Saints beat Bluebirds

Hiddink criticises English tactics

West Ham United beat Sunderland 3-1 at Upton Park. Carlton Cole gave the Hammers the lead but Kenwyne Jones scored a deserved second-half equaliser for the visitors. However, a Craig Gordon own goal and a last-minute effort by Craig Bellamy secured the points for Alan Curbishley’s side, albeit against the run of play.

Stern John scored the only goal of the game as Southampton beat Cardiff City 1-0 at St Mary’s Stadium. The Saints move up to ninth in the Championship table.

Torquay United replaced Aldershot Town at the top of the Blue Square Premier with a 0-1 win against York City at Kit Kat Crescent.

In the Scottish Premier League, Aberdeen beat Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1-2 at Caledonian Stadium. Derek Young scored for Aberdeen after seven minutes but Dennis Wyness equalised for the home side with his 100th goal for the club in the second half. The decisive moment of the match came just four minutes later when Inverness defender Ross Tokely scored in his own net.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5Live, Russia coach Guus Hiddink claimed England are a team that panics under pressure and are tactically naive.

Nathan Davies

Rangers beat Glasgow rivals

Hartlepool player dies in crash

Arsenal remain top of the Premier League after a 2-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium. Kolo Toure and Tomas Rosicky were on the scoresheet for the Gunners. The two Manchester clubs are hot on Arsenal’s heels as second placed United demolished Aston Villa 1-4 at Villa Park and City beat Birmingham City 1-0 at Eastlands. Elsewhere, Liverpool beat nine-man Everton 1-2 in a controversial Merseyside derby, Chelsea and Portsmouth recorded 0-2 away victories at Middlesbrough and Wigan Athletic respectively but Reading didn’t enjoy their visit to Ewood Park where they lost 4-2 to an impressive looking Blackburn Rovers side. Fulham and Derby County met at Craven Cottage but failed to muster a goal between them.

North of the Border, Rangers beat Celtic 3-0 at Ibrox in the first Old Firm game of the season.

Hartlepool United midfielder Michael Maidens has died in a road traffic accident. Police have reported that 20-year-old Maidens was a passenger in a vehicle which lost control and smashed into a metal post near a roundabout on the A174 at 8.25pm on Friday night. Hartlepool’s game at Swansea and the club’s youth team fixture have been called off as a mark of respect to the player and his family.

Nathan Davies

Arsenal duo win awards

Stanley win at home

Chelsea captain John Terry will be sidelined for up to three weeks after undergoing surgery on his injured knee while his team mate Ashley Cole will be out for around four weeks with a ankle injury.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has won the Premier League’s manager of the month award for September while Gunners midfielder Cesc Fabregas was named best player.

Managerless Bolton Wanderers have been refused permission to speak to Leicester City boss Gary Megson, Real Sociedad coach Chris Coleman and Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce.

Derby County have announced the departure of chief executive Trevor Birch with immediate effect.

Accrington Stanley beat Macclesfield Town 3-2 at Fraser Eagle Stadium.

Nathan Davies

Increase in football hooliganism

Vics apply for administration

Arsenal have taken action to prevent any future takeover after Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s recently admitted an interest in adding to his 23% shareholding in the club. Directors of the North London giants have extended a “lock-down” agreement on the sale of shares meaning directors can only sell to “permitted persons” before April 2009 and must give fellow board members first option until October 2012.

Home Office figures indicate that the number of arrests in relation to football hooliganism have risen for the first time in four years.

Arsenal striker Robin van Persie will be out for a month after injuring his knee playing for Holland against Slovenia on Wednesday.

Bolton Wanderers have put coach Archie Knox in charge of first-team affairs after the departure of Sammy Lee.

Notts County have named former player Ian McParland as their new manager.

Kevin Reynolds - the man who drunkenly assaulted Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson at Euston railway station - has been sentenced to 15 months in prison at Southwark Crown Court after admitting punching Sir Alex in the groin and headbutting a police community support officer last month.

