Paul Nicholls remains confident Bravemansgame will put up a staunch defence of his King George crown despite suffering defeat in his bid for back-to-back victories in the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase.

Britain’s leading staying chaser was a comfortable winner at Wetherby 12 months ago before trouncing his rivals in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.

He went on to finish second to Galopin Des Champs in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and third in the Punchestown Gold Cup and was slightly odds-on at 10-11 to make a successful reappearance in the hands of Harry Cobden.

With Ahoy Senor faltering, Bravemansgame took over the running heading out onto the second circuit and some prodigious leaps in the back straight looked set to propel him to another big-race success.

He appeared to be getting the better of the Mouse Morris-trained Irish raider Gentlemansgame all the way up the home straight, but a bad mistake at the final fence took the wind out of his sails and his race-fit rival took full advantage, getting on top to prevail by a length and three-quarters.

Coral eased Bravemansgame to 2-1 from 7-4 to provide Nicholls with a 14th King George win over the festive period, but the Ditcheat handler is defiant.

He said: “I was pleased with him, he just got a bit tired on the ground and the other horse had obviously had a run.

“This time last year, you’d get away with horses needing the run a little bit on better ground, on this ground you don’t.

“He’s not been away, he’s not had a gallop anywhere. He’s done exactly as he did last year, he’ll take a step forward and the King George will be a different ballgame.

“We always almost expect too much first time out. Everything that we’ve run first time out on that ground has just taken a bit of a blow. If it had been good ground like last year, it wouldn’t have happened.

“Harry said he missed the last and just went for his girths. We’ve given the winner 6lb, our targets are the King George and the Gold Cup and it hasn’t made any difference to how he’ll run in the King George at all.

“That is as deep a ground as we’d run him on and Harry just said fitness caught him out on the day. We don’t like losing, but he’s run very well.”

Ahoy Senor finished last of five as a hot favourite for last year’s Charlie Hall and again disappointed, this time being pulled up by Derek Fox.

Lucinda Russell’s eight-year-old will be given the opportunity to bounce back at Newbury on December 2.

Peter Scudamore, Russell’s partner and assistant, said: “Derek said he was tired. I wish he’d run better, but he’ll go to the Coral Gold Cup.”

Brendan Rodgers praised his much-changed Celtic team for the way they ground down a spirited 10-man Ross County side to move eight points clear at the top of the cinch Premiership.

The hosts had James Brown sent off early on and they kept the Hoops out until deep into first-half stoppage time when David Turnbull broke the deadlock.

Celtic eventually killed off County – whose goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw was in inspired form – with goals from substitutes Luis Palma and James Forrest.

Rodgers, who made six changes ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid in Spain, was pleased with the energy and patience of his team.

“We made a number of changes to bring new energy in the team,” said the Hoops boss. “It’s difficult when they get the man sent off early because it means it’s a game of attack v defence. But we had some really good chances before taking the lead.

“It was a game where we needed some energy from the guys at the beginning. We scored some fantastic goals and their keeper made some brilliant saves.

“Credit to County, they lose a man so early. You can unravel or stick at it and keep going and they did that.”

Hyeongyu Oh, Paulo Bernardo, Anthony Ralston and Hyunjun Yang were among the players handed starts in Dingwall.

“It’s all about the team,” he said. “It’s not about cementing your place in the team, it’s about contributing to the performance. The guys came in and worked very hard and were steady and concentrated.”

Prior to taking the lead, Celtic had two goals chalked off. Liam Scales had the ball in the net from close range but it was ruled out as Oh was deemed to have pushed Jordan White in the build-up.

Later in the first half, Oh netted from close range but the celebrations were cut short when VAR adjudged that Daizen Maeda had strayed offside when running on to Bernardo’s pass on the right.

“I thought the first goal that was disallowed should have been a goal,” said Rodgers. “It was two defenders challenging for the ball. I don’t know where the foul was and it takes an eternity to find out if it was a goal or not. The offside looks really close. I’d have to see it again.”

