NFL 2019 INTERNATIONAL LONDON GAME 1 -- CHICAGO BEARS vs OAKLAND RAIDERS

The new NFL season is a month in but this weekend we will have the first of the four NFL International London Games, the first two of which will be at the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium (Below) and then there are two further games at Wembley to enjoy. Let's get straight into the opening game and it's the Chicago Bears against the Oakland Raiders which will be played this Sunday 5th October and kick off will be at 6pm which will coincide with the early afternoon games in the USA. The games will be on SKY and the NFL sites, only the two Wembley Games will be on free to air BBC channels and on their websites. 

The new stadium still on the old site of White Hart Lane has a capacity of 62,062, making it one of the largest stadiums in the English Premier League and the largest club stadium in London. It has been designed with the NFL in mind and will be host for at least 10 years with the likelihood of a UK Franchise in the future. 

Sunday 6th October
Chicago Bears vs Oakland Raiders @ Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Another sell out crowd is expected for these popular matches and kick off will be at 6.00pm (Uk Time). 

Current season record 

  Oakland Raiders
    - P4 W2 L2 F79 A102
  Chicago Bears
    - P4 W3 L1 F66 A45

Head Coach - Jon Gruden

Week 5 of the regular season and while both teams are "away" in London technically this is a home fixture for Oakland Raiders of the AFC West Division. The Raiders with head coach Jon Gruden calling the plays from the sidelines will have Quarterback Derek Carr leading things for the offence on the field of play. Oakland played at the Indianapolis Colts last weekend (won 31-24) and arrive with an even record after week four (W2-L2) and when you concede 25 points per game on average you will need to tighten up the defence else their play off hopes are going to vanish fast even this early in the season. Oakland Raiders key players to watch (other than the QB Derek Carr) included Tyrell Williams (Wide Receiver) and for the defence Johnathan Hankins (Defensive Tackle).

Head Coach - Matt Nagy

The Chicago Bears (NFC North) led by head coach Matt Nagy and Quarterback Mitch Trubisky need to show they are more than a decent defence and before they pack their kit for a trip to London will face a difficult game against the Minnesota Vikings (result 16-6 win) although games in London do tend to be a lot more open than traditional home/away fixtures, I expect an open game, and hopefully it'll be full of exciting high scoring plays. Key players to watch (other than the QB) Bilal Nichols (Defensive Lineman) and for the offence is Adam Shaheen (Tight End) if they can both stay fit this season should have a big say in how the Bears fare. *Update* during their win at Minnesota quarterback Mitch Trubisky went off injured in the first quarter with a shoulder injury so doubtful for this match, was replaced by Chase Daniel who is likely to start as a result. 

Both teams will then have a bye week [week 6] to recover from their travels following these matches.

Previous visits to London?
Oakland have been involved in FOUR International games, twice travelling to Mexico and twice here in London where they have lost on both occasions a 38-14 defeat against Miami Dolphins (2014) and a 27-3 loss to Seattle Seahawks (2018) so maybe it'll be third time lucky in London for the Raiders. This is the 2nd international series game that the Chicago Bears (NFC North) having played here in London eight years ago at Wembley when they beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers (24-18) in Oct 2011.

It will be a full house and the crowd will be roaring both teams home. Expect the stadium to be full of shirts of ALL NFL teams (there might be a few Tottenham Hotspur fans around too I suspect). We will aim to keep a brief summary of each quarter as the game progresses, should be a great start to this series of UK fixtures which will surely grow until we have our own regular season NFL franchise. Also ensure you catch all the build up and highlights of matches played earlier on their regular Saturday night NFL Show with Jason Bell and Osi Umenyiora joining in the fun this season - have a great day all. 

I'm going for a Chicago Bears win and over 40+ points in the match, also backing the over 20+ points score at half time too. 

1st Quarter;
We've just had the coin toss, with Tottenham striker Harry Kane who is a big NFL fan keeping a close eye on proceedings so now the ceremonies are over the crowd is ready and its Chicago to kick so we'll soon see this awesome Bears defence in action. Pat O'Donnell kicks off to get us underway in the first of four games here in London. Very little to speak off yet as the 1st quarter comes to the end Oakland Raiders take the lead with a 12yd Touchdown run from running back Josh Jacobs (Daniel Carlson kicks the extra point) and it's 0-7.
2nd Quarter;
Chase Danial, standing in for the injured Mitch Trubisky, is not having a great day early on and is intercepted in their first drive of the 2nd Q, allowing the Raiders another opportunity to score, which they do a few plays later with a 3yd rush from running back DeAndré Washington and it's 0-14 once Carlson converts the extra again. Chicago can't get going at all and another Daniel Carlson kick, this time a 41yd field goal, extends the lead to 0-17 as the half time draws near.

