Bersant Celina has admitted his botched penalty cost Swansea City any hope of gaining points at West Brom – but insisted he would step up to take another. The Swans midfielder held up his hands over the extraordinary error after his team crashed to a 3-0 defeat at The Hawthorns on Wednesday night. The visitors were trailing 1-0 when they won a penalty just before half-time, but Celina’s attempt to casually chip the ball into the goal _ Panenka style – ended with him slipping and the ball rolling a couple of yards to the right.

Joel Makin earned the praise of world No.7 Paul Coll but could not find a way past him at the quarter-finals of the Citigold Wealth Management Canary Wharf Classic. Makin – Wales’ top ranked player in the men’s game and the current world No.18 – lost 11-9, 12-10 in a tight contest that lasted 47 minutes. The Haverfordwest player had beaten Hong Kong’s sixth seed Max Lee to make it through to the last eight, but was edged out by experienced New Zealander Coll.

Welsh sprinter Owen Smith is celebrating his second Great Britain call-up of the year. The Cardiff AC man pulled on the GB vest at the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow earlier this month. Now, he has been included in a strong British team bound for the IAAF World Relays in Yokohama, Japan in May.

It’s red v green, Wales v Ireland and Gatland v Schmidt on Saturday and the outcome between two well-matched teams seems difficult to predict. For Robin Davey, though, Gatland’s ability to change and adapt put him a notch above his rival. Allied to a knack for creating the right emotional pitch, it could all point to another day of Grand Slam glory. Wales are preparing for their day of destiny at the Principality Stadium on Saturday and are hell bent on marking Warren Gatland’s last Six Nations game in charge with a glorious Grand Slam triumph. Not for the first time Ireland stand between them and the ultimate Six Nations achievement and it isn’t lost on anyone that if Wales succeed it will be a record third Grand Slam for Gatland.

Wrexham are hurting after a below par team display in their 3-1 Vanarama National League home defeat against Barrow. More than 4,600 spectators were at the Racecourse, but the Dragons struggled badly to find their best form. “We didn’t handle the conditions well if I am being honest,” says manager Bryan Hughes. “Barrow did a […]

Llandudno’s Matt Edwards will be aiming to extend his lead in the British Rally Championship when round two of the series gets underway on this weekend’s Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally (16/17 March). The St Patrick’s weekend rally has long been a favourite for Welsh competitors and fans – and with 200 cars contesting the modern and historic events, there are more people than ever going over this year to enjoy the famous Irish ‘craic’. Edwards got the defence of his BRC title off to a splendid start by winning the Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally – and scoring maximum points will once again be his aim, as he and co-driver Patrick Walsh attack the narrow and bumpy Irish Tarmac lanes in their M-Sport Swift Rally Team Ford Fiesta R5.

Michael Flynn admits Newport County’s League Two play-off dream is fading, saying: “You won’t get in the play-offs with away form as bad as ours.” The Exiles suffered a 12th away defeat of the season, losing 1-0 at Northampton Town after a magnificent 88th minute goal by substitute Joe Powell. County are 13th with 10 […]

Hull City 0, Cardiff City 1 Wrexham-born Dan Griffiths, an 18-year-old former Liverpool trainee, scored Cardiff City’s winner in their under-23 match against Hull City away. Griffiths, who joined the Bluebirds last summer, has scored 23 goals in 20 under-18 fixtures and made his mark against Hull at the Roy West Centre immediately before half-time. […]

Gareth Williams has shaken up half his Wales U20 team to face Ireland in Colwyn Bay on Friday night. The coach’s response to a disappointing defeat to Scotland is to bring in five new starters and make two positional changes for their final match of the age group Six Nations. In the backs, Tomi Lewis returns to the wing in place of Alex Morgan while Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler gets his first start of the campaign, with Max Llewellyn dropping to the bench.

