Mackenzie Martin hopes he can be a “trailblazer” to inspire young people in Cardiff’s Ely community after making his Wales debut following just nine games of professional rugby.
The 20-year-old featured as a replacement in Wales’ 31-7 Guinness Six Nations defeat against Ireland.
Ely, a western Cardiff suburb, has not always enjoyed positive headlines and was the scene of major riots in 1991 and 2023.
Martin grew up on the estate’s Grand Avenue, and he is the latest sportsman to emerge from an area that can boast a portfolio containing Ryan Giggs, Steve Robinson and his fellow boxer Nicky Piper.
“I hope I can be a trailblazer,” Cardiff back-row forward Martin said. “I hope the kids are going to look up to me.
“When I went down there the other week, even before I made my debut, there were a good few of them copying my haircut.
“They came up to me and were saying ‘I’ve got the same hair as you’ and that type of thing. All theirs looked better than mine, so I was a bit jealous!
“Growing up, it wasn’t obviously the easiest, as anybody can imagine, but my family has always been great and I have learnt from them.
“I was always going to work hard because I think my dad is the hardest worker I know. It doesn’t matter where you come from, you can still make something of yourself.
“My dad worked in warehouses, he has delivered milk, he has done loads of things. He has always been on the go, so that gives me the inspiration to keep working hard.”
Martin has a deep religious faith, and he added: “Everybody always thinks that rugby – not saved me – but that rugby put me on the right path. But it was God that helped me do that.
“God put that opportunity into my life, so that is how strong my faith is and that is why I always say ‘all glory to God’ and stuff like that because I wouldn’t have had the opportunities without him.”
Martin only made his professional debut in November 2023, but he has joined Cardiff team-mates Cameron Winnett and Alex Mann as exciting Six Nations newcomers.
Such was Martin’s impact off the bench in Dublin that it would be no surprise if he is promoted to a starting place against France on Sunday week.
And he will continue to be inspired by a player he describes as “the man” – 104 times-capped Wales number eight Taulupe Faletau.
“Me and my dad always watched Wales together, and every time we would see him (Faletau) my dad would say ‘he is amazing’,” Martin said.
“When I transitioned to the back-row when I was about 16 I was always just trying to follow in his footsteps and how he played the game.
“Obviously, we are a little bit different as players, but it is still the way he works around the field and the way he carries himself. That was the inspiration.
“He is one of the best number eights in the world – well, for me the best number eight in the world – so if I can even replicate that a little bit I would be doing myself proud.”
Mauricio Pochettino shrugged off the jeers from Chelsea fans after a section of them turned on him during the 2-2 draw at Brentford.
The Blues were leading through a Nicolas Jackson header but were pegged back by Mads Roerslev’s close-range strike after half-time.
And shortly after Yoane Wissa put Brentford ahead with a spectacular overhead kick, the away fans began singing the name of former manager Jose Mourinho as well as calling for Pochettino to go.
But the Blues at least rescued a point on Pochettino’s 52nd birthday after Axel Disasi scored a late equaliser.
Afterwards the Argentinian boss insisted he does not need to be loved by the supporters.
“I’ve been told, I didn’t hear to be honest, it’s difficult for me to understand,” he said.
“But it’s normal, we were losing the game 2-1 and they expressed their frustration. I am one of the ones responsible, I’m the coach.
“I was asked before if I feel the love from the fans. No. I’m not worried – we need to accept this relationship. You win your relationship through winning games.
“I will continue to work and try to change this perception. We need to manage some reality. We are working really hard to try to win games, the team is fighting.
“If it doesn’t work and the fans are disappointed I need to respect their opinion. I think the relationship is good. If they did what they did, fans are emotional.
“I am fighting with all my sense to try to provide a team to play in the best way to score goals and win games. Today is my 52nd birthday, I know this business, but I’m going to fight.”
Brentford have a lengthy injury list but are still admirably keeping their heads above the relegation scrap.
Bees boss Thomas Frank felt he got the response he wanted from his patched-up side after the 4-2 defeat at West Ham on Monday.
“I would have loved three points, but it was a relatively even game in terms of chances,” said Frank.
