 118 but Holder is now breathing down his neck on 117. Nicky Pedersen has dropped to third but remains just six points behind Hancock. Crump still has an outside chance of victory on 103, but it's going to be a tough ask.

Sayfutdinov now extends his lead over Gollob to three points on 96 in the battle for fifth place. Lindgren sits on 89 with Jonsson filling the final place for automatic qualification into next year's Championship on 76. Lindback will be fighting his fellow Swede tooth and nail for that eighth as he sits on 74 points, just two behind Jonsson.

Everyone else is quite a way off with Andersen sitting in tenth on 53 points. Harris is a further point behind with Vaculik now on an impressive 49 points, just three behind Harris. Hampel returns to action in the next round and will be looking to build on his tally of 46. Peter Ljung failed to pick up a point in the meeting and remains on 44, sitting 14th. Bjerre's final tally is 41 and will undoubtedly finish 16th as Bjarne Pedersen is just one point behind. Kasprzak's second place sees him go into 17th with a one round score of 13 points.  

PL Round-Up 25/8/12

Manchester United 3-2 Fulham: United come back from their Monday night defeat to squeeze past Fulham. However, it was Fulham that took the lead after just three minutes when a Bryan Ruiz free-kick was struck home by Damien Duff. It took just ten minutes for Robin Van Persie's full debut to begin, with his back to goal, the Dutchman fired United level in emphatic style. Another United new boy would make it 2-1, a Tom Cleverley shot was parried by Mark Schwarzer only to be tapped in by Shinji Kagawa on 35-minutes. It would then be 3-1 four minutes before half-time when Ashley Young crossed the ball for Rafael to head home after having a goal ruled out for offside a few minutes previous. Fulham fought back and made it 3-2 on 64-minutes when a Matthew Briggs cross wasn't claimed by David De Gea and the ball went into the net off of Nemanja Vidic's foot. But United did manage to hold on despite losing Wayne Rooney to a horrible gash sustained whilst blocking a Hugo Rodallega shot, early reports are that the striker could now be out for four weeks.

Aston Villa 1-3 Everton: Everton continue their 100% start from Monday night, leaving Paul Lambert still searching for his first Villa win. Steven Pienaar fired the visitors ahead after just three minutes with a great shot that found the top corner. Everton were gifted their second goal when another Marouane Fellaini header was turned into the net by Shay Given just after the half hour mark. The points were then wrapped up when a Leighton Baines pull back was scored by Nikica Jelavic two minutes before the break. But Villa's day was got even worse when Ciaran Clark was sent off for bringing Jelavic down in last man territory 13-minutes into the second half. However, Villa would end the game on a slight high when new boy Karim El Ahmadi made it 3-1 on 74-minutes, although Tim Howard would be upset that he let the flight of the ball bamboozle him. It may be a bit early to discuss Villa's future, but it is already looking bleak for the Premier League main stayers.

Swansea 3-0 West Ham: Swansea also continue their 100% start to the season, with a big helping hand from West Ham. The early kick-off began with Angel Rangel's low cross getting turned in by Jussi Jaaskelainen after 20-minutes. Miguel Michu then scored his third goal of the season when a pass back from James Collins was far too short, allowing the Spaniard to poke it past the keeper nine minutes later. The points were then wrapped up when a Wayne Routledge cross was turned in by Danny Graham on 64-minutes. Michael Laudrup certainly has the Midas touch at the moment.

Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle: Chelsea make it three wins out of three before they go and play in the European Super Cup. It would be an early case of European blues for Newcastle after coming back with a 1-1 draw on Thursday against Atromitos. It would also be three penalties in three games when Fernando Torres was upended in the box. It would be Eden Hazard who converted the spot-kick on 22-minutes. Chelsea then made it 2-0 when Torres linked up brilliantly with the Belgian before Torres curled the ball into the top corner in first half injury time.

Tottenham 1-1 West Brom: Steve Clarke continues his undefeated start to managerial life with a draw against Spurs. Tottenham did take the lead through a long range, deflected Benoit Assou-Ekotto shot on 74-minutes. But West Brom managed to get an equaliser in injury time when James Morrison eventually placed the ball into the bottom corner after a mammoth goal-mouth scramble.

Southampton 0-2 Wigan: St.Mary's first Premier League match in seven years ends in defeat to Wigan, a league fixture that has never happened before today. Wigan took the lead six minutes into the second half when Shaun Maloney played Franco Di Santo in, the Argentinian smashed the ball home to kick his season off after being Wigan's top goalscorer last campaign. The points were assured when new boy, Arouna Kone, stole the ball off of Jose Fonte before finishing the ball past Kelvin Davis in the one-on-one situation. Southampton are still searching for their first win back in the big time.

Norwich 1-1 QPR: With both teams getting battered 5-0 last week, they managed to steady their ships with a draw at Carrow Road. Norwich took the lead on 11-minutes when Simeon Jackson headed home an Anthony Pilkington cross. QPR were then awarded a penalty when Djibril Cisse was brought down in the box. Cisse then stepped up but his effort was saved by John Ruddy before Bobby Zamora scored the rebound, although replays showed Zamora was in the box before Cisse took the penalty.

Sunderland P-P Reading: It may be August, but we already have the Premier League's first postponement of the season. Sunderland's game against Reading was called off due to the Stadium of Light suffering from a waterlogged pitch on one of the wettest days of the year so far.   

Chelsea Comeback Makes It Two In Two

Chelsea line-up: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Mikel (Sturridge, 68'), Lampard, Ramires (Oscar, 57'), Hazard, Mata (Meireles, 84'), Torres

Reading line-up: Federici, Gunter, Pearce, Gorkss, Harte, Karacan (Le Fondre, 71'), McAnuff, Leigertwood, Guthrie, McCleary (Robson-Kanu, 86'), Pogrebnyak (Hunt, 77')      

Chelsea come from 2-1 behind to overcome a battling Reading side, 4-2. With Chelsea playing in the European Super Cup on the 31st, this game against Reading had to be rescheduled and the London club now start their season with two wins from two and, perhaps a little early to thinking this, go six points clear of Manchester United.

Just like Wigan last Saturday, Eden Hazard lit the stage and earned Chelsea a second penalty in two games on 18-minutes. Hazard managed to get around Chris Gunter into the box before the defender tripped the Belgian. Frank Lampard once again stepped up and converted the spot-kick into the bottom corner.

But it wasn't going to a procession for Chelsea despite taking the lead. Pavel Pogrebnyak burst onto the Premier League scene for Fulham and continued this fine goalscoring record with Reading's equaliser. Fellow new-boy Garath McCleary played a cross in to Pogrebnyak who managed to get ahead of Gary Cahill before heading past Petr Cech on 25-minutes.

Then Chelsea were hit by the sucker punch as Reading made it two goals in four minutes to silence the Stamford Bridge crowd. It would be another moment to forget for Cech though as a Danny Guthrie free-kick looked like it was going straight to him. But it somehow managed to hit the keeper and going into the net, giving Reading that lead just before the half hour mark.

The remainder of the first half was evenly played before Fernando Torres had a good chance to equalise just before half-time, but his header went wide. Chelsea then somewhat turned the screw in the second half before finally getting that breakthrough. It would end up being another goal that keeper, Adam Federici, will seriously want to forget about. Cahill tried a 30-yard shot that did swerve slightly in the air before Federici palmed it into the net, making it 2-2 on 69-minutes.

Chelsea would then re-take the lead in controversial circumstances nine minutes from time. Juan Mata and Ashley Cole linked up well before the Englishman played a cross in that left Torres with an easy tap in. But replays showed Torres was a quite a distance offside when the cross was played, but the goal stood and Chelsea lead 3-2.

This time it was Reading's turn to try and score an equaliser and substitute Hal Robson-Kanu tried the hardest to get the goal. But it was their attempts that ultimately cost them a fourth goal when Federici had no choice but to go up for a corner. The corner was taken by Ian Harte but Chelsea managed to win the ball. It then became a race between Hazard and Federici as the ball made it's way to the reading box. There was only going to be one winner and the Belgian was able to cross the ball into Branislav Ivanovic to slot home past Gunter, scoring his second of the season. This, prematurely, puts Chelsea on top with Reading still seeking their first win after two games. 

