Sale Sharks - 8 April 2011

Sale Sharks  36 Gloucester 31

Aviva Premiership

Edgeley Park

Friday 8 April 2011

Live coverage of this vital fixture as I saw it on the night.

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Ansbro keen to make his mark

It’s not often we get to celebrate a new international name from the Lancashire stable, far less one who plays in the blue shirt of Scotland!

Leading out the Stonyhurst 1st XV.
Picture courtesy Stonyhurst College

For this quiet spoken young man, hailing from Dumfries and Galloway in the Scottish borders, it would seem natural that he would play for the country of his birth. Fate however, sent him to the red and white of Lancashire, through his schooling at Stonyhurst College, deep in the Ribble Valley.

His rugby abilities came to the fore during his time there, and he was selected to play at county Under 16s and Under 18s; from where he was selected for the North of England, in a squad alongside Sale Sharks’ Matthew Tait, Scott Armstrong of Leeds Carnegie, and captain Rob Webber, now hooker at Wasps.

It was while he was at university studying at Cambridge that he continued to play, with two Varsity match appearances, as well as a place in their side against the touring Samoans of 2005. It wasn’t his greatest moment, being knocked out after 30 minutes, but nonetheless, he earned himself some good reviews among watching scouts.

On tour with Stonyhurst in Australia, 2004
Picture courtesy Stonyhurst College

“I didn’t really think that I’d get into professional rugby. I never thought ‘Oh, I’ll wait for three years and then go back to it’. I had pretty much thought it was curtains as far as professional rugby was concerned.”

As far as international recognition goes, Ansbro was selected for Scotland A squad to play at the 2009 IRB Nations Cup. A hip injury against Uruguay put him out of the final match of that tournament, and it wasn’t until October 2010 that further international recognition came his way; a place in the Scotland A side against the USA Eagles that was ultimately aborted for what would become his greatest achievement so far – a call up to the full Scotland squad for the Autumn international series.

His debut against the South Africans on 20 November 2010 was a proud moment for the Saints back, never having expected the call.

“I didn’t expect it” was all he could say about a moment that has changed his standing in the game!

“I had lost alot of momentum when I went back to Northampton (after the Nations Cup), and didn’t play much club rugby. This year, although I’ve playing alot from the bench, I feel that I’ve been playing alot better.”

“To get the call was nice, but to play was something that I would never have imagined.”

His recent appearances for Northampton Saints have seen him gather more game time, where has taken his chance after an injury to team mate Chris Ashton. Best known as a utility back, he has started at outside centre and on both wings this season at Franklin’s Gardens.

It’s an exciting time at Northampton right now; a great position in the Aviva Premiership, the first side through to the Heineken Cup quarter finals, and winners of the 2010 LV Cup. Ansbro is keen to make his mark even further at his club, and being named Man of the Match in last week’s Heineken Cup match at Castres is also a great recognition of his regular first team starts.

Now that he has been included in the Scottish Six Nations squad, he will be looking to add to his two caps, and cement a place on the flight to New Zealand for Rugby World Cup.

Preston North End announce Phil Brown as new manager



Brown wants "to put smiles back on faces"

Preston North End have unveiled former Hull City boss Phil Brown as their new manager.

He takes charge at the club following the sacking of Darren Ferguson on New Year’s Eve.

The 51 year old has taken training with the players this morning, and will be in charge for the next match, the FA Cup Third Round match at Deepdale against Former boss Billy Davies’ Nottingham Forest.

“I’m more than excited to be here. We are trying to get the club out of the situation they are in, with 22 games to do it in.”

Brown takes charge at a time when Preston are rooted to the bottom of the Championship, having lost their last three matches, including the relegation dogfight at Crystal Palace on 3^rd January. That result has left the Lilywhites four points behind second-bottom Scunthorpe, and seven behind fourth-bottom Sheffield United.

The new management team at their first press conference

Alongside Brown was his assistant, Brian Horton, a man who has been in football management for almost 30 years, with Manchester City among his former clubs. He was equally positive about the challenge ahead.

“We’ve seen the players today, and we like what we’ve seen so far”

When asked about the prospects of climbing to safety, he was as positive as the new manager: “Seven points is nothing, there are 66 points to play for”.

Between them, they are looking at a target of winning half of their remaining games, which should see the side remain in the Championship come the end of the season.

Caretaker manager David Unsworth and his assistant Jamie Hoyland have been asked to stay on to work with the new management team, but as yet, there are no firm commitments.

One main concern is the current size of the squad, made threadbare through the return of five loanees to Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as the loss of talismanic striker Jon Parkin to Cardiff City.

When asked about the opportunities for new signings, Brown said: “Assurances have been given, and we have five or six places to fill, so we need to have the conversations with the owner and chairman.”

Preston North End - 12th November 2010

Preston North End 0 Hull City 2

npower Championship

This was a real six pointer for both sides, which ended up being a fixture which would see North End at the bottom of the table within 24 hours.

Darren Ferguson had said at the start of the week that he was looking for six points from both home matches being played this week, but ended up with nothing.

Ferguson was able to restore loan signing Ian Hume up front with Jon Parkin, giving him some hope of a potent attacking threat.

Hull made their own changes, with Vito Mannone replacing Matt Duke in goal, and Robert Koren returing to the side for John Bostock.

North End had the ball in the back of the net early on, but Jon Parkin was clearly offside, when he was in place to put home a shot saved by Mannone.

Hull threatened themselves, Richard Garcia missing a great chance to put the visitors ahead, after a neat through ball which split the home defence. His shot which went past the far post was an opportunity to show the home team how open they were to the visiting threat.