County boss Malky Mackay was proud of the way his team competed after the early red card – although he was irked that Celtic’s opener came in the seventh minute of first-half stoppage time, when a minimum of six minutes had been signalled.

“We got a mountain to climb when we go to 10 men,” said Mackay. “It was a sending off, James has apologised but he didn’t see him. He came from his blind side so you can’t say too much to him.

“Coming towards half-time we’d weathered the storm and to lose the goal at six minutes and six seconds – which is surprising and interesting – it was a great strike and the only place he could have put it for the goalie not to get to it.

“But we stuck at it, we were disciplined and organised. I have to be proud of my team.”

Barrow upset League One Northampton in the first round of the FA Cup with a 3-1 victory at Sixfields.

Emile Acquah’s early header was cancelled out by Mitch Pinnock but second-half goals from Tom White and Ben Whitfield secured Barrow’s place in the draw for the second round.

The League Two outfit made the better start and led after only nine minutes when Acquah headed in Elliot Newby’s corner.

Will Hondermarck curled wide and Sam Hoskins had a shot blocked before Northampton levelled a minute shy of the half-hour mark as Hoskins charged down Niall Canavan’s clearance and the ball rebounded kindly for Pinnock to slot home.

Barrow’s Dom Telford smashed just wide from 20 yards before Hoskins missed a good chance at the start of the second half, poking wide when through on goal.

That proved a big moment in the game as Barrow regained the lead moments later through White’s long-range shot, which took a wicked deflection and wrong-footed Max Thompson.

Victory was secured 18 minutes from time after a mix-up between Thompson and Ali Koiki allowed Whitfield to score into an empty net.

Gentlemansgame came of age by beating Gold Cup runner-up Bravemansgame in the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby.

Having just his third run over fences, the Mouse Morris-trained seven-year-old was nibbled at in the market into 7-2 and he became the first Irish-based winner since Francis Crowley’s Sackville in 2001.

Gentlemansgame won a beginners chase at Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival but was not seen again until being beaten into second by Easy Game at Gowran in September.

Always highly thought of by Morris, who finished second in the corresponding race in 1998 with Boss Doyle behind Strath Royal, he was the trainer’s first winner in the UK since he landed the Grand National with Rule The World in 2016.

Ahoy Senor set out to make all but by halfway his jumping had once again slowed him down and last year’s winner Bravemansgame took it up.

It stayed that way until Darragh O’Keeffe brought the grey up to challenge, but at the second last the favourite had seemingly seen him off.

However, Bravemansgame jumped out of Harry Cobden’s hands at the final fence, landing on top of it and halting his momentum, allowing the Irish raider to gain the upper hand and win by a length and three-quarters.

Morris said: “I’m very happy with that, he jumped super. He was a bit fiddly at one or two, but that was to be expected on his third run over fences.

“He was taking on a seasoned, Gold Cup horse (Bravemansgame). We came here because I was limited as to where I could go. The owners (Robcour) had their other horse going to Down Royal (Gerri Colombe) and it would be stupid to take each other on.

“It’s a long way to the Gold Cup. I suppose Leopardstown at Christmas would be the obvious place to go, but we’ll see how he comes out of it.

“He’ll stay all day and we’re living the dream.”

On his Wetherby win, Morris added: “It’s a nice race and a super track with lovely people, so why not come over?”

Lando Norris saw off triple world champion Max Verstappen to take pole position for today’s sprint race in Brazil.

The British driver, 23, beat Verstappen to top spot by 0.061 seconds in Interlagos with Sergio Perez third.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will line up from fourth and fifth respectively for Mercedes.

Norris believed he could have taken pole for tomorrow’s 71-lap main event, but for a McLaren strategy blunder in Friday’s rain-hit qualifying session.

However, the young Briton made amends by delivering the quickest time for today’s 24-lap dash to the chequered flag.

Norris, who is seeking his first win in Formula One, said: “It felt like one of the worst laps I have done so I am a little bit surprised to be on pole.

“But I feel like we have made up for yesterday. I have no idea how the sprint will go, but the pace has been good this weekend and the car has been quick.”