“I’m very pleased with the response after a bad performance at West Ham. Today I must say, impressive.
“Three years ago when we got promoted Chelsea won the Champions League, and I think they have renewed their squad since then.
“We had seven players out injured, they had a full squad, and we battered them in the second half. This was a proper Brentford performance.”
There were a smattering of boos from the home supporters at half-time but Frank said: “I heard that. I’d like to speak to them. Is that support?
“I know I can’t swear, but what the…?”
Barnsley won for the third game in a row as they beat 10-man Wycombe 4-2 at Adams Park.
Dale Taylor had put the Chairboys ahead before Sam Cosgrove equalised for the visitors.
Kieran Sadlier restored Wycombe’s lead, only for goals from Donovan Pines and Corey O’Keeffe to turn the game in Barnsley’s favour.
The hosts then saw David Wheeler sent off seconds after coming on, with Conor Grant thumping in a fourth.
Wycombe struck first when Taylor reacted quickest to a half-cleared cross and placed a first-time strike into Liam Roberts’ net.
But the visitors equalised in first-half stoppage time when Cosgrove scored the rebound after Luca Connell’s free-kick hit the crossbar.
Wycombe regained the lead just after half-time as Garath McCleary slid the ball back for Sadlier to tap home.
But the lead was brief as Pines bundled in a corner to equalise and the visitors then went ahead when O’Keeffe turned in a deflected cross.
Wheeler was sent off for a heavy tackle on O’Keeffe before substitute Grant slammed the ball home to complete the scoring.
St Johnstone denied Livingston a crucial win at McDiarmid Park as Nicky Clark’s late goal snatched them a 1-1 draw in a game littered with stoppages.
It looked as if the visitors were set to emerge victorious following Andrew Shinnie’s first-half opener, but Clark glanced home with three minutes left to give Saints a share of the spoils.
There was 20 minutes of stoppage time across the course of the match, with injuries preventing the game from having any sort of rhythm.
The hosts moved ahead of Aberdeen and up to ninth in the table, while the Lions remain bottom, though they have cut the gap between themselves and Ross County to six points.
Adama Sidibeh made a welcome return to the St Johnstone bench following a spell in hospital after collapsing on the pitch at the end of the 2-0 defeat to St Mirren a week ago.
There was little in the way of goalmouth action in a scrappy opening to proceedings and it took until the 25th minute for the first chance.
A loose pass from Dan Phillips was seized upon by Dan MacKay, but the Saints defence recovered just as the winger looked to get his shot away.
The visitors went close when Shinnie’s header from Sean Kelly’s free-kick dropped narrowly wide of the target.
Livingston were rewarded for their pressure when they broke the deadlock eight minutes before half-time.
Kelly’s corner was glanced on by Michael Devlin and Shinnie was on hand to brilliantly hook the ball beyond goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov from six yards.
Given the stop-start nature of the opening 45 minutes, it was little surprise when the fourth official indicated there would be eight minutes of added time – and that pattern was to continue as Diallang Jaiyesimi limped off to be replaced by Graham Carey.
St Johnstone finally mustered their first attempt on target in the final minute of stoppage time. Matt Smith picked out Clark who nodded weakly into the grateful arms of Shamal George when he really should have found the net.
It was Livi who began the second half the brighter, with Mitov twice called into action in the early stages.
The Bulgarian pulled off a brilliant stop to keep out MacKay’s swerving effort before diving low to grasp Cristian Montano’s shot.
David Keltjens’ cross narrowly evaded Stevie May as Saints chased a way back into the match, but their momentum continued to be interrupted by stoppages.
Kurtis Guthrie passed up a glorious opportunity to put the game out of reach of their hosts when he picked the pocket of Andy Considine and then raced clear on goal, only to then drag his angled drive past a post.
It was a moment the visitors would come to rue as Clark came up with a late leveller – nodding home Carey’s pinpoint delivery.
A further 10 minutes of time added on at the end of the second half presented both sides with an opportunity to claim victory, but Guthrie was hesitant at a crucial moment before laying the ball to Jason Holt who blazed over.
Goals from Karamoko Dembele and Hayden Coulson secured Blackpool a 2-0 victory at Shrewsbury to keep their League One play-off hopes alive.