H/T Score;   Chicago Bears  0 -- 17  Oakland Raiders.
Chicago have only completed 44 yards this half compared to Oakland's 208 and Chase Danial has a lot to do in the second half to get the Bears back into this.

3rd Quarter;
Oakland make a big mistake and turnover the ball losing it on their own 14 yard line (fumble by Derek Carr, recovered by Khalil Mack). Chicago take it in from just a yard out as David Montgomery runs in. Eddy Pineiro adds the kick and the Bears are right back in this 7-17. Chicago are back on another drive soon after starting on their own 11yd line, 11 plays later they have moved 80yds down the field and looking at a 1st and Goal which is soon converted into a touchdown by Chase Danial who passes to Allen Robinson from 4yds and the score is 14-17 it's game on now with just under four minutes left in the third quarter. Suddenly the turnaround is well and truly completed, Allen Robinson didn't have a touchdown catch all season. He's just claimed two inside three minutes. Chase Daniel lofts it up to the pylon, where Robinson plucks it out of the sky and for the first time this evening the Chicago Bears take the lead!
4th Quarter;
So far the final quarter has been all about Oakland missing chances, a drive all the way into the Chicago red zone ends with a fumble and a recovery for the Bears then the Raiders think they have an interception only to find the play called back for a foul on the Quarterback, seems harsh but with eight mins to go there's plenty in this still. 

Raiders go for broke on fourth down and Erik Harris fumbles. But the officials rule he was down by contact so it's Oakland's ball and the Raiders keep rolling, with Derek Carr making a 23-yard throw to tight end Foster Moreau followed by a 16-yard grab again by Moreau taking Oakland to Chicago's two-yard line at the two-minute warning. Josh Jacobs finishes the job with his second touchdown of the night, leaping over the top to complete a 97-yard drive in 13 plays. Oakland retake the lead with under two mins left. Was that a game-winning drive orchestrated by Derek Carr?

F/T Score;    Chicago Bears  21 -- 24  Oakland Raiders.

The next game in London will be on Sunday 13th October again at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and is between Carolina Panthers vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

AFC WIMBLEDON v ROCHDALE LEAGUE ONE SATURDAY 5th OCTOBER 2019

Welcome to our next home game of this season still seeking that first win and now without our manager Wally Downes. More of that later let us instead look forwards to this Saturday when we will be hosting Rochdale at Kingsmeadow, with plenty of hope and maybe just maybe that first win is not far away. Get behind the lads and expecting more goals from Marcus Forss who should be available again after his suspension and with Nesta Guinness-Walker plus Joe Pigott we can perhaps see some goals today.

FORM GUIDE
(Last 6 matches from last season in their respective leagues, starting with most recent)
AFC Wimbledon -- LLLDLD
Rochdale -- LLDLWD

LAST TIME OUT

Peterborough 3 - 2 AFC Wimbledon
Rochdale 0 - 3 Wycombe W

While we were losing our manager and getting beat 3-2 by Peterborough last weekend, leaving us firmly in the bottom three still on just 3 points, Rochdale were themselves losing again 0-3 at home against Wycombe Wanderers although that comes on the back of an impressive showing against Manchester United in the league cup going out on penalties. This result places Rochdale on 10 points and they reside in 18th position in the league one table. Our last meeting with Rochdale was in February and resulted in a 4-3 victory for the Dons including a Joe Pigott hat trick, yes we would welcome another one of those games! Six points adrift already so we need to start bridging that gap otherwise we are going to be down by the end of the year. Come on you Dons get at them

Not sure if there will be further news about Wally Downes position by this weekend but the following statement was made by the club confirming his suspension;
"Club manager Wally Downes has been suspended from first team duties pending further notice. The club has been informed that Wally has been charged by the FA for Misconduct under FA Rule E1(b) in respect of 8 bets placed on football matches between 30 November 2013 and 12 July 2019. Given the seriousness of this breach in FA regulations, the club has decided to suspend Wally with immediate effect, giving time for the club and Dons Trust boards to look at the allegations more closely and make a further announcement in due course." Wally had until Friday 4th October to appeal so we await the outcome, Glyn Hodges takes control in the meantime. 