Perez was a tenth back from Norris, while Russell finished 0.235 sec behind, with Hamilton 0.318 sec adrift.

Yuki Tsunoda qualified sixth ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo.

Q1 ended early after Esteban Ocon crashed out following a collision with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

Ocon was on a hot lap, but briefly lost control of his Alpine though the left-hander at Turn 3, and thumped into Alonso.

The Spaniard was off the racing line, affording space for Ocon, but the Frenchman clipped Alonso’s Aston Martin which sent him into the tyre barrier at Curva do Sol.

“F****** idiot, Fernando,” said Ocon after he sustained significant damage to the rear of his machine.

Alonso limped back to the pits with front suspension damage leaving his mechanics scrambling to get his machine ready for Q2.

A 28-minute delay followed as the barrier was repaired but Alonso was unable to continue. He will start 15th.

The double world champion’s team-mate Lance Stroll qualified an impressive third for Sunday’s grand prix. But the Canadian will line up three places from the back for today’s sprint which gets under way at 3:30pm local time (6:30 pm GMT).

Botox Has provided Caoilin Quinn with the most notable success of his riding career so far with victory in a gruelling renewal of the bet365 West Yorkshire Hurdle at Wetherby.

The conditional jockey won a valuable handicap hurdle on the Betfair Chase undercard at Haydock last season aboard Gary Moore’s seven-year-old, who is also a former winner of the National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell under the trainer’s son, Josh.

Botox Has had not been seen in competitive action since finishing fourth in the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham in January – and while Quinn was unable to use his claim in this Grade Two contest, he proved more than up to the job.

Much of the pre-race focus was on the Philip Hobbs-trained Thyme Hill and Jeremy Scott’s stable star Dashel Drasher, two high-class performers on the staying hurdling scene.

Dashel Drasher adopted his customary role at the front, but it was hard work from some way out, while the other 7-4 joint-favourite Thyme Hill was unable to land a telling blow in the testing conditions.

Botox Has (15-2) himself was off the bridle early in the straight but kept pulling out more and recovered from an untidy leap at the final obstacle to get the better of Red Risk by a length, with Dashel Drasher narrowly beating Thyme Hill to third place.

Quinn said: “It’s unbelievable, I’m speechless, to be honest, what a performance that was. He was giving weight away to a lot of them, but one thing he has on his side is he’s very tough.

“When push comes to shove, he digs deep. I didn’t think he enjoyed the ground today, we thought he would, as he does like it soft, but for whatever reason he didn’t travel as well as he did when I rode him at Haydock.

“It’s very tiring ground and I just thought it was the best thing to go and let him pop the last, but I knew he had loads left.

“It’s an unbelievable training performance. I’ve said to loads of people, he (Gary Moore) is an absolute genius.

“He’s had his problems this horse, he had a niggling problem which meant he didn’t go to the Cheltenham Festival last season. He (Moore) has got him back as good as ever and I’m very grateful.”

Tottenham can go all the way in the Premier League title race after making a brilliant start to life under Ange Postecoglou, says former Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen.

Postecoglou has made the best-ever start by a Premier League manager across their first 10 games in charge, leading Spurs to eight wins and two draws while implementing a vibrant brand of possession-based football.

The former Celtic boss could become just the third manager to go unbeaten through his first 11 games in the competition when Spurs host London rivals Chelsea on Monday. 

Frank Clark (with Nottingham Forest in 1994) and Maurizio Sarri (with Chelsea in 2018) are the only men to previously achieve that feat, with the latter avoiding defeat in his first 12 matches.

With new arrivals including James Maddison, Micky van de Ven and Guglielmo Vicario requiring no bedding-in period, Tottenham have made their best start to a top-flight season since 1960-61.

On that occasion, they won their first 10 games in the old First Division before capturing what remains their most recent league title.  

With a lack of European football giving Postecoglou more time to work with his players, Vertonghen believes Tottenham can dream of replicating that success.

"He's doing an unbelievable job," Vertonghen, an Athlete Partner for APEX, told Stats Perform when asked about Postecoglou's impact.