Just before the 20-minute mark, Tom Bloxham sent a first-time cross into the box for Shrewsbury, which found Dan Udoh but his diving header was kept out by Dan Grimshaw.
Blackpool was awarded a free-kick in the 40th minute, which reached George Byers on the edge of the box. His headed effort looped over the Shrewsbury backline but it found the hands of Harry Burgoyne.
Three minutes later, the Tangerines opened the scoring after Coulson received a pass in the box and cut the ball across goal for Dembele, who fired past Burgoyne at the back post.
Shrewsbury went close just before the hour mark when Udoh sent a low cross into Jordan Shipley, who fired over from just inside the box.
Blackpool doubled their advantage in the 84th minute when Dembele’s cross found an unmarked Coulson in the box and he headed home.
Kilmarnock salvaged a last-gasp 2-2 draw against Dundee at Dens in the cinch Premiership.
The hosts took the lead courtesy of an own goal by keeper Will Dennis with the visitors equalising before the break through Marley Watkins.
Kilmarnock’s Lewis Mayo was sent off after conceding a penalty on the hour mark, with Luke McCowan converting the spot-kick, but the Ayrshire men rescued a point deep into added time with Robbie Deas bundling home.
It is the third time the teams have drawn 2-2 against each other in the league this season, with the result seeing Dundee drop out of the top six.
The Dark Blues made six changes from the side that were thrashed 7-1 by Celtic in midweek with keeper Jon McCracken, Aaron Donnelly, Lyall Cameron, Josh Mulligan, Mo Sylla and Scott Tiffoney coming in for Trevor Carson, Ricki Lamie, Jordan McGhee, Finlay Robertson, Malachi Boateng and Amadou Bakayoko.
Killie made just one change from the team that lost narrowly to Rangers on Wednesday night with Deas replacing Stuart Findlay.
Dundee made all the early running and it was no surprise when they took the lead in the 11th minute. Tiffoney cut in from the left and hit a snap shot that cannoned off the post but hit the luckless Dennis and bounced back into the net.
However, Killie stunned the home side when they equalised in the 35th minute. Danny Armstrong swung a cross in from the right with Joe Wright heading the ball down to Watkins who netted from close range for his 10th goal of the season.
After the break, Watkins embarked on a barnstorming solo run from halfway into the Dundee box before hitting a shot with McCracken having to make a vital block to deny the striker.
However, Dundee took the lead again in the 63rd minute. McCowan was bundled over just inside the Killie box by Mayo with referee Colin Steven awarding a penalty and then flashing a red card at the defender.
The official’s decision was rubber-stamped after a VAR check with McCowan stepping up to take the spot-kick, hitting it into the back of the net off the inside of the post.
Dundee came agonisingly close to making it three in the 85th minute but substitute Michael Mellon’s 25-yard shot crashed off the crossbar.
However, Killie rescued a point in the 91st minute when Deas reacted first at a corner to bundle home.
Louis Appere scored with 10 minutes remaining as Northampton fought back to draw 1-1 with struggling Charlton in Sky Bet League One.
The Addicks led after just four minutes at Sixfields when their opponents failed to clear their lines and the ball dropped to Karoy Anderson on the edge of the box and his shot took deflected past goalkeeper Louie Moulden.
Daniel Kanu was close to converting Conor Coventry’s fizzed cross before Moulden saved from Alfie May as Charlton enjoyed much the better of the first half.
Northampton failed to create anything of note before the break but they were almost level early in the second half when Mitch Pinnock slammed the ball into the side-netting.
The visitors continued to threaten on the break and May headed against the post.
However, they were pegged back in calamitous circumstances.
Goalkeeper Harry Isted was caught in possession by Sam Hoskins and the ball fell to substitute Appere, who gleefully rolled it into an empty net to rescue a point for his team.
Substitute Joe Aribo struck at the death to seal stuttering Sky Bet Championship promotion hopefuls Southampton a dramatic, much-needed 4-3 victory away to 10-man Birmingham.
Russell Martin’s Saints were in desperate need of a morale-boosting win having lost four of their five games in all competitions since their club-record 25-match unbeaten run came to an end.