United FellEarli

Everton line-up: Howard, Hibbert, Distin, Jagielka, Baines, Osman (Coleman, 80'), Neville, Gibson, Pienaar, Fellaini (Heitinga, 90'), Jelavic (Naismith, 89')
Man Utd line-up: De Gea, Valencia, Vidic, Carrick, Evra, Cleverley (Anderson, 85'), Kagawa, Scholes, Nani (Young, 78'), Welbeck (Van Persie, 68'), Rooney

Manchester United's fight to win the Premier League title back began tonight in defeat against Everton at Goodison Park. Marouane Fellaini proved to be a mammoth figure in and around the United area and would provide the header that earned Everton three points on the opening game of the season, something the Toffees aren't quite used to.

In fairness, Everton looked stronger throughout the match despite having less possession. United's makeshift defence looked rather weak and question marks were raised as to why Michael Carrick, not Nemanja Vidic, was marking Fellaini when he headed home from a corner 12-minutes into the second half.

The first breakaway did fall to United when Nani broke free before being pegged back by Sylvain Distin who subsequently won a goal kick. Somehow, Nani felt bereaved at conceding a goal kick and lost his temper. Second later, the Portuguese stupidly retaliated to a tackle by going in half-heartedly two-footed on Leighton Baines and was perhaps lucky to only receive a yellow card.

The first half was dominated by Fellaini and Steven Pienaar, making his fourth debut for Everton. If it wasn't for David De Gea, United could well have been one or two behind before half-time. Even Baines challenged the Spanish keeper who pulled out some fantastic diving saves throughout the game. United's best chance of the half came early on when a snapshot volley from Paul Scholes was spilled slightly by Tim Howard before the American smothered it again.

It was more of the same in the second half as United walked an even thinner tight rope. Just three minutes after the restart, Leon Osman found himself with the ball at his feet which he fired a shot that came rattling back off the crossbar. This lead to questions being asked as to whether it would be Everton's day.

But those asking the question needn't have worried as another corner was awarded to the hosts on 57-minutes. Former United man, Darron Gibson, lofted the corner in where Fellaini out-jumped Carrick to fire his powerful header past De Gea and send Everton into the lead.

The goal did spark a bit more life into the United side but they still couldn't create enough to really upset the Everton defence. The two times they did get in behind the defence, United should have scored. Their first was their best opportunity but Phil Jagielka performed fantastically well to keep the ball off the line. A scramble in the box saw the ball fall to Tom Cleverley who only had the goal to aim for. With Howard out the picture, Cleverley's shot looked goal bound until Jagielka rushed back to flick the ball away.

United's other chance was created by their new £24m signing, Robin Van Persie. The Dutchman played a fantastic ball through to fellow debutante, Shinji Kagawa, but the Japanese couldn't quite get to the ball before Howard and Everton breathed once more. From there, it didn't look in doubt and Everton would indeed walk away with the three points. It's not all bad news for Manchester United though, it seems that 23-year old full back Alexander Buttner is close to signing from Vitesse after passing his medical. United have also gone onto win the Premiership on two of the three occasions they lost their first game of the season, proving it's not how you start a season, it's how finish it.

Deja Vu For City As Chelsea Also Start Right

With the first weekend of the 2012/2013 Barclay's Premiership, comes the first Super Sunday of the season. Both Community Shield counterparts kicked their seasons off in the right way with Chelsea overcoming Wigan and Manchester City squeezing past newly promoted Southampton.

The afternoon began at the DW Stadium where Wigan hosted the losing Community Shield side and Eden Hazard began to show just why Chelsea paid £32m for the Belgian. He was the orchestrator after just two minutes when he found Branislav Ivanovic with a sublime pass. The Serbian then managed to break free from the Wigan defence before breaking the deadlock.

The game was then virtually ended before it had even begun when Wigan's new signing, Ivan Ramis, fouled Hazard in the box after just seven minutes. Frank Lampard stepped up and converted the spot-kick to almost seal the three points so early in the game. Wigan did try their hardest to come back but the European Champions to be too strong.

Then it was the turn of the Premiership Champions who had a spot of deja vu. No-one could forget how Manchester City won the league last season, against a newly promoted side after going 2-1 behind to win in stoppage. Well they started this season against a newly promoted side but league clincher, Sergio Aguero's start to the season lasted for nine minutes after he twisted his knee under a Nathaniel Clyne challenge.

But that would have looked to have been forgotten about when they were awarded a 16th minute penalty after Jos Hooiveld tripped Carlos Tevez. David Silva stepped up but it was an extremely weak penalty and Kelvin Davis easily saved it. City would eventually take the lead though five minutes before half-time when Tevez was played through by Samir Nasri and the Argentine made no mistake despite being marginally offside.

The second half began with City somehow not making it 2-0. They hit the bar and missed countless of chances before an inspired substitute looked to make the hosts rue those missed opportunities. The talismanic Rickie Lambert came on on 55-minutes and within four minutes, he curled a fantastic effort to level the match.

Just like QPR, Southampton would then make it 2-1 with another piece of managerial genius from Nigel Adkins. Steven Davis entered the field on 65-minutes and within three minutes he finished off a great counter attack which new signing, Jack Rodwell, was guilty of conceding possession.

Then came the next deja vu moment when Edin Dzeko would once again make it 2-2, a la QPR. Southampton failed to clear a corner and the Bosnian managed to stab the ball home following a scramble on 72-minutes. Eight minutes later and it was curtains for the Saints as City had managed the great escape yet again. It was another poor defensive display that saw the ball fall to Nasri who smashed the ball home and grab the three points from Southampton's grasp.

2012/2013 Season Kicks Off

It's back and it's like it never went away. The Barclay's Premier League began again today and once again brought its drama, controversy and crazy score lines, just the beginning of what will be another fantastic, jaw-dropping season. Here's today's round-up:

West Brom 3-0 Liverpool: Brendan Rodgers' start at Liverpool begins in the worst possible way as Steve Clark produces victory over his old side. Zoltan Gera broke the deadlock two minutes before half-time with a half-volley goal of the season contender already, after receiving the ball outside the box from a corner and lashing it into the top corner. West Brom were then awarded a penalty when Daniel Agger fouled Shane Long on 58-minutes, Agger was subsequently sent off for being last man but Long then awfully put the penalty straight to Pepe Reina. But West Brom would then have another penalty when Long was fouled by Martin Skrtel. This time Peter Odemwingie stepped up and hammered the penalty home on 64-minutes. The game was then sealed when a poorly defended corner ended with on-loan signing, Romelu Lukaku heading home from close range with 13-minutes remaining.

QPR 0-5 Swansea: Michael Laudrup's season began with the first of, what will be many, crazy score-lines as Mark Hughes' revolution starts with a stutter. New signing, Michu, kicked his season off with a goal that Rob Green won't be proud of as it went through his hands after just eight minutes. Despite hitting the bar twice, Swansea would only be 1-0 ahead at half-time before Michu made it two with a curler after being played through by Wayne Routledge after 53-minutes. Nathan Dyer made it 3-0 ten minutes later before adding Swansea's fourth on 71-minutes. Scott Sinclair ended the rout with another good finish nine minutes from time.

Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham: Andre Villas-Boas' reign at Tottenham begins with defeat at St.James' Park. Demba Ba started his campaign with a great curling effort nine minutes into the second half. Jermain Defoe equalised for Spurs with a rebound after Tim Krul parried the initial effort on 76-minutes. Newcastle were then awarded a penalty when Hatem Ben Arfa got sandwiched in the box, Ben Arfa then dispatched the spot-kick to win the game ten minutes from time.

Fulham 5-0 Norwich: Chris Hughton's reign also begins in defeat as Martin Jol shows Clint Dempsey that they will survive without him. Damien Duff broke the deadlock when John-Arne Riise perfectly found him via a lofted pass on 26-minutes. Mladen Petric began his life in the Premier league with a headed goal from a corner four minutes before half-time despite Norwich's best efforts to keep it out. Petric found a fantastic goal on 54-minutes to make it 3-0. Alexander Kacaniklic made it 4-0 on 66-minutes before Hugo Rodallega was fouled in the box three minutes from time. Steve Sidwell stepped up and rifled the spot-kick home to round off a brilliant day in the Cottage.

West Ham 1-0 Aston Villa: The first of the new boys began their season with victory as Paul Lambert's reign at Villa starts with defeat. The only goal came in dramatic circumstances when the linesman had initially flagged Ricardo Vaz Te offside before he slotted the ball through to Kevin Nolan to roll home five minutes before half-time.

