The Dallas Cowboys survived three attempts at a late two-point conversion as they held on to beat the Detroit Lions 20-19.

The NFC North champion Lions had moved within a point of the Cowboys when Jared Goff found Amon-Ra St Brown for a touchdown pass with 23 seconds remaining.

Opting for a two-point conversion, the Lions had a successful attempt ruled out for illegal touching before a Cowboys interception was wiped out for offside.

Goff’s final pass attempt was incomplete, lifting the Cowboys to 11-5 as they kept up the pressure on the Philadelphia Eagles in the fight for the NFC east title.

A Goff interception had given Brandon Aubrey the chance to kick the Cowboys seven points ahead in the final two minutes, the rookie stretching his record to 35 successful field goals to start his career.

Dak Prescott threw for 345 yards and two touchdowns for the Cowboys, including a 92-yard effort to CeeDee Lamb in the first quarter.

The Detroit Pistons have won for the first time in 29 matches after matching the NBA’s longest losing streak.

The Pistons ended their losing run after 28 matches as they beat the Toronto Raptors 129-127 at home – their first win since the third game of the season on October 28.

Trailing by eight points at half-time, they fought back to lead by four heading into the fourth quarter.

They stretched that advantage to 11 points with less than six minutes on the clock, but the Raptors pulled it back to 126-122 with 17 seconds remaining but the Pistons held on end their losing run.

Cade Cunningham scored 30 points for the Pistons, Jalen Duren adding 18 points and 17 rebounds.

The win means the Pistons’ losing run equals the NBA’s longest by the Philadelphia 76ers across two seasons in 2015 while their 3-29 record leaves them two wins behind the San Antonio Spurs for the worst record this season.

Teenage sensation Luke Littler is daring to dream after he continued his historic World Darts Championship journey by downing hero Raymond van Barneveld to reach the quarter-finals.

The 16-year-old has set the Alexandra Palace tournament alight on debut and is the youngest player ever to reach the last eight after a stunning 4-1 win.

He showed maturity and talent way beyond his tender years to get past the five-time world champion, who he used to imitate in front of the television as a three-year-old.

Littler, who has made the world sit up and take notice, will come back on New Year’s Day for a winnable quarter-final tie against Brendan Dolan and is dreaming of going all the way.

“It’s incredible beating one of my idols on the biggest stage of all, I still can’t believe it,” he said.

“I think I am daring to dream now, I have seen the draw.

“I am only three wins away now. I’m so young, only 16 and I have got nothing to fear, I have got no-one to fear, my game can be better than anyone’s on the day and I have shown it there against one of the greatest who have graced that stage.

“With performances like that I can go all the way.

“I’ve pictured myself winning it. I look at the draw and see Brendan next and then Chris Dobey against Rob Cross in the other quarter.

“I fancy myself. I do fancy myself.”

He was not even born when Van Barneveld won the last of his five titles.

Video footage has emerged of a three-year-old Littler copying ‘Barney’s’ celebration and has admitted it was a dream to play him on the Ally Pally stage.

He added: “It is unbelievable, 13 years ago I was doing his celebration throwing on my little board and I have just beaten him on the biggest stage.”

“Barney said to me at the end, ‘You can go all the way. I hope you go all the way’. I said, ‘Thank you’.

“He is a true gentlemen. I respect Raymond very well.

“Raymond was incredible. It was incredible to see his iconic walk-on, I am so glad I got the job done. It wasn’t easy.”

Next up is Dolan, who beat his second former world champion in three days when he ousted Gary Anderson 4-3.

It looked like the Northern Irishman, who dumped out Gerwyn Price in the third round, was heading out as Anderson rallied from 2-0 down to lead 3-2.

But Dolan composed himself and won the final two sets to reach the last eight.

“I’m over the moon,” he said. “I just think so much of Gary and how brilliant he is.

“It is not a bad couple of days. There has certain things that have happened that maybe make me think it’s meant to be.”

