WINNERS & LOSERS
A WEEKEND is a long time in sport, as this lot will attest. But while for some it was a few days to remember, others may wish they had never set foot out of the house.
ASTON VILLA
TWO big victories in the space of four days have pulled Martin O’Neill’s men right back in the race for a Champions League place. Yesterday’s second city derby victory over Birmingham will have tasted sweeter than ever, especially after Tottenham and Manchester City dropped points on Saturday.
STEVE DAVIS
At the age of 52, “The Nugget” rolled back the years to clinch one of the biggest shocks in Crucible history with a 13-11 second round success over defending champion John Higgins. It comes 21 years after Davis won last of his six world titles.
BRITISH GYMNASTICS
You wait forever for a medal and three come at once. Daniel Keatings became the first Britain to win a European Championship medal after beating team-mate Louis Smith on the pommel horse. Daniel Purvis then claimed bronze on the floor.
CARL FROCH
The Nottingham fighter described his failed WBC super-middleweight defence to Mikkel Kessler as a “sham” after the Dane took a unanimous points decision on home soil. Froch insisted he would have got the decision had the fight been in Britain but got little support from the pundits.
BURNLEY
After a bright start, the Clarets bowed out of the Premier League with a whimper after crashing 4-0 at home to Liverpool. Manager Brian Laws has now tasted defeat 14 times in his 17 games in charge, but the club will certainly be better off for their 12-month stay in the top-flight – their first in 33 years.