Reading 1-1 Stoke: The Championship Champions began their third Premiership campaign with a draw against Stoke. Michael Kightly began his Stoke career with a goal that Adam Federici spilled through into the net on 34-minutes. Reading were then awarded a penalty when Garath McCleary was fouled by Dean Whitehead in the 89th minute. Whitehead then received his second yellow card before Adam Le Fondre converted the spot-kick to earn Reading a vital point.

Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland: Life without Robin Van Persie and Alex Song begins with a goalless stalemate against Martin O'Neill's Sunderland. Santi Cazorla, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud had chances to score on their débuts but all of those chances were spurned. It was a good defensive game from Sunderland as the game fizzled out into a goalless draw.     

Capital One Cup First Round (Mon & Tues)

Fleetwood 0-1 Nottingham Forest: Dexter Blackstock (57) gave Fleetwood a baptism of fire to league life as Forest go through.
Oldham 2-4 Sheff W: On-loan striker Jordan Slew (7) and Jean-Yves Mvoto (27) gave Oldham a 2-0 lead. But goals from Jermaine Johnson (53), substitute Chris O'Grady (62 & 70) and Michail Antonio (87) turned it around for Wednesday to seal their progress.
Preston 2-0 Huddersfield: Goals from Jack King (29) and Nicky Roe (40) seal victory over much fancied Huddersfield.
Birmingham 5-1 Barnet: Jon Nurse (31) originally put Barnet ahead at St.Andrews. But a penalty from Marlon King (38) and goals from Steven Caldwell (49), Darren Ambrose (54), substitute Wade Elliott (90) and Peter Lovenkrands (90) made it look easy in the end.
Bristol City 1-2 Gillingham: A penalty from Danny Kedwell (45) and a goal from Ben Strevens (54) put Gillingham 2-0 ahead. Substitute Marvin Elliott (90) pulled one back for City but it wasn't enough.
Charlton 1-1 Leyton Orient AET (3-4pens): Scott Wagstaff (28) initially put Charlton ahead before Mathieu Baudry (45) equalised. The game then went into penalties which Orient won.
Chesterfield 1-2 Tranmere AET: With no goals in normal time, Cole Stockton (93) gave Tranmere the lead before substitute Jack Lester (109) equalised. Substitute Abdulai Bell-Baggie (120) won the game for Tranmere.
Dagenham & Redbridge 0-1 Coventry: A 90-minute penalty from Kevin Kilbane was enough for Coventry to squeeze through.
Derby 5-5 Scunthorpe AET (6-7pens): Richard Keogh (30), Jake Buxton (34) and Theo Robinson (40) put Derby three ahead. Andy Barcham (52) pulled one back before Buxton (53) made it 4-1. Mike Grella (63) and Bobby Grant (73) made it 4-3 before Nathan Tyson (83) looked to put the game beyond all doubt. But substitute Connor Jennings (90+5) and a penalty from Grant (90+7) forced extra time before Scunthorpe won on penalties.
Exeter 1-2 Crystal Palace: John O'Flynn (2) gave Exeter the lead before a penalty from Jermaine Easter (24) followed up by a goal from Kagisho Dikgacoi (43) gave Palace their passage into round two.
Ipswich 3-1 Bristol Rovers: Michael Smith (26) put Rovers in front before goals from Jason Scotland (40), Tommy Smith (56) and Aaron Cresswell (84) turned it around to put Ipswich through.
Millwall 2-2 Crawley AET (1-4pens): Hope Akpan (16) put Crawley ahead before Darren Ward (23) equalised. Nicky Adams (56) once again gave Crawley the lead but Millwall again levelled through substitute Shaun Batt (85). But Crawley weren't to be denied as they won on penalties.
Northampton 2-1 Cardiff: A penalty from Heidar Helguson (4) gave Cardiff a fantastic start. But a shock came when David Artell (37) and Alex Nicholls (48) won the game for League 2 Northampton.
Oxford 0-0 Bournemouth AET (5-3pens): No goals at the Kassam meant this game went into penalties. Oxford would take it 5-3 to crawl into the second round.
Peterborough 4-0 Southend: Goals from Lee Tomlin (12), Paul Taylor (28), Joe Newell (29) and George Boyd (58) secured Peterborough's easy passage into the second round.
Plymouth 3-0 Portsmouth: Johnny Gorman (45), substitute Paris Cowan-Hall (86) and Nick Chadwick (87) were enough to get past the struggling Portsmouth.
Port Vale 1-3 Burnley: Chris Shuker (9) had put Port Vale in front. But goals from Chris McCann (11), Charlie Austin (29) and Dean Marney (42) prevented any shock.
Stevenage 3-1 AFC Wimbledon: A Pim Balkestein (14) own goal and James Dunne (38) put Stevenage 2-0 ahead. Brendan Kiernan (41) did pull one back before Mark Roberts (45) put the game beyond all doubt.
Swindon 3-0 Brighton: Paul Benson (53) and a brace from Alan Navarro (65 & 75) were enough to overpower Brighton.
Torquay 0-4 Leicester: Goals from Lloyd Dyer (21), Ben Marshall (36), Matthew James (50) and Jamie Vardy (77) breezed past Torquay in this rout.
Yeovil 3-0 Colchester: A brace from Richard Hinds (4 & 44) and another from substitute Keanu Marsh-Brown (79) eased Yeovil into the second round.         

2012/2013 Premier League Predictions T-W

Tottenham: Players In: Gylfi Sigurdsson (Hoffenheim, Undisc.), Jan Verthonghen (Ajax, Undisc.) Players Out: Ben Alnwick (Barnsley, free), Vedran Corluka (Lokomotiv Moscow, Undisc.), Niko Kranjcar (Dynamo Kiev, Undisc.), Ryan Nelsen (QPR, free), Steven Pienaar (Everton, £4.5m), Louis Saha (Released)

With Spurs missing out on Champions League football by the smallest of margins, Andre Villas-Boas needs to take the mantle and try to secure it this season. Without Redknapp's genius, it may be hard for Villas-Boas to emulate him but Daniel Levy has to give him more time than Roman Abramovich. Verthonghen will definitely fill the gap that Ledley King has left and Sigurdsson should slot in next to Rafael Van Der Vaart, Gareth Bale and, possibly, Luka Modric. Sigurdsson performed fantastically at Swansea last season and will be keen to do so again. If they can Modric for another season, it may help Spurs a great deal in their tough challenge for Champions League football.

West Brom: Players In: Ben Foster (Undisc.), Yassine El Ghanassy (Gent, loan), Markus Rosenberg (Bremen, free), Claudio Yacob (Racing Club de Avellaneda, free), Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea, loan) Players Out: Keith Andrews (Released), Simon Cox (Forest, Undisc.), Marton Fulop (Released), Paul Scharner (Released), Nicky Shorey (Released), Somen Tchoyi (Released)

Without Roy Hodgson, West Brom could be the quiet team that slowly falls into the depths of the relegation zone. With no disrespect for Steve Clark, they no longer have that vital Premiership managerial experience and it could be a difficult transition for Clark. Foster will again provide stability in between in the posts like he did last season. El Ghanassy looks to be another young Belgian prospect who scored ten goals in 90 games for Gent from the wing. Rosenberg gives them European experience and could be a good partner for Peter Odemwingie along with Lukaku who joins on loan. Not much is known about Yacob who comes from Argentina and plays in the defensive midfield slot. It could be a slow season for West Brom and they could possibly be an outside chance to go down.

West Ham: Players In: James Collins (Villa, Undisc.), Mohamed Diame (Wigan, free), Alou Diarra (Marseille, Undisc), Stephen Henderson (Pompey, Undisc.), Jaaskelainen (Bolton, free), George McCartney (Sunderland, free), Modibo Maiga (Sochaux, Undisc.), Raphael Spiegel (Grasshopper, Undisc.) Players Out: Pablo Barrera (Cruz Azul, Undisc.), Rob Green (QPR, free), Ravel Morrison (Birmingham, loan), Franck Nouble (Released), Freddie Sears (Colchester, free)

Out of the three newly-promoted sides, West Ham have arguably made the better approach to stay in the Premiership again. Jaaskelainen has been a fantastic servant for Bolton and should do the same for West Ham. Diame and Collins also have plenty of Premiership experience that will be vital for West Ham along with Sam Allardyce who knows how to survive in the Premier League. McCartney also returns to his old stomping ground with his experience from Sunderland. Diarra brings vast European experience to sit in front of the defence and fight his cause. Maiga will look to score goals like his 39 in 147 appearances in Ligue 1. With at least one newly promoted team in recent seasons gaining top table places, West Ham could be that team this year.

