Brave tailenders seal thrilling win over Originals
A late flurry of runs from Southern Brave's tailenders took them to a thrilling one-wicket win against Manchester Originals in The Hundred.Chasing 132, Brave were struggling, needing 26 from the last 11 balls, with eight wickets down.However, a Tymal Mills six followed by three consecutive Craig Overton boundaries dragged Brave back into contention, before Mills was caught off Lewis Gregory with three needed from three deliveries.Reece Topley was the last man out of the dugout and the fast bowler cut his first ball for four to take his side to victory with one ball to spare.Mills had starred in the Originals innings, taking 3-22 and removing three key top-order batters, including opener Phil Salt, who top-scored with 60.The home side struggled after the powerplay, scoring just 82 runs off their last 74 deliveries to finish on 131-4.Originals looked to be doing a good job of defending their low total, with seamer Scott Currie taking 4-28 as six Brave batters fell for single figures.But Overton and his fellow seamers slugged the winning runs at the close to see the 2024 runners-up home.More to follow
What is happening on Thursday?
We're off to Headingley on Thursday as Northern Superchargers take on Welsh Fire in another double-header.You can follow ball-by-ball commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app.
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Telegraph
16 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Alexander Isak has betrayed all those who held him dear at Newcastle
Alexander Isak was idolised at Newcastle United, a hero, a trophy-winning legend and the best striker to wear the black and white stripes since Alan Shearer. He could have done almost anything and his legacy would have remained unblemished – except this. By publicly trying to force his way out of the club with three years remaining on his contract, despite being repeatedly and directly told that he was not for sale this summer, Isak has betrayed all those who held him dear on Tyneside. He has angered and infuriated fans and, perhaps most damning of all, he has let down his manager Eddie Howe, the man who pushed so hard to sign him from Real Sociedad three years ago and who has helped turn him into one of the best forward players in Europe. Even now, as Isak refuses to accept the decision of the board that he will not be allowed to leave for Liverpool, Howe has tried to put an arm around him. He has tried to ensure there is a way back for him to return to the fold. Howe understands his frustration and can accept his bitterness, but he cannot accept a player who refuses to adhere to the professional standards he demands. Isak is too divisive to be allowed to mix with the rest of the team. That is a horrible, regrettable place to be. Isak has made it clear he is not in the right frame of mind to play for Newcastle or train with the group. The longer it goes on, the more damage he will do. Forward's behaviour has been despicable It is not just his reputation at Newcastle that is taking a beating, it is how the rest of the football world will perceive him from this point on. If Isak can act this way at Newcastle, how will he behave at other clubs when he does not get what he wants? His behaviour has been despicable and the road to redemption from here is a long and arduous one. He has effectively refused to go on a pre-season tour to Asia and is no longer in a suitable state of mind to train with his team-mates, let alone play for the club that turned him into a superstar. So where does Isak go from here? He can continue to agitate to leave, he can hand in an official transfer request. These are options he can take. He can stick to his current plan of making things as difficult and uncomfortable for Newcastle – and Howe – as possible in the hope that he breaks their resolve and he, for all intents and purposes, forces them into allowing him to sign for Liverpool. That is his desire, but in football, as in life, we do not always get what we want when we want it. He can continue to act like a spoilt child who has been told they cannot have sweets for breakfast. Toys tossed out of the pram followed by a moody, petulant sulk. This is his choice to make. Or, he can accept Newcastle's decision, point the finger at his agent for agreeing to the six-year-contract he signed when he joined in 2022 and start to repair broken relationships. It will be difficult and supporters are bound to vent their emotions. He could be booed the first time he plays for Newcastle again, but other players have been through similar and come out the other side. The French midfielder Yohan Cabaye went on strike to try to force a move to Paris St-Germain but was reintegrated by then manager Alan Pardew. He performed so well on the pitch the fans forgave him and, when he eventually left for Paris the following January, he went with at least some goodwill. Before that, Kieron Dyer endured a tumultuous relationship with Newcastle supporters after it was revealed he refused to play on the right wing in a game at Middlesbrough at the start of Sir Bobby Robson's final season as manager. He was widely booed and jeered, even when playing for England in an international match at St James' Park, cupping his ears on the pitch to incense further an irate fanbase. But he played for another three years at Newcastle and was a key player under Robson's replacement, Graeme Souness, and then Glenn Roeder. He was never idolised as he once was, but he stopped the booing and earned the respect of supporters by giving his all on the pitch. Not too late to repair relationships Harry Kane went missing at the start of pre-season trying to force his way out of Tottenham, but was welcomed back and played another year before leaving for Bayern Munich. Luis Suárez did the same at Liverpool. It has happened before and it can happen again. Isak can still pull himself back from the brink. This is where Isak finds himself. He has chosen a volatile path to walk down. He has lost the respect and affection of a passionate fanbase and he has upset his manager and team-mates. But