Newport County 1, Swansea City (under-21) 2 Fed up manager Michael Flynn has told his players: “Find a ruthless streak – and fast.” His County team produced a solid team performance against Swansea City’s young guns, but they failed to take opportunities created. “The players have to start to get a lot more ruthless because […]

Leigh Halfpenny is getting ready to show Toulon what they’re now missing since he joined the Scarlets. But with Wales’ autumn Test series fast approaching, Peter Jackson says it’s time for Warren Gatland to scrutinise Halfpenny’s form rather than his historic contribution. Leigh Halfpenny’s used to be the first name on the Wales team-sheet and not just because they named it back to front instead of the other way round. The question to be answered by the end of the month is whether he reappears in the starting XV by the time the Wallabies land at their customary staging-post beside the Taff after the migratory flight north. For the first time in a long while, Halfpenny cannot be sure on that score, even less so as to whether it will be at full-back, on the wing or as emergency cover on the touchline.

Tesni Evans saw her US Open challenge ended with a second round defeat by Egypt’s Raneem El Welily. The Cardiff-born player lost 11-8, 11-3, 11-4 to the former world No 1 in their clash at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Merthyr Town 4, Slough Town 5 The Martyrs went from heroes to zeroes on an astonishing night at the Loadlok Community Stadium. Title-chasing Slough Town were four goals down in less than 20 minutes, but recovered to win the Southern League Premier Division fixture. Merthyr Town players slumped to the pitch, while the visiting Rebels […]

Under-23: Blackburn Rovers 3, Cardiff City 3 Right-back Callum Paterson used his head to lead an outstanding Bluebirds recovery in Lancashire. Paterson headed a remarkable treble for Cardiff City in their under-23 cup clash with Blackburn Rovers. The former Hearts defender completed his hat-trick with a looping header in the dying seconds – his third […]

Look out, Boris Johnson – Europe is on the march! At least, it is in rugby as the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup swing open the borders to competition this weekend. Although, as Geraint Powell notes, there are fewer people waving the flag with quite the enthusiasm of a few years ago. It’s a familiar story of English land grabs and cash battles which have spectacularly backfired. I recently looked in my personal blog at the question of the ongoing omission of a Welsh regional rugby double-header at the Principality Stadium in Round 5 of the Guinness Pro14 (https://thevietgwent.wordpress.com/2017/10/02/the-pro14-round-5-another-season-and-once-again-where-was-the-other-welsh-regional-derby-double-header-at-the-wru-stadium/), to kick start the regional season for the wider rugby public, even though there were Welsh derby matches in Round 6. A crowd of only 8,178, inclusive of the vocal Dragons travelling support, watched the Cardiff Blues secure a 43-29 win in the eastern derby on Friday evening.   

The World Cup qualification campaign is over for Wales and the wait for another finals appearance – 59 years and counting – goes on. Mark Pitman (Twitter @markpitman1 from the blog http://www.markpitman1.com) says manager Chris Coleman should stay on, but his approach needs an update. A frustrating campaign appeared to be finishing on a high as the youthful exuberance of Ben Woodburn and Tom Lawrence against Austria, Moldova and Georgia reversed the trend of dropping points in disappointing draws. Three wins and three clean sheets had put Chris Coleman’s side in a strong position for the decisive night of Group D football that would confirm the fate of Serbia, Wales and the Republic of Ireland, but in the end, it was not to be.

Last weekend’s Rally of Spain, round 11 of the pulsating 2017 FIA World Rally Championship, acted as a perfect aperitif for the eagerly-awaited Dayinsure Wales Rally GB on October 26-29. It is a mouthwatering prospect, too, not least as the iconic Welsh-based event has attracted a hitherto unrivalled number of new-era WRC cars.

John Toshack has suggested Chris Coleman should step down now as Wales manager. Coleman is considering his position in the aftermath of Wales’ failure to qualify for the World Cup, following Monday night’s 1-0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland. But Toshack – one of Coleman’s predecessors in the job – believes if the current boss was contemplating moving on after the finals in Russia, then he should go now rather than see out the remaining months of his contract until next summer.

Manchester Storm coach Ryan Finnerty says Cardiff Devils will be more prepared for the Champions Hockey League trip to Växjö than he was, writes Craig Anderson. Former Devils captain Finnerty took Braehead Clan there two years ago in the CHL for their first taste of continental action against the Swedish champions. And despite crashing to […]

England retained their European Open Netball title in style, beating Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Fiji over the four-day event. England, who were third at the 2015 World Cup, selected an inexperienced team with Rosie Huckle, Vicki Oyesola, Gabby Marshall, George Fisher, Summer Artman and Sophie Drakeford-Lewis all making their debut during the weekend. A […]

Merthyr Town are aiming for a return to winning ways when they play Slough Town at the Loadlok Community Stadium this evening (Tuesday, 7.45pm). Manager Gavin Williams will demand a big reaction from his players after the Martyrs were thumped 5-0 by Southern League leaders Kettering Town. That ended a run of three successive wins […]

Cardiff & Met ‘B’ 3-2 PENARTH Having dismantled North Somerset in week one, ambitions of a third consecutive promotion for Penarth Hockey Club’s 1st XI suffered a minor setback as the Vale side travelled the short distance to play local rivals Cardiff & Met at the Welsh Institute of Sport.

Chris Coleman will reflect on Wales’ failure to make the World Cup finals before he makes a decision on his own future. The manager who guided Wales to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 last year has come to the end of his current contract with the FAW. Coleman has previously declared the qualification campaign which ended with a 1-0 home defeat to the Republic of Ireland on Monday night would be his last.

Kettering Town 5, Merthyr Town 0 Merthyr Town suffered a five-goal defeat in their Southern League clash with Premier Division leaders, but they are intent on bouncing straight back. Manager Gavin Williams and his players are now focused on their home match against promotion-chasing Slough Town at the Loadlok Community Stadium on Tuesday (7.30pm). The […]

Cardiff Devils 3, Belfast Giants 5 Cardiff Devils owners, led by Steve King, fly into Copenhagen to watch their team play Vaxjo Lakers in the Champions League on Wednesday. The owners group plus family members, coming from Calgary, land in Denmark before taking the train to the Swedish city of Vaxjo. They will also be […]

Tesni Evans got her US Open campaign off to a superb start as she beat Egypt’s Heba El Torky in Philadelphia. The Cardiff-born ace took just 40 minutes to beat her opponent 11-6, 11-4, 17-15.

Chris Coleman says Wales have nothing to fear as their World Cup hopes go on the line against the Republic of Ireland on Monday night. The winner-take-all decider will see the victor guaranteed a play-offs spot for next year’s finals in Russia.

Bala Town’s JD Welsh Premier League woes continued on Saturday after a second-half strike from Bangor City debutant James Demetriou condemned the Lakesiders to their fifth defeat in eight games. The Maes Tegid outfit rode out early pressure from Bangor before Andraj Jones’ long range effort threatened to break the deadlock before half-time. Demetrious, signed […]

Elfyn Evans moved within a point of a top five place in the World Rally Championship after bagging his best result in Spain. The Dolgellau born driver admitted he had a tough time getting the best from his tyres on the challenging mixed-surface in Rally Catalunya.