Wigan: Players In: Fraser Fyvie (Aberdeen, Undisc.), Ryo Miaichi (Arsenal, loan), Ivan Ramis (Mallorca, Undisc.), Arouna Kone (Levante, Undisc.)  Players Out: Mohamed Diame (West Ham, free), Steve Gohouri (Released), Chris Kirkland (Released), Hugo Rodallega (Fulham, free)

Surely the question has to be, when will the Premiership clock strike twelve for Wigan? It has been remarkable how they have managed to escape from certain relegation in recent seasons and will surely be embroiled in another mass relegation battle this season. The fact they have managed to keep hold of Roberto Martinez is a great credit to Dave Whelan and that may end up being a key factor in Wigan maintaining their Premiership status. Kone was a good talent when at PSV and Ivory Coast, but had slightly slipped off the radar. But a striker never loses his eye for goal which is what Kone has. Fyvie is a midfielder for the future whereas Miaichi will provide speed down the wing. Ramis will provide experience and stability at the back alongside Gary Caldwell. But it is going to be another tough season for Wigan.          

2012/2013 Premier League Predictions R-S

Reading: Players In: Chris Gunter (Forest, Undisc.), Danny Guthrie (Newcastle, Undisc.), Arian Mariappa (Watford, Undisc.), Garath McCleary (Forest, free), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Stuttgart, free), Nicky Shorey (WBA, Undisc.) Players Out: Michail Antonio

When Reading first came into the Premiership, they were a breath of fresh air and caught everyone by surprise. Unfortunately, it's going to be a lot more difficult this season but they have made a couple of decent signings. Pogrebnyak made a great addition to Fulham towards the end of last season and could provide a good partnership with Noel Hunt and Adam Le Fondre. Guthrie and Shorey will provide that Premiership experience while McCleary and Mariappa will look to be able to make that step up. It is going to be a tough season for them and could be favourites to get relegated.

Southampton: Players In: Nathaniel Clyne (Palace, Undisc.), Steven Davis (Rangers, free), Jay Rodriguez (Burnley, Undisc.), Paulo Gazzaniga (Gillingham, Undisc.) Players Out: Dan Harding (Forest, Undisc.)

Southampton have had a fantastic revival in recent years and could be the surprise package this season. Apart from Davis, Southampton haven't bought any top league players that can bring that vital experience. But they have bought some youth prospects that will relish the chance to play in the Premiership. Clyne has brought rave reviews during Palace's excellent Carling Cup performance last season. Rodriguez possess speed down the wing whilst Gazzaniga has experience from Valencia despite never making a senior appearance. If they aren't going to be the surprise package this season, they could end up being the whipping boys this season.

Stoke: Players In: Michael Kightly (Wolves, Undisc.), Jamie Ness (Rangers, free) Players Out: Ryan Brunt (Orient, loan), Florent Cuvelier (Walsall, loan), Andrew Davies (Released), Salif Diao (Released), Ricardo Fuller (Released), Louis Moult (Release), Thomas Soares (Released)

Stoke have supplanted themselves in the mid-table of the Premier League as of late, but may struggle to continue to do that this season with their lack transfers. Kightly was one of Wolves' best players last season and relish the chance to continue to ply his trade in the Premiership. Ness looks to be a good young prospect who jumped the sinking Rangers ship and will look to try and control the midfield. They should still end up being a mid-table team this season without really progressing from recent years.

Sunderland: Players In: Carlos Cuellar (Villa, free) Players Out: Jordan Cook (released), Craig Gordon (released), Asamoah Gyan (Al-Ain, Undisc.), George McCartney (West Ham, free), Michael Turner (Norwich, Undisc.)      

Sunderland were perhaps one of the under achievers of last season. They spent quite a bit of money and didn't really perform throughout the season. With Martin O'Neill spending his first Summer at Sunderland, it is somewhat surprising to see that they have only made one signing so far. Cuellar does bring further Premier League experience as well as his rapport with O'Neill. The team should perform better under O'Neill as he tends to do extremely well wherever he goes, but again it could be another season of battling for that mid-table finish.

Swansea: Players In: Jose Manuel Flores (Genoa, £2m), Jonathan De Guzman (Villarreal, loan), Michu (Rayo Vallecano, £2m) Players out: Joe Allen (Liverpool, Undisc.)

Another side that could potentially suffer from second season syndrome. It makes it more difficult losing Brendan Rodgers, no matter how competent Michael Laudrup will be. What they have done well though is that, apart from Allen, they have kept the majority of their players. This means that all know what to expect this season and can influence Flores who will look to provide stability at the back, Michu who will look to learn from Leon Britton's example and Jonathan De Guzman who will look to score goals alongside Scott Sinclair and co.

2012/2013 Premier League Predictions L-Q

Liverpool: Players In: Joe Allen (Swansea, Undisc.), Fabio Borini (Roma, Undisc.) Players Out: Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina, Undisc.), Fabio Aurelio (Gremio, free), Craig Bellamy (Cardiff, free), Stephen Darby (released), Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbache, Undisc.), Maxi Rodriguez (Newell's Old Boys, Undisc.), Toni Silva (Barnsley, Undisc.)

Brendan Rodgers did a fantastic job at Swansea last season and could potentially do the same for Liverpool, given the time. Borini will add youth and goals alongside Suarez this season which will fill the space Kuyt leaves. As good as Allen was for Swansea last season, I'm not sure it's the direction of players Liverpool need to signing in order to really improve and stake another claim for Champions League football. I can't see them making that step up this season and may again have to settle for Europa League football.

Manchester City: Players In: Jack Rodwell (Everton, Undisc.) Players Out: Wayne Bridge (Brighton, loan), Owen Hargreaves (Released), Vladimir Weiss (Pescara, Undisc.)

Roberto Mancini has expressed his concern at City's lack of spending this Summer. The acquisition of Rodwell may not be that great for the youngster who will struggle to find a place in the team. They have the started the season well with the Community Shield victory and show that their extreme goalscoring power hasn't deteriorated. With Carlos Tevez now seemingly motivated and happy to stay at City, he will play a huge part in their quest to retain the title this season. A definite possibility with or without spending a further £100m this season.

Manchester United: Players In: Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund, Undisc.), Nick Powell (Crewe, Undisc.) Players Out: Ben Amos (Hull, loan), Ritchie De Laet (Leicester, Undisc.), Fabio (QPR, loan), Thomasz Kuszczak (Brighton, free), Michael Owen (Released), Park Ji-Sung (QPR, Undisc.) Paul Pogba (Juventus, free)

Manchester United will be licking their wounds after their heartbreak at the end of last season. Despite losing on goal difference last season. Sir Alex Ferguson has yet to bring in more fire power to prevent this from happening again this season. The saga with Robin Van Persie may continue until September 1st, but if United can gain the Dutchman's season, it could be the key to retaking the Premiership season. But if Van Persie isn't available until next Summer, United probably could do with looking for other strikers such as Fernando Llorente or Klaas-Jan Huntelaar who have both decided to not sign another contract. It's going to be another close season with United definitely looking to be back at the top of the league.

Newcastle: Players In: Romain Amalfitano (Reims, free), Gael Bigirimana (Coventry, Undisc.) Curtis Good (Melbourne, Undisc.) Players Out: Leon Best (Blackburn, £3m), Fraser Forster (Celtic, Undisc.), Danny Guthrie (Reading, free), Peter Lovenkrands (Released), Alan Smith (Released)

Alan Pardew's French revolution looks to continue with the acquisition attacking midfielder, Romain Amalfitano. He may be put in place to supplement Hatem Ben Arfa who has expressed his decision to stay. If Demba Ba and Pape Cisse can once again continue their partnership, they will once again be extremely dangerous this season. If they fail to do so, they have left themselves with a lack of striking options with only the Ameobi brothers providing cover. Curtis Good will look to be providing strength in the centre of defence whilst youngster Bigirimana will be looking to follow in Yohan Cabaye's footsteps. Newcastle will again fight for European football this season, looking to cement a Europa League spot.

