Scotland didn't 'get the basics of the game right'
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BBC News
27 minutes ago
- BBC News
Salford end losing streak with win over Castleford
Betfred Super LeagueSalford (16) 26Tries: Ryan, Wilson, Mellor, Marsters, Hankinson Goals: Hankinson (3)Castleford (10) 22Tries: Simm, Asi (2), Lawler Goals: Atkin (3) Salford Red Devils picked up only their second Super League win of the season by coming from behind to beat Castleford beleaguered bottom club, who suffered an exodus of 11 senior players after suffering financial troubles related to a takeover, ended a run of 13 straight defeats against a side which had already beaten them twice this from Ethan Ryan, Harvey Wilson, Joe Mellor, Esan Marsters and Chris Hankinson - the first time they have scored more than three in a game this season - were enough against a Tigers side without a head coach following Danny McGuire's sacking on of rugby Chris Chester took charge while Cas seek a replacement, but two tries from Daejarn Asi and others from Josh Simm and George Lawler were not enough to prevent them slipping to a fourth consecutive came at a cost for Salford, however, as they lost key players to injury with Jayden Nikorima going off with a wrist problem, Marsters dislocating his shoulder as he scored the try which re-established the Salford lead in the second half and both Loghan Lewis and Chris Hill needing head injury Paul Rowley had talked about seeing "green shoots" as they ran Warrington Wolves close last week, but he then lost half-back Danny Richardson, recalled from loan by Hull Kingston Rovers, and was forced to patch up his squad once have been poor this season and McGuire paid the price for that last week as he was dismissed after less than nine months in were off to a bad start at the Salford Community Stadium too, as winger Ryan put the home side ahead after just nine looked like a familiar story for Salford, however, as Simm levelled and then Asi cut back inside the scrambling cover after a scrum in front of the posts to open up a 10-4 lead for the then came up with two big moments at either end of the field, managing to force a knock-on over the line from Jeremiah Simbiken as he was poised to score, and then forcing his way over for a try of his own to level up the match once rediscovered the kind of flair that took them to fourth place last season as Marsters set up Hankinson for a try which put them six points up at half time, but two quick penalties at the start of the second half brought the pressure from which Asi scored a try, with Chris Atkin's conversion making it might have folded a few weeks ago but they came strong again as Marsters finished after a great break by Jack Ormondroyd and then debutant Olly Russell, brought in on loan from Wakefield Trinity this week, kicked through for Hankinson to late try cast some doubt over the result but Salford fought hard to maintain the lead, sparking celebrations from their support at the end, although they remain bottom of the table. Salford: Brierley, Ryan, Hankinson, Marsters, Connell, Nikorima, O. Russell, Ormondroyd, J. Mellor, C. Hill, D. Russell, Whitehead, Murphy, Wilson, Lewis, WarrenCastleford: Rooney, Simm, L. Senior, Cini, Wood, Asi, Atkin, Stimson, Robb, Amone, Simbiken, A. Mellor, Lawler, Griffin, S. Hall, Aaron Moore.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
SCOTTISH FOOTBALL'S 50 BEST IMPORTS: Incredible tale of the Swedish superstar who was so brilliant even Rooney and Ronaldo rose to applaud him
Affirmation of Henrik Larsson's status as a world-class talent became unnecessary long before his seven-year stay at Celtic ended. But two snapshots from his golden years as a footballer underscored the point. The first occurred in Paris in 2006 after his introduction from the bench had swung the Champions League final between Barcelona and Arsenal in the Catalans' favour. Assessing why his side had surrendered a one-goal lead, Thierry Henry looked beyond Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o and pointed towards the sublime contribution of the Swede. The second occurred a year later in the rather less glamorous surroundings of Middlesbrough 's Riverside Stadium. Larsson's final game of a loan spell from Helsingborgs to Manchester United had seen him drop back into midfield to earn his side a hard-fought draw in an FA Cup tie. When he returned to the visiting dressing room, players of the ilk of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rio Ferdinand stood up and applauded. 