On 20 minutes, Garcia took advantage of a great cross from Koren on the right wing, who made use of the space he was given to put the ball into the box, with the Spaniard stooping at the back post to put Hull 1-0 in front.

Preston weren't learning from what had happened before, with the back line being split open once again, this time Koren wasted a great chance, which to be fair, was saved well from Andy Lonergan from point blank.

Preston themselves maintained their own threat up front, and were wasteful of the few chances they had, with an Adam Barton header missed from all of three yards out.

Hume did well to get a ball into the Hull six yard box, after collecting the ball up the left wing, with little support. His cross was cleared for a corner, to bring the home support to life.

Up to half time, Preston had two more efforts on goal, with Chris Brown shooting narrowly wide from distance, and Parkin hitting the side netting from an angle.

Into added time on, Chris Parry was through on the Hull goal, and only thwarted by a fantastic tackle by Anthony Gerrard.


View Matchday in a larger map

The home side kept pressing at the start of the second half, and perhaps their best effort of the match was from Hume, who hit the base of the post; the ball rolling just in front of the line, wide of the opposite post, and cleared from danger.

Hull retained their ability to threaten, as Preston always looked jittery when off the ball, and at times, seemed incapable of winning the ball back from their guests, who were able to play 'keep-ball' for periods of the second half.

Sky cameras giving a view of thousands of empty seats at Deepdale

The second goal came from a piece of great tenacity by Garcia who seemingly chased a lost cause on the right wing, getting past the defence, putting in a blistering cross into the heart of the six yard box, with veteran Nick Barmby poking the ball past Lonergan.

While Preston missed chances again to get a goal, Jay Simpson for the visitors missed a clear chance to kill the match completely in added time, when he hit the far post when one on one with the keeper.

The final whistle was met by a howl of booing from the home Town End fans, with manager Darren Ferguson facing calls for his sacking by a home support who have seen their team slide alarmingly down the table.

Ferguson later admitted that: "It was a  a disappointing evening and result", with news of a post match player's meeting giving him the confidence that: "they are 100% behind me".

The attendance of 9,088 was a reflection of the level of support behind the club, at a time when Preston are in real danger of losing their eleven year stint in the Championship.

Sale Sharks - 5th November 2010

Sale Sharks 39 London Irish 14

LV= Cup

Friday night - Bonfire night, and the sparks were flying at Edgeley Park, Stockport, when Sale Sharks met London Irish in the LV Cup.

A narrow bonus point opportunity for Sale went begging the last time these sides met, only six days previously. An opportunity then, for revenge, and with twelve changes to the starting line-up, Sharks went for the visitors from the off. Sale managed to see off the Londoners with a first half display of blistering running and solid defensive work.

View from the back row of the press box at Edgeley Park. 

Straight from the start, the early intentions of Sale was to put points on the board; the first of the match was from the boot of fly half Rob Miller from five metres inside his own half after three minutes. Following that, the first try of the match followed soon after, with Tom Brady evading his opponents with clever footwork, before touching down on the left wing. The conversion from the touchline was kicked wide of the near post by full back Paul Williams. Brady left the field afterwards, replaced by debutant Ian Thornley on the wing.

As for the visitors, London Irish were left resorting to kicking the ball for position, as they were struggling to get past the gain line. A wet pitch from the day’s rainfall, had left the ball slippery, and this was evident with handling errors on both sides. Marland Yarde, for the visitors, was culpable with a missed opportunity on half way, losing possession to Sale.

The home side were always looking for more point scoring opportunities, and Miller tried to add to the tally with a second penalty kick from inside his half, this time falling just short of the posts. Running at pace into the Irish line paid off halfway into the period, with Fergus Mulchrone putting down after getting the ball from Williams, who side stepped his opposite number brilliantly. Williams converted the try.

It took a full 25 minutes for London Irish to take their first scoring attempt – Chris Malone hit the post with his penalty attempt, before Darren Allison was through for a try, before being called back for picking up his own knock on.


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This period of the half saw Irish put some pressure on the Sale line, with Chris Brightwell in particular hitting the carriers well, and then taking the ball deep into the visiting half, getting the ball out wide to Mulchrone for the third try of the match on the overlap. Williams converted once more.

Just on half time, debutant Thornley scored; the ball being kept in several phases on the try line before being taken out left to the winger for a converted score, to take the Sharks in 25-0 at half time.

The second half saw a renewed effort from Irish, putting Sale on the backfoot for the early period. Again, solid defending saw off the threat; Asaeli Boko saving a certain score by Alex Corbisiero by putting him into touch at the very last. London’s attempts to pass out wide were pounced upon with an audacious interception by Rhys Crane, who took the ball on the wing in his half, and got under the posts to have put the match beyond the visitors. Miller converted.

As if the game wasn’t over as a contest by that point, Chris Leck scored for the Sharks last try of the match on 70 minutes, after great running by Lee Imiolek. Miller converted for Sale’s last points of the match.

With confidence running through the home side, passing out wide saw them found out by Yarde, who took his chance with an interception, his score converted by Chris Malone. With only fourteen players on the pitch at the last, due to late replacement Karena Wihongi being sin binned, the visitors got their second try of the game, with Chris Hala’ufia carrying from a ruck on the line after some sustained pressure. Malone again converted, for a final score of 39-14.

The match was worthy of a greater attendance than the 5,106 who attended, and a great way of laying to rest the disappointment of the previous fixture. With so many young players in the side tonight, it can only mean a great future for the club in terms of their playing staff.