Norwich: Players In: Jacob Butterfield (Barnsley, Undisc.), Robert Snodgrass (Leeds, Undisc.), Michael Turner (Sunderland, Undisc.), Steven Whittaker (Rangers, Undisc.) Players Out: Zak Whitbread (Released), Aaron Wilbraham (Released)

Chris Hughton has a tough job to stop Norwich from suffering from second season syndrome. It's going to be hard to emulate last season's exploits but the fact that they seem to have kept hold of Grant Holt will put in good stead to stay in the Premiership. Butterfield is a 22-year old midfielder from Barnsley which may be the wrong league to be searching for to gain survival. But Snodgrass will provide another goal threat this season and can finally make the step up from Leeds. Turner and Whittaker will provide strength that could be the key to keeping them up again this season.

QPR: Players In: Samba Diakite (Nancy, loan), Fabio (Man U, loan), Rob Green (West Ham, free), Junior Hoilett (Blackburn, free), Andrew Johnson (Fulham, free), Ryan Nelsen (Tottenham, free), Park Ji-Sung (Man U, Undisc.)

Mark Hughes' new look QPR may well be enough to also not suffer from second season syndrome. The fact they haven't broken the bank to buy that much needed Premiership experience. Green will look to reinstate his top class status in goal with Hoilett and Johnson providing a keen attacking threat. Nelsen will also look to help lead the defence as it tries to tighten up. Their best signing has to be Park who not only brings his wealth of experience but also his fantastic work ethic which could turn QPR around. If anyone will be a surprise mover this season, it could well be QPR or they will be embroiled in another survival story which could cost Hughes his job.      

  

2012/2013 Premier League Predictions A-F

Arsenal: Players In: Olivier Giroud (Montpellier, Undisc.), Lukas Podolski (Cologne, Undisc.), Santi Cazorla (Malaga, £16.5m) Players Out: Manuel Almunia (Released), Joel Campbell (Betis, loan), Thomas Cruise (Released), Denilson (Sao Paolo, loan), Gavin Hoyte (Released), Pedro Botelho (Atletico Paranense, loan), Carlos Vela (Sociedad, Undisc.)

Arsene Wenger has finally looked like buying quality players to try and mount a charge on the title. If Van Persie gets persuaded to play out his contract there could be some serious fire power up front. The down side will be that Arsenal will ultimately lose out on big money next summer, but a potential top three place would be worth it. Giroud was named Ligue 1's top scorer last season and scored 33 goals in 71 appearances for Montpellier. Podolski has also been a big name for Germany and will provide a good service for Giroud and, possibly, Van Persie. Santi Cazorla will provide extra speed down the wing opposite Walcott but they could still be rather fragile at the back which could ultimately see them struggle. They will challenge more this season, but it may end up being a battle for third or fourth again this season.

Aston Villa: Players In: Karim El Ahmadi (Feyenoord, Undisc.), Matt Lowton (Sheff. U, Undisc.), Brett Holman (free), Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord, £3.2m) Players Out: Carlos Cuellar (Sunderland, free), Emile Heskey (released), James Collins (West Ham, £2.5m))

Villa were very lucky not to be more embroiled in last season's relegation struggle. This ultimately cost Alex McLeish his job and now Paul Lambert has the unenviable task of leading Villa back into the times of O'Neill. But they will be missing a couple of key players (Albrighton and Agbonlahor) for the start of the season which will make it a tough start. El Ahmadi looks like he may play in the Stiliyan Petrov role, although it will be tough to fill that gap. Matt Lowton looks to be a young defender that may be more for the future but it may be argued Lambert is looking in the wrong place to improve his squad. Holman brings international experience and could be a very positive player for Villa. Ron Vlaar looks like a very competent centre back which will replace Collins and Cuellar. The problem for Villa is that they have one of the smallest squads in the league. This means that their unfortunate luck of injuries means they haven't got the resources to cope. Lambert also really needs to strengthen his strike force as Darren Bent continues to be their main source of goals. Agbonlahor has yet to hit consistent highs, but maybe Nathan Delfouneso can step up to the plate this season. Otherwise it could be another tough season for Villa and could be a shock candidate for relegation.

Chelsea: Players In: Eden Hazard (Lille, £32m), Oscar (Internacional, £25m), Thorgan Hazard (Lens, Undisc.), Marko Marin (Bremen, Undisc.) Players Out: Didier Drogba (Shanghai Shenhua, free), Salomon Kalou (Lille, free), Jose Bosingwa (Released), Jeffrey Bruma (Hamburg, loan), Thibaut Courtois, Atletico Madrid, loan), Rohan Ince (Yeovil, loan), Tamas Kalas & Patrick Van Aanholt (Vitesse, loan), Milan Lakovic & Matej Delac (Guimaraes, loan), Ulises Davila (Sabadell, loan), Romelu Lukaku (WBA, loan), Kevin De Bruyne (Bremen, loan)

Chelsea have once again showed their financial strength, splashing the cash once again this season. The reigning European champions kicked their season off with the Community Shield defeat to Man City, but that won't deter their chances of the title. Hazard, Oscar and Marin all young attacking prospects that will look the set the league ablaze. The only problem is trying to fit them all in, they all essentially play in the same position so unless Roberto Di Matteo plays a rotation system, there could be a couple of unhappy new signings. With Drogba gone, this has to be Torres' season to step up to the plate and already started with the opening goal at Villa Park. They will definitely be a contender for the league this season.

Everton: Players In: Steven Naismith (Rangers, free), Steven Pienaar (Tottenham, £4.5m) Players Out: Tim Cahill (Red Bulls, Undisc.), Marcus Hahnemann (Released), James McFadden (Released), Jack Rodwell (Man City, Undisc.), James Wallace (Tranmere, Undisc.), Joseph Yobo (Fenerbache, Undisc.)

Everton need to acquire a good start to the league in order to put another quest for European football back on the agenda. Naismith's arrival could be seen as a possible replacement for Cahill and Rodwell and could provide a good service for Jelavic. Pienaar will once again light up Goodison, the place where he really shouldn't have left. The loss of Rodwell and Cahill will be a big one and with the lack of squad depth David Moyes has, it will be hard for them to gain European football this season and I think they'll fall just short.

Fulham: Players In: Mladen Petric (Hamburg, free), Sascha Riether (Cologne, loan), Hugo Rodallega (Wigan, free) Players Out: Dickson Etuhu (Blackburn, Undisc.), Bjorn Helge Riise (Released), Andrew Johnson (QPR, free), Danny Murphy (Blackburn, free), Marcel Gecov (Gent, Undisc.), Orlando Sa (released)

Fulham's season could well rest on whether they can keep Clint Dempsey or not. He has been their best player for many recent seasons and arguably their most consistent goalscorer. Martin Jol's Bundesliga experience has allowed him to bring in former employee Petric who scored 38 goals in 98 games for Hamburg. Sascha Riether also comes from the German league and will be looking to help Hangeland in defence but also a service to the strikers. Rodallega brings his Premiership experience and with better service, Rodallega has to finally show us a consistent goal scoring threat that he didn't show for Wigan. Martin Jol looks to be going in the right direction, but it may only be a mid-table fight for them this season.         

Farewell London 2012

Tonight we say farewell London, hello Rio as the 2012 Olympics came to an end. The stars took to the stadium to perform in the Closing Ceremony as we mark the end of a fantastic few weeks with a few more medals, just to add to the celebrations.

Boxing continued one of our most successful sports at this Olympics, as two more medals were added to make it five in total. 21-year old Cardiff lad, Freddie Evans, secured a silver medal in his final bout against Kazakhstan's Serik Sapiyev. Unfortunately, Evans couldn't topple the Kazakhstani and was on the wrong end of a 17-9 scoreline. But take nothing away from the young man's achievement to take the silver medal.

It got better for Anthony Joshua, who only laced up his first Boxing glove four years ago. Joshua took on Italy's reigning Olympic champion, Roberto Cammarelle, and found himself three points behind going into the last round. Joshua then fought with everything he had to level the scores at the end of the contest at 18-18. The result then had to be decided on count back, which went in Joshua's favour. Just to make it more dramatic, the Italians appealed the decision. But it massively backfired as it turned out Joshua should have won by more than he did to win the final gold medal for Team GB.

Our final medal in London 2012 came in the final event in the games. The Modern Pentathlon finished with Samantha Murray taking the silver medal with a fantastic second place in the Combined Event. Murray finished with 5356 points, behind Lithuania's Laura Asadauskaite who set an Olympic Record with a total of 5408. Brazil's Yane Marques took bronze with 5340.

