SPORTDigest 20 METROSPORT Monday, December 7, 2009 D TENNIS: Rafael Nadal, right, and captain Albert Costa keep hold of the Davis Cup after Spain beat the Czech Republic 5-0 Davis Cup delight as Nadal ends difficult year on high TENNIS: Spains Davis Cup final win over Czech Republic provided Rafael Nadal with the group therapy he craved at the end of a testing year. This was the end to the season I needed, Nadal said after a 6-4, 6-4 win over Jan Hajek allowed Spain complete a 5-0 whitewash of the Czechs to lift the trophy for the fourth time since 2000. Winning again is a great feeling and a major achievement, particularly considering the problems Ive had. Being able to enjoy this with my team- mates and receive all the support from the crowd has been terrific over the three days. Nadal won the Australian Open in January but his season was spoiled by a knee injury which forced him to miss the defence of his Wimbledon crown. There have been great moments and not so great moments but I cant say this has been a bad year, he added. Allenby up for Challenge GOLF: Australian Robert Allenby ended four years without a win yesterday securing his 11th play-off victory from 12 at the Nedbank Challenge. Allenby edged out defending champion Henrik Stenson at the third extra hole with both having picked up bogeys at the closing hole and then parred the 502-yard 18th twice before Swede Stenson bogeyed it again. Allenby had struck a glorious second to seven feet and two-putted for a 800,000 first-prize. Englands Ross Fisher and South African Tim Clark tied for third on ten-under. Allenby admitted: I did think we were going to be here all night at one stage. Robertson surges through SNOOKER: Australian Neil Robertson converted a 5-3 overnight lead into a 9-3 victory against Englands Tom Ford in the UK Championship first round yesterday. Clincial Robertson made breaks of 48, 64, 53 and 87 before finishing with a break of 119 and will go on to face John Higgins or Ricky Walden. Stuart Bingham will take on Stephen Maguire in round two after knocking out Joe Perry 9-4 in an all-English match. And Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis were locked together at 4-4 going into last nights session. Lewis warning for Button FORMULA ONE: Former Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has told his new team-mate Jenson Button he aims to take back the world title next season. Hamilton, champion in 2008, is joined at McLaren in 2010 by current title-holder Button after he quit the Brawn team with which he won the world crown. Hamilton (pictured) said: You are always working with your team-mate but clearly we both want to win. We will do what we can to work as a team. Otherwise he [Button] wants to keep his world championship and I want to take it back. Picture: AP Seventh heaven for Portlaoise Mark in, square ball out for league trials BY pAUL kEANE BARRY FITzGERALD kicked favourites portlaoise to the Leinster club SFC title with a golden goal at OConnor park as the Laois champions beat Garrycastle of Westmeath 1-9 to 1-5 yesterday to collect their seventh provincial crown. Leading by four points approaching half-time, all was going well for portlaoise but they lost forward peter McNulty to a 28th-minute red card. Their margin was then reduced to one when Garrycastle captain Garry Dolan fisted home a goal just after the break. But portlaoise showed the mark of champions by marching immediately down the other end and slotting home a super goal themselves to reopen the four-point margin. Fitzgerald accepted captain Brian McCormacks pass and drove a brilliant low shot to the Garrycastle net. Aside from that Garrycastle goal, the Westmeath men never truly threatened to cause an upset and they trailed from start to finish. Seeking to become the first club from Westmeath to win the Leinster title, they were 0-3 to 0-7 down at half-time, and Dolans goal gave them only fleeting hope of an upset. Star man Dessie Dolan was held scoreless from play while Cahir Healy, McCormack and Fitzgerald starred for portlaoise. Fitzgerald got portlaoises entire 1-2 tally in the second half and it was enough to see them through. They will face new Munster champions kilmurry-Ibrickane of Clare in the All-Ireland semi-final in February. An injury-time point from Evan Talty saw kilmurray overcome favourites kerins ORahillys 0-7 to 0-6 in the Munster decider. Former kerry star Declan Quill had an ORahillys goal ruled out late on allowing Talty to snatch the dramatic winner. Picture: Sportsfile The GAA faces a potential backlash from players and man- agers after agreeing to yet an- other batch of experimental rules in the national leagues. The introduction of the Aussie Rules style mark and the scrap- ping of the square ball rule are the two high-profile trials for 2010. Meath club Skryne proposed the mark rule earlier this year while St Galls in Antrim are currently backing a move to axe the square ball. But it remains to be seen if there is a widespread hunger for major change. The GAA has consistently put new playing and disciplinary rules on trial in recent league campaigns only to have them binned by Congress. The most recent trial was this years yellow-card-dismissal ex- periment, which was axed by Congress and slated by players and managers. Under the latest trial, attacking players will be allowed to enter the small square in front of goal before the ball arrives in. The traditional rule states that a player cannot enter the small square until the ball has entered in an effort to protect the goal- keeper although this has al- ways been difficult to police. The mark will allow for play- ers to gain a free-kick if they catch the ball cleanly between the two 45metre lines from a goalkeepers kick-out. It is hoped this will promote the fading art of spectacular high fielding. Another trial change in both football and hurling will see ref- erees wait until the ball has gone out of play before blowing the final whistle at the end of either half. The GAA has yet to confirm what the trials will be but it is understood that, in football, the penalty spot will be moved two metres closer to goal to aid at- tackers. Ifsuccessfulduringtheleagues, the new playing rules could be retained permanently by next Aprils Annual Congress. port salute: portlaoise captain Brian McCormack lifts the Leinster title GAA this weeks fixtures TODAY SOCCER Coca-Cola Championship Watford v QPR........................... 7.45 HORSE RACING Musselburgh, Lingfield, Whampton TOMORROW SOCCER (7.45 unless stated) UEFA Champions League Group A Juventus v Bayern Munich............... Maccabi Haifa v Bordeaux ............... Group B Besiktas v CSKA Moscow................ Wolfsburg v Man Utd........................ Group C FC Zurich v AC Milan ....................... Marseille v Real Madrid.................... Group D Atletico Madrid v FC Porto............... Chelsea v Apoel Nicosia................... FA Cup Second Round Stockport v Torquay ......................... Aldershot v Tranmere ....................... Barnet v Accrington Stanley............. Barrow v Oxford Utd ........................ Leeds v Kettering ...................... 8.00 Luton v Rotherham........................... Coca-Cola Championship Doncaster v Sheff Wed..................... Ipswich v Peterborough ................... Leicester v Bristol City...................... Middlesbrough v Blackpool....... 8.00 Preston v Derby................................ Reading v Crystal Palace .......... 8.00 Sheff Utd v Nottm Forest ................. Swansea v Plymouth........................ West Brom v Cardiff ......................... HORSE RACING Fontwell Park, Sedgefield, Southwell WEDNESDAY SOCCER (7.45 unless stated) UEFA Champions League Group E Liverpool v Fiorentina ....................... Lyon v Debrecen............................... Group F Dynamo Kiev v Barcelona ................ Inter Milan v Rubin Kazan................. Group G Sevilla v Rangers.............................. VfB Stuttgart v Unirea Urziceni......... Group H Olympiacos v Arsenal....................... Standard Liege v AZ......................... FA Cup Second Round Replay Millwall v Staines Town..................... Coca-Cola Championship Barnsley v Scunthorpe..................... Coventry v Newcastle ...................... HORSE RACING Hexham, Kempton, Leicester, Lfield THURSDAY GOLF (until Sunday) Alfred Dunhill Cship (Malelane, S Africa) USpGA Tour: The Shark Shootout (Tiburon GC, Naples, Florida) HORSE RACING Htingdon, Ludlow, Taunton, Kempton. FRIDAY SOCCER Coca-Cola League One Brighton v Colchester................ 7.45 HORSE RACING Cheltenham, Doncaster, Southwell, Wolverhampton, Gowran Park RUGBY UNION Heineken Cup - pool 1: Munster v Perpignan (8.00) pool 2: Glasgow v Gloucester (7.30) SATURDAY SOCCER (3.00 unless stated) Barclays premier League Birmingham v West Ham.................. Bolton v Man City............................. Burnley v Fulham.............................. Chelsea v Everton ............................ Hull v Blackburn ............................... Man Utd v Aston Villa................ 5.30 Stoke v Wigan ......................... 12.45 Sunderland v Portsmouth................. Tottenham v Wolverhampton............ Coca-Cola Championship Barnsley v Newcastle....................... Coventry v Peterborough ................. Doncaster v Bristol City.................... Ipswich v Blackpool ......................... Leicester v Sheff Wed....................... Preston v Plymouth .......................... Reading v Scunthorpe...................... Sheff Utd v Crystal Palace ............... Swansea v Nottm Forest.................. Watford v Derby................................ Coca-Cola League One Brentford v Leeds............................. Bristol Rovers v Swindon ................. Carlisle v Wycombe.......................... Huddersfield v Gillingham ................ Leyton Orient v Milton Keynes Dons Millwall v Walsall............................... Oldham v Exeter............................... Southampton v Tranmere................. Southend v Hartlepool...................... Stockport v Charlton ........................ Yeovil v Norwich ............................... Coca-Cola League Two Barnet v Crewe................................. Bradford v Rotherham...................... Burton Albion v Aldershot ................ Chesterfield v Cheltenham............... Dag & Red v Bury............................. Lincoln City v Rochdale.................... Macclesfield v Hereford.................... Morecambe v Bournemouth............. Northampton v Port Vale.................. Notts County v Accrington Stanley.. Shrewsbury v Grimsby ..................... Torquay v Darlington......................... Clydesdale Bank premier League Aberdeen v Hamilton........................ Hearts v Dundee Utd........................ Kilmarnock v Hibernian .................... Motherwell v Celtic.................. 12.45 Rangers v St Johnstone................... St Mirren v Falkirk............................. HORSE RACING Cheltenham, Doncaster, Lingfield, Southwell, Whampton, Fairyhouse RUGBY UNION Heineken Cup pool 1:Northampton v Treviso (3.00) pool 3: Viadana v Ospreys (1.30) pool 4: Ulster v Stade Francais (1.35) pool 5: Cardiff Blues v Toulouse (3.45) pool 6: Brive v L Irish (6.00), Scarlets v Leinster (6.00) Amlin Challenge Cup - pool 2: Worcester v Connacht (3.00) AIB League Div One (2.30): Section A: Blackrock v Dolphin, Clontarf v Shannon, Cork Con v St Marys, UL Bohemians v Garryowen Section B: Dungannon v Ballymena, UCC v Buccaneers, Ballynahinch v Old Belvedere, Galwegians v Y Munster SUNDAY SOCCER Barclays premier League Liverpool v Arsenal.................... 4.00 Coca-Cola Championship Middlesbrough v Cardiff............ 1.15 HORSE RACING Cork, Navan RUGBY UNION Heineken Cup - pool 2: Biarritz v N- G Dgons (12.45) pool 3: Clermont Auv v Leicester (3.00) pool 4: Bath v Edinburgh (3.00) pool 5: Harlequins v Sale (12.45) index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html