Pre-tournament favourite Luke Humphries again survived a scare as he prevailed in an epic thriller with Joe Cullen, winning a sudden death leg in the final set.

The pair were locked at three sets all and five legs all, with Humphries taking out 100 to win on his 10th match dart.

“It was one of the best games I have ever been apart of. Every time I looked around it was just treble after treble. No one deserved to lose, Joe did not deserve to lose that,” Humphries said.

Teenage sensation Luke Littler continued his historic World Darts Championship journey by downing hero Raymond van Barneveld to reach the quarter-finals.

The 16-year-old has set the Alexandra Palace tournament alight on debut and is the youngest player ever to reach the last eight after a stunning 4-1 win.

He showed maturity and talent way beyond his tender years to get past the five-time world champion, who he used to imitate in front of the television as a three-year-old.

He peppered the treble 20 nine times and finished with an emphatic average of 105.01.

Littler, who has made the world sit up and take notice, will come back on New Year’s Day for a winnable quarter-final tie against Brendan Dolan and will be dreaming of going all the way.

Life has changed immeasurably since ‘The Nuke’ came into the tournament on the back of winning the World Youth Championship last month.

He is now a recognisable name and has enjoyed celebrity status after bursting on to the scenes with wins over Christian Kist, Andrew Gilding and Matt Campbell.

Littler and his family received complimentary tickets to watch Arsenal in the Premier League on Thursday night, while players from his beloved Manchester United sent him good luck messages before the match.

He has catapulted himself into the mainstream and whatever happens between now and Wednesday’s final, it will be Littler’s journey that is the talking point of the tournament.

He was not even born when Van Barneveld won the last of his five titles.

Video footage has emerged of a three-year-old Littler copying ‘Barney’s’ celebration and has admitted it was a dream to play him on the Ally Pally stage.

Littler enjoyed Van Barneveld’s famous walk-on as much as the raucous crowd, but soon got down to business, throwing a maximum on just his second visit and raced to the first set after an 11-dart leg.

He continued to dominate and went 3-0 up before moving one leg from dreamland.

Van Barneveld made him work hard for it by winning the next leg, but nothing was going to stop the teenager in the next set as the apprentice beat the master in style.

Next up is Dolan, who beat his second former world champion in three days when he ousted Gary Anderson 4-3.

It looked like the Northern Irishman, who dumped out Gerwyn Price in the third round, was heading out as Anderson rallied from 2-0 down to lead 3-2.

But Dolan composed himself and won the final two sets to reach the last eight.

“I’m over the moon,” he said. “I just think so much of Gary and how brilliant he is.

“It is not a bad couple of days. There has certain things that have happened that maybe make me think it’s meant to be.”

The Boston Red Sox decided to move on from oft-injured Chris Sale on Saturday, trading the veteran left-hander to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for infielder Vaughn Grissom.

The Red Sox will also send cash to the Braves to cover a portion of the $27.5 million salary Sale is owed in 2024, the final guaranteed season of a $160 million, six-year contract.

Sale is a seven-time All-Star but has battled injuries since he was acquired from the Chicago White Sox in December 2016. He made nine trips to the disabled and injured lists with the Red Sox, mostly due to shoulder and elbow ailments.

Sale helped Boston to a World Series title in 2018 but has made only 56 starts in the last four years, going 17-18 with a 4.86 ERA. He was 6-5 with a 4.30 ERA in 20 starts and 102 2/3 innings last season.

He joins a Braves rotation that projects to include Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton and Max Fried.

The 22-year-old Grissom batted .287 with five home runs and 27 RBIs over 64 games during the past two seasons for Atlanta. He made 41 starts and second base and 19 at shortstop.

The New York Knicks made a splash Saturday, acquiring forward O.G. Anunoby from the Toronto Raptors for forward RJ Barrett and guard Immanuel Quickley, according to multiple media reports.

The Knicks will also receive forward Precious Achiuwa and guard Malachi Flynn in the deal, while the Raptors will also be getting the Detroit Pistons’ 2024 second-round draft pick.