Llanera, the Spanish property company who sponsor Charlton Athletic has been declared insolvent. Fortunately, the Addicks have received payment from their shirt sponsors for the current season but the club will have to find new support for 2008-09.

Northwich Victoria have applied to enter administration. Subsequently, a winding up order against the club - brought by HM Customs and Revenue over an unpaid tax bill of £350,000 - has been adjourned. A group of Manchester based business men are hoping to save the day by investing in the club and will hold discussions with creditors.

Nathan Davies

International round-up

Stevenage boss resigns

England’s hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008 were dealt a massive blow in Moscow tonight as Russia came from behind to beat Steve McClaren’s men. Wayne Rooney put England in front after 29 minutes but a second half brace from Roman Pavluchenko means England’s qualifying fate is no longer in their own hands.

Scotland’s Euro 2008 qualification hopes remain in their own hands despite a 2-0 defeat to Georgia in Tbilisi.

Wales were the only ‘home’ nation to win this evening despite a poor performance in San Marino. Rob Earnshaw and Joe Ledley scored for John Toshack’s men but failed to build on these early goals and saw 10-man San Marino pull one back late on.

Also in Group D, the Republic of Ireland’s hopes of qualification were ended after Cyprus held them to a 1-1 draw at Croke Park.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland drew 1-1 with Sweden in Stockholm to maintain their mathematical hopes of qualification from Group F.

France beat Lithuania 2-0 to top Group B thanks to a record breaking double from Thierry Henry. The Barcelona forward now has 43 goals in 96 games for his country and has broken Michel Platini’s French national team scoring record. Platini scored 41 goals in 72 games.

Tottenham Hotspur vice-chairman Paul Kemsley has resigned from the board with immediate effect. The announcement was made to the Stock Exchange as Spurs also revealed £28m profits for the last financial year.

Bolton Wanderers have parted company with manager Sammy Lee by “mutual consent”.

Mark Stimson has resigned as manager of Stevenage Borough.

Nathan Davies

England U21’s win

Vics apply for admin

Captain John Terry is ruled out of England’s Euro 2008 qualifier against Russia on Wednesday after aggravating a knee injury in training.

Two Mark Noble goals helped England Under-21s brush aside the Republic of Ireland in Tuesday evening’s European Championship qualifier in Cork.

Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs has signed a one-year extension to his contract, keeping him at Old Trafford until the end of the 2009 season.

Former Wales midfielder Robbie Savage has called for national team manager John Toshack to quit.

Swindon Town, who are £900,000 in debt, have failed to conclude a takeover deal with Portuguese-based Best Holdings but have secured a new, un-named investment partner who paid cash to HM Revenue and Customs to stop legal action in the short term.

Notts County have sacked manager Steve Thompson.

Northwich Victoria chairman Mike Connett has applied to take the club into administration in a desperate bid to prevent them from being wound up. The club faces a winding-up petition, brought by HM Revenue and Customs, in the High Court on Wednesday over an unpaid tax bill of over £350,000 but the Vics will earn a stay of execution by going into administration.

Nathan Davies

Luton beat Northampton

Anelka suffers thigh injury

Lincoln City have sacked manager John Schofield and director of football John Deehan.

In League One, Luton Town beat Northampton Town 2-1 at Kenilworth Road.

Nicolas Anelka has been ruled out of France’s Euro 2008 qualifier against Lithuania on Wednesday with a thigh injury suffered during yesterday’s 0-6 win in the Faroe Islands. Monaco striker Frederic Piquionne has been called up as a replacement.

Nathan Davies

Ayestaran leaves Anfield

Domestic round-up

Ashley Cole will miss England’s crucial Euro 2008 qualifying encounter with Russia on Wednesday after suffering an ankle injury during yesterday’s 3-0 win over Estonia at Wembley.

Liverpool assistant manager Pako Ayestaran has left the club by mutual consent. Ayestaran remains contracted to the Reds until 30 June 2008, meaning he cannot take up another job until then.