Line ups (Confirmed);

AFC WIMBLEDON

Odds -- 7/5 (William Hill) 

Trott (GK),  Thomas,  Kalambayi,  Nightingale (c),  Wordsworth,  Wagstaff, ⚽Pinnock,  Sanders, ⚽Osew, ⚽Forss,  Pigott

Subs – Tzanev (GK),  Hartigan,  Stabana,  Folivi,  Guinness-Walker,  Reilly,  Appiah

ROCHDALE AFC

Odds --  15/8 (William Hill) 

Sanchez (GK),  Matheson,  Keohane,  Andrew,  Norrington-Davies,  Williams,  Morley,  Camps,  Rathbone,  Wilbraham,  Tavares 

Subs – Lynch (Gk),  Ryan,  Baah,  Bradley,  Gillam,  Hopper,  ⚽Henderson

  

Selected Bets on today's match;

  Penalty Awarded @7/2
  Red Card Shown @9/2
  Over 1.5 Goals in 1st half @2/1 ⚽⚽ YES!!
  Marcus Forss to score anytime @8/5 ⚽ YES!

⚽H/T Score – 3 - 0 [Forss 2'  Osew 16'  Pinnock 28']

First Half Comment;

What a start for the Dons, after Rochdale kick off it's the Wimbledon players that get us going and win an early corner then on two mins our on loan striker Marcus Forss scores a volley after his return from suspension and gives us the lead. Thankfully he doesn't get booked for the celebration this time and this is a wonderful start. And it's getting better as 16 minutes on the clock the Dons are 2-0 ahead following a fine goal from Paul Osew with Scott Wagstaff who is having a good start to this match playing at right back today. Wagstaff is having a blinder of a half so far and sets up Mitch Pinnock for the Dons third, yes 3-0 and it's not even half an hour gone. Further chances for both sides before the half time whistle is blown and it's been a very entertaining game so far and I think our long overdue first win is coming.

⚽F/T Score – 3 - 2

Match Summary;
The first half demolition proved enough for the Dons first win of this season and although conceding twice in the 2nd half was disappointing it turned out fine in the end as their second goal came four minutes into stoppage time so the game was fairly safe even then. Leaves us still in the bottom three but plenty to enjoy and closes the gap to the teams above us. Southend lost again and we'll be travelling to them for a "must win" game next weekend.   

My Man of the Match – Scott Wagstaff, helped to get us off to a great start in the first half and experience is needed this season.

Referee -- Our referee today is confirmed as James Oldham from Derbyshire who has taken five league two games this season so is making a small step up (although we are bottom of league one so it's not that high) is only in his second season as a football league referee but has experience in the National (Conference) and below. Will have assistance from Christopher Wade and Stephen Finch on the touchlines.

Attendance – 4,068.  

Next league match:
Saturday 12th October vs Southend United (Away)
League One 3:00pm 

KEMPTON PARK RACES 2019 -- WEDNESDAY NIGHTS #23 2nd October

Coming down to the final few months of this annual theme, was hopeful of a more productive second half to the year but we struggling a little. Still time though till end 2019.

Here we are into October and as my friends continue with their Halloween preparations I am just trying to find my winter gear as the weather has taken a sudden downturn. Away from racing the Rugby World Cup continues in the mornings and have enjoyed the hosts Japan fabulous win against Ireland (19-12) but sadly my team AFC Wimbledon have continued to struggle and have also suspended our Manager Wally Downes after an accusation by the FA on bets placed prior to his appointment with us. So Glyn Hodges takes charge and we wait and see what happens next, there's always something happening including last weekends away game against Peterborough United where we lost again 3-2 but at least putting in a fighting comeback from 2-0 down at half time, will be a long frustrating season for the Dons. 

Has been a very up and down year overall not just with the racing though the last month was encouraging so with the Autumn and Winter months to come we will continue to focus on the all weather horse racing now while the lights still shine brightly here at Kempton Park throughout this year. We are hopeful of better season than we experienced last year but it's just some fun and excitement to mix up the week we have found it hard and are more than a little behind to SP though it's something I will keep persevering with through to the end of the year. 

Let us move onward with this our twenty third Wednesday night of 2019, and will continue to focus on the handicap contests for each Wednesday evening meeting though we will also occasionally include a feature listed or conditions event too if there is one available. Keeping records of our endeavours to a 1 point level stake at SP, naturally we will personally be looking to get better odds than this but for the purpose of these results here we simply record SP returns only. Following our last meeting the deficit is currently on -34.105 points to SP returns overall. We continue to battle hard to reduce this and thankfully there is still plenty of time to get this back on track. 

