Coach Andrew Lord has pledged his Cardiff Devils will continue to play ‘big body hockey’ in their drive to win the Elite League title. It is 20 years since Devils were last crowned ice hockey champions of Britain when Mike Ware was their enforcer and the number one forward line was Ken Hodge, Steve Thornton and Ivan Matulik.

Sam Allardyce has stirred up Tuesday night’s clash between Swansea City and his Crystal Palace side by claiming it should be a comfortable victory for the London club. The Swans go to Selhurst Park having conceded 13 goals in four straight Premier League defeats in which they have scored just twice.

Newport County suffered a seventh successive League Two defeat and look in real danger of crashing out of the Football League. They defended reasonably well against in-form Wycombe, but created scarcely anything going forward and always looked likely to come out second best at Adams Park.

Paul Clement has agreed a two-and-a-half year deal to become manager at Swansea City. The appointment is set to be confirmed by the club on Tuesday, ahead of their match against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Neil Warnock’s Bluebirds produced the most complete team performance of his 13-match managerial reign and earned an outstanding victory against Aston Villa. More than 21,000 spectators were at Cardiff City Stadium for a pulsating match which ended in Warnock’s fifth win since taking over in October.

Merthyr Town’s Southern League home match against Redditch United today (Monday) has been postponed. The decision to call the game off was taken after a pitch inspection at Penydarren Park this morning. The 3G playing surface is frozen and the early inspection was in time to stop Redditch start their trip from the English midlands to South Wales.

  For most rugby players, climbing the ladder through various levels of the sport means playing in front of bigger crowds. Except in Wales, as Geraint Powell – from the blog @TheVietGwent – points out.   If the two photographs above are not sounding alarm bells in relation to the crumbling structural integrity of the WRU […]

Coaches Steve Tandy and Kingsley Jones clashed over the safety of Rodney Parade after the Ospreys’ grim 10-0 victory over the Newport Gwent Dragons. Ospreys coach Tandy claimed the waterlogged pitch was not simply unplayable, but was a risk to players, but his Dragons counterpart Jones hit back and said: “I don’t think there’s ever been a case of a player drowning on a rugby field.”

Wayne Pivac believes the Scarlets have put clear red water between themselves and the Cardiff Blues in the race for top four places in the Guinness Pro 12. Steff Evans scored one try and created another as Scarlets held on to celebrate an important 15-10 derby victory over the Blues at Parc Y Scarlets.

Southport 3 Wrexham 2 Dean Keates accused his players of not being streetwise as they slipped to defeat in a five-goal thriller at Southport.

Cardiff Devils 4, Dundee Stars 1 Elite League leaders Cardiff Devils were greeted by a 3,000-plus capacity attendance at Ice Arena Wales and eased to a convincing victory against their visitors from Scotland.

Newport County are glad to see the back of 2016 – but have started 2017 by making two new signings to boost the fight against relegation out of the football league. They have headed into the New Year five points adrift at the foot of League Two and facing a massive test of character over the next few months following a 4-1 home defeat against Exeter City.

Peter Whittingham celebrates his 10th anniversary as a Bluebird early in the new year – and marks it by playing against his former club Aston Villa on Monday. That is Cardiff City’s only Championship fixture before ‘Whitts’ officially achieves a decade with the club – on January 11 – having been signed by manager Dave Jones from Villa in 2007.

Swansea City expect to appoint Paul Clement as their new manager after finalising his release from Bayern Munich over the weekend. The Swans crashed to a fourth successive defeat – a 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth on Saturday – but it appears that Clement has not been put off by their position at the bottom of the Premier League table.

Merthyr Town have strengthened their Southern League squad with two signings. Manager Gavin Williams has recruited Kyle Copp and Eliot Richards, who has signed for the Martyrs at the end of his loan agreement from Weston-super-Mare.

Welsh club The New Saints have set a new World record for the longest winning run in topflight football. Their 2-0 victory against Newi Cefn Druids away was their 27th consecutive win and that beats the record set by Johan Cruyff’s Dutch masters Ajax 44 years ago.

Power forward Joey Haddad is playing a crucial role for Cardiff Devils in their battle to win the Elite League title. The 6ft 2ins winger, from Nova Scotia, is in his third season with the Welsh club and finished Devils’ 6-4 win against Coventry Blaze playing on the same line as Joey Martin and Patrick Asselin.

Welsh Cycling’s Olympic gold medallists Elinor Barker and Owain Doull have been recognised in the 2017 New Year’s Honours List alongside longstanding cycling volunteer Bill Owen. Barker, who won her gold medal in the Team Pursuit in Rio, has received an MBE for services to cycling.

Cardiff Fire go into the new year intent on winning a National Ice Hockey league title for the second successive season. Head coach Mark Cuddihy and his Fire team have a 100 per cent record this season after nine fixtures, having lifted the Division Two West title in 2015-16.

Newport County were in seventh heaven just over a month ago, but their renewed hope has now turned back into despair at the foot of League Two. Their run of seven matches without defeat between late October and mid-November instilled real hope of moving away from relegation danger, but they have now gone seven matches without a win.