England’s World Cup nightmare continued as their miniscule mathematical hopes of staying in the competition were finally extinguished by bitter rivals Australia.
After five defeats from their first six games the defending champions had long since given up hope of reaching the semi-finals, but officially bowing out at the hands of their Ashes foes with a 33-run defeat simply poured salt into open wounds.
Once again it was their batting that let them down, failing to get to grips with a manageable target after a spirited showing from the bowling unit left Australia 286 all out in the final over.
England were knocked over for 253 in response, Ben Stokes top-scoring with 64 but unable to pull his side out of the fire.
On the eve of the match Stokes had bluntly deemed England’s campaign as “crap” and as they sit rooted to the foot of the table, with qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy now in serious doubt, it is hard to improve on that description.
England kept an unchanged XI for the third game in a row and their refusal to thrust their best young batter, Harry Brook, back into a top six that has repeatedly imploded looks increasingly eccentric.
Established names like Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and captain Jos Buttler continued their dreadful sequence of scores, while all-rounder Liam Livingstone struggled to make a case with bat or ball. Keeping Brook waiting any longer would surely be madness.
England were back at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, the same ground where they were thrashed by New Zealand in the curtain-raiser a month ago, and they will be happy to see the back of the place.
Like their most recent defeat to India, England looked competitive at the halfway stage. Chris Woakes, player of the series in this summer’s Ashes, raised his game against the Australians again as he chimed in with four for 54 as he topped and tailed the innings.
He removed both openers in a controlled new ball spell, Travis Head steering to slip and David Warner chipping to midwicket. He also wrapped things up at the death with two wickets in the 50th over.
But Steve Smith (44), Marnus Labuschagne (71) and Cameron Green (47) all batted with enough care to drag their side up towards a par score. England leaned on Adil Rashid in the middle overs as he picked up two for 38, including Smith just as he was beginning to speed up, but Mark Wood was expensive again.
Given their fragile displays with the bat thus far, England desperately needed a steady start to their innings and a chance to feel their way into the contest.
What happened was the stuff of nightmares, Bairstow flicking the first ball of the innings from Mitchell Starc down leg and into Josh Inglis’ gloves.
That meant another early introduction for Root and, for the fifth game in a row, an exit before the end of the powerplay. He had already seen one catch go down, spilled at short cover by Marcus Stoinis, when he nicked Starc behind for 13.
Dawid Malan kept the scoreboard moving but Stokes dug out just nine runs from his first 32 balls and took 38 to bank his first boundary.
For a moment, as Stokes took the score past three figures with a straight six and Malan chalked off a no-frills 50, it looked as if things were heading in the right direction.
But it was an illusion, Malan skying Pat Cummins down fine-leg’s throat and Buttler lofting Adam Zampa straight to long-on with just a single to his name.
In his mind it must have seemed a statement of intent; in practice it was an abdication of responsibility.
At the 30-over mark England’s position was grave, 159 needed at an asking rate of 7.95. Stokes and Moeen Ali flickered into life, crashing 41 off the next five overs, but their riposte was short-lived as Zampa removed both on his way to an exemplary three for 21.
Stokes scooped to short fine-leg with 13 overs left and 113 still to get, ending on his knees and holding his hands out in despair, and Moeen holed out for 42. Carefree late-hitting from Woakes and Rashid tightened the margin but never came close to changing the result.
Burnley became the first club in top-flight history to lose their opening six home fixtures of a season as Crystal Palace deepened the gloom over Turf Moor in a 2-0 win for the Londoners.
Jeffrey Schlupp put Palace ahead in the 22nd minute and Tyrick Mitchell’s second Palace goal sealed it in stoppage time as Burnley suffered a club-record eighth consecutive top-flight home defeat, a run that dates back to the final two fixtures of the 2021-22 campaign in which they were relegated.
A similar fate will surely await if Vincent Kompany cannot come up with answers quickly as his side again could not find any cutting edge – now without a goal in six of their 11 Premier League games.
