A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Nicholson bridges 12-year gap to take laurels at Burghley
New Zealand’s Andrew Nicholson bridged a 12-year gap when winning the Burghley Horse trials in England yesterday on Rosemary Barlow’s Jumbo gelding Avebury.
The 51-year-old, who was second 12 months ago, went into yesterday’s final show jumping phase in second place but, while picking up an additional four penalties for a completion score of 45.8, he fared better than Sinead Halpin who had led from the dressage phase.
The American, who was on board the Selle Francis gelding Manoir de Carneville, owned by her Galway-born mother Bernadette Cogdell, lowered three poles to drop to second.
Britain's William Fox-Pitt and Parklane Hawk finished third. MARGIE McLOONE
Forde earns first call up to U21s
Wolves’ teenager Anthony Forde last night earned his first Republic of Ireland Under-21 call-up when Noel King drafted him in for Thursday’s crucial Uefa qualifier in Hungary.
The 18-year-old, from Ballingarry in Co Limerick, who made his fifth appearance of the campaign for Wolves yesterday at Cardiff City, is in for the injured Seán Scannell.
Forde was given his Premier League breakthrough last season by then-boss Mick McCarthy, featuring at Stamford Bridge and the Emirates Stadium, and Ståle Solbakken has taken a shine to the Irishman since his appointment at Molineux over the summer.
The place of the other withdrawal from the 20-man squad, Portsmouth’s on-loan Chelsea midfielder Conor Clifford, goes to Inverness winger Aaron Doran.
SQUAD: McLoughlin (MK Dons), McCarey (Wolves), Egan (Sunderland), Cunningham (Bristol City), Kiernan (Wigan), Duffy (Everton), Canavan (Scunthorpe), Towell (Unatt), Hendrick (Derby), Barton (Coventry), Henderson (Arsenal), Forde (Wolves), Carruthers (Aston Villa), O’Kane (Bournemouth), Murray (Watford), Brady (Manchester Utd), White (Leeds Utd), Doran (Inverness), Murphy (SC Telstar), Collins (Swindon Town).
Mixed fortunes for Roche as Rodriguez retains advantage
Nicolas Roche had a mixed weekend in the Vuelta a Espana, performing solidly on Saturday’s stage but then coming under pressure on yesterday’s final climb.
The Ag2r La Mondiale rider was 10th on Saturday’s race to the summit of Puerto de Ancares, finishing one minute 17 seconds behind the winner Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha). That kept him in seventh place overall but he then faded on yesterday’s stage, his energy running out on the Lagos de Covadonga ascent.
Race favourites Rodriguez and Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank Tinkoff Bank) finished nine minutes 25 seconds behind solo winner Antonio Piedra Perez (Caja Rural). They were led home by Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) for 11th, while Roche was one minute 30 seconds behind.
The Irishman will hope its his sole “off day” in this year’s race and remains in the top 10. He is ninth overall, seven minutes 21 seconds back.
Rodriguez remains 22 seconds ahead of Contador, with Valverde one minute 41 off the lead and Team Sky’s Chris Froome now 2:16 behind.
Bell steers England to emphatic Lord's victory
Ian Bell did the steering as England coasted to an emphatic six-wicket win over South Africa at Lord’s to take a 2-1 series lead.
Alastair Cook’s team therefore cannot lose this one-day international contest between the world’s top two teams, with just one match left to play at Trent Bridge on Wednesday.
Bell (88) and Jonathan Trott overcame Cook’s own early departure, in pursuit of 220 for eight after England’s bowlers had given the hosts an obvious chance of a successful run chase.
Ultimately, it was achieved in routine circumstances – with more than three overs to spare — thanks principally to Bell, who shared a second-wicket stand of 141 with Trott.
The latter defied the pain of an injury to his right hand, suffered when Dale Steyn hit him with a short ball and which will necessitate an X-ray.
Ravi Bopara failed with the bat for the second successive match, driving loosely at Ryan McLaren and edging behind. But if there were any fleeting nerves, they were duly settled by the in-form Eoin Morgan.
High winds force fleet to take detour
Gale force winds forecast for today on the most direct route from Germany to Ireland have obliged the organisers of the MOD70 (multihull one-design 70-foot) European Tour to send the fleet of five boats through the English Channel to avoid certain damage.
The five 70ft trimarans are expected to arrive into Dún Laoghaire late on Wednesday evening or possibly even Thursday morning as light to calm conditions are expected on the new route.
With several of the best known offshore sailors in the world competing in the new class of multihull, the 2,000-mile first race of the tour from the Baltic to the Mediterranean could be open to several contenders.
However, based on his form over the weekend at the German Baltic port of Kiel, Michel “Le Prof” Desjoyeaux on Foncia is the form skipper in this first season of the new class.
The French sailor is a past winner of two Vendee Globe single-handed round the world races amongst many highlights in his career to date. DAVID BRANIGAN