So, as we hand over to Brazil and Rio de Janeiro, there's just one more thing to say. Congratulations to Mo Farah, Greg Rutherford, Robert Grabarz, Christine Ohuruogu, Jessica Ennis, Luke Campbell, Freddie Evans, Anthony Ogogo, Anthony Joshua, Nicola Adams, Ed McKeever, Liam Heath, Jon Schofield, Bradley Wiggins, Christopher Froome, Elizabeth Armitstead, Tim Baillie, Etienne Stott, David Florence, Richard Hounslow, Jason Kenny, Sir Chris Hoy, Ed Clancy, Philip Hindes, Geraint Thomas, Steven Burke, Peter Kennaugh, Victoria Pendleton, Laura Trott, Dani King, Joanna Roswell, Tom Daley, Charlotte Dujardin, Laura Bechtolsheimer, Carl Hester, Nick Skelton, Ben Maher, Scott Brash, Peter Charles, William Fox-Pitt, Nicola Wilson, Zara Phillips, Mary King, Kristina Cook, Louis Smith, Max Whitlock, Sam Oldham, Daniel Purvis, Kristian Thomas, Beth Tweddle, Female Hockey Team, Gemma Gibbons, Karina Bryant, Samantha Murray, Alan Campbell, George Nash, William Satch, Alex Gregory, Pete Reed, Tom James, Andrew Triggs-Hodge, The Men's Eight Team, Zac Purchase, Mark Hunter, Pete Chambers, Rob Williams, Richard Chambers, Chris Bartley, Helen Glover, Heather Stanning, Anna Watkins, Katherine Grainger, Katherine Copeland, Sophie Hosking, Ben Ainslie, Nick Dempsey, Luke Patience, Stuart Bithell, Iain Percy, Andrew Simpson, Hannah Mills, Saskia Clark, Peter Robert Russell Wilson, Michael Jamieson, Rebecca Adlington, Andy Murray, Laura Robson, Lutalo Muhammad, Jade Jones, Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and all of the other medal winners in the games as well as everyone who took part.

Good luck Rio, we shall see you in four years.     

Capital One Cup 1st Round Results (Sat & Sun)

Bury 1-2 Middlesbrough: Goals from Mario Emnes (33) and Grant Leadbitter (61) gave Boro a 2-0 lead. Mark Hughes (64) pulled a goal back but it wasn't enough. Efetobore Sodje was also sent off in injury time.
Carlisle 1-0 Accrington Stanley: Matty Robson (39) scores only goal to put Carlisle through.
Cheltenham 1-1 MK Dons AET (3-5pens): MK Dons looked in trouble when Stephen Gleeson (40) was sent off. But Dean Bowditch (45) put them in front before Kaid Mohamed (58) levelled for Cheltenham.
Crewe 5-0 Hartlepool: Goals from AJ Leitch-Smith (7), Max Clayton (13 & 39) and Mathias Pogba (34 & 90) wiped Hartlepool aside to give League One new boys a great start to the season.
Doncaster 1-1 York AET (4-2pens): League Two new boys took the lead through Michael Coulson (65). But a penalty from Michael Brown (74) forced extra time and then the dreaded penalty shoot-out.
Hull 1-1 Rotherham AET (7-6pens): Substitute Lionel Ainsworth (52) gave Rotherham the lead. But Aaron McLean (70) saved Hull's blushes before the Championship side won on penalties.
Leeds 4-0 Shrewsbury: Goals from Luciano Becchio (20), new boys Luke Varney (26) and David Norris (66) and a penalty from Ross McCormack (70) gave the new look Leeds an easy victory.
Notts County 0-1 Bradford AET: James Hanson (95) puts Bradford through with his goal in extra time.
Rochdale 3-4 Barnsley AET: Andrew Tutte (6) put Rochdale in front before John Stones (45) and Craig Davies (79) made it 2-1 to Barnsley. Ben Alnwick was then sent off for conceding a penalty in injury time which Jason Kennedy converted, forcing extra time. A brace from substitute Chris Dagnall (95 & 105) made it 4-2 to Barnsley. Rochdale pulled one back with Kennedy (105) converting a second penalty.
Sheffield United 2-2 Burton Albion AET (4-5pens): Adi Yussuf (34) put Burton ahead before Nick Blackman (51), on loan from Blackburn, forced extra time. Cleveland Taylor (97) put Burton ahead again before Neil Collins (105) equalised again. Marcus Holness (105) would the receive a second yellow card, meaning he missed out on the penalty shoot-out won by Burton.
Walsall 1-0 Brentford: Ashley Hemmings (8) scored the only goal to put Walsall through. Jake Reeves (25) was sent off for Brentford.
Watford 1-0 Wycombe AET: Chris Iwelumo (109) finally ended Wycombe's challenge to put the Championship team through.
Wolves 1-1 Aldershot AET (7-6pens): Stale Stolbakken's reign began in nail-biting fashion. Sylvain Ebanks-Blake (53) gave Wolves the lead before Michael Rankine (62) forced extra time. Wolves just about managed to overcome Aldershot on penalties.
Blackpool 1-2 Morecambe: Goals from Lewis Alessandra (6) and Andrew Fleming (56) put Morecambe 2-0 ahead. Alex Baptiste (77) pulled one back for Blackpool but the Championship side are dumped out.          

City Take First Piece of Silverware

Chelsea line-up: Cech, Terry (c), Cole, Ivanovic, Luiz, Lampard, Mikel, Ramires, Torres, Mata (Sturridge, 75'), Hazard (Bertrand, 71')
Manchester City line-up: Pantilimon, Kompany (c), Zabaleta, Kolarov, Savic (Clichy, HT), Milner, Y.Toure, De Jong, Tevez (Dzeko, 89'), Aguero, Nasri (Silva, 77')

Manchester City start this season the way they ended the last, coming from behind to win silverware. After going 1-0 down, City overcame 10-man Chelsea 3-2 to take the glory in this season's curtain raiser. With Wembley recovering following yesterday's Olympic final, Villa Park hosted the match and the fans were not disappointed.

The game was feisty throughout and this lead to a rather even first half. Carlos Tevez forced the first shot in anger which was easily saved by Petr Cech whilst new signing, Eden Hazard, was looking bright down the left for Chelsea to begin with, but he soon realised how tough the Premiership is.

The first of eight yellow cards was brandished after 11-minutes when Stefan Savic was booked for fouling Hazard, the first of many petulant fouls throughout the match. City did begin to create a few more chances than Chelsea but nothing to really panic Cech and his defence. Hazard's most notable moment of the match may well end up being an attempted back heel that caused him to fall flat on his face.

With the game seemingly to remain a stalemate as the half-time whistle approached, Chelsea found the key to unlock the three man City defence. Ramires made a great run before playing a ball into Fernando Torres' path and the Spaniard made no mistake, opening his account already for the season, five minutes before the break.

But, just two minutes later, the game would become a little more difficult when Branislav Ivanovic went in two-footed on Aleksandr Kolarov. The referee, Kevin Friend, had no choice but to give Ivanovic his first red card in a Chelsea shirt and they would now have to play the second half a man down.

City took full advantage and were level seven minutes after the restart. A James Milner cross was cleared by John Terry, but only as far as Yaya Toure. Toure smashed the ball into the bottom corner, further showing how much of an asset he is to Manchester City.

It was then 2-1 just before the hour mark as City turned the game on its head. Tevez picked up the ball on the edge of the box, made his way into a more central position with the ball before unleashing his effort past Cech. With his recent saga seemingly all sorted, how vital will Tevez be this season for City?

The game then looked to be beyond all doubt on 65-minutes when City made it 3-1. Kolarov made his way down the wing before playing the ball back across goal. Samir Nasri was only too happy to poke the ball past Cech on the volley to seemingly wrap the Community Shield up for them.

But Chelsea did give themselves a chance to comeback when Ryan Bertrand scored his first ever Chelsea goal, 11-minutes from time. The goal came about when Daniel Sturridge's shot was horribly spilled by number two keeper, Costel Pantilimon, Bertrand was the quickest to react and easily made it 3-2. Pantilimon would then keep a hold of the ball with Bertrand trying to wrestle it off him. This farcical exchange resulted in both players earning yellow cards.

The goal would only prove a consolation though as Chelsea couldn't find a third way through the Man City defence. But both teams has shown the rest of the league just what they have to offer as they both bid to win the 2012/2013 Barclay's Premier League.     

Lindback Wins His First

Antonio Lindback has raced in 52 GP events and now he has won his first of them in Terenzano, Italy. It was the eighth round of this year's series and Lindback took it after the final had to be restarted. Martin Vaculik continued his dream start to life in the GP by making it into the final, but would ultimately crash out at the start. It did look a bad crash as he landed on his head and the ambulance was called onto the track. But, luckily, Vaculik did get back to his feet and walk back to the paddock to watch the restart of the final.