Connor Roberts has admitted both he and Swansea City have gone off the boil as the season approaches its climax. In an honest assessment, not couched in the usual bland clichés, the Wales defender has stated simply that his own individual form and that of his team has slipped in recent weeks. The Swans travel to managerless West Brom this evening, having lost four of their last six matches in the Championship – a sequence partially disguised by their run to the FA Cup quarter-finals and the excitement of a quarter-final tie at home to Manchester City this weekend.

Conor Murray believes the expectation of a Grand Slam could weigh heavily on Welsh shoulders in Cardiff on Saturday. The Ireland and Lions scrum-half has compared the pressure on unbeaten Wales in the final round of the Six Nations to that he felt last season against England. Ireland clinched the Slam a year ago by winning 24-15 at Twickenham but Murray said the pressure on him and his teammates to deliver felt intense.

Welshman Joe Makin is through to the Canary Wharf Squash Classic quarter-finals in London. Makin, from, Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, defeated Hong Kong’s sixth seed Max Lee 6-11, 11-6, 11-9 in 47 minutes to make progress. He now plays New Zealand Paul Coll, ranked number four in the tournament, in the last eight. Makin is through to […]

Tesni Evans bowed out of the Black Ball Open in Cairo after a second round defeat against Joelle King. The 26-year-old took the first game against the number three seed from New Zealand who she has been rooming with in Egypt.

Rallying returns to Anglesey Circuit this weekend with the Tilemaster Adhesives Lee Holland Memorial Stages on Sunday 17 March – providing the perfect curtain raiser to what promises to be an action-packed season of motorsport at the venue. Jointly organised by the Pendle & District and Preston & Garstang Motor Clubs, the event, now in its 26th year, returns with a brand new sponsor and a bumper 60 plus car entry. The event – which is the penultimate round of the 2018/19 Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship in association with MSVR, featuring the Michelin Cup and the Protyre Challenge – will see drivers tackle eight challenging stages, featuring tyre chicanes, off-road sections and even the circuit running in the wrong direction.

Northampton Town manager Keith Curle has warned his players: “Beware the Newport backlash.” Experienced Curle, a 55-year-old Bristol-born former England international, lost his job at Carlisle last season following a draw against Newport County and was appointed Cobblers’ manager last October. “Newport on their day can compete above this level which they have shown in […]

Wrexham will return to the top of Vanarama National Football League table by Saturday evening if they win back-to-back home fixtures. Barrow are visitors to the Racecourse this evening, while the Dragons entertain Maidstone United on Saturday. Leaders Leyton Orient travel to Aldershot Town this evening, while they play at FA Trophy semi-final first leg […]

Penarth Hockey Club achieved two of its biggest pre-season aims with weeks to spare in the Verde Recreo League, as both the 3rd and 4th XIs secured promotion – with a divisional title to boot. PENARTH ‘B’ 4-0 Neath ‘A’ Although promotion from De Cymru 2 was all but secured by the victory over Bridgend a week ago, the 3rd XI still had unfinished business, with the small matter of the division title still up for grabs. With two teams still able to overtake them in the race for top spot, including their opposition on Saturday, the Bears could not afford to take Neath lightly, and wouldn’t given that the two previous encounters between them had been more difficult that the final scorelines might suggest.

Ashley Williams has been given backing to carry on as Wales captain – despite his current struggles at club level. The defender who led Wales to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 has been told by Ryan Giggs to continue in the role on the eve of the new qualification campaign for the 2020 tournament. Williams, 34, has spent this season out on loan from Everton at Stoke City, but has recently lost his place in the Championship club’s starting line-up and began their last six games on the bench.

Jenny Nesbitt and Matt Willis have been named in Great Britain’s team for the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark on March 30. The Welsh duo got the automatic call-up for the 24-strong squad after winning their respective races at the trials in Loughborough last weekend.

Welshman Connor Brace, a 7lb claiming jockey attached to Fergal O’Brien’s Cotswold yard, has been in cracking form (writes Brian Lee).  He won the opening Juvenile Hurdle on 14-1 outsider Phoenican Star for O’Brien at Stratford.  Star was Connor’s sixth winner since the end of last month, having won  at meetings all over the country […]