FOOTBALLDigest D Wednesday, October 14, 2009 METROSPORT 23 LEAGUE of irELAnd PrEMiEr diViSion Sligo Rovers ...1 Bray Wdrs ...... 0 Doyle 72 P W D L F A Pts Shamrock R 31 19 9 3 43 21 66 Bohemians 31 20 4 7 51 18 64 Cork 31 15 7 9 36 22 52 Derry City 31 15 5 11 40 25 50 Dundalk 31 12 6 13 39 40 42 Galway Utd 31 11 4 16 30 47 37 Sligo 32 9 9 14 33 44 36 St Patricks 31 10 4 17 23 40 34 Drogheda Utd 31 6 10 15 26 43 28 Bray 32 6 8 18 28 49 26 CoCA-CoLA LEAGUE onE Brighton ..........2 Gillingham ...... 0 P W D L F A Pts Leeds 11 8 3 0 18 5 27 Charlton 12 7 4 1 20 10 25 Colchester 12 7 3 2 22 9 24 MK Dons 12 7 2 3 13 9 23 Bristol Rovers 11 7 1 3 18 14 22 Norwich 12 5 4 3 24 18 19 Swindon 12 4 7 1 14 15 19 Huddersfield 12 5 3 4 23 14 18 Oldham 12 4 5 3 10 11 17 Millwall 12 3 6 3 13 9 15 Southend 12 3 5 4 16 15 14 Gillingham 12 4 2 6 19 20 14 Stockport 12 3 5 4 13 16 14 Brentford 12 3 5 4 12 15 14 Walsall 12 3 5 4 12 16 14 Hartlepool 12 3 4 5 12 14 13 Brighton 12 3 4 5 14 20 13 Exeter 12 3 4 5 13 19 13 Yeovil 12 2 6 4 14 15 12 Leyton Orient 12 3 3 6 13 21 12 Carlisle 12 2 5 5 12 16 11 Tranmere 12 2 1 9 9 27 7 Wycombe 12 1 3 8 11 20 6 Southampton 12 3 6 3 17 14 5 EUroPEAn UndEr-21 ChAMPionShiP GroUP two Rep of Ire ........1 Switzerland .... 1 Garvan 90 Frei 58 Turkey .............1 Armenia .......... 0 P W D L Pts Switzerland 5 3 1 1 10 Turkey 4 3 0 1 9 Estonia 4 2 1 1 7 Georgia 3 1 1 1 4 Ireland 4 0 3 1 3 Armenia 4 0 0 4 0 SOCCER (7.45 unless stated) FIFA World Cup European Qualifying Group One Denmark v Hungary.......................... Portugal v Malta ............................... Sweden v Albania............................. Group Two Greece v Luxembourg............... 7.00 Latvia v Moldova ....................... 7.00 Switzerland v Israel ................... 7.00 Group Three Czech Republic v N Ireland....... 7.30 Poland v Slovakia...................... 7.30 San Marino v Slovenia............... 8.30 Group Four Azerbaijan v Russia ................... 5.00 Germany v Finland .................... 5.00 Liechtenstein v Wales................ 7.00 Group Five Bosnia-Herzegovina v Spain..... 7.00 Estonia v Belgium...................... 7.30 Turkey v Armenia....................... 7.00 Group Six Andorra v Ukraine...................... 4.30 England v Belarus...................... 8.00 Kazakhstan v Croatia ................ 4.30 FIFA World Cup European Qualifying Group Seven France v Austria......................... 7.00 Lithuania v Serbia...................... 7.00 Romania v Faroe Islands........... 7.00 Group Eight Bulgaria v Georgia..................... 7.00 Italy v Cyprus............................. 7.00 Rep of Ireland v Montenegro..... 8.00 HORSE RACING Kempton, Lingfield, Uttoxeter, Wetherby, Punchestown CHELSEA defender Alex has signed a new four-year contract at Stamford Bridge. The 27-year-old, who this week resumed training following a groin operation, said: I am very happy to start again to train and feel no pain, and to sign for four more years. It was easy to decide to sign and now I hope to get back to playing well. The Brazil internationals deal follows Salomon Kalous recent extension and Joe Cole is expected to be the next player to commit his long-term future to the Blues. The club are focusing their efforts on securing their current stars, following a recent transfer ban from Fifa until 2011. ROBERTO MANCINIS agent has denied the Italian is in contention for the vacant managerial post at Notts County. The former Inter Milan coach played under the Magpies director of football Sven-Goran Eriksson when the Swede was in charge of Sampdoria and Lazio and the pair remain good friends. But Maurizio De Giorgis rejected claims Eriksson has been in talks with Mancini following the sacking of Ian McParland on Monday. There is no truth in it whatsoever, with all the respect for Notts County and their project, he said. There has never been any contact. COACH Oscar Washington Tabarez has called on all of Uruguay to play the World Cup qualifier against Argentina, with both teams fighting for the last South American automatic qualification berth. The teams go head-to-head in Montevideo tonight to join Brazil, Paraguay and Chile in South Africa, with the loser facing the prospect of missing out altogether. Tabarez said: I want all of Uruguay to play this match. I want all Uruguayans to cheer the team and they will surely feel this team will do their best for our people. I want to tell fans they have to trust in this team because well reply in the best way. RAFAEL BENITEz has been given a warning for a gesture towards referee Phil Dowd on the opening day of the season. The Liverpool boss was found guilty of one charge of misconduct but cleared of two others by a regulatory commission and warned as to his future conduct following the incidents after the defeat at Spurs, which included the Spaniard simulating a pair of glasses. Liverpool insisted: The commission accepted a gesture made with a pair of spectacles was in a non-malicious and humorous manner. Notts no-go: Mancini fixtures results novel approach sees trap over the initial obstaclesBy