ENGLAND WORLD CUP CAMPAIGN 2018 -- KNOCKOUT STAGE VS COLOMBIA

KNOCKOUT ROUND OF 16
TUESDAY 3rd JULY 2018
COLOMBIA vs ENGLAND
[KICK OFF 7PM (BST)]
 -- Otkritie Arena, Moscow

England managed to survive their group despite a final game defeat 1-0 to Belgium and as runners up we enter the knockout phase against Colombia. The South American side won Group H beating Senegal in their final game and have some World Class stars in Radamel Falcao and the golden boot winner from 2014 James Rodriguez, though he did go off injured and might be a doubt to start against England on Tuesday (he's not playing, not even on the bench). This is going to be a test and we've not done that well against South American opponents of late (Panama aside of course) I can see this being a nervy start and a low scoring contest. An early goal for England would be a good way to steady those nerves in the stadium and the millions watching at home as our record in the knockout games in major competitions is poor to say the least, would also be great if we didn't have to rely on Harry Kane all the time too and perhaps a pep talk from the coaches of the recently successful England U19/U17 youth teams would help. 

The nation hasn't been this confident about an England success since Euro 96, don't let it go to penalties guys, bring it home. (England are 9/1 to win on pens, should be at least a zero on the end of that?).

Starting XI's confirmed;

COLOMBIA
Ospina (GK),  Arias,  Mina,  D Sánchez,  Mojica,  Barrios,  C Sánchez,  Lerma,  Ju Cuadrado,  Falcao (c),  Quintero

Subs -- Vargas (Gk),  Jo Cuadrado(Gk),  Zapata,  Murillo,  Bacca,  Aguilar,  Muriel,  Uribe,  Díaz,  Izquierdo

ENGLAND
Pickford (Gk),  Maguire,  Stones,  Walker,  Henderson,  Trippier,  Lingard,  Alli,  Young,  Sterling,  Kane (c)

Subs -- Butland (Gk),  Pope (Gk),  Dier,  Alexander-Arnold,  Loftus-Cheek,  Rose,  Vardy,  Cahill,  Jones,  Welbeck,  Delph,  Rashford

Referee --  MARK GEIGER (USA) An experienced official Mark has been on the FIFA list for past ten years as well as being highly regarded in the MLS, he is taking charge of his second World Cup tournament having officiated in Brazil last time.

HT Score --  0 - 0.

FT Result --  1 - 1 
Mina 90+3'                  Kane 56' pen. 

England WON 4-3 on Penalties.
Yes really we finally won a penalty shoot out in the World Cup.

Comment -- A positive opening 20 mins by England although no real saves required by Ospina in the Colombia goal there's plenty of set piece action and pace going forwards which is nice to see for a change.

Only one more real chance of note and Colombia are also lucky to still have 11 on the field, should have been a red card and they really need to group up a bit. Half Time 0-0

More nonsense and childish fouls in the second half and a ridiculous foul on Harry Kane gives the England striker a simple chance from the spot, England take a deserved lead and now should be plain sailing, loads of yellow cards too and cannot see this ending 11 vs 11 with 30 mins to play.

So close and yet so far, 93 mins and Mina scores an equaliser shortly after an amazing save by Pickford from Mateus Uribe. We have extra time and possibly the dreaded penalties. AND WE DO IT ON PENS !!! COME ON ENGLAND. IT'S COMING HOME. 

PISS OFF YOU CHEATING SCUMMY COLOMBIAN TWATS. 

PONTEFRACT HORSE RACING SYSTEM -- 2018 TURF SEASON -- PART SEVEN

PONTEFRACT SEASON 2018.

Monday 2nd July.
Welcome to this our 7th meeting of the year. 

The Art of Racing Raceday (part 1), gates are open from 12 noon with the 1st race 2.00pm today, going to be hot so keep hydrated and plenty of sunscreen.

Once again, we will have two Art of Racing Racedays in 2018! These racedays celebrate everything we know and love about The Sport of Kings! On BOTH DAYS we’ll be looking for 7 guest tipsters to each preview one of the races on the day. These previews will be published online and in the racecards on the day with our tipsters invited to the course to share their knowledge before each race.

There’ll be trips to the start of selected races so enthusiasts can see what happens in the calm of the open parkland down at the Start. We’ll also be running a commentary booth for people to have a go at commentating ‘behind the scenes’. Two days truly dedicated to The Art of Racing.

There is some brilliant action on the track on both days too! On Monday 2nd July the EBF Spindrifter Conditions Stakes takes centre stage. In 2017, the race was won by subsequent Group 2 runner up, Zaman. Back in second was Unfortunately who went on to win a Group 1 AND a Group 2! Even third place, Izzy Bisu, subsequently picked up a Listed race!