there is a way back, he just has to not be so stubborn and so blinkered, that he fails to see it. Nobody expects him to stay at Newcastle forever, but he will still only be 26 next summer when there will be far more options for him than just Liverpool. Newcastle are willing to offer him a massive pay rise and a new contract with a release clause in it. He will not be held against his will in 12 months' time if he still wants to leave. He will have more control over his future and Newcastle will still get a fair price for him, which will enable them to reinvest in their squad. He can do right by himself and the club. It is thought both Bayern Munich and Barcelona will be looking to sign a world-class striker next year. Both teams have as good a chance of winning silverware as any in Europe and will be able to match wage demands of £300,000-plus a week. Who is to say Real Madrid will not be lurking, too. Or PSG. Liverpool, if he really has his heart set on Anfield, will still be there too. An amicable deal will be there to be done, the price set by any release clause. Newcastle want one more year out of him. That is all they are asking for. It will give them time to find a replacement; it will give them time to prove they can match his ambitions. But if he still wants to go in 2026, they will not stand in his way. All Isak has to do is apologise, shake off his disappointment, admit he has made a mistake and do the things in a Newcastle shirt that have made him what he is. If he scores goals and plays well, Newcastle supporters will forgive him. He can be loved again on Tyneside, but he needs to stop behaving badly. The sooner he does that the quicker and easier the healing process will be. Or he can continue to sulk and agitate to get what he wants now. It will tarnish his reputation, he will always be perceived differently, not just by Newcastle fans, but the rest of football too. He might still be able to force his way out. He can cling to that idea, fuelled by his agent who would love a big pay day, but he will never be the same player he was. No matter how good he is, he will always be tarnished by it. The player who broke hearts and let down a manager who has done nothing but support him. Wherever Isak ends up, this is what he will be remembered for. And he will always be remembered as a villain rather than a hero on Tyneside. Nobody can tell him what to do, we can only hope he does the right thing.
Daily Mail
16 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
'I'm not going to lie ... I look at the Lionesses with jealousy'... SWPL supremo McIntyre admits Scotland needs a national team to capture the imagination
As she pursues her own 'Utopia' for women's football in Scotland, Fiona McIntyre can't help but steal an envious glance at the paradise being built in England 's green and pleasant land. An inspiration, yes, but also a reminder of the miles still to be covered if this proud footballing nation is to realise McIntyre's dream of a completely full-time top flight. The SWPL managing director, rightly proud of a product unrivalled for drama at the business end of the table, is confident that every piece of available data points to continued growth in the women's game north of the border. But it's only natural to feel that our nearest neighbours — in this case an English game guaranteed to take another stratospheric leap as a result of the Lionesses defending their European Championships title — should produce mixed emotions for anyone trying to keep up with the Kellys and the Hamptons. 'I look at them, the Lionesses, with jealousy; I'm not going to lie,' admits McIntyre. 'When Scotland qualified for the Euros and the World Cup, we saw the biggest uplift ever in the number of women playing football in Scotland. That's the impact, it's massive. 'Having a national team competing on the world stage or the European stage is hugely important, but also, from a league perspective, it does so much for the credibility of your country. 'I look at the national team and I see the talent there, and I know they're more than capable of qualifying. The new manager is in, and it feels like a sort of fresh momentum is coming with her, so I genuinely hope they can kick on, get some results and that we'll be sitting here again soon talking about a Scotland team going to the Euros or the World Cup.' International aspirations are, of course, elements beyond the control of the people working so hard to modernise Scotland's elite domestic competition. But 'Prem One', as those in the game call an SWPL1 division which has just been cut from 12 teams to 10 in pursuit of greater competition across the board, is more than contributing to the wider growth of the sport. McIntyre feels that the top tier, with its dramatic final-day title deciders, its landmark partnership with ScottishPower and its growing profile across the country, is already delivering in one very important sphere of public life. Perception, in this age of optics and vibes, is everything. 'People have now got a far greater understanding that, as a professional women's football league in Scotland, we have real high-quality calibre elite professional athletes both in our country and those who have left, such as Erin Cuthbert and Caroline Weir. 'Women's football for a long time was viewed as almost quite amateur and part of that would be down to the resource that was in it, and the visibility of it, and that impacted how players were able to prepare. 'What you see now is a growing respect for the fact that women's football is an elite sport, attracting national brands like ScottishPower, and there's an aspirational element to it now. 'That's probably the biggest shift that I've seen, particularly around the younger generations when you see young girls waiting for items to get autographed and they've got kits with names of the female players on the back. That really shows you have created these real genuine role models.' Not content to rest on achievements to date, McIntyre is eager to see improvement — across all metrics — as the new SWPL kicks off on Sunday August 17. When it come to dramatic tension, the last few campaigns will be hard to beat. Hibs will defend the title they won last season on a final day when any one of four teams could have taken the crown. Previous to that, Celtic won on goal difference and, before that, Glasgow City triumphed with the last kick of the campaign. For a game looking to attract new fans and commercial partners, that's the stuff of dreams. 