The Swede made a brilliant start which ultimately gave him the win in the final ahead of Emil Sayfutdinov who gained the most points in the meeting. Greg Hancock finished third, meaning that he could open a lead at the top of the standings to ten points.

Sayfutdinov won his semi-final ahead of Lindback. Nicky Pedersen and Jason Crump, second and third in the standings, finished third and fourth in that semi-final, hence why Hancock managed to open a lead. Vaculik beat Hancock to win the second semi-final ahead of Chris Holder, fourth in the standings, and Andreas Jonsson.

The night began with Lindback taking the opening heat. That was followed by Sayfutdinov beating Hancock, Nicky Pedersen and Crump to victory in the second heat. Vaculik started his night with a fourth place in heat three with Holder taking the win. Thomasz Gollob began his night in third, ahead of wildcard Nicholas Covatti, but behind Chris Harris and Kenneth Bjerre who won the heat.

Jonsson took heat five ahead of Crump, Harris and Bjarne Pedersen. Sayfutdinov then made it two heats from two with Gollob only managing to finish fourth. Nicky Pedersen responded to his third place by winning heat seven ahead of Bjerre, Lindback and Holder. Vaculik then took heat eight ahead of Hancock.

Holder took his second heat of the night in the ninth, this meant Sayfutdinov had been beaten for the first time  in second, Jonsson came third with Covatti fourth. Bjerre packed up at the start of heat ten, leaving him to watch Crump take the heat from Vaculik and Lindgren. Hancock also opened his account in heat-11 with victory over Gollob and Lindback. Heat-12 was surprisingly won Peter Ljung who finished ahead of Harris and Nicky Pedersen.

Vaculik then won his second heat in the the 13th ahead of Gollob, Nicky Pedersen and Jonsson. Harris looked to continue his rise with victory in heat-14 with Lindgren second, Holder third and Hancock fourth. Lindback then took his second heat of the night ahead of Crump with Hans Andersen picking up a heat win in the 16th ahead of Sayfutdinov.

Hancock also took his second heat of the night in the 17th, finishing ahead of Jonsson. That was quickly followed up by Nicky Pedersen taking his second heat of the night with Covatti taking second. Heat-19 saw Harris his a rut in the start, this caused him to lose his bike and was subsequently excluded from the restart, a result that saw him miss out on the semi-finals via count back. Vaculik won the restart, claiming his third heat of the night, with Sayfutdinov second and Lindback third. Crump would take his second heat in the final race ahead of Holder and Gollob.

After eight rounds, Hancock stands on 111 points. Nicky Pedersen is now ten points behind on 101 while Crump sits further behind on 97. Holder is currently fourth on 94 with a ten point gap between himself and Sayfutdinov. Gollob sits a point behind the Russian on 83 with Freddie Lindgren on 77 and Jonsson completing the top eight on 70.

The win for Lindback means his challenge to get into the top eight stands at eight points on 62. The rest are quite a way behind, Harris is tenth on 46, level with Jaroslaw Hampel who is still to return. Ljung is 12th on 44 with Andersen on 43. Vaculik's fantastic performances has put him on 42 which is a point more than what Bjerre and Bjarne Pedersen have accumulated throughout the whole series.

Another Fantastic Saturday

Another Saturday, another fantastic medal haul to round off the penultimate day of the 2012 Olympics. The overall tally now stands at 62 with a fantastic 28 gold medals. Despite this fantastic achievement, Jamaica and Usain Bolt still couldn't be undermined as they once again created history in the Men's 4x100M Final. The team of Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohann Blake and Bolt took the gold (Bolt's third) with a new World Record time of 36.84 seconds. Team USA finished with silver in a National Record time of 37.04, Trinidad and Tobago won bronze with 38.12.

There have already been plenty of candidates to stake their claim for this year's Sports Personality of the Year award, now steps up Mo Farah. After his fantastic 10,000M gold last week, Farah returned to the track to add the 5,000M to his collection with a time of 13:41:66. Ethiopia's Dejen Gebremeskel took silver with a time of 13:41:98, Kenya's Thomas Pkemei Longosiwa won bronze with 13:42:36.

Cardiff's Luke Campbell also walked away with gold after beating Ireland's John Joe Nevin in the Bantam final. Campbell floored Nevin in the third round which helped him gain a 14-11 victory over the Irishman. This marks another youth prospect as the 24-year old has a glittering career in front of him.

The day began with gold today in the Men's K1 Kayak event. Britain's Ed McKeever took the 26th gold medal in a time of 36.246. He beat Spain's Saul Craviotto Rivero who took silver with 36.540 and Canada's Mark De Jonge who won bronze in 36.657.

Our final medal of the night came in the Men's 10m Diving event where 18-year old Tom Daley did his late dad proud. After squeezing through the preliminaries yesterday, Daley managed to finish fourth in the semi-final earlier today before doing battle in tonight's final. In the end, his 3.3 point dive in round six wasn't quite enough to secure gold and had to settle for bronze with a total of 556.95, and was duly belated. China's Qiu Bo won silver with 566.85 with USA's David Boudia claiming gold with a total of 568.65.

Unfortunately, the Men's Hockey team couldn't emulate the Women in today's bronze medal match against Australia. Simon Orchard put the Aussies ahead on 16:45 before a penalty corner from Iain Lewers levelled for GB on 28:39. However, they couldn't carry that momentum forward and found themselves behind again after a penalty corner from Jamie Dwyer on 47:56. The match was wrapped up for Australia when Kieran Govers made it 3-1 on 56:59.

The shock of the day was arguably seeing Brazil continue to wait for an Olympic Football gold medal. They faced Mexico in today's final and found themselves 1-0 down after just 29-seconds when poor defending allowed Oribe Peralta to score the quickest Olympic goal. Brazil looked shell shocked and their mountain became even steeper when Peralta headed his second goal home from a corner with 15-minutes left. Brazil tried to mount a comeback and did manage to pull a goal back through Hulk in injury time, but it would only prove as a consolation as Mexico walk away with gold.                

57 Medals But No More Golds Today

Team GB secured five more medals today with at least two more on the way, taking our overall tally to 57. Our first came in the final race of the Women's 470 race where Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark secured Britain's fourth silver medal in Sailing.

The pair were in a battle with New Zealand's duo, Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie, for the gold medal but could only manage ninth in the final race. The New Zealand duo scored a time of 32:34 to win the final event and secure gold with an overall tally of 53. The Brits would finish on 59 to scoop silver with the Dutch pairing, Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout, winning bronze.

The first of our Male Boxing medals came for Anthony Ogogo today after losing his semi-final bout. He faced a tough opponent in Brazil's Esquiva Falcao Florentino who is bidding, along with his brother, to be the first sibling boxing gold medallists in the same games since 1976. Ogogo fought hard but eventually lost 16-9 to settle for bronze.

After narrowly losing to Argentina, the Women's Hockey team bounced back to secure the bronze medal against New Zealand. A penalties from Alex Danson (44:51) and Sarah Thomas (62:37) along with Crista Cullen's 59th minute goal put GB 3-0 ahead. A penalty from Stacey Michelsen gave New Zealand a consolation on 68-minutes but Britain ultimately came away with the medal.

Bronze continued to be the colour of the day as the controversial Lutalo Muhammad also walked away with a medal. The argument over whether he or Aaron Cook should have picked will continue to rumble on but nothing should be taken away from Muhammad. His tournament looked over when he lost 7-3 to Spain's Nicolas Garcia Hemme.

But it did put him into the bronze medal contest where faced Iran's Yousef Karami who lost to Hemme in the Preliminaries. Muhammad managed to beat him 11-7 to set up the bronze medal face-off against semi-finalist Arman Yeremyan from Armenia. Muhammad was able to beat him 9-3 to take the medal.

Our final medal of the day came in the Men's High Jump. A mark of 2.29 metres was enough for Britain's Robert Grabarz, along with Qatar's Essa Mutaz Barshim and Canada's Derek Drouin, to take the bronze medal. USA's Erik Kynard took silver with a height of 2.33 while Russia's Ivan Ukhov won gold with 2.38 metres.    

But the colour may be set to change once again as two more medals are still to received. Luke Campbell will at least win silver on Saturday when he face Ireland's John Joe Nevin in the Men's Bantam Final. Campbell beat Japan's Satoshi Shimizu 20-11 while Nevin beat top seed Lazaro Alvarez Estrada of Cuba, 19-14, to set up the iconic final.  