It was not for lack of trying – Burnley had 67 per cent possession and 16 shots to Palace’s four – but it was the visiting fans singing loudly at the final whistle as Palace recovered from back-to-back defeats to move into the top half of the table.
Turf Moor was an almost impenetrable fortress during last season’s promotion charge as Kompany’s side won 16 and lost only one of 23 home games and, even when suffering relegation in 2021-22, Burnley lost only eight home league games all season. So far this season there have been no home comforts at all.
Burnley started brightly, with Vitinho winning a corner inside the opening 20 seconds before Zeki Amdouni headed a Johann Berg Gudmundsson ball wide, then narrowly missed the head of Jay Rodriguez – making his first league start of the season – with a cross of his own.
The Clarets were playing some lovely flowing football but without the end product they so badly need and they were punished as one of the best halves of football Burnley have produced this season nevertheless ended with Kompany’s side trailing.
Palace had barely been seen as an attacking force – the most dangerous they had been was when Odsonne Edouard clattered into James Trafford as the Burnley goalkeeper tried to play the ball inside his own goal area, earning a yellow card.
But they got a huge helping hand when Jordan Beyer, back in the Burnley defence after a month out with injury, got himself into a tangle as he tried to play the ball back to Trafford, allowing Jordan Ayew to nick the ball away and play in a low cross for Schlupp to stab home.
It was only the second first-half goal Palace have scored all season, but the 12th conceded by Burnley, the most in the league.
Burnley tried to muster a response. Luca Koleosho controlled Charlie Taylor’s chipped pass with a lovely touch, but Andersen slid in just in time to prevent a shot, and in first-half stoppage-time Koleosho saw a shot palmed over as they tried to catch Sam Johnstone out with a quick free-kick.
Standing in the east Lancashire rain, Kompany tried to inject some energy into his players early in the second half.
Rodriguez headed a deep cross from Dara O’Shea wide but Palace were defending in numbers and leaving no path through.
Roy Hodgson sent on Eberechi Eze, making his return after five weeks out with a hamstring injury, but the hosts stayed on top and should have levelled moments later when Koleosho again burst down the left and pulled the ball back only for Gudmundsson to turn it wide.
Rodriguez had the ball in the net in the 64th minute but did not need the assistant’s flag to tell him he had been offside when Amdouni’s blocked shot fell for him.
Still Burnley kept pushing. Koleosho blazed over before Johnstone tipped over Brownhill’s dipping shot, then saving Rodriguez’s header from the resulting corner.
But it was Palace who had the final say. O’Shea failed to clear a long ball in the corner and Eze laid the ball off for Mitchell to rub salt in Burnley wounds.
Jeremy Doku produced a stunning performance as champions Manchester City overcame the loss of Erling Haaland to thrash Bournemouth 6-1 on Saturday.
Doku was the architect of an emphatic success, scoring their opener and having a hand in four other goals as City overpowered the Cherries in a one-sided Premier League clash.”
Bernardo Silva twice benefited from Doku’s work with a brace while Phil Foden, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake also got on the scoresheet at the Etihad Stadium.
Luis Sinisterra grabbed a Bournemouth consolation but the only real concern for City was an injury to Haaland, who hit the woodwork early on before hobbling off at half-time.
City, who are already without Kevin De Bruyne for a prolonged period, will hope the problem does not prove serious with games against Chelsea and Liverpool in the coming weeks.
On this occasion, City did not really need the Norway international.
The feelgood factor Bournemouth generated by winning their first league game of the season last week quickly evaporated as City eased through the gears.
It may have taken them 30 minutes to register their opening goal but, such was their dominance, the result rarely seemed in doubt.
Silva sent a dipping effort narrowly over the bar and Rodri shot straight at Andrei Radu.
Haaland went closer when he headed against the post and was then denied by a Lloyd Kelly block before Silva curled just wide.
It was no surprise when the hosts finally took the lead, Doku picking up possession on the edge of the box and playing a one-two with Rodri before curling a shot around Radu.