"Lots of things have happened since I left Tottenham, but this year they made all the right decisions. 

"They signed the right players, the right coach with the right mentality that the club has missed for a while. 

"He's doing an unbelievable job. I'm really enjoying watching them and I don't see why they can't go for the highest things possible. 

"All the other clubs are playing in Europe or struggling with injuries, and besides that, Spurs have a great team and that's very important as well. 

"They have the crowd behind them. I can see them going all the way."

Spurs face a familiar face next time out as Vertonghen's former boss Mauricio Pochettino returns to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with Chelsea on Monday.

Vertonghen's old club have won all four of their home league games under Postecoglou, with Manchester United and Liverpool among the teams to leave north London empty-handed in 2023-24.

Another victory would make Postecoglou the first coach to win his first five home games in the Premier League since May 2017, when Craig Shakespeare achieved the feat with Leicester City.

Jan Vertonghen believes Ajax have started to take steps towards a much-needed rebuild, though concedes things may get worse before they improve.

The 36-time Dutch champions have made an awful start to 2023-24, taking eight points from their first nine games of the Eredivisie season to sit 15th ahead of Sunday's meeting with Heerenveen.   

Maurice Steijn left his role as head coach by mutual consent with the club mired in 17th place last week, just four months after he joined from Sparta Rotterdam on a three-year deal.

Hedwiges Maduro then took charge as Ajax made unwanted history against PSV last Sunday, suffering a fifth successive Eredivisie defeat for the first time in their history as they were routed 5-2.

Ajax responded by appointing former winger John van 't Schip as interim coach this week, and his first game in charge resulted in a 2-0 win over FC Volendam on Thursday.

New boss Van 't Schip represented the club for 11 years as a player between 1981 and 1992, before returning as Marco van Basten's assistant coach in 2008.

While Vertonghen – who began his career with Ajax before leaving for Tottenham in 2012 – knows his old club have a long road ahead of them, he believes they have the right structure in place to bounce back.

"It hurts. Obviously, [Ajax] can't win the league every year, but where they are now is not good," Vertonghen, an Athlete Partner for APEX, told Stats Perform.

"It was bad on every level, but sometimes you have to hit lows to get back up. I think they're getting the structure back right. 

"Obviously, they've given a lot of power to someone who wasn't familiar with the culture at Ajax [Steijn]. In three or four months, a lot of damage was done. 

"Where they are now doesn't reflect the quality of the squad at all. Bringing in 13 or 14 new players and a new coach, it takes time, and at Ajax you don't get that time. You need to perform. Being second is not good enough. 

"They've got some people back at the club with Ajax in their heart, who want the best for Ajax. So, yeah, it will take a while, and hopefully they can get into Europe this year."

Vertonghen moved to his homeland to represent Anderlecht last September, but he endured a dismal first campaign with the 34-time Belgian champions, who finished 11th in the Pro League.

However, Anderlecht have bounced back under Brian Riemer this campaign, sitting second in the table ahead of back-to-back away games against title rivals Cercle Brugge and Gent.

Asked about Anderlecht's upturn, Vertonghen said: "Last year was a very, very bad and disappointing season, but we had a very good transfer window. 

"We made great signings, people that didn't really fit in left, and we brought in some young guys and experienced players; Kasper Schmeichel, for example, guys who want to win. 

"That's what we need. The atmosphere in the team is great. We have a very, very strong squad of 20 to 25 players. In Belgium, it works with a play-off system. If you get into the top six, you go through to the championship play-off, and that's our ambition: to be in that top six. 

"Whoever's in the top six can be champions. It's important for all the teams who have the ambition to achieve the highest things to be in that top six. 

"There are eight or nine teams fighting for that top six, and then we'll see. At the moment, we're second but still only a couple of points from seventh, so now we have two massive games.

"It's massive for us, two away games as well, so if you lose those two games, you can be seventh. That's how close it is, so we have to get at least four points out of those two games."

Api Ratuniyarawa has appeared in court charged with sexual assault, hours before he was due to play for the Barbarians against Wales in Cardiff.