DAvID KENNEDy THERE is little Giovanni Trapattoni has not seen before during his 50-year career in football. The 70-year-old Italian has tasted triumph and heartache, good fortune as well as the misery of ill luck more often than he cares to remember. But tonight, the Republic of Ireland boss will send out his troops for their final World Cup Group Eight qualifying clash with Montenegro at Croke Park with part one of his mission completed. Ireland were seeded third in the race to get out of the group behind current holders Italy and Bulgar- ia, and from the off, there was little argument that the fight for the runners-up spot and a ticket for the play-off lottery would be fierce. And when Sean St Ledgers 87th-minute header flew past Italy keeper Gianluigi Buffon, the race for automatic qualification was back on until substitute Alberto Gilardino sent Trapattoni curs- ing down the tunnel with a last-minute equaliser. But three days on, the Republic manager has swallowed his disappointment and is already pre- paring for what lies ahead. There are players, good players, beautiful play- ers, but they are not winning players. Theres a big difference, said Trapattoni. Many Irish people have offered their congratula- tions on the game and also in Italy, many, people not just friends have congratulated us for how we played the game against Italy. We have convinced them that we are a team that gets results. We have shown against Italy, and also against Italy in Bari, we can play against any op- ponent, he said. In football, there are players who are aestheti- cally pleasing, and there are winning players. Some players may be beautiful to watch, but it is not enough. You need to win, he added. There is poetry and there are novels. Novels are different to poetry. More than a prayer: Trapattoni claims Ireland have shown they can match Europes top teams Picture: Sportsfile sOCCer WORLD CuP QuALIFIERS GIOVANNI TrApATTONI yesterday refused to join the debate over rTs criticism of his team. In the wake of the 2-2 draw with Italy, pundits John Giles, Graeme Souness and Eamon Dunphy panned the Ireland display, with Dunphy, describing their performance as shameful. Winger Stephen Hunt responded by calling Dunphy a skinny little rat, but Trapattoni was philosophical, saying: Its his opinion. Many other reporters from other countries say Ireland played well. I respect their opinion, but there are other opinions. The Italian is confident skipper Shay Given has the experience to avoid a second yellow card that would suspend him from the first leg of the play-offs, but he will not take the risk with midfielders Keith Andrews and Aiden McGeady. Wily Trapattoni shies away from Dunphy discussion Sligo exit drop zone EOIN DOYLES goal earned Sligo their third win on the spin to lift them out of the relegation play-off zone for the first time in four months. In-form Sligo dominated the first half forcing nine corners and twice hitting the Bray woodwork. Bottom side Bray were much better from the resumption, but were left to rue two Gary McCabe misses as Sligo got their winner on 72 minutes. Defender Dane Masseys slip allowed Dean Marshall to cross for Doyle to head home. league Of ireland sligO rVrs 1 BraY Wdrs 0 NoRTHERN Ireland manager Nigel Worthington has secured the long-term futures of three of his senior players ahead of the final World Cup qualifier against the Czech Republic tonight. Captain Aaron Hughes, goalkeeper Maik Taylor and defender Stephen Craigan have all agreed to continue their international careers after talks with Worthington. He said: I went to them to see what their feelings were, what they felt in themselves and to be honest, I dont think I had the question fully out before the answer came back. All three would like to continue. Each of them said, If you want me, Im available. Thats fantastic news for the football association and for the international squad as a whole. To have those professional people in and around is a must for our squad. I am excited about the future as long as we have got the elder statesmen here. We need them to be the rudder on the boat. They are a huge link between the manager and the group and set the standards. trio boost worthington Garvan strike saves Irish SKIppEr Owen Garvan got the republic of Ireland out of jail with an injury-time equaliser to keep their European Under-21s Championship qualifying campaign alive. The Ipswich midfielder struck three minutes into added time at the end of the game to cancel out substitute Fabian Freis 58th-minute opener as the Group Two leaders were denied victory in Waterford. The republic started brightly and went close early on through efforts from Cillian Sheridan and James McCarthy. But the Swiss made the breakthrough after Valentin Stockers shot came back off the post, striker Alessandro Ciarocchis follow-up was blocked and Frei tapped home the rebound. Ireland piled forward in the closing minutes and were rewarded for their frenetic finish when Garvan struck. ireland u-21 1 sWitzerland u-21 1 index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html