A winning streak at the last meeting means we are now back in profit to the tune of +6.41 to Starting Prices so we can hopefully kick on from there today. We will continue throughout this season to record ALL results for these fixtures which are returned to a level stake at Starting Price (SP), and will also show any forecast results too in the daily results but these do not count for the profit / loss figures.

The forecast going is now currently reported as 'Good to firm' the weather for Monday afternoon is for a lovely sunny day with a forecast maximum temperature around the 27C mark.

Here are our selections for the 7 races on Monday afternoon, remember it's a very simple selection process using stalls One and Two in each race;

2:00 6f Handicap.
(1) -- THE AMBER FORT  [6th 10/3].
(2) -- LUCKY LODGE  [5th 14/1].

2:30 6f Conditions Stakes (2yo).
(1) -- WEDDING DATE  [3rd 9/4].
(2) -- LOCH NESS MONSTER  [2nd 12/1].

3:00 6f Fillies Handicap.
(1) -- REBEL ASSAULT  [6th 7/2].
(2) -- PENNY POT LANE  [5th 12/1].

3:30 1m 4f 5yds Handicap.
(1) -- CONSTRUCT  [WON 4/7F].
(2) -- FRENCH RESISTANCE  [3rd 5/2].

4:00 6f Classified Stakes.
(1) -- WALK ON WATER  [WON 15/8F].

(2) -- BATTLE COMMENCE  [5th 5/2].

4:30 1m 6yds Handicap.
(1) -- LAMLOON  [WON 6/4F].
(2) -- I'M YER MAN  [4th 25/1].

5:00 1m 2f 5yds Lady Amateur Riders Handicap.
(1) -- X RATED  [3rd 9/4JF].
(2) -- QUOTELINE DIRECT  [WON 9/4JF].

Staked -- 12 points.
Returns -- 10.2 Points

After a winning meeting last week we now have cleared out our losses and now show a profit figure of +6.41 points to SP. Results from today will be updated later on at the end of the meeting. Let's see if we can build on that break-thru. Alas although four winners today they were all short favs and we end up with a small loss on the day -1.8 to SP.

Out balance going forward is still a small profit though +4.61.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 10th July. Keep following us throughout the season.

ENGLAND WORLD CUP CAMPAIGN 2018 -- MATCH THREE VS BELGIUM

GROUP G
THURSDAY 28th JUNE 2018
ENGLAND vs BELGIUM   
[KICK OFF 7PM (BST)]
 -- Kaliningrad Stadium, Oktyabrsky Island, Russia. 

We plan to cover the England fixtures during this summers FIFA World Cup in Russia, at least we will have three games to "enjoy" and then see where we end up. Hopefully to get out of the group would be a start (mission accomplished), then it's knock out football so as long as we don't go to penalties anything is possible. 

Our final group game takes place on Thursday against Belgium, who topped their Group H to qualify for the tournament and they are ranked No.3 in the current FIFA World Rankings as we head into the final group game before the knock out stages. Have plenty of players familiar to Premier League fans Romelu Lukaku banging the goals in and the likes of Kevin De Bruyne pulling the strings in midfield to name just two this will be a tricky game but as both sides are already through not surprised if there are a few changes on both teams. 

Teams confirmed;

BELGIUM
Courtois (GK) Capt,  Dendoncker,  Boyata,  Vermaelen,  Chadli,  Fellaini,  Dembélé,  Januzaj,  Tielemans,  T Hazard,  Batshuayi

Subs -- Mignolet (Gk),  Casteels (Gk),  Alderweireld,  Kompany,  Vertonghen,  Witsel,  De Bruyne,  Lukaku,  E Hazard,  Carrasco,  Mertens,  Meunier



ENGLAND
Pickford (Gk),  Jones,  Stones,  Cahill,  Dier (Capt),  Alexander-Arnold,  Loftus-Cheek,  Delph,  Rose,  Rashford,  Vardy

Subs -- Butland (Gk),  Pope (Gk),  Walker,  Maguire,  Lingard,  Henderson,  Kane,  Sterling,  Trippier,  Welbeck,  Young,  Alli

Referee --  Damir Skomina (Slovenia).

HT Score --  0 - 0.

FT Result --  1 - 0.
[Januzaj 51']

Comment -- Eric Dier leads out a changed England side for this final group game. Belgium had made plenty of changes too and it's got the feeling of a pre-season friendly. Not many chances in the first half, one goal line scramble for England and a decent save from Pickford but aside from that and some good breaks by the likes of Alexander-Arnold and Rashford it's goalless and we will top the group if it remains that way. But this is England so we didn't win and a good finish from Adnan Januzaj scoring his first for Belgium to seal top spot for his country. England will now face Columbia in the knockout stages.