Guernsey FC ready for 'new start' after relegation
Guernsey return to the FA Cup after nine years and host Bedfont Sports at Victoria Park in Saturday's extra preliminary round. The club's record goalscorer Ross Allen is the only player with prior FA Cup experience likely to feature on Saturday, with team-mate Matt Loaring injured.The 38-year-old was part of the side that reached the second qualifying round in 2013 - a club best in the competition - when they were knocked out by Dover Athletic."Its been a long time since we've been in this competition. Long overdue I think, it's so exciting to be back involved in the FA Cup," Allen said."We had some great games, I remember we had a good run, I got a memorable hat-trick away at Hastings."I never played in a home game in the FA Cup so it'll be really enjoyable to do it, especially down here at the new ground."Spurred on by the opening of Victoria Park in late March Guernsey ended last season well.Vance's side won four and drew two of their final seven matches before many of the squad helped the island beat Jersey to win the Muratti Vase for the first time in eight years."Ultimately I just want to see us carry on from where we were last year in terms of the last four or five games and then the players continued that in the Muratti," says Vance."That sort of performance and that style that we played, that's exactly what we were looking for and the finish came unfortunately too early for us."If we can replicate that that'll be brilliant."
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The Guardian
10 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Brook's hoodlum hundred deserves to sit in its own brilliant square of light
OK. Who angered the gods? Cricket gods. Weather gods. Sport gods. All the gods. Because quite clearly, the gods, well, the gods are clearly deeply annoyed. As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods of fifth-day stewarding costs. They lead us on, whiz us into a frenzy, and drag us back the next day for their sport. It felt fitting in the end that England and India will get to face one another on the 25th of 25 days in this brain-manglingly fine Test series, played out now by two teams operating on fumes, caffeine, ship's biscuits and blood‑sodden socks. Everyone was winning this game and simultaneously losing it by the time England and India were called from the field at 5.29pm, first by bad light and then a squall of rain. England need 35 runs, India four wickets, one of those the single swishing arm of the injured Chris Woakes. Runs had ebbed away like smoke wafting up into the vast flat open sky above the Oval stands as Harry Brook and Joe Root played like princes in the afternoon session. By the end those same runs had become the most grudgingly hoarded substance on earth as India fought back with great heart, took wickets, and jammed a pick handle in the revolving door. How in the history of all cricket, has anyone managed to score 35 runs, you wondered, as Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton prodded and flinched, feet encased in an invisible mobster's tub of industrial concrete. Something will happen on Monday morning. Narratives will be set, themes that we always knew to be true nailed into place by hindsight in that final push to the line. For now there is a bonus element: time to digest a wonderful, thrilling fourth day, one of the great days of the Bazball project. And above all to talk about Harry Brook. Brook's 111 here deserves to sit alone in its own brilliant square of light, innocent of all outcomes. Victory would probably nudge it up as the greatest on this ground in the modern age, or at least up there with Kevin Pietersen's 153 20 years ago against an all-time Australian attack. For now the best way to look at Brook's innings is to start with the key moment. Not the hundred itself, celebrated with a huge warm wave of noise from an utterly rapt Oval crowd. Instead the moment to remember on a deeply hallucinogenic fourth day arrived half an hour before lunch, in a game that history, gravity and the scorecard suggested England were losing. At which point Brook walked out of his crease and hit Akash Deep over cover for six. This wasn't just an impossible shot, but an act of pure gangsterism. Brook was on eight off 18 balls at the start of the over. England were 126 for three and paddling. Johan Cruyff said that when he was playing badly he used to just smash into someone, start a row, upset the day. This is not far from what Brook does when the adrenaline jab is required. Here it came with a moment of space age skill and precision, all hands, eyes, easy grace, and somehow a kind of carelessness too, like a man swatting an apple over a tennis court with a walking stick. It is hard to overstate the brilliance of being able to do this, but also choosing to do it at that moment. This is hoodlum cricket. It's turning up to the Brits with a fake Uzi in your pocket. It's Cherringtony Soprano. It is talent from another place. And it is entirely logical, too. If you can play that shot, you have a duty to do so. The moment will exist now, a collage of intent, shapes, lines, discarded conventions. It's timing was cold-eyed too. At that moment England were losing. Ben Duckett had battled hard, prodding and swishing and looking, as ever like Paddington bravely facing down the new ball. Ollie Pope had come and gone, trying to hit everything through square leg, an elite player with an obviously flawed technique. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion And so, with the day closing in, Brook happened. A little later he hooked Deep into the hands of Mohammed Siraj just over the rope in front of the groundsman's shed. There were pulls and glides and wallops, Brook seeing the ball like a single still point of light. He walked off at lunch to a huge, dizzy roar, 38 off 30, and the game broken open. This is shock and awe batting. England plan for this, choose the moment to shift the energy. It seems fitting that Brook, the Sedberg scholarship boy, but also a man from a different pathway, should be the spirit animal of this style. His entire game is contained in that easy swing, the perfect hands, the clarity of his eye. The best players are always orthodox, but with shapes that are their own, that express some note of their own character and physicality. Brook has this, is graceful, but also splay‑footed, with a slouch but also a silk-hatted elegnace. Has anyone ever had a better time playing Test cricket for England? Brook has played 29 Tests and won 19 of them, averages just under 57, has more sixes per game than anyone ever, is just told to go out be Harry Brook, stretching out into the far reaches of his own startling talent in real time. Brook and Root gorged on the chase with both hands after lunch. Brook's 50 came up off 39 balls. India started bowling short, tired men banging it into a placid pitch. Brook sent one Ravindra Jadeja long‑hop to the midwicket fence with the freewheeling disdain of a man hurling a discarded television set into a skip. There will be a temptation for some to dwell on his absurd and very funny dismissal. Brook was lofting the bowling to every corner when he tried a swipe too far and literally threw his bat to square leg, only to be caught at cover. Why, why, why not knuckle down and take it home? Which is of course to miss the point. That clip over cover was the impossible thing that made the very difficult thing look do-able. You either want this or you don't, with all its edges. And, frankly, whatever the outcome, who could seriously wish to have it any other way?
