Bulls Snap Up Pell

Having turned down the offer of a new contract at Bristol Rovers midfielder Harry Pell has decided to join League 2 rivals Hereford United on a two year deal.

During the early part of the summer break Rovers chairman Nick Higgs confirmed that the club were in talks with the Essex born player after he impressed during the latter stages of the season, making nine appearances after returning from an initial loan period with the Bulls.

During his first stint at Edgar Street Pell played seven games, the first two of which came off of the bench, and made a big impact on manager Jamie Pitman who noted such when speaking of his new signing. "I'm delighted to welcome Harry to the club after an impressive loan spell last season" said Pitman.

Prior to joining the Pirates Pell had been released by Charlton Athletic, the club he was a part of since age seven, and spent time at Hastings United on work experience. Following his release Pell also had trials for Gillingham and Wycombe before deciding to settle himself in Bristol.

The First Impressions Are The Most Important

The summer without football feels like an eternity, last year we had the World Cup to entertain footy fans but this year there has been nothing with such importance. That's why July the 6th was a special day, the pre-season fixtures have started and there's no turning back from here.

And so it began at Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, a squad that was largely unrecognisable from the previous season being displayed over the course of two separate teams in each half and the end result looked just as good on the pitch as it did in Thursday's local newspapers, a 5-1 win thanks to a deflected Lee Brown strike, a cool finish from Scott McGleish, a solid strike from Eliot Richards and a Ben Swallow brace.

The most impressive aspect was the way Paul Buckle had set his team out to play, knocking the ball around with a great deal of comfort, using the wide areas and going at the opposition who failed to cope with the speed of the game. Admittedly there were a few stray passes but this is the squads first game together and they have only been in pre-season training with each other for a week, some even less than that, while the pitch was a typical non-league affair, more akin to the rolling hills of the Quantock's than the bowling greens Buckle would like to see his team playing on, meaning that when they stroll out onto Football League standard pitches their game should come together rather better.

That's not to say the football was dire, it was clearly the makings of some attractive stuff and the players on display proved they are capable of performing with a style and vigour unseen at the Memorial Stadium for a number of years. The stand out performances from the first half came from 37 year old Scott McGleish and central midfielder Craig Stanley.

McGleish threw the doubters off his back as he worked tirelessly and rewarded himself with a goal. Even though he is closer to climbing over the hill than he is to his late twenties McGleish ran with a youthful exuberance and wanted to be involved in everything. What was most noticeable was the fact that the Leyton Orient legend never strayed too far away from the play, always keeping close to the ball where he could feed off of the midfield with his canny runs.

There was also passion on display, a refreshing site for those who have had to watch the likes of Mark Wright and Dominic Blizzard happily take the clubs money. McGleish is not just out for one final payday, he has a hunger for the game which was on display, most notably in the first half when, despite the game being no more than a friendly, the striker reacted to having a header cleared off the line with a brim, Cockney 'F**K OFF'. The goal he scored was a tidy finish, what you would expect from a man with as much experience leading the attack as he has, moving outside the line of the ball and bending it across the keeper with cucumber-like coolness.

The assist on that goal came from Craig Stanley, partnering the rather anonymous Chris Lines in the centre of midfield. Despite not being the tallest of central midfielders Stanley has a bulky frame, broad shoulders and a fair old set of ears to boot. He made this count as he proved to be the battler, getting stuck in with his defensive duties yet also stroking the ball around, building up the play and moving forward towards the Mangotsfield third himself, box-to-box seems a good description of the 5' 8" midfielder on this display.

As the game moved into the second half Rovers took the liberty of making nine changes to their side, goalkeeper Lance Cronin and centre back Charlie Clough the only men to keep their places. Though the attacking instincts of the side were unchanged there was a little less width, Wayne Brown, a central midfielder by trade, playing on the right hand side, a position from which he proved highly dangerous, setting up Ben Swallow's second.

From the second half kick off it looked as though Swallow would be playing on the left but after a couple of weaving runs Paul Buckle appeared to give him more of a free role, allowing him to roam across the front line, popping up on the left, right and centres of midfield and attack, a capacity that he looked to have the utmost pleasure in.

He continued to take on defenders with jinking runs, spread the play and keep his team ticking over, very different to the displays that Gasheads became accustomed too under Paul Trollope, the limiters seemingly being put on the winger under the former gaffer, and he fully deserved the two goals he put way, the first being a tasty left foot curler. Players such as Carayol and Anyinsah may have been brought in above the little Welshman but if he continues in the same vein over the course of pre-season then he will no doubt be a regular starter in the first XI.

Kudos too has to go to the trialists who provided Paul Buckle with some food for thought; Cian Hughton, son of Birmingham manager Chris, and Reggie Lambe who applied themselves to the task at hand and came out with a great deal of admiration heading their way, as did debutant Michael Smith, playing his first game since joining from Ballymena United.