The move is a major shakeup in the Eastern Conference, where the Knicks are hoping to compete with top teams like the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers.

Anunoby, 26, has been mentioned in trade speculation for the last two years. He is in the third season of a four-year, $72million contract but has a player option for next season. ESPN reported Saturday that the Knicks are “determined” to sign Anunoby to a new contract next offseason.

One of the best and most versatile defenders in the NBA, Anunoby is averaging 15.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists this season.

Anunoby was placed on the trade block because of his expiring contract and his positional and size redundancy with fellow forwards Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam.

Quickley, who finished second in last season’s Sixth Man of the Year voting, could move into a starting role and fill the void at point guard that Fred Van Vleet left when he signed with the Houston Rockets over the summer.

The Raptors also get a former third overall pick in Barrett, who scored 20 points per game just two seasons ago but has struggled with efficiency.

Barrett, 23, is averaging 18.2 points and 4.3 rebounds this season, while Quickley is averaging 15 points and 2.5 assists.

Scott Williams has apologised for his “genuinely stupid” comments during an on-stage interview at the World Championship on Wednesday.

Williams courted controversy after joking about England winning “two World Wars and one World Cup” following his third-round win over German Martin Schindler.

He followed that victory up with a 4-1 win over 10th seed Damon Heta on Saturday afternoon to make a first-ever quarter-final at Alexandra Palace.

‘Shaggy’, who received backlash to his insensitive comments, was regretful about his interview on Sky Sports.

He said: “I was advised to come off social media, just X, what I said in the last interview on stage was stupid, genuinely stupid. The guys from Germany know I love Germany.

“My deepest apologies to anyone who took offence, I have had a lot of messages from people who haven’t taken offence, but that has gone now and I am looking forward to Monday.”

He let his darts do the talking in a ruthless performance against Australian Heta, which included a 170 checkout.

The showman was also conducting the crowd before he threw his match-winning dart, which set up a last-eight tie with Michael van Gerwen.

He added: “That is very good. I can’t say too much because I will get myself in trouble.

“Michael? Michael, yeah I have heard of him. I am really looking forward to it, he is a completly different gravy to everyone else in the competition. I am just going to go up there and throw darts and if they go in they go in.”

Rob Cross is into his first quarter-final at Ally Pally since winning the title on debut in 2018 after a 4-0 demolition of Jonny Clayton.

Cross, who now plays Chris Dobey, is enjoying his best season for a number of years and showed he is a contender for the title after throwing a 98.41 average against the Welshman.

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That would have been higher had he not missed six match darts to get over the line.

He said on his on-stage interview: “I thought I needed a new pair of pants!

“I feel for Jonny he never really turned up, he is the nicest guy I have ever met. I was controlled and ruthless, I wanted to get through it. I managed to get it done and on to the next one.”

Dave Chisnall is into a third quarter-final after he beat Daryl Gurney 4-2.

Robyndzone continued the excellent recent form of Venetia Williams with victory in the Betfred Last Fling Handicap Chase at Haydock, the second leg of a double on the card for the trainer and conditional jockey Ned Fox.

The nine-year-old impressed on his seasonal reappearance at Ludlow in early November before falling at the halfway stage on his next appearance at Sandown.

Robyndzone was a 100-30 chance to get back on the winning trail on Merseyside and made most of the running on his way to an eight-length success over Fortescue.

Williams and Fox had earlier successfully combined with even-money favourite Hill Of Tara in the Betfred Nifty 50 Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle.

Fox said: “It was a great day. It was Hill Of Tara’s first run over three miles and he saw it out really well.

“He galloped home really strongly and did it really well, he was really good.

“Robyndzone was also stepping up in trip and he jumped really well and just galloped the others into the ground really. He’s not the quickest in the world, but he just galloped and he’s a very tough horse and did it very well.”

It was a first career double for the 23-year-old, who is based with Williams and has now moved his career tally up to 30 winners thanks to his Haydock brace.