Belfast Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Son of ex-Premier League and Northern Ireland goalkeeper out to follow father's lead after starring at SuperCup NI
Despite being only 14-years-old, he knew that keeping a clean sheet would have been significant given both the opposition and his family history. Had Phoenix Blayney managed to keep out the late strike from Archie Lovatt, it would have seen County Antrim inflict the only defeat of the 2025 SuperCup NI on Southampton – who went on to beat a Manchester United side with the son of a famous father of their own in their ranks – to win the Premier title. Even with Kai Rooney and Jacey Carrick in their team, whose fathers Wayne and Michael were serial winners at United, the Red Devils fell to a 1-0 defeat in the Final. 'It was very frustrating not to get a clean sheet,' said Blayney. 'We thought there was a handball in the build-up. 'I still think we did well because no one else in the competition was able to beat them or even get a draw. 'It would have been brilliant to have got that clean sheet against Southampton, especially because my dad used to play there. It would have been fantastic for me.' 'Dad' to Phoenix is Alan, a three-time double winner in his time with Linfield. Although he only played three Premier League games during a five-year stay at Southampton, his debut in May 2004 was arguably the most significant game of his career. A stop from an Alan Shearer header in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Newcastle United won him the Sky Sports Save of the Season award. The fourth of Alan's five Northern Ireland caps was hugely significant, too. While the 1-1 draw with Morocco in November 2010 isn't one that will particularly stick in the mind of the Green and White Army, the day itself does for the Blayney family; it was the day Phoenix was born. Alan had been called up for the match, left the team hotel to be at the birth and ended a whirlwind day by coming on as a half-time substitute for Jonny Tuffey. Given that he came into the world on that particular day, it was probably inevitable that Phoenix would want to follow in his father's footsteps and be a goalkeeper. 'Ever since I was young, I always had his gloves on in the garden messing about,' said Phoenix, who played in the Junior section for County Antrim in 2024 and is still young enough to return to the Premier competition in 2026. 'I always just loved getting dirty and always loved playing. 'I just love getting hurt, getting the ball in the face and getting dirty. Just loved it from the start.' The young Blayney is already catching the eye of Premier League clubs. Standing at almost 6ft at just 14-years-old, he's hard to miss, but having a father who made it to the top means he knows that it takes more than being tall to hit the heights. 'He just plays his own game. He's calm and he just takes everything in his stride. I don't think he feels pressure,' said Alan. 'I just tell him to work hard, have a good attitude and try to enjoy every game. That's really all the advice I give him and then let him do his own thing and then let the football do the talking. 'It would have been good if he'd managed to keep a clean sheet, but I think he had a decent game and, all in all, it was a decent night for them.' From his start messing about in the garden, things are getting serious for Phoenix, and the benefit of Alan's coaching – both are with Larne – as well as his father's advice means he is well-placed for the future. 'My dad is a massive inspiration. I just always wanted to do what he did,' said Phoenix. 'I'm really keen to do it. I would really, really love to sign across the water and keep football going.'
Telegraph
6 hours ago
- Telegraph
Watch: English golfer hits freak hole-in-one at Women's Open
Mimi Rhodes lit up the final day of the Women's Open with a bizarre hole-in-one that featured the Englishwoman's ball deflecting off her partner's ball before dropping into the cup. MIMI RHODES WITH AN UNBELIEVABLE HOLE-IN-ONE! 🤯 — Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) August 3, 2025 Rhodes and the Australia Stephanie Kyriacou were involved in this surreal scene on the 212-yard fifth. Kyriacou played first and her supreme effort looked destined to achieve an ace, itself, before veering away in the final rolls. Just a few inches away, the world No 42 was still booked in for a birdie though. However, with the crowd believing they had witnessed enough drama for one grouping, Rhodes, the 23-year-old from Somerset, stepped up and went pin-chasing. Rhodes's strike was just as well struck, but appeared to be going too fast. That is until it took the billiards route, checking off Kyriacou's and ricocheting into the hole. Hearing the cheers, Rhodes looked bemused before raising her arms in celebration. Kyriacou hugged her, but must have felt slightly aggrieved as, ironically, she had played the better shot. No matter, Kyriacou enjoyed her own hole-in-one on the eighth on Friday. A moment of magic ✨ Steph Kyriacou makes the first ACE of the AIG Women's Open! ⛳🤩 — Sky Sports (@SkySports) August 1, 2025 In the commentary booth, Henni Zuel, the former Tour pro, exclaimed: 'Unreal! I hope she buys Steph a nice present. Something more than a drink is deserved there.' Rhodes was being followed by at least 30 of her family and friends from Burnham & Berrow and their faith was emphatically rewarded by the Ladies European Tour rookie, who has already won three times this season. Rhodes's Royal Porthcawl heroics hauled her to four-under and within five of the leader Miyu Yamashita. The incident was reminiscent of Louis Oosthuizen's hole-in-one at the 2016 Masters. On that occasion, the South African's ball used that of JB Holmes as the canon on the 16th at Augusta and it was duly called 'the most incredible ace in major history'.