So a great start to the Buckle era, though it will likely remain a forgotten footnote if all things go to plan, but it still made interesting viewing for the crowd of over 1,000, many of whom would have spent the ninety minutes playing who's who with the new faces.

Nadal Rises To The Occasion As Murray Falls

Britain's long wait for so much as a mens singles runner-up at Wimbledon will have to wait at least another year as Rafael Nadal came from a set down to blow Andy Murray away in four on centre court at The Championships.

Pre-match Nadal had said that if one player other than himself was to win a grand slam then he would want it to be Murray, just not this one, and no one could argue with him today, not least the Scot himself.

And yet it started so well.

Murray came out and looked supremely confident, serving two aces and winning a serve and volley point in the very first game and he continued to be aggressive throughout the first set, going toe-to-toe with the world number one. Both players held their own serve until Murray went 6-5 up and holding three set points the watching crowd smelt an upset, and that was just what they got, Murray breaking the Spaniard at the second attempt and securing the set.

The second set continued to follow very much the same pattern and in the fourth game Nadal could only hit a looping shot, the ball bouncing no more than two feet away from the net giving the home favourite a chance at two break points, but alas, he hit what should have been a simple put away long and, from then on, he totally fell apart.

The very next game Murray's serve looked shaky and a double fault gave his opponent a break point that was duly converted by the Scot on Nadal's behalf, hitting a close range shot the wrong side of the baseline. Two games later there were more mistakes off the Murray racket as Nadal broke once again before seeing out the set 6-2 on his own serve.

With Murray on the wane it didn't take long for the defending champion to take the lead, stepping up a gear and breaking the fourth seed first up in the third set thanks to yet another error from the Briton. That was Nadal's sixth consecutive game and his third break in a row, a point from which he never looked back, landing another body blow with the break in the seventh game thanks to a wonderful whipped forehand before finishing things off to take a one set lead.

Murray's confidence was clearly sapped but what was most noticable was the seeming lack of anger that is so commonly accreditted to the 24 year old. It was quite disheartening for his fans both within the confines of Centre Court and the other millions across the world watching on TV. After once again being broken in the very first game of set four, he was limping to the exit door without so much as a whimper.

There was a revival of sorts in the fourth game as Murray twice held advantage over the tournament favourite, throwing away both his opportunities at the break but with that the fire seemed to return, Murray was shouting at himself and the box that contained his entourage of family and friends. By then, though, Nadal was in full flow and there was no stopping him as he won on his second match point, thrashing a forehand past Murray's right and setting himself up for a final against Novak Djokovic, a man who will rise to the head of the world rankings no matter what the results of Sunday's final may be.

After the match Nadal had kind words to say about the opponent he felled while also expressing his delight at reaching his fifth Wimbledon final.

"For me, it's a dream to be back in the final." Said Nadal, "I'm very happy. I feel sad for Murray, I think he deserves to be in this final too. I wish him all the best for the rest of the year. He's a great champion and the only way to beat him is to be really aggressive and play some fantastic shots."

"He was playing fantastic at the beginning, but he made a mistake at the beginning of the second set and that was one of the turning points of the match."

When pressed about his encounter with Djokovic in the final the Roland Garros winner noted how tough a match it would be.

"It's always tough to play against Novak [Djokovic], he's playing fantastic this year and has only been beaten once. I've lost four times already against him but I will try my best, as always."

With Djokovic in the form of his life and Nadal looking comfortable right the way through the tournament Sunday's final should prove to be a classic that, hopefully, will put the shortcomings of British tennis to the back of everyones mind, for now at least.

Tsonga Upsets The Odds To Overcome Federer

For the first time in his grand slam career Roger Federer has fallen from the lofty position of two sets up as Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fought back to set himself up for a semi-final showdown with Novak Djokovic, winning 3-6 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4 6-4.

As the match started it seemed as though Federer had already kicked himself into life, claiming the first game before breaking Tsonga's serve at the first attempt as his opponent found the net, handing the game over to Federer with what would be his only break point of the match. The contest continued on in the way that it would remain for a good time, the players exchanging wins on their own service games, the Swiss eventually claiming the first set 6-3, showing his sublime technique and stylish groundstrokes all along, while covering a significant amount of the court at the same time.

Both Tsonga and Federer refused to budge an inch in the second set, every game going with serve and neither player giving away any chances at break points, the pair were serving impeccably. After twelve games the deadlock was unbroken and thus the game moved into a tie break. The Frenchman served first and immediately gave the mini-break away, volleying long on Federer's service return, and a string of errors handed his more illustrious opponent a 5-0 lead before he eventually fell 7-3.

From there Federer should have pushed on and, initially at least, it looked as if that would happen as the 16 time grand slam champion held his serve in the opening game, taking it to love, but the third game was where the tables began to turn. A point up with an advantage Tsonga proceeded to hit a sweet forehand pass down the line which, under review at the behest of Federer, was shown to have just caught the outside of the line. Yet more service games were shared before Tsonga served out the set with Federer unable to return a sharp serve.