He added: “It’s good to get that one out of the way and hopefully there will be a few more along the way.

“I’m very lucky to be working for Venetia who is giving me these good opportunities on Saturdays and big meetings.

“The yard is in great form and everything is going well, so long may it continue.”

Bertie’s Ballet (5-4) dug deep to land the Betfred TV EBF ‘National Hunt’ Novices’ Hurdle for Dianne Sayer and Henry Brooke.

The dual bumper winner chased home subsequent Grade One runner-up Favour And Fortune on his hurdling debut at Wetherby and made no mistake at the second time of asking, seeing off Norman Fletcher by a length and a half.

Sayer said: “I’m really pleased, his owners are lovely people and the horse is a professional in every way. It’s great to have him in the yard and we’re lucky to have him.

“I was very hopeful today. I think a small field suits him and heavy ground helped as they just went steady. He’s got lots of ability this horse, but very little experience.

“I’m very aware that he hasn’t got many miles on the clock and going forward that’s my biggest fear as we’ll be putting him into company that’s a lot more experience than he is, but hopefully he’ll continue to take it in his stride and we’re looking forward to the future with him.

“We might look to run in the EBF Final at Sandown, but that is obviously dropping him at the deep end. We’ll see how he comes out of today and take it from there.”

Richard Bandey’s Southern Sam (100-30) edged out Gold Emery in the Betfred Goals Galore Novices’ Handicap Chase, while 5-2 favourite Punta Del Este dominated his rivals for Dan Skelton and Tristan Durrell in the Betfred Supports Jack Berry House Handicap Hurdle.

Happy And Fine struck at 7-2 in the Betfred ‘Hot Shots’ Handicap Chase and San Francisco justified cramped odds of 8-11 in the concluding Betfred Happy New Year Open NH Flat Race.

Nico de Boinville is set for a spell on the sidelines after suffering a broken collarbone in a fall at Doncaster on Friday.

The leading rider was partnering 13-8 favourite The Therapist for his boss Nicky Henderson on Town Moor when he and his mount crashed out two flights from the finish.

De Boinville sat out the rest of the card and also missed out on a couple of winners at Newbury on Saturday, including the hugely exciting Jeriko Du Reponet.

Confirming his injury in his Unibet blog, the jockey said: “Unfortunately, I took a crunching fall on Therapist at Doncaster on Friday, and I will be out for a while.

“I pretty much knew that it wasn’t a routine departure soon after I hit the deck, and an X-ray this morning confirmed that I had broken my clavicle.

“It’s obviously annoying, with so many of our good horses looking to prove themselves in better races at this time of the year, as at Newbury today, but it’s only a small-scale setback in the grand scheme of things.

“I don’t know exactly how long I will be out for at the moment, but I’ll just have to get my head down and concentrate on the recovery.

“Others are in a far worse spot than me, so I won’t be feeling sorry for myself.”

Emma Raducanu is feeling “reborn” and freed of the weight of her US Open triumph as she prepares to make her comeback in Auckland.

The 21-year-old will face a qualifier in the opening round of the ASB Classic, her first match since April following operations on both her wrists and one ankle.

Raducanu looked relaxed and happy as she spoke to the media in New Zealand, saying: “I feel reborn in a way, I feel fresh, I feel ready, I feel happy, I feel excited.

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“Overall I’m feeling very positive and lighter. I think for two years after the US Open I felt maybe a bit more weight on my shoulders but now I feel completely fresh.”

The former British number one had hoped to make her comeback last autumn but her recovery was not a smooth process and she was forced to delay until the start of the new season.

She has been building back up to full fitness on and off court at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton under the guidance of Lawn Tennis Association staff.

For her final week working in London she turned to childhood coach Nick Cavaday while accompanying her in Auckland is mentor Jane O’Donoghue, a former coach who left the LTA to pursue a career in finance.

