A free kick awarded when Juninho was brought down at a similar distance from goal early in the
A free kick awarded when Juninho was brought down at a similar distance from goal early in the second half was wasted.Without the support of Barmby and Fjortoft, the Brazilian at times looked ordinary. He had wanted to establish Kevin Campbell, bought for pounds 2.5million from Arsenal, as a partner to Bryan Roy and acquired Andrea Silenzi from Torino as insurance. But both have been hampered by injuries and Roy has been sidelined too.The Dutchman, who had a cartilage operation five weeks ago, has recovered quickly but only played for the last 17 minutes, replacing Jason Lee, Forest's leading scorer with seven goals but out of his depth at this level.Middlesbrough were closest to an equaliser five minutes before half-time when Hendrie shot from 25 yards and rattled Mark Crossley's right-hand post. "In the circumstances I was pleased with my lads," their manager Bryan Robson said.The problem for Forest is that they are a counter-attacking team that lacks a cutting edge Clark still has not replaced Stan Collymore. Although any criticism of his signings needs to be qualified. It also proved to be an accurate forecast of the way yesterday's victory was gained.The result was decided in the ninth minute, when the Middlesbrough defender Curtis Fleming illegally halted Steve Stone's progress towards the six- yard box and Stuart Pearce unleashed the full power of his left foot to beat Gary Walsh from the penalty spot.
What followed was an anti-climax and Middlesbrough, having been braced for the worst after their 4-0 thrashing at Everton, probably felt unlucky not to have salvaged a point."It was a carbon copy of Boxing Day, really," Clark said afterwards. "We started brightly, got ourselves in front but then lost the thread." Middlesbrough, quite apart from suffering a confidence crisis after Goodison, were down to 14 fit players, with Jan Fjortoft joining Nick Barmby and Craig Hignett among their significant absentees. There was evidence, certainly, that Forest were expecting a relatively straightforward afternoon's work.In the event, with the 32-year-old John Hendrie leading the line on his own and Clayton Blackmore, 31, recalled for the first time this season, the visiting side looked the hungrier and it was just as well for Forest that a defence well marshalled by Colin Cooper was able to restrict their opportunities for, on balance of possession, they might have won. Nottingham Forest 1 Pearce 8 pen Middlesbrough 0Attendance: 27,027"THERE are times when the only thing that matters is the result," the Forest manager Frank Clark had written in his programme notes, reflecting on points "scratched rather than schemed" from a single-goal Boxing Day win over Sheffield Wednesday. "I have no intention of letting my side play such a dangerous team as Sale without our England men," said the Leicester coaching director Tony Russ.Wasps had already rearranged their home game against West Hartlepool, abandoned last month when a spectator had a heart attack, for 13 January, and hope not only that their two England players, Lawrence Dallaglio and Damian Hopley, will be able to play, but also that Sky stick to their plans to televise the game.
Wasps' and West's meetings with Harlequins and Bristol, postponed yesterday, may therefore not be played until March.League Two leaders Northampton, who have four men in the England squad, have switched their match at Moseley to 27 January, fifth-round day in the Pilkington Cup from which both sides have already been eliminated.The only senior fixture to beat the freeze was in Cornwall where Redruth beat St Ives 23-6.. "We have notified the clubs and now await their appeals," he said. "But we know that weekend was deliberately left blank for England and we will do everything possible to help their preparations."Bath, who were due to visit Gloucester yesterday, have eight players in the England squad and Leicester, at home to Sale, have three. THE SPECTRE of fixture congestion is looming in English club rugby following the postponement of all yesterday's Courage League matches because of frost. The defending champions Leicester and the present leaders Bath are expected to appeal against the National Clubs Association's decision to reschedule yesterday's League One games for 13 January because that date clashes with an England squad weekend at which final preparations will be made for the Five Nations' Championship opener in France the following Saturday. Alwynne Evans, the NCA's executive secretary, has hinted that the England get-together will be given precedence over rearranged league fixtures.
"I want to involve all 15 players as far as possible, but that doesn't mean we will throw the ball around willy-nilly."But Ireland's rivals should beware - it could mean considerably more than just two touches a game for Geoghegan.. We don't have as many players as England, so we have to play the game our players allow us to play while England can decide on their pattern of play and then pick the players to fit in with it. New Zealand also has a small population, but there aren't the distractions of Gaelic football or soccer over there."I want to concentrate on skills so that a definite pattern of play will emerge and we can use the ball more effectively than in the past," he continued. "They need to increase their fitness levels, that's true, but the programmes are in place and I don't see that as my specific area of responsibility. I will have to monitor it all and only pick players who are fit, but I have shortened their training time dramatically. They work twice as hard in half the time."Overall, a lack of strength in depth is an ongoing problem for Irish rugby.
Blond, brilliant and burly (like Duckham), Simon Geoghegan is a hero to Ireland's fanatical rugby public. And after only two months of working with the Bath wing, Kidd is inclined to agree, rating him even higher than his gargantuan countryman Jonah Lomu."Simon must have the best strike record of any wing in the world, including Lomu," Kidd said "No one turns passes into more tries than Simon. I think he averages something like a try for every two passes he receives while playing for Ireland." So it is no surprise that getting more ball to Geoghegan (a problem England never solved with Duckham) is high on Kidd's list of priorities.The willingness of his Ireland squad to train and work hard is not in doubt. The Munster Cup was won the following season, after which Kidd joined the Cork side Sunday's Well, who swiftly rose from the Third to the First Division under his tutelage and also lifted the Munster Cup.All those years after his confrontation with the Lions, Kidd now finds himself charged with bringing the best out of the modern game's answer to Duckham. "After the Games I came over and started with Garryowen at the outset of the All Ireland League," he said.When Garryowen won the League in 1992, Irish rugby began to sit up and take note.