Birmingham threatened to further dent their fading automatic promotion bid on Saturday afternoon, but Southampton’s strong bench and unwavering spirit paid dividends as substitute Aribo struck deep in stoppage time.
It was a blockbuster end to a breathless encounter that began with Koji Miyoshi putting the Blues ahead inside two minutes, only for Adam Armstrong to deservedly level for Saints.
But Birmingham back caught the visitors out and Jay Stansfield put them back ahead against the run of play, meaning Saints had to rally after the break.
David Brooks scored a brilliant equaliser and Che Adams put Martin’s men ahead, with Blues skipper Dion Sanderson’s sending-off appearing to end this clash as a contest.
Further twists followed, though, as Birmingham – fighting for absent boss Tony Mowbray – levelled through Juninho Bacuna, before Aribo snuck Southampton a potentially huge stoppage-time winner at St Andrew’s.
This clash was a wild ride from the start, with Bacuna’s fine ball putting Miyoshi all too easily in behind to send an effort whizzing past Gavin Bazunu via a Ryan Manning deflection.
The 26-year-old appeared to handle in the build-up, but the goal stood and Birmingham nearly had a quickfire second, with Bacuna’s strike hitting a post and then going out off the back of the goalkeeper’s head.
Saints woke up after that fifth minute let-off as Brooks’ volley into the ground flew just over before Armstrong and Adams tried their luck.
Martin’s men would level in the 18th minute as Brooks slipped in Armstrong to prod through John Ruddy’s legs, with the home faithful’s appeals for offside falling on deaf ears.
The equaliser gave Southampton a pep in their step and Adams saw an audacious long-range effort take a touch off Sanderson and hit a post.
Birmingham were hanging on for dear life, only to go back ahead in the 41st minute. Jan Bednarek managed to flick on rather than clear Sanderson’s hopeful long ball, putting Stansfield behind to blast past Bazunu.
Armstrong saw a curling effort hit the bar and Will Smallbone fizzed across the face of goal as Saints pushed to reach parity before half-time.
Birmingham began the second half well as Taylor Harwood-Bellis escaped a penalty shout for handball before a Bacuna strike whistled just wide from 20 yards.
Again, Saints’ sloppiness at the start of a half sparked a vast improvement and they equalised in the 55th minute.
Brooks cut in from the right flank and was left inexplicably open to get hit stunning curling effort past Ruddy.
Southampton scented blood and took the lead four minutes later as Adams controlled a deep cross and showed patience before lasering home.
Birmingham fans’ frustration was quickly compounded by a straight card to Sanderson in the 62nd minute after leaving Smallbone in a heap.
The hosts’ complaints about the decision fell on deaf ears and Saints tried and failed to put the game to bed.
Instead, lively Stansfield saw a strike come back off a post and Bacuna reacted quickest to fire Birmingham level.
Adams hit a snapshot into the side netting as Saints pushed for a winner, which finally came during nine minutes of stoppage time.
Harwood-Bellis headed on a corner and Aribo showed strength and skill to steer home in front of the elated away end.
Fleetwood gave their League One survival hopes a boost with a 4-2 victory against Wigan.
The relegation-battling Cod Army secured their first win in six matches for a vital three points at Highbury.
Neither side could take control in the early stages but Bosun Lawal fired in a thunderous volley to give Fleetwood the lead, before Stephen Humphry levelled the scores just three minutes later.
Thelo Aasgaard then fired the Latics into the lead in the 26th minute but Lawal notched his second goal of the game to ensure the match was even at the interval.
Fleetwood then took the game by the scruff of the neck after the break. Midfielder Gavin Kilkenny put the hosts in front with his first goal of the season, a deflected effort which bamboozled Wigan stopper Sam Tickle.
Striker Jayden Stockley hit the fourth after 61 minutes as he secured the points by heading home a Ryan Broom cross to the delight of the home supporters.
Fleetwood gave their League One survival hopes a boost with a 4-2 victory against Wigan.
The relegation-battling Cod Army secured their first win in six matches for a vital three points at Highbury.