Raducanu has not had a permanent coach since splitting from Sebastian Sachs at the beginning of June.

O’Donoghue also helped out Raducanu at Wimbledon in 2022 when she was between coaches, and the former US Open champion said: “It’s really nice and refreshing to have her around, I know she has my best interests at heart and it’s just nice to have a familiar face.”

While it is likely to take time for Raducanu to find her feet on the match court again, she believes she is returning to the tour a better player and hungry to succeed.

“It’s going to be fun, I think, going out there competing again, having the competitive juices flowing,” she said.

“I’ve been training really well in practice so overall I’m feeling really good about my game. I think tennis wise I’m better than I was a year ago today, it’s just playing a match it’s going to be different.

“I got to spend a lot of time just thinking how I feel and I definitely got that hunger back just to be on the court competing, training, sweating. I think you really appreciate the time you have when you’re healthy and on court.”

While Raducanu received a wild card in Auckland, she is still waiting to see whether the same will apply for the Australian Open.

Her protected ranking given to players who have been sidelined long term is 103, which appears unlikely to be high enough to secure direct entry in Melbourne.

Currently that would mean going through qualifying at a grand slam for the first time since her remarkable New York triumph in 2021, and she said: “Qualifying doesn’t faze me.

“Right now I’m approaching it like I am in qualifying because I am. I’ve done pretty well in qualifying before so I’ll just see how it goes.”

Preparing to make his 2024 debut across the Tasman Sea at the Brisbane International is Andy Murray, who will take on second seed Grigor Dimitrov in his opening match.

Most of the focus at the tournament is on the returning Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka, and Murray faced the Spaniard in a practice session on Saturday.

Nadal has been sidelined for a year by a hip problem, and Murray said: “It’s great to have him back playing. He’s obviously working extremely hard, like always. He looked physically good, was playing well.”

Both men would need to make it to the semi-finals to meet in anger, and Murray cited renewing his long-time rivalries with Nadal and Novak Djokovic as a goal.

“If I get the opportunity to practise with them, I still really, really enjoy that,” said the Scot. “It does bring back some good memories. But ideally I’d want to be doing that in the tournaments, not in the first rounds. I’d like to be doing it
in the latter stages, if I can.”

Surrey Quest provided Toby Lawes with one of the biggest victories of his training career to date when landing the Coral Mandarin Handicap Chase at Newbury.

Formally a right-hand man to Nicky Henderson, it was somewhat fitting it was a former Seven Barrows inmate that provided him with his finest hour as he followed up an impressive stable bow at Huntingdon with a battling success in the rain-softened ground.

Having been up with the leaders throughout, Surrey Quest stuck to his task gamely when asked for maximum effort by man-of-the-moment James Bowen, who was striking for the third time on the card.

Although not fluent two from home, the 7-2 chance still had enough in reserve to hold off Kerry Lee’s 11-4 favourite Atlanta Brave by three-quarters of a length and give owners Surrey Racing plenty to dream about moving forward.

“The ground didn’t come up as soft as we were worried about and James rode him perfectly to plan,” said Clive Hadingham, co-founder of Surrey Racing with Steve Grubb.

“We know he stays and it looks like from that performance he will stay another couple of furlongs. The front two pulled away handily from the rest. It opens up a lot of options.

“That is the biggest win for Toby and he would be probably one of the better horses in Toby’s yard. We have to give plenty of credit of Jackie Du Plessis in Cornwall, who looks after horses with niggling issues for us and she found a little issue with Quest and helped put it right – without that we wouldn’t now have the horse we have got.

“Toby has then taken that further with the training and it has been a team effort from all of them.”

He went on: “We will have to see what the handicapper does and there’s a few options. We’ll sleep on it and celebrate this and the trophy is big enough to fill up with champagne so we will take that away and have some fun!

“We will probably have a look at the Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster at the end of January, but we will enjoy today and see how he comes out of it and then put our heads together.”