Freddie Evans has also guaranteed himself at least silver after getting through to the Men's Welter final on Sunday. Cardiff's Evans beat top seed Taras Shelestyuk of Ukraine 11-10 to set up the final against Kazakhstan's Serik Sapiyev.

Three More Golds While Bolt Creates More History

After a medal-less day yesterday, Team GB responded with a further three gold medals, taking the tally up to 25. But the day may be remembered for the history as three 'firsts' happened. The day began with Nicola Adams becoming the first Female Olympic Boxing champion. Adams faced Ren Cancan from China in the Women's Fly Final and beat her 16-7 to scoop Britain's 23rd medal.

That was quickly followed up by Ireland's Katie Taylor gaining gold in the Women's Light, becoming the second Female Boxing Champion. Taylor faced Russia's Sofya Ochigava in the final and just squeezed past, 10-8, to gain Ireland's first gold medal in the Olympics.

GB's 24th gold medal came in the Individual Dressage in which two medals were taken. Charlotte Dujardin scooped her second gold medal on Valegro. Laura Bechtolsheimer followed up her gold with the bronze medal on Mistral Hojris. Netherlands' Adelinde Cornelissen claimed the silver on Parzival.    

The world then held its breath as Usain Bolt and Yohann Blake once again came into battle. It would end up being a Jamaican affair as Bolt came home in 19.32 seconds, his season best, to record the historic reclaim of both the 100 and 200 metres gold medals. Blake came second with his season's best of 19.44 while Warren Weir claimed bronze with a personal best of 19.84 seconds.

Our final medal of the night, our 52nd overall, came from a 19-year old girl from a Welsh town called Bodelwyddan. Jade Jones made it into the Women's 57kg Taekwondo final and faced China's Yuzhuo Hou. Jones played brilliantly to overcome her counterpart 6-4, claiming GB's first ever female medallist.

It didn't end quite so well for Martin Stamper nor the Men's Hockey Team. Liverpool's Stamper had made into the Bronze medal contest against Afghanistan's Rohullah Nikpah. The Afghan managed to win 5-3 to take the bronze, Afghanistan's first medal of the 2012 Olympics.

As for the Hockey, the men, like the women, will have to battle it out for bronze after getting battered by the Netherlands. Two goals from Roderick Weusthof put the Dutch ahead before Ashley Jackson pulled a goal back. But Netherlands would then go and score a further seven goals (Billy Bakker 3, Teun De Nooijer, Floris Evers, Mink Van Der Weerden and Weusthof) before GB posted their second score from Robert Moore. The scoreline read a disappointing 9-2 and Britain will have to pick themselves up to take on Australia who were in the same group.            

No Medals Today But It's Not Over

Today Team GB saw a drought of medals after our historic day yesterday. But it doesn't mean we have to worry as we have guaranteed ourselves another two medals which will be collected shortly. The Women's inaugural Boxing Olympic tournament sees Nicola Adams take on China's Cancan Ren in the Women's Fly Final. Adams fought India's Mery Kom in today's semi-finals and beat her 11-6 to make it into the Gold Medal bout tomorrow.

Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark are potentially one race away from claiming a further gold for GB. The duo are taking part in the Women's 470 Sailing event and, after finishing second in race ten, will battle it out with New Zealand in the final race on Friday.

Unfortunately, there will be no gold medal for the Women's Hockey team who sadly crashed out against Argentina in the semi-finals. A penalty from Noel Barrionuevo and a half hour goal from Carla Rebecchi put Argentina 2-0 ahead. Alex Danson tried to put GB back into the game with a goal four minutes before time but it wasn't enough to spur a comeback.

Great Britain will face New Zealand in the bronze medal match after they were involved in one of two dramatic matches that took place today. New Zealand faced Netherlands in the first of today's semi-finals and the score finished 2-2 after extra time. Kayla Sharland put New Zealand ahead after six minutes via a penalty before Maartje Pauman equalised with a Dutch penalty on 32-minutes.

Krystal Forgesson once again put the Kiwis ahead on 48-minutes before Pauman again equalised with another penalty, this time on 53-minutes. With the teams not being able to be separated after extra time, the game went into a penalty shoot-out. Naomi Van As, Eva De Goede and Ellen Hoog managed to convert their attempts for the Netherlands whereas only Stacey Michelsen could only score for New Zealand, putting the Netherlands through.

The other piece of drama came in the Men's Handball quarter-finals where France took on Spain. After going 6-0 down, defending Olympic champions France responded to pull it back to 12-9 at half-time. The score then read 22-22 with only seconds remaining on the clock. France had one final play but the initial shot was parried by the Spanish keeper, the loose ball fell to William Accambray who managed to convert the rebound just as the final buzzer was about to sound. France make it through to the semi-finals where they will play Croatia.

There's also good news for Ireland. Cian O'Connor's bronze medal in the Individual Jumping Equestrian event is so far their only medal. But that will be added to tomorrow as Katie Taylor fights for the gold medal in the Women's Light Boxing event. She faces Russia's Sofya Ochigava in the final after beating Hungary's 19-year old Mavzuna Chorieva, 17-9, in today's semi-final.              

Chris Hoy Is King At The Most Successful Olympics Since 1908

Sir Chris Hoy becomes Britain's greatest Olympian on the day where Team GB officially records it most successful Olympics since 1908. The Scot ends his Olympic career with his sixth gold medal in what has been a glittering time for Track Cycling.

Hoy took his record breaking gold came in the Men's Keirin in a breathtaking final. Hoy posted a time of 10.306 seconds to beat Germany's Maximilian Levy to his historic achievement. The final was also too close to call as two people, Simon Van Velthooven from New Zealand and Teun Mulder from the Netherlands, were awarded the bronze medal.

Unfortunately, it wasn't as good a send off for Victoria Pendleton who also ends her Olympic career, but with a silver instead of her intended gold. Pendleton breezed into the Women's Sprint final and faced her nemesis, Anna Meares of Australia. The first heat looked to have gone the way of Pendleton until the judges ruled she had illegally moved out of the lane and was duly relegated. Meares would then take the second heat to win gold ahead of the tearful Pendleton.

With Pendleton and Hoy retiring, the Track Cycling eventists would be forgiven for worrying about who would take over the mantle. But have no fear as 24-year old Jason Kenny lit up the Velodrome yesterday and Laura Trott did exactly the same today. 20-year old Trott became the first female cyclist to win two gold medals in a tournament after taking the Women's Omnium.

After three events yesterday, Trott was level with USA's Sarah Hammer going into today's events. Hammer then took a two point lead going into the final event, the Time Trial. Trott posted a time of 35.110 seconds while Hammer could only manage 35.900. This meant Trott won the event with Hammer finishing fourth, giving Trott her second gold medal. A tally which levels Beijing's four years ago.

Before all that, Team GB officially surpassed Beijing's gold medal haul with two other golds. It will be a happy Brownlee household tonight as both brothers came away with a medal in the Triathlon. Alistair Brownlee recorded a time of 1:46:25 to take the gold, finishing 11-seconds ahead of Spain's Javier Gomez. Jonathan Brownlee came home with the bronze, finishing 31-seconds behind his brother.

That was followed up with GB claiming their first ever Olympic medal in the Dressage event. Carl Hester, Laura Bechtol Scheimer and Charlotte Dujardin managed to hold off the Germans to take the gold medal. With the scores mightily close, Dujardin had to ride out a very good performance that would bring celebrations amongst the home crowd.

 Our final medal of the day came in the Men's RS-X Sailing event. Nick Dempsey managed to take silver in the event with he and gold medallist, Netherlands' Dorian Van Rijsselberge, finished nearly 20 points ahead of bronze medallist, Poland's Przemyslaw Miarczynski. This takes our medal haul to 48 with 22 of them being gold.  

We're still not done yet as there are two other boxers have also guaranteed themselves medals and will again find out which colour on Friday. Anthony Joshua beat China's Zhilei Zhang 15-10 yesterday in the Men's Super Heavy quarter finals. Joshua now faces Kazakhstan's Ivan Dychko in the semi-finals. Freddie Evans got through to the Men's Welter semi-finals after a close fought contest today. He faced Canada's Custio Clayton and the bout ended 14-14, but the judges voted in favour of Evans and he will now take on Ukraine's Taras Shelestyuk in the final four.