Neither side could take control in the early stages but Bosun Lawal fired in a thunderous volley to give Fleetwood the lead, before Stephen Humphry levelled the scores just three minutes later.
Thelo Aasgaard then fired the Latics into the lead in the 26th minute but Lawal notched his second goal of the game to ensure the match was even at the interval.
Fleetwood then took the game by the scruff of the neck after the break. Midfielder Gavin Kilkenny put the hosts in front with his first goal of the season, a deflected effort which bamboozled Wigan stopper Sam Tickle.
Striker Jayden Stockley hit the fourth after 61 minutes as he secured the points by heading home a Ryan Broom cross to the delight of the home supporters.
Play-off hopefuls Preston and Hull drew a frustrating blank with a 0-0 draw at Deepdale that did neither club any favours.
Preston boss Ryan Lowe knew victory for the ambitious Lilywhites would see them go level with the Tigers in the Sky Bet Championship table.
However, neither team could create the one piece of magic needed for a precious three points.
Lowe stuck with the same side which dazzled with an impressive 3-0 away win over Coventry.
His team had rediscovered the rich vein of form which saw them make a flying start to the season, although they had failed to score in their past three matches with the Tigers.
However, Lowe’s battlers created enough opportunities to score and stretched their healthy unbeaten run to seven matches, even though they failed to find the back of the net.
Meanwhile, Liam Rosenior’s side extended their unbeaten own run to five games, staying sixth in the table.
Midfielder Ben Whiteman went close for the hosts early on, slicing wide of the target from a good position. Moments later he had another crack, only to fail to get any power his strike as Hull goalkeeper Ryan Allsop saved easily.
Lewie Coyle volleyed wide with a powerful effort for the visitors, before Fabio Carvalho tried his luck from distance with a stinging drive which Preston shot-stopper Freddie Woodman did well to parry away.
Anass Zaroury saw his goalbound shot deflected just wide as Hull went close to breaking the deadlock just before the break.
Carvalho had a great chance a minute later to do just that, but he headed straight at a thankful Woodman.
Liam Miller picked out Jordan Storey with a pinpoint cross on the stroke of half-time, but he headed over for the hosts.
Preston defender Andrew Hughes headed over soon after the restart and Whiteman had a shot deflected narrowly wide.
Striker Emil Riis was thwarted by a smart save from Allsop, while at the other end Coyle smashed a right foot shot agonisingly wide of the left upright.
Jaden Philogene thought he had bagged the opening goal but the midfielder was left bewildered after Woodman produced a fine save to deny him.
Whiteman shot wide as the hosts kept pressing and Ali McCann had a volley blocked inside the box, but the ball still would not go in.
Allsop saved brilliantly from Miller with 10 minutes left as neither side could find the breakthrough which would have yielded three points.
Luke Williams finally earned his first league home victory as Swansea head coach at the fifth attempt with a 2-1 win against Blackburn.
Williams’ previous four Sky Bet Championship matches in front of Swansea fans had all ended in defeat, but first-half goals from Joe Allen and Jamie Paterson enabled him to break that sequence.
The Championship’s top scorer Sammie Szmodics pulled a goal back for Blackburn just past the hour mark, but Rovers were unable to make their second-half dominance pay.
It meant back-to-back league wins for the Swans for the first time since October.
But Blackburn are now without a win in their last six matches in all competitions and although they are 17th in the table, they are only a point above the drop zone.
Swansea started positively and were rewarded when they went ahead in the seventh minute through Allen’s second goal of the season.
Winger Przemyslaw Placheta did the hard yards on the left and when his cross was not cleared properly, former Wales international Allen was able to drill his shot downwards and bounce it into the far corner.
Blackburn found the pace of Placheta and fellow wide man Ronald difficult to handle, with Kyle McFadzean picking up an early yellow card for a foul on Ronald.
But Rovers also added to their own troubles by giving the ball away and it was from such an error that they fell 2-0 behind after 19 minutes.
Andrew Moran lost possession under pressure from Swans skipper Matt Grimes with the ball falling into the path of Paterson.
He swept past McFadzean before firing low past Blackburn keeper Aynsley Pears from the edge of the box.