'They would say his name in awed tones,' Sir Alex Ferguson revealed. Some 21 years after witnessing his final game in a Celtic jersey, supporters of the Parkhead club still speak of Larsson in the same way. Even in a team brimming with brilliance on the watch of Martin O'Neill, his talent was exceptional. His inclusion in the pantheon of Celtic's all-time greats is as sure as the outcome witnessed whenever he saw the whites of a goalkeeper's eyes. As impressive as they are, the prosaic facts from those seven years in Glasgow's East End only offer a rough outline of Larsson's credentials. He won four titles, two League Cups, two Scottish Cups and was the top scorer in the SPL in five seasons. There were 242 goals in 315 appearances. Some 53 of those arrived in season 2000-01 as Celtic won the Treble and he beat Hernan Crespo to Europe's Golden Boot. His life story and career were punctuated by adversity and toil. The son of a Cape Verdean father, he was subjected to racism growing up. He went on trial to Benfica as a teenager but couldn't sign due a limit on the number of foreigners. He returned home and made ends meet by loading boxes of fruit onto delivery vans. Celtic, too, had its challenges for the Swede. He famously endured a nightmarish debut at Easter Road, gifting the ball to Chic Charnley as Hibs beat the visitors on the opening day of 1997-98. A few weeks later, he came off second best in a training ground dust-up with Tosh McKinlay. There was a serious leg break in Lyon two years later. Throughout it all, he exuded a steely edge and a redoubtable character, albeit journalists seeking headlines from his interviews invariably left the room disappointed and crestfallen after being subjected to one of his verbal nutmegs. So big was Larsson that his switch from dreadlocks to shaven head made front page news If there was no love affair with the written press, the reasons behind the one he had with Celtic and the club's fanbase did not require much investigation. Across four years, he had been unhappy, unloved and unwanted at Feyenoord. Wim Jansen had been the technical director in his time at Rotterdam and, for the princely sum of £650,000, the new Celtic manager changed everything in his world. Larsson had numerous offers to leave Parkhead sooner than he did — Manchester United being one of them. But he eschewed them all, valuing what he had in Glasgow above an extra 15 grand a week. Many players with a fraction of his ability would have gone for the money and left without so much as a backwards glance. 'This is my club,' he said. 'I've played with a few teams, but I made myself as a player at Celtic. 'I'll be eternally grateful to Celtic because they took a chance on me when other clubs didn't. It was here where I became recognised as a player. 'I didn't feel I needed to go somewhere else. I didn't become a superstar at Barcelona. I became a superstar at Celtic.' Larsson was in Glasgow long enough to witness the landscape of Scottish football evolve beyond all recognition. Larsson does his famous tongue-out celebration after another goal for the Parkhead side Having famously helped prevent Rangers from winning 10-in-a-row in his first season, he was powerless to prevent the Ibrox club bouncing back to win five trophies out of six under the free-spending reign of Dick Advocaat. But the appointment of O'Neill in 2000 changed everything. As well as Larsson, the Northern Irishman inherited players of the ilk of Lubomir Moravcik and Stiliyan Petrov before augmenting them with names including Chris Sutton, Alan Thompson, John Hartson and Neil Lennon. By common consent, a 6-2 thrashing of Rangers in August 2000 was the day the balance of power shifted. Larsson's outrageous chip over Stefan Klos was the defining moment. 'Not only was he as brave as a lion, not only was he a terrific footballer and a goal-getter, but he was so graceful as well,' said O'Neill. In time, Sutton would put Larsson above Alan Shearer in terms of the best strikers he'd played beside. Zlatan Ibrahimovic claimed his compatriot could have featured for any club in Europe. Even the most technically gifted Celtic player of that era marvelled at how magnificent the side's No7 had become. 'This sounds like a cliche,' Moravcik said. 'But the thing with Henrik was, he didn't have one point or one trait that he excelled in, because he excelled in them all. There was no one trait he was good at in isolation. 'He was fast, he had a brilliant touch, he could play with his left foot and his right foot and his head. His vision was fantastic. His passing was fantastic. His intelligence and understanding of the game were fantastic. 'He could score free-kicks, penalties and, of course, goal after goal in open play. He was the complete striker.' Lennon, the midfield rock in that all-conquering side fully, fully agreed. Larsson kisses the Champions League trophy after his vital contribution in beating Arsenal Larsson's command performance for Manchester United in an FA Cup tie with Middlesbrough earned him a standing ovation from Rooney and Ronaldo 'The guy had everything,' he said. 'He was world class. Every time you sat in the dressing room, you would look at him and just know you had a chance in the game because he could score with either foot. He was unbelievable in the air. 'He used to hang like Cristiano Ronaldo, bearing in mind he wasn't a particularly tall guy and didn't have rippling shoulder muscles.' Larsson's soaring popularity around that time was illustrated by the fact that his decision to chop off his dreadlocks — 'inspired by Ruud Gullit and Bob Marley' — made front page news in Scotland. Those supporters of opposing teams hoping that, just like Samson, he would also lose his power, were to be sorely disappointed. He hit 35, 44 and 41 goals in his remaining three seasons. Having scored the late winner away to Boavista in the semi-final of the 2003 UEFA Cup, he claimed a double in the final against Porto, only to see the side come up just short in extra-time. 