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Crocs trounce Young Crocs in experiential lesson BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sports - New 2 Borneo

Crocs trounce Young Crocs in experiential lesson

Posted: 29 Dec 2013 03:16 PM PST

by Matthew T. Umpang, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on December 30, 2013, Monday

KUCHING: Sarawak's President's Cup team had a taste of top flight football when they took on the Crocs at Stadium Negeri yesterday afternoon.

Despite suffering a 13-0 whitewash, head coach of the Under-19 squad Johnny Dominicus chose to emphasise the positives with the performance of his players.

He felt that what is most important is that the players play according to the game plan.

"There is nothing much I can expect from my players as there are still young of age. Most them are still 17 years old," he said.

Speaking to reporters after the match, Johnny shared that he observed some improvement in his players and he remains optimistic that they will get better.

Though a few players from the last season were retained, the team does have a new look this season.

"This set of players have gone through a thorough selection process and I think they are good enough to put on the Sarawak shirt. They still need more matches before the actual tournament starts next month," he added.

Sarawak head coach Robert Alberts also hoped the President's Cup squad gained valuable experience from the match which lasted 125 minutes.

"This is a glimpse of how it feels to play for Sarawak at the top level. I hope that they will work hard to reach that level one day and hopefully be qualifi ed to represent the state in the future," he commented.

Alberts, who fielded a strong side for the match, was pleased to see improvements made by his players in the last 40 minutes of the game.

He hoped that the newer players gain deeper understanding playing with each other in the other friendy matches lined up.

Sarawak will next play Sabah in a friendly away in Kota Kinabalu on Jan 4 next year.

The continued bad weather made the pitch in Stadium Negeri soggy and muddy.

Nevertheless, many fans turned up as if it was an offi cial match day.

The stadium atmosphere was lively with fans singing and shouting praises for both teams.

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Read leads all-conquering All Blacks

Posted: 29 Dec 2013 03:05 PM PST

PARIS: The 2013 season was dominated by one team that towered above all the rest: the All Blacks.

The Steve Hansen-coached side went through the year unbeaten in their 14 matches, the first international team to have done so in the professional era.

With a core of players who starred in their 2011 World Cup-winning squad, New Zealand mixed raw aggression with silky skills and a smart kicking game, led magnificently by outstanding No 8 Kieran Read.

Read, the most prolific No.8 in the history of the game with 15 tries in 61 internationals, was justifiably picked as the IRB player of the year.

His honour capped a hat-trick of awards for New Zealand who picked up the team of the year gong while Steve Hansen was named coach of the year.

"(New Zealand) seem to reach new levels of excellence every year and although some managed to push them very close, they were clearly the stand-out team of the year," said IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset.

The All Blacks also won the Rugby Championship while Hansen's record in two years as All Blacks coach is a remarkable 25 wins, one draw and one defeat, which was against England.

The final match of the Championships was dubbed one of the greatest games ever played, a thrilling 38-27 victory over South Africa, whose two defeats in the season came at All Black hands.

It was Ireland who pushed New Zealand the closest, in their 14th and final Test, a last-gasp try and tricky conversion sealing an enthralling 22-20 victory.

Otherwise, the November internationals made for some sorry reading.

England, the hosts of the 2015 World Cup, were the only European side to beat one of the southern big three of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia when they

defeated the Wallabies at Twickenham.

An action-packed year saw Wales earlier win the Six Nations for the fourth time in eight years, overcoming a dreadful opening half against the Irish to bounce back through to a final 30-3 trouncing of England.

As the tournament enjoyed a frenetic finale, Italy handed Ireland a 22-15 defeat in Rome while France recorded their first win with a 23-16 victory over Scotland in Paris.

However, that triumph was not enough to prevent the rock-bottom French from landing the dreaded wooden spoon.

Welsh players made up the bulk of the British and Irish Lions squad that toured Australia, full-back Leigh Halfpenny kicking 21 points in the Lions' thumping 41-16 victory over the Australians in the series decider. The 2-1 win was the Lions' first in 16 years.

It was also a personal triumph for coach Warren Gatland, who caused an uproar by dropping Irish legend Brian O'Driscoll and fielding a record-equalling 10 Welshmen in the starting XV.

Gatland, who had been loaned out to the Lions by Wales, made himself a firm favourite to take the British and Irish Lions to his native New Zealand in 2017 by refusing to rule out leading the squad next time round.

New Zealand also dominated the sevens circuit, the Kiwis firstly winning the 2012/13 Sevens World Series ahead of South Africa and Fiji, before going on to victory in the Sevens World Cup in Moscow.

While the Series climax in London set a new two-day world record for a rugby sevens attendance, with 113,023 fans attending Twickenham over the weekend, there was a dearth of spectators at the Russian capital as the IRB looks to expand its global reach. — AFP

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Fighting Serena sounds warning on winning form

Posted: 29 Dec 2013 03:04 PM PST

BRISBANE, Australia: World number one Serena Williams says a fierce competitive streak keeps her motivated despite a decade of dominance, warning competitors Sunday that she is determined to extend her sparkling 2013 form.

Speaking in Brisbane where she will be defending the title she won earlier this year, Williams said she had kept her off-season to a minimum to avoid any impact on her momentum.

Williams had only four losses in a stellar 2013, a year that included her 16th and 17th Grand Slams at Roland Garros and the US Open.

In a warning to her rivals, she said she was determined to take her 2013 form into the new season.

"I took a couple of weeks off, but I was already like kind of itching to get back on the court," she said of her short off-season.

"I didn't want to lose any rhythm or anything — didn't want to lose momentum is the word I was looking for. I definitely wanted to move forward with that."