Rovers’ own attacking threat was minimal in the opening half hour with a shot from Callum Brittain that flashed past the far post, and another from the wing-back that was held by keeper Carl Rushworth.
But their efforts intensified just before the break and Tyrhys Dolan saw one effort saved and another go just wide of the post.
Blackburn made two substitutions at half-time – bringing on Arnor Sigurdsson and Yasin Ayari – and looked more threatening.
It needed two timely interventions from Swansea centre-back Ben Cabango to keep out Rovers striker Sam Gallagher as the visitors looked for a way back into the contest.
Cabango stepped up for a third time to block an effort from Szmodics, but moments later Rovers’ top scorer had pulled a goal back with his 25th of the season in all competitions.
A free-kick on the right from John Buckley reached Szmodics and the striker reacted sharply to sweep the ball home in the 67th minute.
Blackburn were now in the ascendancy and Swansea were clinging on to their narrow advantage.
But from a rare home breakout, substitute Jerry Yates should have given Swansea breathing space, only for the striker to dither over his shot which enabled Pears to save.
Despite defending for most of the nine minutes of added time, Williams’ side kept Rovers at bay.
Dwight Gayle scored his first Derby goal and Louie Sibley bagged a brace in a comfortable 3-0 win over struggling Port Vale.
It keeps Derby second in League One and leaves Vale without a win this year and deep in relegation trouble.
Derby made a lively start and went ahead in the fourth minute through Sibley whose shot took a big deflection to beat Connor Ripley.
The Vale keeper denied Derby a second in the 11th minute with a double save from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Max Bird before Tom Barkhuizen fired over from eight yards for the hosts.
Vale appeared to have weathered the storm but they conceded again in the 44th minute with Gayle planting a precision header from 12 yards past Ripley.
Ben Garrity headed a Vale corner wide at the start of the second half but Derby sealed victory in the 58th minute when Joe Ward crossed to the back post and Sibley finished emphatically.
Derby could have added further goals while third-bottom Vale failed to register a shot on target.
Ipswich moved back up to second place in the Sky Bet Championship following a 2-0 win at Plymouth.
Kieffer Moore sealed Town’s win after Conor Chaplin’s shot was deflected in by home defender Brendan Galloway in the 63rd minute.
Argyle’s top scorer Morgan Whittaker forced an early save from Ipswich goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky.
The keeper palmed the ball to Darko Gyabi, but the Leeds loanee sent a fierce low drive just wide of the upright from the edge of the box.
Ipswich countered, with target man Moore’s header bringing a 14th-minute save from Argyle goalkeeper Conor Hazard.
Hladky did well to punch away Adam Randell’s inswinging corner as the home side again tried applying pressure on their high-flying visitors.
Omari Hutchinson saw a goal-bound shot blocked after being teed up by impressive midfielder Jeremy Sarmiento.
In the 35th minute, Whittaker’s 25-yard shot was blocked but fell to striker Ryan Hardie on the edge of the box and his rising drive flew just over.
And shortly afterwards Ipswich defender Luke Woolfenden made a brilliant clearance off the line to keep out Mickel Miller’s volley.
The half ended with Ipswich pressing and Leif Davis’s corner from the right needed to be cleared at the near post by a defender’s diving header.
Whittaker tried an audacious chip from 40 yards after spotting Hladky off his line early in the second half, but the ball flew just over.
Moore was again denied by Hazard in the 55th minute as the striker headed goalwards from Davis’s far-post cross from the left.
Hutchinson sent a curling shot just wide of the far upright after 56 minutes with Hazard beaten and then forced a superb diving save from the keeper on the hour.
The ball looped up to Chaplin and his header was helped on – and over the bar – by Moore.
Chaplin benefited from a huge slice of fortune three minutes later as his 18-yard shot deflected off Galloway, completely wrong-footing Hazard, with the ball spinning into the opposite corner of the goal.
Ipswich doubled their lead in the 74th minute as Davis sent over another cross from the right. Cameron Burgess headed the ball on to Chaplin and Moore finished with a half-volley at the far post.
Miller went closest for Plymouth with a 78th-minute shot on the run from outside the box that beat Hladky but smashed off the foot of a post and across the face of goal.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