The second quickly followed with Doku again involved. The Belgium forward combined with Kyle Walker on the right and bamboozled the defence before picking out Silva in front of goal.
Doku thought he put City 3-0 ahead soon after as his mesmeric spell continued. A neat touch opened up a shooting opportunity on the edge of the box and he lashed towards goal.
He ran off to celebrate as the ball found the bottom corner but he was forced to settle for a creator’s role again as replays showed a deflection off Akanji.
Haaland almost added a fourth after being played in by Julian Alvarez but Illya Zabarnyi slid in to block.
That proved his last significant involvement as he ended the first half with an apparent limp and manager Pep Guardiola removed him at the interval.
Dominic Solanke had the ball in the net for Bournemouth after the restart but Ryan Christie was ruled offside in the build-up.
Solanke was unperturbed and rattled the frame of the goal with another effort on the hour but that served only to fire City back up.
Yet again Doku proved the dangerman, cutting into the box on the left and teeing up Haaland’s replacement Foden in front of goal.
Sinisterra pulled one back 16 minutes from time after taking a touch from a sweeping Max Aarons pass and turning home.
Doku was not done, however, and released Silva with a sublime long ball, which the Portugal midfielder raced onto and coolly flicked in.
Ake completed the rout with a stopping header late on.
Decorated trio Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Leigh Halfpenny enjoyed a fitting send-off from international rugby as Wales beat the Barbarians 49-26 in Cardiff.
The Wales stars, who won 352 caps between them, took centre-stage at the Principality Stadium.
Billed as a tribute match, all three played their part, with Wales full-back Halfpenny contributing five conversions, while official player-of-the-match Jones scored a try and captained a Barbarians side that saw flanker Tipuric among his team-mates.
A crowd of 53,000 provided a party atmosphere under the stadium’s closed roof as Wales posted a third successive victory over the invitation side.
First-half tries by hooker Dewi Lake, wing Tom Rogers and fly-half Sam Costelow sent Wales on the way in their last game before hosting opening Six Nations opponents Scotland on February 3.
But the non-cap fixture – its scheduling had been criticised in many quarters with all four Welsh professional regions play league games on the same weekend – saw the Barbarians hit back impressively.
Fijian scrum-half Simione Kuruvoli scored two tries, and when Jones crossed early in the second period, Wales led by just two points, with Nicolas Sanchez adding a conversion double.
Replacements Taine Plumtree, Aaron Wainwright and Kieran Hardy (2) claimed second-half touchdowns for Wales, though, with Halfpenny, who received a prolonged standing ovation when he went off after 67 minutes, and Cai Evans each adding two conversions, with Barbarians flanker Tom Hooper also scoring a try, converted by Ben Donaldson.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland included 12 World Cup squad members in the starting line-up, while there was an opportunity for Dragons prop Lloyd Fairbrother with five tightheads unavailable, including Tomas Francis, Dillon Lewis and Henry Thomas.
The Barbarians, coached by Scott Robertson and Eddie Jones, featured a host of players fresh from World Cup duty, headlined by Australian trio Taniela Tupou, Rob Leota and Rob Valetini.
It was the invitation team’s first Cardiff visit for four years, but they fell behind inside three minutes when Wales shredded their defence.
Costelow’s brilliant reverse pass to centre George North caused the damage before supporting hooker Lake crashed over and Halfpenny converted.
Italian referee Andrea Piardi was quick to punish both teams’ indiscipline, and after Wales lock Adam Beard was yellow-carded for a technical offence, Wales conceded a try within 60 seconds of his departure.
The Barbarians applied pressure inside Wales’ 22, and Kurovoli threw a dummy pass that Wales’ defence bought as he touched down.
Halfpenny and Wales prop Corey Domachowski both required treatment for knocks suffered during a lively opening quarter, and Wales went close to a second try when North led a break-out, but wing Rio Dyer’s chip and chase was scrambled to safety.