'We were an excellent team,' he later recalled. 'We beat Blackburn and Liverpool on the way. 'I still haven't gotten over that one. I wish I had done more, because I know how much it meant to the Celtic fans.' The truth was that he could not have given more — not only on that balmy May night in Andalusia but throughout his storied time at the club. As sorrowful as the parting was a year later, Celtic supporters could take solace from the fact that Larsson's brilliance dazzled them for quite as long as it did. They won't see his like again. 'How can I regret that?' he recently said. 'The career I had at Celtic, the amount of goals and assists and the relationship with the fans and the club, I can't regret that. 'That's something I'm going to cherish as long as I live.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Nathan Cleary makes heartbreaking admission about New South Wales' State of Origin defeat
says he may not ever get over the heartache of last week's State of Origin defeat by Queensland. The Penrith superstar was blasted by fans following his performance during the Origin decider, with the champion half-back failing to lead his side to victory on home soil against Queensland. Cleary, 27, had been carrying an injury during the final two games of the series, defecting kicking duties to Zac Lomax. The four-time premiership winner struggled to put his front foot first during the match, with Cleary unable to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Fresh from the anguish of Wednesday night, he came off the bench for Penrith in their 32-10 victory against the Eels, to produce a sensational performance, notably scoring a try in the 71st minute of the match. The result sees Penrith keep pace with the rest of the top eight in sixth place, but the demons of Wednesday night are still weighing heavy on the Panthers halfback. 'I don't know if you ever fully get over it,' Cleary explained after Sunday's match. He added that a long conversation with his dad, Ivan, 'made me feel a lot better.' 'In the past, I've probably after a poor Origin performance, just tried to squash it and act like it didn't happen. 'This time I saw it as an opportunity to analyse it a bit more and try and delve deeper into why I didn't perform the way I wanted.' While the defeat will be an agonising one, Cleary sees it as a way to grow as a player. 'I came to the conclusion that it (the Origin loss) is only going to help me grow as a person and a player. Playing today gave me a good opportunity to test my character too,' he explained. 'That's an important thing. It's about how you move on and how you present to the team. You can only kick stones and feel sorry for yourself for so long.' Devastated and under fire after NSW's loss in the decider on Wednesday, Cleary came on from the bench for the first time at NRL level while three of his NSW teammates sat out to rest. The four-time premiership-winning halfback triggered the shift down the left that put Luke Garner over for the try that gave the Panthers an unlikely half-time lead on Sunday in Parramatta. Cleary forced a dropout that helped put Izack Tago over after the break, then sealed the result with a show-and-go to burst past Joash Papalii and Sean Russell for a try in the final 10 minutes. Lindsay Smith had the Panthers in party mode when he crashed over in the final minutes, the fifth-straight win providing a stellar end to an Origin period that began disastrously for Penrith. The Panthers' loss to struggling Newcastle in round 12 pushed them to last on the ladder and signalled the low point of their season. But they haven't lost since and finish the Origin period on course for a top-eight finish, having knocked off the Warriors and Eels without some of their biggest stars. Parramatta had a glimpse into their future, giving Papalii a chance at the starting five-eighth role he could land when Dylan Brown joins Newcastle next year. The recently re-signed Papalii had some good moments, with Dylan Walker rolling forward on the back of a good run from the five-eighth and putting Kitione Kautoga over for first points. A long Papalii kick forced a dropout ahead of the Eels' second try, scored as 100-gamer Bailey Simonsson reached around Tom Jenkins to find Zac Lomax with a flick pass. Lomax had an otherwise tough game, dropping the ball ahead of what could've been the Eels' third try in the second half Penrith rolled upfield after the Lomax blunder and had a 12-point lead when Paul Alamoti bolted past Josh Addo-Carr. Rated the Eels' hooker of the future, mid-season signing Tallyn Da Silva came on for his club debut, making 32 tackles but largely struggling to assert himself in attack. Papalii and Da Silva came up short of answers as the Eels chased points in the second half. Brown, shifted to starting hooker, inexplicably remained on the bench as the side cried out for attacking composure and only came on with the game out of reach in the final six minutes. Tago could face scrutiny from the match review committee for a hip-drop style tackle that injured Kautoga's left ankle but went undetected by referee Peter Gough.
