D Friday, January 15, 2010 SPORT 23 SOCCER CARLING CUP SEMI-FINAL, FIRST LEG Left behind: Villas Richard Dunne fends off Nikola Kalinic at Ewood Park Milner magic leaves Villa nearing trip to Wembley RESULTS SOCCER CARLING CUP SEMI-FINAL, FIRST LEG Blackburn........0 Aston Villa....... 1 Milner 23 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS GROUP A Angola..............2 Malawi............. 0 Mali ..................0 Algeria ............ 1 P W D L F A Pts Angola 2 1 1 0 6 4 4 Malawi 2 1 0 1 3 2 3 Algeria 2 1 0 1 1 3 3 Mali 2 0 1 1 4 5 1 TENNIS MEDiBANK iNtERNAtioNAL (Sydney, Australia) Womens semi-finals: (1) Serena Williams (USA) bt Aravane Rezai (Fra) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, (5) Elena Dementieva (Rus) bt (6) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) 6-3, 6-1. GOLF JoBuRg oPEN (Royal Johannesburg and Kensington gC, South Africa) (gbr & irl unless stated, par 71): 62 Neil Schietekat (Rsa). 63 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Jbe Kruger (Rsa), David Lynn, Darren Clarke, Simon Khan. 64 Alastair Forsyth. 65 Andrew McArthur, Matthew Zions (Aus), Clodomiro Carranza (Arg). East Course: 65 Danny Willett, Barry Lane. 66 Peter Whiteford, Adilson Da Silva (Bra), Alejandro Canizares (Spa). other irish: 68 Michael Hoey. 70 Simon Thornton 72 Niall Kearney 73 Gary Murphy 74 Peter Lawrie SNOOKER tHE MAStERS, WEMBLEY Quarter-final: Ronnie OSullivan (Eng) bt Peter Ebdon (Eng) 6-3. toDAY SoCCER Coca-Cola Football League one Tranmere v Yeovil....................... 7.45 HoRSE RACiNg Musselburgh, Huntingdon, Lingfield, Wolverhampton RugBY uNioN Heineken Cup - Pool 2: Glasgow v Newport-Gwent Dgons (7.30) Pool 4: Ulster v Edinburgh (8.00) Amlin Challenge Cup - Pool 2: Connacht v Montpellier (7.00). SAtuRDAY SoCCER (3.00 unless stated) Barclays Premier League Chelsea v Sunderland ...................... Everton v Man City.................... 5.30 Man Utd v Burnley............................ Portsmouth v Birmingham................ Stoke v Liverpool..................... 12.45 Tottenham v Hull............................... Wolverhampton v Wigan .................. Coca-Cola Championship Barnsley v Sheff Wed ....................... Blackpool v QPR .............................. Bristol City v Preston........................ Doncaster v Watford......................... Ipswich v Coventry........................... Nottm Forest v Reading ................... Peterborough v Derby ...................... Plymouth v Crystal Palace ............... Scunthorpe v Cardiff ........................ Sheff Utd v Middlesbrough .............. Swansea v Leicester ........................ Coca-Cola League one Brentford v Carlisle........................... Colchester v Norwich....................... Exeter v Leeds.................................. Hartlepool v Milton Keynes Dons..... Huddersfield v Southend.................. Leyton Orient v Bristol Rovers.......... Millwall v Southampton .................... Stockport v Oldham ......................... Swindon v Gillingham....................... Walsall v Brighton............................. Wycombe v Charlton........................ Coca-Cola League two Accrington Stanley v Rotherham...... Barnet v Lincoln City ........................ Bournemouth v Bury ........................ Bradford v Notts County .................. Burton Albion v Shrewsbury............. Chesterfield v Torquay...................... Dag & Red v Crewe .......................... Darlington v Aldershot...................... Grimsby v Cheltenham..................... Hereford v Morecambe..................... Macclesfield v Northampton ............ Rochdale v Port Vale ........................ Clydesdale Bank Premier League Celtic v Falkirk.................................. Dundee Utd v Hibernian................... Hamilton v Rangers................. 12.30 Hearts v St Mirren............................. Kilmarnock v Motherwell.................. St Johnstone v Aberdeen................. HoRSE RACiNg Wetherby, Warwick, Kempton Park, Lingfield, Naas RugBY uNioN Heineken Cup - Pool 1: Treviso v Munster (2.35). Pool 2: Gloucester v Biarritz (3.00). Pool 3: Clermont Auvergne v Ospreys (4.45), Leicester v Viadana (2.00). Pool 4: Stade Francais v Bath (2.35). Pool 5:Cardiff Blues v Sale (3.45). Pool 6:Leinster v Brive (6.00) A i B League Division one - Section A: Clontarf v UL Bohemians (2.30), Cork Con v Blackrock (2.30), Shannon v Dolphin (2.30), St Marys v Garryowen (2.30). Section B: Ballynahinch v Dungannon (2.30), Buccaneers v Ballymena (6.30), Old Belvedere v Young Munster (2.30), UCC v Galwegians (3.00) SuNDAY SoCCER Barclays Premier League Aston Villa v West Ham ............. 1.30 Bolton v Arsenal ........................ 4.00 Blackburn v Fulham................... 