Wales continued to press, though, and they pounced 10 minutes before half-time courtesy of North’s audacious pass through his legs that an unmarked Rogers gratefully collected, and Halfpenny’s conversion made it 14-5.
Dyer and North were heavily involved in Wales’ attacking game, but their third try came following clever work from scrum-half Tomos Williams.
His inch-perfect kick over the top of the Barbarians’ defence was gathered by Costelow, whose try was converted by Halfpenny and opened up a 21-5 interval advantage.
Costelow, who took a blow his shoulder just before half-time, was replaced by Evans as Wales looked to capitalise from a healthy lead.
Kurovoli cut the deficit, though, with his second try after 47 minutes – Sanchez converted – and when Jones touched down to rapturous applause shortly afterwards, the Barbarians were firmly back in contention.
But Plumtree’s score, again converted by Halfpenny, calmed Welsh nerves, and after Barbarians replacement Asafo Aumua was yellow-carded, Wainwright claimed a fifth try, with Halfpenny adding the conversion before a flurry of late scoring.
England scored two tries in each half to complete a series whitewash over Tonga with a convincing 26-4 win at the AMT Headingley Stadium.
The hosts started the game in the same dominant fashion as they had finished in Huddersfield and ran over twice in the opening 26 minutes through Ben Currie and Matty Ashton before Matty Lees and Keon Koloamatangi were sent to the sin bin.
England continued to be ruthless in the second half and Elliott Whitehead bowed out of international rugby with a farewell try before Harry Newman got in on the act, but England were denied a clean sheet when Eliesa Katoa grabbed a consolation for the visitors in front of a series-high attendance of 15,477 fans.
England were keen to mark a clean sweep and threatened to score first when Currie burst down the right and crashed over the try line only to be held up by the Tonga defence.
The hosts did score the first try of the game in the 14th minute as South Sydney Rabbitohs prop Tom Burgess picked a gap in the Tongan line before setting Harry Smith through and he offloaded to Currie to finish a well-worked England move.
Tonga got to grips with the contest for a few minutes following the try. They capitalised on some lazy England possession and looked to outnumber them on the left side until Tyson Frizell threw the ball into touch.
England extended their advantage in superb fashion – Newman broke the line and set Ashton free in the corner and he dived over for his third try in the last two games.
After Smith kicked a penalty to make it 14-0, both teams had a player sent to the sin bin after Lees was sent to the floor by 18th man Junior Tupoa. The England prop was being held to the ground by Koloamatangi, who in turn had his hair pulled by Lees and that sparked a mass brawl between the two sets of already heated players.
It only took five minutes for England to open their account in the second period. They broke down the left and Tom Johnstone found Currie before he gifted Whitehead a path for his 12th international try on his 27th and final cap.
Tonga’s challenge to get back into the contest was made even harder before the hour when Konrad Hurrell was sent to the sin bin as he appeared to punch Mike McMeeken.
Whitehead thought he had claimed his second try of the afternoon when he latched onto Danny Walker’s grubber kick but the video referee adjudged him to lose control before grounding the ball to keep the score 20-0.
England made their temporary man advantage count to put another score on the board after Smith’s superb cross-field ball found Newman and he powered over on his home ground for his first international try.
Tonga worked the ball from right to left and Katoa barged over the line to bring up their first score of the game, but it was nothing more than consolation as England wrapped up the series in style.
Bahamian Rhema Otabor picked up her country’s second Athletics medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile when she claimed silver in the women’s javelin throw on Friday.
The 20-year-old produced a best distance of 60.54m, her first throw over 60m, to finish second behind Colombia’s Flor Denis Ruiz who threw 63.10m for gold.
The USA’s Madelyn Harris took bronze with 60.06m.
This continues an excellent season for the Nebraska Junior.
She also took top spot at the NCAA Championships in June with a 59.49m effort, the Bahamian national title with 59.75m in July and NACAC Under-23 title with 57.48m later that month.
Boothill looked a Graded horse in a handicap when running away with the valuable Byrne Group Handicap Chase at Ascot.
