Whatever it took his change of mind will at least have alleviated pressure on a club who had looked to have fallen so

Whatever it took, his change of mind will at least have alleviated pressure on a club who had looked to have fallen so alarmingly that every potential manager was running as fast as he could in the opposite direction to Maine Road.Hartford had the encouragement of watching City gain their second win of the season with two goals in the last seven minutes. With the mood as dark as the night thanks to Shaun Newton’s first-half goal, everything was altered radically by Uwe Rosler’s penalty and Gerry Creaney’s free-kick.Hartford last night would not comment on the managerial position, preferring to talk about the match “We did not play well. “Big tennis is when you get two guys trying to establish their will out there on the court.”. Henman missed an attempted cross-court winner, hit his return long, hit another weak shot into the net and Edberg – with three match points – fired down an ace to secure victory and a place in the quarter-finals.Andre Agassi and Thomas Muster are ready to bring the United States Open alive with today’s quarter-final match between two of the game’s hardest hitters.”It’s going to be big tennis,” the sixth-seeded Agassi said of his meeting with the third-seeded Austrian.

The twice US Open champion, scenting victory, took Henman’s service game to love to go 5-4 up and give himself a chance to serve for the match.That he did in style. The British No 1 was still looking vulnerable on his second serve but he managed to save two broke points in the next game to go 3-2 up in the fourth set and put the pressure back on Edberg.Henman produced two magnificent cross-court returns to take his opponent to deuce in the next game but the Edberg serve held strong, bringing the scores level at 3-3 in the fourth.The Briton then had his best service game for some time, taking a 4-3 lead with a love game, only for Edberg to match the feat to level the scores again.Edberg then went on the attack as Henman struggled to find his range with the first serve. After a few words the Briton continued but, significantly, lost the next point.The second set went with serve into another tie-break, Edberg winning 7-2 this time to level the match.Both players held their serve at the start of the third set but Edberg looked to be holding his resolve better and broke Henman in the ninth game.In a repeat of the situation in the first set, the Swede served for the set at 5-4 but this time he made no mistake and produced an impressive service game to take the set and open up a 2-1 lead.After failing to drop a set in his three previous matches, Henman had now lost two in quick succession and the rot was appearing to set in when he dropped his serve – to a double fault – in the opening game of the fourth set.Edberg held serve comfortably to go 2-0 up in the fourth but Henman refused to fold, winning his own serve and then breaking back in the fourth game.Edberg lost his first three service points, giving Henman three break points but each time the Swede produced excellent serves to take the game back to deuce.Henman won a fourth chance, which was again saved, and finally broke back at the fifth attempt. Tennis

Tim Henman’s run of success in the United States Open was brought to an end at Flushing Meadow last night as Stefan Edberg won their fourth round match in four sets.
The British No 1 had started well, taking the first set on a tie-break, but the Swedeplaying in his last Grand Slam event – made it a set apiece, again on a tie-break, and eventually ran out a 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 winner.Edberg ended Henman’s hopes of reaching his second successive Grand Slam quarter-final, following his heroics at Wimbledon, but the Oxford player will still be able to celebrate his 22nd birthday on Friday in style, after becoming the first British man to reach the last 16 of the US Open since John Lloyd in 1984.The British No 1, who cruised through the first three rounds without dropping a set, had to battle back after twice dropping his serve, taking the first set on a tie-break.The 21-year-old from Oxford endured a nervous start, dropping his serve in the third game, and had to save two break points to avoid going 4-1 down.Edberg actually served for the set at 5-4 but Henman made the most of his first break point to level, promptly produced first first confident service game and then broke back to sent the set into a tie-break, which the Briton won 7-2.Henman, who produced his best tennis ever – according to coach David Felgate – to beat American Todd Martin in the third round, was also playing the huge crowd at Flushing Meadow.The Americans were clearly on the side of the popular, unassuming Swede, who is bowing out of top-flight tennis after this, his 54th successive Grand Slam tournament.The pair, close friends, are practice partners in London but Henman, a silver medallist in the Atlanta Olympic men’s doubles, was aiming to put sentiment to one side as he attempted to clinch a place in the prestigious pounds 4m Compaq Grand Slam Cup.Any hope Henman had of another quick success rapidly disappeared in an absorbing second set in which the ice-cool Briton was involved in a rare dispute.The Oxford man thought he had won the point when the umpire, having noticed the spare ball fall from Henman’s pocket during a rally, called for a let.

As far as I’m concerned, my name has been cleared.”Report, page 5. Cricket

Raymond Illingworth left Lord’s a happy man last night after winning his appeal against a disrepute charge.
After a five-hour hearing with the Council appeals panel, Illingworth said: “I am delighted with the result It is a relief that now everything has ended. It has been a long, hard six months, but I feel vindicated and delighted that my name has been cleared.”Illingworth was fined pounds 2,000 by the Test and County Board in June over newspaper articles from his book, principally about the England fast bowler Devon Malcolm, with whom Illingworth had a very public falling- out on last winter’s tour to South Africa.Illingworth, who retired as chairman of selectors following England’s final one-day match against Pakistan at Trent Bridge on Sunday, said: “I didn’t want to leave the game with a disrepute charge hanging over me. “The old order is just not working and the new order has to come in.”The RFU can now make the divorce absolute and expel the clubs or grant the clubs what they want, fiscal independence and autonomy to run their own competitions.Ultimately, the root of the this sorry affair is money. Will Carling didn’t become a sporting hero by playing at The Stoop, but by playing at Twickenham. The union offers the players the profile they need – playing for England at Twickenham.”Epruc also stated that it has no intention of meeting the RFU for further talks which have dragged on for the last nine months with the clubs getting nowhere as Twickenham stalled in the hope of nullifying the threat of a breakaway.”I have been asked to meet the president of the , John Richardson, but there will be no more talks,” Kerr said. The clubs say they need pounds 1m, the RFU has offered pounds 300,000.

That sort of money does not talk, so the clubs walk.Geoghegan operation, page 2. “They are becoming pig in the middle and all they want to do is play for their clubs and their country. “It would be sad, with international rugby having moved to a higher level as seen in the southern hemisphere, if England’s preparations were impinged upon at this stage,” he said.The British Lions tour manager, Fran Cotton, expressed his sympathy for the players. They are being paid reasonable salaries and we are asking them to support us.”The leading England players did not have to make a decision. Will Carling, Jeremy Guscott, Rory Underwood and Dean Richards were all omitted from the squad, which contained a large crop of young players.The RFU’s response came from Don Rutherford, its technical director.