3.00 HoRSE RACiNg Whampton, Ffos Las, Fairyhouse RugBY uNioN Heineken Cup - Pool 1: Northampton v Perpignan (3.00) Pool 5: Toulouse v Harlequins (4.00) Pool 6: Scarlets v Lon Irish (12.45) FIXTURES JAMES MILNER last night kept Aston Villa on track to win their first trophy in 14 years. The England international put Martin ONeills men in control of the Carling Cup semi-final with Blackburn as he scored a well-crafted goal in the first- leg encounter at Ewood Park. Milner netted for the seventh time this season after breaking at pace from the edge of his own area when a Rovers attack ran out of steam. He swapped passes with Stewart Downing then sped past the static home defence to deftly flick in a low cross supplied by the former Middlesbrough winger. And Villa, who knocked Blackburn out of the FA Cup 13 days ago, could have been further ahead just before the break but Paul Robinson dived low to his right to beat out an effort from Stiliyan Petrov. Referee Mark Clatten- burg then enraged Villa by denying Gabriel Agbonlahor a penalty and booking the striker for diving. Rovers, who have not won since they overcame Chelsea on penalties to reach the semis nine games ago, were much sharper in the second half. And they went close to equalising through the unfortunate Nikola Kalinic, who twice hit the post. BlackBurn 0 aston Villa 1 By Danny Griffiths Blackburn: Robinson, Jacobsen (Olsson 45), Samba, Nelsen, Chimbonda, Salgado (Reid 71), Emerton, Nzonzi, Pedersen (McCarthy 75), Dunn, Kalinic. Aston Villa: Guzan, Cuellar, Collins, Dunne, Warnock, A Young, Milner, Petrov, Downing, Heskey (Sidwell 71), Agbonlahor. Booked: Agbonlahor. Referee: Mark Clattenburg. Att: 18,595. LEAGUE OF IRELAND Crowe flies to Fingal Newly-promoted FAI Cup winners Sporting Fingal have beaten off stiff competition to sign ex-Ireland international striker Glen Crowe. The 32-year-old Dubliner, who won two senior caps, was surprisingly released by Bohemians at the end of last season and had been a target for St Pats, Drogheda and Cork City. Crowe remains Bohs record goalscorer with 133 strikes in two spells with the club. I had ten great years at Bohemians and Shelbourne and I feel just as excited about being a Sporting Fingal player, said Crowe. I dont see this as a step backwards. The improvements made by Sporting Fingal in just two years, not just on the pitch but also off it, proved to me they are a club with a solid foundation and are on the up. In other transfer news, Pats have signed Vinny Faherty from Galway United, while ex-Cork City title winner liam Kearney has signed for First Division promotion hopefuls waterford United, while Sligo Rovers have signed Iarfhlaith Davoren from Galway. All-Ireland semi-finalists Meath will begin the OByrne Cup campaign this Sunday with no sponsor and it is likely they will not have one for the start of the National league either. Royal County chiefs were left in the lurch last month when sponsor Menolly Homes withdrew their backing. According to Meath secretary Cyril Creavin they have spoken to a few potential backers but they are a long way off from securing a new deal. They can only look on with envy as rivals and neighbours Dublin tie up a new sponsorship deal with Vodafone worth an estimated 800,000 a year. weve met with a few people but theres no one jumping up and biting yet, said Creavin. Its a very hard slog to secure a sponsor in these times. Its quite possible that we mightnt have anybody on board by the league though hopefully that wont be the case. we still have a few weeks left. Hopefully well make some progress soon. NEw Limerick selector John Tuohy took to the local airwaves yesterday and begged the countys striking players to end the Shannonside crisis by returning. Tuohy will be ratified as under-fire boss Justin McCarthys new selector at a county board meeting next Tuesday night. He took the unusual step yesterday of phoning in to join a local radio debate about the Limerick hurling crisis. A day after McCarthy similarly begged his players over the national airwaves to end their self-imposed exile, Tuohy reiterated the call. Metro Herald understands that players will meet to consider their next move on Monday night 24 hours before the board meeting which could consider a motion of no confidence in McCarthy. I would make a plea to the players to sit down and discuss any issues with management, begged Tuohy yesterday. I am extending an olive branch for the good of Limerick hurling. Through dialogue we can tease out a solution. McCarthy is without eight players who withdrew their services after he axed a dozen regulars in a pre-season cull. Meath are left scrambling to find sponsorship deal McCarthys lieutenant extends olive branch GAA PREMIER LEAGUE James to join Stoke STOKE boss Tony Pulis is hopeful of signing England goalkeeper David James in time for tomorrows Premier League game with his former club Liverpool. The 39-year-old, who has played just twice for Portsmouth since the end of October, is desperate for regular football in a bid to cement his place as Englands No.1 at this summers world Cup. However, his chances of first-team action at Fratton Park have been threatened by the impressive form of Bosnian keeper Asmir Begovic, who has played in Pompeys last six matches. Now James (pictured left) looks set to sign for the Potters, if the clubs can agree a deal today, and he will compete with Thomas Sorensen and Steve Simonsen for a starting spot. Pulis said: well have to see if the two clubs can come to a deal and were hoping it will be tied up for the weekend but it will have to be right for us. If we can get him well be absolutely delighted. Picture: AP index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html