Swansea City are the new leaders of League One after a 1-4 victory at Bournemouth. Elsewhere, Doncaster Rovers beat Huddersfield Town 2-0 at Keepmoat Stadium.

Milton Keynes Dons and Darlington both recorded 4-0 home victories against Lincoln City and Stockport County respectively. Accrington Stanley won 1-3 away at Dagenham & Redbridge while Peterborough United beat Wycombe Wanderers 2-1 at London Road.

Torquay United climbed back to the top of the Blue Square Premier with a 4-2 victory over visitors Stevenage Borough.

Nathan Davies

International round-up

JPT regional quarter-final draw

England eased to a 3-0 victory over Estonia at Wembley to inch one step closer to qualifying for Euro 2008. Shaun Wright-Phillips, Wayne Rooney and a spectacular own goal from Estonia’s Taavi Rahn secured victory for Steve McClaren’s men, who can now qualify for next summer’s tournament in Austria and Switzerland if they beat Russia on Wednesday.

Scotland beat Ukraine 3-1 at Hampden Park thanks to goals from Kenny Miller, Lee McCulloch and James McFadden as Alex McLeish’s men remained top of Group B and ended Ukraine’s hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008. This result also meant that Scotland have won six games in a row for the first time since 1949.

Despite taking an early lead through James Collins, Wales suffered an embarrassing Euro 2008 qualifying loss against Cyprus in Nicosia. Yiannis Okkas scored twice before a Konstantinos Charalampidis header secured a 3-1 victory for the home side. Also in Group D, Germany booked their place at Euro 2008 with a goalless draw against Republic of Ireland at Croke Park.

In League One, a Kris Commons hat-trick secured a 0-3 victory for Nottingham Forest at Cheltenham’s Whaddon Road while Leeds United dropped their first home points of the season with a 1-1 draw with Leyton Orient. Sam Thornton gave the visitors the lead after nine minutes but was sent-off before half-time. Seb Carole equalised in the second half but Tresor Kandol missed a late penalty for Leeds.

Shrewsbury Town lost their fourth game in a row as Chesterfield won 2-3 at the New Meadow to move up to second in the table. Meanwhile, Macclesfield Town came back from 0-2 down to beat Wrexham 3-2 at Moss Rose thanks to two goals in stoppage time. The Red Dragons also had Robbie Garrett sent-off after 80 minutes.

The draw has been made for the regional quarter-finals of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. In the Northern Section, Bury have been drawn against Leeds United at Elland Road, Carlisle United host Stockport County, Morecambe travel to Hartlepool United and Grimsby Town entertain the winners of the postponed second round tie between Doncaster Rovers and Oldham Athletic. In the Southern Section, Milton Keynes Dons travel to Bournemouth, Swansea City meet Yeovil Town at the Liberty Stadium, League One strugglers Gillingham host League newcomers Dagenham & Redbridge and Cheltenham face a difficult away tie at Brighton & Hove Albion. Games will be played week commencing Monday 13 November.

Nathan Davies

Collins rejects QPR move

Domestic round-up

Stoke City forward Vincent Pericard has been re-arrested because of problems with his electronic tag after he was released from jail. The French striker was given a four-month jail sentence in August for trying to lie his way out of a speeding conviction.

Hibernian manager John Collins has turned down an approach from managerless Queens Park Rangers to take the reigns at Loftus Road.

Northwich Victoria - who are due to face a winding up petition from HM Revenue and Customs next week over an unpaid tax bill of over £350,000 - could be saved by a consortium of Manchester-based businessmen, who have reportedly agreed to invest in the club.

League One leaders Tranmere Rovers were held to a goalless draw by Walsall at Prenton Park while Hartlepool United recorded a 1-0 home victory against Bristol Rovers. James Brown scored the only goal of the game after 39 minutes.

In League Two, Rochdale picked up three points on the road with a 1-2 victory over Grimsby Town. Morecambe beat visitors Bradford City 2-1. Chester City and Hereford United drew 1-1 at the Deva Stadium while Brentford’s match with Rotherham United at Griffin Park also ended 1-1.

Nathan Davies