Trained by Harry Fry, he had won his two previous handicap chases but his last four runs had all come at a higher level.
The eight-year-old won the Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase at Kempton last Christmas and was not disgraced thereafter but looked a cut above his rivals off a mark of 149.
Sent off the 7-2 favourite, he was nursed into contention by Jonathan Burke as Saint Segal set a scorching gallop.
When the leader began to falter, First Flow and the strong-travelling Frere D’Armes had a chance, but as soon as Boothill put in a huge leap at the last the race was over and he powered four lengths clear of First Flow.
Burke told Sky Sports Racing: “It was always the plan to come here first but with all the rain we were worried.
“It wasn’t as soft as what the rest of the country is, though, and it was a very good performance.
“He can be keen and he doesn’t miss fences, when he does it can be disastrous but he missed the one near Swinley Bottom which allowed me to fill him up.
“He pinged the last and galloped all the way to the line.”
Fry said: “He’s entered in the Hurst Park (Ascot, November 25) so we need to decide whether to stay in handicaps or step him up in class again.”
Venetia Williams tends to do well at Ascot and her French recruit Victtorino looked a long way ahead of the assessor in the Sodexo Live! Gold Cup Handicap Chase.
Having just his second start since joining Williams, and first over fences, the five-year-old was a long way clear at the last but met it on the wrong stride.
Unanswered Prayers and Yeah Man were closing rapidly but both fell independently and the 20-1 chance won by six lengths.
“It was only his second run in this country and his first over fences, and he was the only five-year-old in the race. I have to say I’m very excited and really thrilled,” said Williams.
“He ran in a novice hurdle at Exeter and was beaten a long way. We won this with Houblon Des Obeaux and he was only six at the time.
“He’s a big horse and always looked in a comfortable zone apart from at one fence. My agent found him in France and his price was bearable for me. The future looks rosy.”
Dan Skelton may have gone north to Wetherby but he will have been watching on with interest as his Knickerbockerglory (10-1) fairly bolted up in the Seat Unique Handicap Hurdle.
In what looked a competitive race on paper, the lightly-raced seven-year-old turned it into a procession.
Fry’s Altobelli did his best to give the yard a big-race double and gave vain chase in the straight, but he was four and a quarter lengths away at the line.
Tristan Durrell may not have even needed the 5lb he was able to claim and said of his first Ascot winner: “We were expecting that, he goes brilliant fresh and he loves the ground.
“If you can get him in front, that’s what he loves, so we were hopeful.”
The winner is now 10-1 for the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham with Betfair.
Jarrod Bowen became the first player to net in his team's first six Premier League away games of the season with his goal against Brentford on Saturday.
With 26 minutes on the clock at the Gtech Community Stadium, Bowen poked home the rebound after Mohammed Kudus' shot hit the post to make it 2-1 to the Hammers, creating history in the process as he also became the first West Ham player to score in six in a row on the road in the competition.
The goal took him to seven on the season and separated him from the illustrious company of Thierry Henry and Mohamed Salah, who prior to this season were the only two players to net in their team's first five away games of the Premier League season.
Bowen has been a key player for West Ham since arriving from Hull City in January 2020 for an initial fee of £18 million, and his seven Premier League goals this campaign mean he has already beaten last term's disappointing tally of six after just 11 games.
Erik ten Hag hailed his side’s spirit and resilience after Bruno Fernandes’ stoppage-time winner over Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Fernandes drilled home from the edge of the area to snatch victory to lift United’s mood after consecutive 3-0 defeats at the hands of Manchester City and Newcastle.
Afterwards ten Hag praised the way his side dug in to grind out a 1-0 win in the wake of two below-par poor performances.
“I am pleased with it. I am pleased with the spirit of the team and with the way we pressed,” ten Hag said.
“We saw this (added time winners) against Brentford and we have seen it again.
“It is a good resilience. They know what the standards are. This is Manchester United. You have to win every game.
“This week we have not been happy with the standards and today we improved with our standards.