The fourth set took a similar path, Federer holding with a love game before being broken the next time he was up to serve, Tsonga having to wait until his third bite at the cherry to secure the break. With Federer the man who was now being pushed from pillar to post the match was starting to slip from his grasp and, despite the occasional flash of brilliance, he was beginning to be made to look rather ordinary, two consecutive aces seeing Tsonga once again take the set on his own serve.

In the final set the break of Federer's serve came swiftly, the Swiss finding the net to hand the opening game to Tsonga, and, in all honesty, it never once looked as though the third seed would earn that break back. It took only one attempt for the Frenchman to take the match, in the tenth and final game of the fifth set four errors from Federer gave the match to Tsonga, handing him his first ever place in the final four at SW19. It was a sad end to Federer's bid for a record equalling seventh Wimbledon title as the power in the armory the 19th ranked player coupled with an unusual number of inaccuracies off of his own racket secured his defeat.

Tsonga will now go on to face Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, the Serbian dispatching 18 year old Bernard Tomic in four sets. The record between Tsonga and Djokovic currently stands at five wins out of seven for the French star, including their last meeting, a five set victory in the 2010 Australian Open, a venue that also saw the two play in Tsonga's only grand slam final, Djokovic coming out on top in 2008. The upcoming match will also be their first away from the hard courts.

If Tsonga can continue from where he left off you would be foolish to put a wad of money up against him. Djookovic may have been in spectacular form this year but Tsonga is on a great run of his own having also reached the final of the Queen's Club tournament just a couple of weeks ago while he will also, no doubt, have the centre court crowd on his side.

Robson Ruffles Wimbledon Feathers

In recent years the phrase 'plucky Brit' has been one of the cliches synonymous with Wimbleon and it may seem slightly insulting to seventeen year old Laura Robson after she threw off her world ranking of 254 to give Maria Sharapova one hell of a ride.

The match finished in straight sets, 7-6 6-3, in the favour of the Russian but the real show was the home player carving out a memory that will inspire her as she continues her career.

For a player who has spent a fair part of the year out with injury and split from her coach Patrick Mouratoglou just prior to the tournament you could forgive the youngster for being slightly out of touch, even after beating Angelique Kerber in the first round, not to mention the fact that she was facing up to the world number 6, but her first set performance was outstanding and pushed her more illustrious opponent to the brink.

After one marathon game first up Robson took Sharapova's opening service game on her third break point, though two consecutive double faults did hand the game over on a platter. She then extended her lead to 3-0 and then 4-1 but Sharapova began to grow into the match, pulling back to 4-2 despite failing to land a legal first serve in one entire game. Two further games later, one of which was a break back, it was 4-4 but London based Robson held her nerve to take the set to a tie break and, despite leading 4-2 at one point, it was Sharapova who won five points out of five to take it 7-4.

As the second set started and Sharapova went 2-0 up Robson's form could have easily dropped off but she kept plugging away and even though she was broken three times by the ever more imposing Sharapova, who at one point broke and held consecutive games to love, there were two breaks going her own way and at the end of the match, after a shaking of hands, there was none of the potential embarrassment that may have been nagging at the back of the mind as Robson tried to get to sleep the night before.

This was only the second appearance of the year for the Brit on the WTA tour, her third match in a grand slam and a first occasion on a show court and the pressure of facing a former Wimbledon champion, ranked a full 248 places higher in the world standings, was positively soaked up and regurgitated into strong stroke play on both sides while her sliced, left-handed serving had Sharapova's backhand in a great deal of trouble early on, something that the 24 year old alluded to when she spoke after the match.

"Laura started off so well, going for her shots and serving well. I couldn't get too many looks on the first serve but I hung on in there and started to play better. It's understandable the crowd is on her side, she's young and moving up the rankings so they should be behind her."

But Robson is still just seventeen and playing on the ITF challenger circuit, as she continues to develop as a player and move into WTA events her tactical mind and match fitness will continue to grow and, even with the in form Heather Watson currently ahead of her in the rankings, she has proved that she may still be the most exciting female Britain out on court for the foreseeable future.

As for Sharapova, the bookies favourite for this years championship, it was a stern test of her metal. Robson's quick start clearly got into her head as she began to slow down the time taken between points, trying to get back into the mental battle that was being played out. After picking out her opponents serve in the second set there shouldn't have been a great deal of trouble for the fifth seed but for her poor serving which lacked the verve required to test the worlds top players that she will no doubt go on to meet as the tournament progresses.

In the fourth round Sharapova will face off against Klara Zakopalova, the world number 35, who knocked out the 31st seed Lucie Safarova in an all Czech encounter. The pair have only met once before, way back in 2003, when it was Zakopalova who came out on top at the Australian open, though that match was far from where they are now, both players ranked well outside the top 100 at that point.

The only other British woman left in the tournament also fell at the second round, Ukrainian born Elena Baltacha losing out to China's Shuai Peng 4-6 6-2 7-5.