Throughout the year we will keep up with our occasional lay opportunities of anticipated short priced favourites too. Naturally we will keep these results separately from the handicap figures we have been fairly successful with our selections so far and last time got another pair of favourite selection beaten which means we are now 26/37 (70%) we will continue with this through 2019.

This Wednesday will be meeting number twenty three for the 2019 AW season and we are expecting an eight race card tonight and following the division of the opening handicap event we now have SIX handicap races to review which should keep us plenty busy enough. The action which will now commence at 16:35 with our first handicap over seven furlongs and the card ends around about 20:10 with our final handicap contest for the stayers over a trip just short of two miles.

Here's a link to this Wednesday's race card; RACECARD

Going and Weather -- The going on the polytrack surface is described as 'standard to slow' and the current weather forecast for this Wednesday is for a lot of cloudy weather with a chill in the air so wrap up warm now that Autumn is upon us the best we expect the temperature to reach is around 14C by the time the meeting gets underway.

Here are our handicap selections for tonight;

16:35 -- 7f Handicap (Div One).

DREAMING OF PARIS [Non Runner] has won and placed here earlier in her career and while disappointing since is a big price as a result but has tumbled down the handicap and also down in grade to a class six again so could have a chance of a surprising return to form. Also interested in ALABAMA DREAMING [5th 9/2] a lightly raced 3yo filly who has place possibilities over 7f and wouldn't be a huge shock if able to take a step forward on this all weather surface tonight.

17:10 -- 7f Handicap (Div Two).

A 4yo son of the mighty Frankel FRONSAC [4th 7/1] hasn't yet hit his fathers mark but this might be his best opportunity to date down in trip and class while recent winner MAGICINTHEMAKING [WON 7/2] has been in the first three in ten starts aside from one mishap when unseating rider Hollie Doyle should be close even under a 5lb penalty.

18:40 -- 1m Handicap.
A listed winner as a 2yo at Salisbury has run here at Kempton twice winning and runner up last time so KUWAIT CURRENCY [WON 11/4] is expected to go close once more even with top weight. While ROUSAYAN [5th 28/1] hasn't been seen on the all weather for a while is very experienced and achieved back to back wins earlier this year (and also the previous year) so is capable of success off this mark and at 20/1 is an attractive e/w shout.

19:10 -- 1m 2f 219y Handicap.
Any Sir Mark Prescott runner should be feared in handicaps and he sends GREY SPIRIT [3rd 12/1] here tonight and should be the right trip for this lightly raced four year old. While CITY TOUR [2nd 6/1] is another who seems to have appreciated a longer trip and has been a big price place the last two occasions.

19:40 -- 1m 2f 219y Handicap (3yo).

A runner up on debut here GUROOR [3rd 10/1] now a 3yo has run well on two subsequent visits while rated in mid 70s so dropping back to a mark of 60 might see some improvement and value at a decent price in this field. While FAME N FORTUNE [9th 13/2] overcame a wide draw to win over this trip and has been runner up again since with good 3lb claimer Cieren Fallon on board has a big chance tonight.

20:10 -- 1m 7f 218y Handicap.

Our finale is for the stayers and top weight CASA COMIGO [WON 13/8f] is coming here seeking a hat trick after two wins over the distance at Lingfield and has to carry a 5lb penalty for the last one which might not stop the sequence while PERCY'S PRINCE [4th 10/3] represents Sir Mark Prescott and the 3yo was a winner her just over a week ago and looks dangerous.

Staked -- 12 points.

Returns -- 11.875 points.

Results will appear here later during Wednesday evening. This season we are sadly down by -34.105 points to SP returns. Now only three more months of the season to go and we will end up with an additional meeting here for the King George Chase on Boxing Day. Tiny loss tonight sadly, -0.125 means we have a loss of -34.23 going forwards to the next meeting.

LAYS -- 26/37. Another pair of successful lay bets last time around and will see if we can find one or two short priced selections to post here if we have any for tonight. Both were runners up tonight which was nice so we now onto 28/39.

Tonight's Lays;

17:40 -- SO SHARP [6f Fillies Novice 2yo's]. LOST 2nd 9/4.
18:10 -- STANFORD [1m Novice 2yo's] LOST 2nd 9/2.

Our twenty fourth meeting for this year will be held on Wednesday 9th October so hope to see you then and throughout the rest of 2019 too.