However, there would be no four-timer for Bowen as Henderson’s Walking On Air was denied by Ben Pauling’s Henry’s Friend (17-2) in the concluding Coral Get Closer To The Action Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase.

A useful hurdler last term, it was a huge improvement on the six-year-old’s Doncaster chasing debut and a performance that somewhat surprised his handler.

“I was pleased with the result, but I didn’t think he would handle the ground and I think he’s won despite this being not his most suitable conditions,” said Pauling.

“He’s done very well to win and jumped very well on the whole without ever jumping as well as he did at Doncaster last time. It was a gutsy performance and I think he is an improving novice.

“He’s always had a touch of class and this is his game (chasing), but I do think there will be a lot more to come on slightly better ground.”

Issar d’Airy made a pleasing chasing debut to strike at 4-1 in the New ‘Bet-In-Race’ With Coral Handicap Chase.

Gary Moore’s five-year-old stepped up markedly on what he had shown over hurdles and produced a superb round of jumping under Niall Houlihan as he sauntered to a four-and-a-quarter-length success over the 6-5 favourite Martator, who had attempted to make all.

“I was very pleased and he jumped very well for a horse having his first start over fences,” said Moore.

“What he beat I don’t know because the favourite went off very fast and he was never going to get home unless he was a super horse going that pace. Niall was good and patient and gave him a nice introduction and he’s done well our horse, I’m very happy.

“It will depend what the handicapper does to him, but there is a two-mile chase at Lingfield over Millions Weekend and I might look at going there, but I’m not sure.”

Meanwhile, the fine season of King George VI winning rider Gavin Sheehan continued when he scored another Saturday success aboard Olly Murphy’s Rambo T (2-1 favourite) in the Coral Racing Club Join For Free Handicap Hurdle.

“He appreciated the step back in trip and I think the race fell apart somewhat,” said Murphy.

“I thought a lot of horses were beat early in the straight, but albeit it was a good performance.

“He doesn’t stay three miles and we hope he carries on progressing. He handles soft ground well and he is a strong stayer at two-and-a-half, just doesn’t stay three. It was a good performance and hopefully he can carry on progressing.”

Queens Gamble continued her march to the Cheltenham Festival by successfully stepping up to Listed class in the Byerley Stud Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Taunton.

Seriously impressive when winning her first two bumper starts at Cheltenham last season, the five-year-old subsequently found Dysart Enos too strong in a Listed event at Market Rasen before finishing down the field in the Champion Bumper at the Festival.

She won a maiden hurdle at Warwick in the spring on her final start for the retiring Oliver Sherwood and made a winning reappearance for Harry Derham, for whom Sherwood now acts as assistant, at Kempton last month.

Queens Gamble was a 5-6 favourite to maintain her unbeaten record over obstacles in Somerset and while
Casa No Mento looked to have her in real trouble halfway up the home straight, the market leader responded to the urgings of her regular partner Jonathan Burke to get on top after the final flight, with two and three-quarter lengths separating the pair at the line.

Derham said: “She did everything right, we thought she’d do that and we’re very pleased that she has, so job done.

“Johnny (Burke) was never really worried. Last season I think she was a little bit more forward going, but she’s very relaxed and very professional nowadays and he said every time he squeezed her she was just there and ready to go.

“She’s a good mare and Nigel’s (Twiston-Davies, trainer of runner-up) is obviously a good mare too. They’ve pulled well clear, which is always a good sign.”

Paddy Power left Queen Gamble unchanged at 16-1 for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, with her old rival Dysart Enos the 7-2 favourite.

On whether she would run again before the Festival, Derham added: “Until I speak Ed (Galvin) and Alex (Frost) properly about it I wouldn’t like to confirm, but I’d say there’s no need to run again.

“She’s had three runs over hurdles now, she jumped quickly today and I see very little reason to run again between now and the Festival.

“She’s good round the track (Cheltenham), she’s improving and I know I’ve got more to come from here.

“She’s done everything right so far, all she can do is keep winning her races and she’ll go there with a good chance.”