“Every game we have to bring the battle which starts with the right mentality and attitude, to show you are hungry with passion and desire.”
A moment of brilliance from captain Fernandes, criticised by former United players after the midweek Carabao Cup loss against Newcastle, proved enough to steal the points for United and earn his manager’s gratitude.
“He gives energy, he is the example,” said ten Hag.
“You can see with the way that he is pressing, with the way that he is counter-pressing in games and the way he recovers.
“So he is absolutely the example and he’s taking the responsibility all the time on and off the field and he’s taken the responsibility by scoring important goals.
“He always wants to have the ball, he always wants to create and I’m happy.”
Fulham boss Marco Silva admitted the late defeat was difficult to accept and highlighted the mistakes in the lead up to Fernandes’ goal.
A rare misplaced pass from Joao Palhinha in Fulham’s box saw Fernandes punish his countryman with a strike which extended the Cottagers’ Premier League winless run to three.
Silva said: “It is a really difficult one for us to take.
“Defeats are defeats and it feels like the same old story.
“We wanted to be the better team and for much of the game we did it but at this level we cannot be getting punished in the way we did.
“In 10 seconds we made three or four mistakes from three or four different players and it is difficult to understand.
“We win and lose together but the individual decisions we have to take in a certain way because there was no reason to be punished in that moment.
“In 10 seconds we lost emotional control completely.”
Napoli climbed into Serie A’s top four after a deserved 2-0 win at Salernitana.
The reigning champions have endured a stuttering start to their title defence but closed the gap on the leaders on Saturday.
Giacomo Raspadori’s first-half goal and Elif Elmas’ late strike extended Napoli’s unbeaten run to four games in all competitions.
It is a mini resurgence for Rudi Garcia’s side after successive defeats to Real Madrid in the Champions League and Fiorentina in Serie A last month.
Defeat saw the hosts slip to a 12th game without a win to set an unwanted record of their longest winless run in Serie A. They remain rock bottom of the table with four points from their opening 12 games.
Napoli remain without the injured Victor Osimhen, in Nigeria having been granted time off by the club, but Italy striker Raspadori scored in his third straight game to ease the pressure on the champions.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had already gone close, firing wide from the edge of the box, before Raspadori put Napoli in front after 13 minutes when he collected Stanislav Lobotka’s pass and rifled in from 10 yards.
It continued his good form after goals against Union Berlin in the Champions League and in last week’s 2-2 draw against AC Milan.
Matteo Politano almost added a second two minutes later but Guillermo Ochoa turned his drive over after the winger had cut inside.
Raspadori went close to doubling the visitors’ lead when he forced Ochoa into a smart stop before Politano hit the outside of a post from 20 yards.
Salernitana had not beaten Napoli since they were both in Serie B in 2002 and Ochoa kept the visitors at bay.
The goalkeeper turned Piotr Zielinski’s volley from the edge of the box wide just after the hour.
Yet he did need Lorenzo Pirola to stop Politano making it 2-0 with a crucial close-range block.
Raspadori was withdrawn with 22 minutes left as Garcia sensed victory was close and a flurry of substitutions upset the game’s rhythm until eight minutes from time.
Salernitana’s hopes of a comeback and a valuable point in their battle against the drop were ended by Elmas.
The substitute wrapped up the points for the visitors when he took the ball from Mathias Olivera and found the bottom corner from 15 yards, despite Ochoa getting a hand to the strike.
Real Madrid have denied they are in transfer talks with Paris St Germain striker Kylian Mbappe.
The France forward is due to leave PSG when his contract expires next summer, with the Bernabeu an expected destination.
But the LaLiga side have rubbished reports they have held any discussions with the World Cup winner.
A club statement read: “Given the information recently issued and published by different media outlets, in which there is speculation about alleged negotiations between the player Kylian Mbappe and our club, Real Madrid C.F. wants to state that this information is flatly false and that no such negotiations have taken place with a player who belongs to PSG.”
The French side accepted a world-record £258million bid from Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal last month, but Mbappe turned down the offer.
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.
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