AFC Fylde 7 - 1 Warrington Town (26/10/10)

After Saturday’s 1-1 draw between the two sides, many were anticipating another tight game at Kellamergh Park on Tuesday night, but it was anything but.

Kelham O’Hanlon made three changes from the weekend, with Matt Walwyn, Mike Nolan and Leon Gierke all coming into the side. However, it was the away side that started the brightest, with Tony Evans and Anthony Hickey both firing over, whilst Kevin Townson fired wide from range for the home team.

It took a moment of brilliance to break the deadlock, and captain Jamie Milligan duly delivered, as he swept home a Gierke lay-off from twenty yards.  This opened the floodgates for Fylde, as Townson continued his excellent recent form, scoring a brace of brilliant goals. His first was a powerful drive into the top corner from outside the area, whilst his second found the same corner as he curled it around the goalkeeper with his left foot. The former Rochdale striker has scored six goals in his first four games for O’Hanlon’s side, and his recent form has vindicated the decision to sign him after his return from Australia.

As the opening 45 minutes came to an end, Rick Mercer added a fourth as he got the final touch on a Phil Doughty’s goalbound header. The half-time whistle couldn’t come soon enough for Warrington, as arguments between their players threatened to get out of hand.

Townson was substituted during the interval, with former Manchester United youngster Mike Barnes his replacement, and it didn’t take him long to make an impact. The pacy winger embarked on a mazy run through the away sides defence before crossing for top scorer Walwyn, who tapped in for his 10^th goal of the season. Walwyn was impressive throughout, and could have had more, as he saw a shot cleared off the line, whilst he also missed a virtual open goal from another Barnes cross.

At 5-0, the away side eventually began to come to life, and Hiskey’s consolation was no more than they deserved, as he fired in an angle drive which hit the post on its way in. However, it wasn’t long before Fylde regained their 5-goal advantage as Nolan scored his maiden first-team goal, prodding home from substitute Tom Cahill’s cross. It was then left to Cahill to complete the scoring in injury time, as he fired home from a Walwyn cross.

The victory sees Fylde into the third round of the President’s Cup, a competition the club last won in 1995, and many associated with the team will hope that the success of fifteen years ago can be repeated.

JN2053 Skills Tests: Images

As part of my university course, I was tasked with taking pictures of a famous landmark in Preston. From a list of five possibilities, I chose Deepdale, the home of Preston North End. The stadium lies just outside the centre of Preston, and is the longest continually used football ground in the world.

As part of the task, I was asked to take an original image of the ground and then re-size and crop it three times. Below is the original image followed by the three edited versions.

This is my original image. It shows the main entrance to the ground's Sir Tom Finney stand. The club's emblem can be see at the top of the stand, whilst at the bottom vehicles parked in the stadium's main car park are visible.

My first edit has re-sized the image to a 400px x 300px image. I have cropped the image down so it still shows the club logo and the large floodlights which are a staple of modern stadia. However, I have cropped out the vehicles at the bottom of the image, as I feel they do not add anything to the image for the audience.

The above image is my second crop of the image. It has been re-sized to 200px x 500px. I aimed to make the club logo the focal point of the picture, and therefore cropped the image accordingly. This therefore meant taking out the floodlights, but for an image of this size this had to be done.

The final image has been cropped to a 100px x 100px thumbnail. I aimed to keep all the main points of the image in the thumbnail, whilst again taking out the vehicles at the bottom.

IPL- The Soap Opera Continues...

­It promised to change the way cricket was played, give the brightest youngsters the chance to shine and bring together the biggest names in the game. But now, three years since the IPL was launched, the competition now lies in disarray. Lalit Modi, the man behind the competition, is facing allegations of corruption, whilst two of the established franchises have now been expelled from the tournament. So what now for India’s premier cricket competition?