Despite a decade of dominating the world circuit, a smiling Williams said a love of the contest kept her going.

"I don't know why. Why am I training so hard in Florida with my dad? Why am I, like, doing this so many years later?" she said, when asked what sustained her.

"I can't stop. I love it. I love being out here. I love competing.

"It gives me something to do, and I just love the competition. So for me, it's just about motivating myself and trying to reach new goals."

Williams said playing in the heat and humidity of Brisbane was the ideal preparation for January's Australian Open, the season's first major.

On a day when the temperature on centre court climbed above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), Williams said thoughts of wining an 18th Grand Slam made her choose Brisbane to start the 2014 season.

"I definitely thought about going somewhere else, but it just didn't feel right," she said.

"I think it'll give me a really good preparation.

"It's a great tournament to play — obviously the same surface (as Melbourne). Hopefully it'll stay hot like this, because I think the heat is good preparation for the main event." — AFP

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Pellegrini targets four-pronged City challenge

Posted: 29 Dec 2013 03:02 PM PST

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini believes his side can challenge for four trophies this season after moving top of the Premier League with a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.

Edin Dzeko struck in the second half of a nervy encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday as City maintained their 100 percent home record after finally breaking down a resolute and enterprising Palace side.

With City also still in contention in the Champions League, the League Cup and the FA Cup, Pellegrini says that they are exactly where he had hoped they would be at the turn of the year.

"We know we are in the position we wanted to be at the beginning of the first half (of the season)," he said.

"We are playing in all competitions. In the Capital One (League) Cup we are in the semi-final, we qualified in the Champions League and we are at the top of the Premier League.

"Maybe eight games ago, nobody believed we could discount six points to Arsenal. We did it. We won the last seven games and we drew one. We must continue this way but we are just in the first half of the Premier League.

"The second half will be exactly the same as the first one, with five or six teams fighting for the title to the end."

Dzeko turned in Jesus Navas's cut-back in the 66th minute to secure the three points that sent City top, but Joe Hart's performance in goal was also a crucial factor.

Hart pulled off three fine saves in the second half to deny Jason Puncheon, Mile Jedinak and Joel Ward.

The England international only returned to City's starting line-up for league games in December having being dropped by Pellegrini after a string of poor performances, but he now looks back to his best.

"I think he always knew what we think about him," said Pellegrini.

"He needed a rest. He worked always very hard but he was always confident he would return to his position. He is playing at his normal performance (level) as the good goalkeeper he is."

Hart suffered a nasty cut below his eye when denying Cameron Jerome in the first half, which led to the Palace forward going off with an ankle injury and left the City goalkeeper needing lengthy treatment.

Pellegrini said that Hart's facial injury was "not serious", but City later revealed that he had required six stitches.

The City manager also bemoaned Palace's defensive approach that made it difficult for his side, which showed six changes from the 2-1 Boxing Day win over Liverpool.

But Palace manager Tony Pulis was not impressed by the claims, pointing to the fact that City themselves announced their own goalkeeper as man of the match.

"Was that the team that cost 350 million ( 577 million, 420 million euros)?" he said. "I don't talk about other teams. Didn't they give Joe Hart man of the match?"

Pulis's side remain out of the relegation zone owing to Fulham's heavy 6-0 defeat at Hull City and the manager, who replaced Ian Holloway in November, is eyeing up a few January additions to help their bid to avoid the drop.

"What we need is to turn the 1-0 defeats into victories," the former Stoke City manager said.

"It was important we tried to get up within a certain number of points of the rest of the group at the bottom of the table and it gives us a chance, and that is all you can ask for.

"If we can bring a few players in and strengthen it up a little bit, we can give it a good blast when the year turns round." — AFP

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Bosh leads LeBron-less Heat over Trail Blazers

Posted: 29 Dec 2013 03:01 PM PST

PORTLAND: Chris Bosh scored 37 points, including a last-second 3-pointer for the winning basket, and grabbed 10 rebounds Saturday to lead reigning NBA champion Miami over Portland 108-107.

The Heat were playing without superstar playmaker LeBron James, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player, who was benched for the night by coach Erik Spoelstra due to nagging right groin and left ankle injuries.

James had not missed a prior game of the season but Bosh stepped up to the challenge of his absence, hitting 15-of-26 shots and going 3-for-3 from 3-point range, making them all from beyond the arc in the last 4:05.

The only other game this year in which Bosh netted more than 30 points was last February at Miami, also against the Trail Blazers.

A showdown of two of the NBA's winningest teams came down to the last seconds after Bosh sank a 3-pointer to give the Heat a 101-98 edge and followed two LaMarcus Aldridge free throws with a layup for a 103-100 Miami edge.

Aldridge followed with a layup and Portland reclaimed the lead after Miami guard Dwyane Wade fouled Nicolas Batum as he attempted a 3-pointer and the French forward sank all three free throws.

After Wade pulled Miami level with a dunk, it was Ray Allen who was whistled for a foul on Batum, who put the Trail Blazers ahead 107-105 on two free throws with seven seconds remaining, setting the stage for Bosh's decisive 3-pointer with less than a second to play.

Aldridge missed a desperation tip-in attempt at the final buzzer.

Wade added 16 points and seven assists for Miami, 23-7, while Michael Beasley added 12 points and Norris Cole came off the bench to score 11. Mario Chalmers had nine points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Heat.

Wesley Matthews led Portland, 24-6, with 23 points while Aldridge contributed 22 points and seven rebounds. Robin Lopez had 17 points while Damian Lillard added 16 and Batum finished with 11 points, nine assists, six rebounds and three blocked shots. — AFP

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