'It's huge,' says McIntyre. 'We speak a lot about everything around the game and what we're trying to achieve off the pitch, but fundamentally what happens on the pitch is the most important thing. 'Football is at its most exciting when it's competitive and there's a real uncertainty of the outcome. We've been really fortunate in the last three seasons that people were genuinely not sure which way it was going to end until the very last kick of the ball. 'I think we're the most competitive (league) in Europe. We absolutely want to capitalise on that in terms of using that narrative, that story. I think that's created media interest — or additional media interest — and that's something we absolutely try and capitalise on to get people into stadiums.' McIntyre is keen to talk about perception and is working hard to ensure the game in Scotland is respected accordingly. This season is one of change in the SWPL. The top league has been reduced from 12 to ten teams. There is a reason for that, obviously, and it has all to do with quality and competitiveness. The SWPL was matched only by Spain in the number of games players were being asked to play, so that had to be reduced. Also, a UEFA study showed that, post-split, the SWPL was by far the most competitive but, pre-split, it was at the other end of the spectrum with at times particularly high, one-sided scorelines. That needed to change, but all the teams had to be on board. When the SPFL touted cutting the Premiership to ten teams, there was outcry. In the SWPL, it was different. McIntyre says: 'I guess women's football is still earlier in its journey and, from the outset, when we set up the SWPL, there was definitely a real sense of collective identity. All the clubs were coming together for the greater good of women's football. 'It's never a popular decision to reduce the top league. Essentially, we relegated three teams and not everyone necessarily liked that but, to their credit, they all understood because we presented the data, we presented the why, and even the clubs that were impacted by that negatively were very understanding because we presented the reasons and the rationale behind it.' It takes a lot for clubs to commit to full professionalism. Even champions Hibs don't pay all of their full-time players what you would call a proper living wage. That won't change overnight. But a completely full-time top flight? An entire league full of female footballers who have earned the right to call themselves professionals? 'I hope so — that's certainly what we are trying to deliver,' says McIntyre. 'That's the Utopia.' ■ ScottishPower is dedicated to energising women's football at every age and stage of the game through its exclusive Principal Partner for the Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) and Scottish Women's Football (SWF).
BBC News
16 minutes ago
- BBC News
'I'm boxing for me': Molly McCann on making the switch from MMA
Determined, dedicated and a favourite with fans, Molly McCann, nicknamed Meatball Molly, has enjoyed a successful career in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).But boxing has always been Molly's first love, and within months of her retirement from MMA in March, the 35-year-old announced she had signed with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing."I used to do MMA because, I was like, I want to make the city proud, I want to make my family proud - and I've done all that now," she said."I'm boxing for myself." A former amateur boxing champion, McCann says she made the decision to switch to MMA after her particular boxing category was not included in the Olympic games."The highest level for me wouldn't be an Olympic medal, so I thought what else can I do?" says the subsequent decade-long career in MMA brought her considerable won 14 of her 22 fights, and is one of the most successful - and high-profile -women fighters in British MMA it has taken a toll."It's four Olympic disciplines in one," she says."So imagine how much you have to commit your life to being an Olympic athlete for one Olympic discipline, [then] imagine doing that for four."The negative side" she says, was "how heavy it is on the body over long periods of time"."There wasn't a lot of women doing it when I was - so I was constantly training with people who were a little bit heavier than me, and it just took its toll on my body in the end." McCann says she hopes she has helped break down barriers for other girls seeking a place in combat sports."It was like knocking doors down so girls could go to gyms - and that legacy is in place," she says over half a million followers on social media, she has been determined to give people an honest insight into the life of an elite athlete. "I show hard work, I show what I get up to - and if I'm feeling down and I'm not having a good time, I let you know too."I think it's really about being transparent and honest about what life really is."What we do isn't glamorous, but it's real - and I think it's important." McCann's first boxing match takes place in Belfast on 13 September, having stated her ambition is to "win a world title within eight fights".The 35-year-old has said it "was always the dream" to return to boxing, and hopes to have the support of her Liverpool home crowd behind her."I'm just so proud of being a scouser. I'm so proud of everything we're about, and the support that we show," she said."Me and Paddy [Pimblett] always say it: when you come and watch us fight, it's always a little bit different - the crowd is a little bit different - and it's because we bring more scousers with us."When we fight, you'd always see we're looking for the finish - to bring it home and to party with everyone after." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