The 37-year-old Fiji international, from West Northamptonshire, had been due to be on the Barbarians bench for the match at the Principality Stadium, and Wales international Aaron Shingler was called up to replace him.

South Wales Police said: “Api Ratuniyarawa, 37, from West Northamptonshire, was due to appear at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court this morning charged with sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault by touching.”

Ratuniyarawa was released on bail to appear at Cardiff Crown Court on December 4.

Barbarians said in a statement: “As soon as we were contacted by South Wales Police we co-operated fully, assisting them with their enquiries.

“On their advice, we can’t comment any further as the investigation is ongoing.”

The charges against Ratuniyarawa were first reported by the BBC, and Wales Online said they related to alleged incidents at a Cardiff bar in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Ratuniyarawa played for London Irish last season, after signing from Northampton Saints.

The London Irish website said: “The Fijian lock forward arrived at Franklin’s Gardens from Agen in the 2016/17 season, spending the best part of five years with Saints before departing for the capital.

“Having made over 100 appearances for Northampton, Ratuniyarawa’s experience expands onto the international front after appearing in both the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups for his native Fiji.

“A 10-years and 36 caps later, Ratuniyarawa’s international career began miles down the road from Irish’s headquarters in Sunbury when he took on England at the national stadium back in the 2012 autumn internationals.

“He brings with him accolades aplenty, both personal and as a team, attaining the ‘Breakthrough Player of the Year’ award at Northampton whilst also winning the first Premiership Rugby Cup.”

Bruno Fernandes fired home an injury-time winner to secure a much-needed victory for Manchester United at Fulham.

United came into the Craven Cottage clash under a cloud after the midweek Carabao Cup defeat at home to Newcastle.

They were quiet for long periods of the game but a moment of brilliance from skipper Fernandes, who came in for criticism from former United players after the Newcastle loss, gave manager Erik ten Hag a welcome three points.

Fernandes evaded attempts to close him down on the edge of the penalty area before placing his shot beyond Fulham keeper Bernd Leno.

United thought they had taken a 1-0 lead after eight minutes but VAR ruled out Scott McTominay’s effort for offside.

The Scot tapped in Alejandro Garnacho’s cut back but referee John Brooks overturned the goal after VAR ruled Harry Maguire had interfered with play from an offside position.

The decision was a wake-up call for the hosts who were looking to build on Wednesday’s last-16 3-1 Carabao Cup victory at Ipswich.

Craven Cottage was fired up and Willian dragged the Cottagers up the pitch with a slaloming run but his effort was blocked at the last moment.

The Brazilian was Fulham’s main creative outlet in the final third and in the 27th minute he produced a delightful cross, but, in keeping with Fulham’s season so far, no striker was there to finish at the back post.

Nigeria international Alex Iwobi marauded from his own half into United’s box but was wasteful in front of goal, failing to hit the target.

The hangover from United’s back-to-back 3-0 home defeats against Manchester City and Newcastle was clear to see as ten Hag’s side lacked intensity, with Fernandes’ skewed added time cross summing up their first-half efforts.

The visitors searched for a way into the game after halftime through Garnacho who enjoyed touches in promising areas before a dangerous cross was tipped over by Leno.

Momentum shifted in Fulham’s favour on the hour. Iwobi picked out Harry Wilson who tried from range with a powerful outside of the boot effort but he was denied by United keeper Andre Onana.

The Cottagers also came close from the following set-piece when last week’s goal scorer Joao Palhinha failed to keep his effort down as Onana made another save to maintain the deadlock.

The minutes ebbed away and substitutions from both sides sapped the games’ intensity before Fernandes’ free-kick in the 83rd minute gave United hope late on.

The Portuguese midfielder had not been heavily involved but showed what he is capable of when he struck a dipped free-kick towards Leno’s bottom corner and the Fulham keeper did well to prevent United edging in front.

But there was no denying Fernandes in added time. He combined with Rasmus Hojlund and jinked inside onto his preferred right foot before unleashing a powerful shot that proved too much for Leno, who could only palm it into his bottom corner.