The expulsion of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab is a major blow for an already controversial tournament. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have cited the reason that the two franchises ‘broke ownership rules’, but have not given any further details. With the huge question marks surrounding the game of cricket at this time, one fears for what may have been going on behind the scenes. Tie this in with the charges that face the one-time commissioner of the league, and the whole future of the competition has to be questioned.

Despite the obvious hit to the cities where the two sides play their games, the loss of Rajasthan especially will be felt all over the world, no more so in the county of Hampshire.

It was announced in February of this year that Hampshire, along with South African side Cape Cobras, Australia’s Victoria and West Indian team Trinidad & Tobago, would be joining together with the Royals to create the “first global cricket franchise”. The deal meant that players from all five teams could switch between sides, for example both Dimitri Mascharenhas and Michael Lumb turned out in the IPL for Rajasthan, whilst the English county changed their one-day side’s name from Hampshire Hawks to Hampshire Royals to show their faith in the deal. Now though, this faith looks as if it may have been misplaced. 

As well as the impact on the different teams associated with the Royals, it will also hit the players involved. In the case of Rajasthan, both Shane Warne and Damien Martyn have come out of retirement to play in the tournament, whilst many talented young Indian stars have been able to showcase their talents to a worldwide audience. In both cases, these players will now be missing out on the different perks that the IPL offers, be it money or experience. This in turn may put off possible future stars of the tournament, as they may see their future’s as being insecure.

In 2007, the IPL was billed as being the most exciting competition in world cricket. Now, in 2010, some would argue it still is exciting, but more off the pitch than on it, as cricket fans worldwide sit and wait to find out what will happen next in what is becoming the biggest soap opera in modern-day cricket.

Why do England keep playing to Australia's strengths?

When England’s Ashes squad was announced just less than two weeks ago, eyebrows were raised over the selection of Surrey bowler Chris Tremlett. Despite not playing for the national side in any form of the game since June 2008, the selectors saw fit for him to be selected, mainly due to his 6’7” frame.

Tremlett’s height will, the selectors believe, be a huge advantage in Australian conditions. The extra pace and bounce that the pitches in Australia offer has meant that the 29-year old has gained selection over the likes of Yorkshire’s Ajmal Shahzad and Warwickshire’s Chris Woakes. Alongside Steven Finn, who is much more likely to be picked for the First Test at the Gabba, the former-Hampshire star should be the most suited bowler to the conditions Australia has to offer.

However, a selection that the ECB may have felt has strengthened their bowling options may also be looked upon with happiness by the home side. A man whose bowling is suited to Australian conditions is likely to be something not too threatening to the home side’s top six.

Tremlett’s similarities with Sajid Mahmood (a man picked for the 2006 Ashes whitewash) are alarming.

Mahmood is a tall, fast bowler who, like Tremlett, should be very much suited to the conditions Down Under. However, in 2006, Mahmood took five wickets at an average of 52.8 in the final three tests of the series, whilst going at over five runs an over. The home batsmen took a particular liking to him and he hasn’t played a test since the final match in Sydney. The fact that Mahmood was very much part of the national set-up, something that Tremlett can’t claim to be, makes the Surrey man’s selection slightly more worrying.

Realistically, Tremlett will most probably not play in the series unless there are injuries amongst the front-line bowlers. However, his selection in the squad shows that the English selectors are not learning from the mistakes made four years ago. Some of England’s finest bowlers have struggled in Australia, so a selection of a man without an away test match to his name must be seen as a risk.

This article is not saying Tremlett is a bad bowler. He has had a good first season at The Oval and may have felt himself slightly aggrieved to have not at least gained a call-up for the one-day side over the English summer. However, his selection for an Ashes tour after over three years in the test match wilderness with a style of bowling that the Australian batsmen will look upon fondly is a strange one to say the least, and further proof that the England selectors don’t seem to learn from their mistakes, something which has meant their team may again struggle to retain the famous little urn.  


This article can be found at worldcricketwatch.com