Storm thunder home on Cronk double

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Cooper Cronk ... stars for Melbourne Storm in their clash with North Queensland Cowboys. Source: BRETT CROCKFORD / AAP

An attacking masterclass by Melbourne halfback Cooper Cronk has led to a 32-10 win over North Queensland on Saturday.

2 Tries 6
Kane Linnett 11'	Ryan Hinchcliffe 3'
Ashley Graham 71'	Cooper Cronk 28'
	Will Chambers 38'
	Cooper Cronk 49'
	Will Chambers 75'
	Ryan Hoffman 79'
1 Conversions 4
Johnathan Thurston 12'	Cameron Smith 5'
	Cameron Smith 29'
	Cameron Smith 76'
	Gareth Widdop 80'

Cronk played a part in five of Melbourne's six tries, scoring two himself, as well as pulling out a dramatic try-saving tackle as the Cowboys threw everything at a second-half comeback.

The Queensland and Australian No.7 tormented the home team in every department, making sure the Cowboys' first game at the newly named 1300SMILES Stadium was one to forget.

Cronk didn't take long to bring out the magic, passing inside for lock Ryan Hinchcliffe, who showed a clean pair of heals to burn Cowboys fullback Matt Bowen and score in the corner in the fourth minute.

That sparked the Cowboys into life, with five-eighth Johnathan Thurston pulling out two spectacular wide cut-out passes for winger Antonio Winterstein, with the New Zealand international switching inside for Kane Linnett to equalise on 11 minutes.

But after a sustained period of pressure by the Cowboys, Cronk restored the Storm's advantage by scoring his own try in the 29th minute and sending the last pass to Will Chambers two minutes before halftime to give the Storm a 16-6 lead.

To show he not only can produce in attack, Cronk held up Linnett in the left corner with a crucial try-saving tackle just minutes after the break.

Linnett had received an inside pass from Winterstein in the left corner, and Cronk managed to get a hand under the Cowboys player and ensured he couldn't cleanly get the ball down.

Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy said Cronk was outstanding.

"That big play just after halftime where he held Kane Linnett up, that was a real big play in the game," Bellamy said.

After enduring a heavy road schedule over the past month, including the World Club Challenge in England, and two consecutive matches in hot conditions, Bellamy said the performances were exceeding his expectations.

"Our defence was tremendous and to come up here and put that score on the Cowboys, they're in really good form and they've obviously got a really good side there. I'm really proud of the boys to come up here and put that sort of effort in even though some of the execution wasn't where we want it to be," he said.

The Melbourne coach said it appeared O'Neill had lost a wisdom tooth and was hoping the initial diagnosis of a broken jaw was not as serious as first thought.

Cowboys coach Neil Henry said his team had been given a "lesson in footy'' by the reigning premiers.

"It was a lesson in patience and a bit of execution at that end of the field," Henry said.

"Also in scrambling defence and being desperate on your own line and they (Melbourne) probably saved four or five tries."

Henry said they would have a more clear indication of the extent of an ankle injury to Ray Thompson on Sunday, with the halfback on crutches after the game.

Just for good measure, Cronk barged over the Cowboys line on 49 minutes for his second try of the night and pushed the lead out to 14.

The Cowboys eventually hit back with winger Ashley Graham crossing in the corner in the 71st minute to build some hope for the home side after a 10-minute period of sustained pressure.

But Storm fullback Billy Slater ensured the Storm win when he jumped highest and knocked back a Cronk bomb for Chambers to bag his second try of the night on 75 minutes.

Ryan Hoffman put the final nail in the coffin with two minutes to go, Gareth Widdop putting the back-rower into a gap just metres out from the Cowboys line.

Not everything went the Storm's way, however, with Siosaia Vave put on report for a crusher tackle on Cowboys co-captain Matt Scott and centre Justin O'Neill taken off the field with 10 minutes remaining with a lost tooth and suspected broken jaw.

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Force end Brisbane hoodoo

Jubilation ... Western Force players celebrate Alfi Mafi's try on their way to victory. Source: DAVE HUNT / AAP

A gutsy Western Force produced their best win in 12 months with a huge Super Rugby upset over the Queensland Reds on Saturday night in Brisbane.

While all eyes were on Wallabies halfback Will Genia making his injury comeback, it was another No.9, former All Black Alby Mathewson, who starred in a 19-12 triumph at Suncorp Stadium.

0 Tries 1
	Alfi Mafi 32'
0 Conversions 1
	Sias Ebersohn 33'
4 Penalties 4
Quade Cooper 17'	Sias Ebersohn 3'
Quade Cooper 21'	Sias Ebersohn 23'
Quade Cooper 30'	Sias Ebersohn 57'
Quade Cooper 37'	Sias Ebersohn 70'

Mathewson set up the only try and almost handed another on a plate as the Force celebrated their first win in Brisbane in six attempts.

Australia Conference		W	L	D	PD	BP	Pts
1	Brumbies	3	0	0	64	2	18
2	Reds	3	2	0	-1	1	13
3	Western Force	1	3	0	-22	1	9
4	Melbourne Rebels	1	3	0	-25	1	9
5	Waratahs	1	3	0	-33	1	9
New Zealand Conference		W	L	D	PD	BP	Pts
1	Chiefs	3	1	0	65	5	17
2	Blues	2	1	0	26	3	15
3	Crusaders	1	2	0	2	3	11
4	Hurricanes	2	2	0	-15	1	9
5	Highlanders	0	3	0	-35	1	5
South Africa Conference		W	L	D	PD	BP	Pts
1	Bulls	3	1	0	3	1	13
2	Sharks	3	0	0	22	0	12
3	Cheetahs	2	2	0	-31	1	9
4	Stormers	1	2	0	-12	1	9
5	Southern Kings	1	2	0	-8	0	8

Not since the Perth franchise smashed the Reds 45-19 almost a year ago to the day, has the Force delivered a better 80-minute team performance.

They were $7.50 underdogs but, in the end, deserved to win by more as they were hungrier in defence and more accurate in attack than Queensland, who were shut out in the second half.

Queensland-raised forwards Hugh McMeniman, Angus Cotterell and Richard Brown all played key roles against a tiring Reds pack.

"We're bitterly disappointed with the performance,'' said Genia.

"Too many errors, too many times running into touch and too many poor passes ... it wasn't acceptable.''

Genia's halves partner Quade Cooper was guilty of many of the wayward passes and was fortunate not to have given up a chargedown try to Chris Alcock in the first half.

It was the blistering pace of Chris Feauai-Sautia who saved the day.

Despite that, the Force still took a surprise 13-12 halftime lead but would have been further ahead if not for the goal-kicking of Cooper, who slotted four penalties, and turnovers forced by flanker Liam Gill.

Queensland too often kicked away possession when they had overlaps in their own half and let the visitors make the play.

The visitors took a 13-9 lead in the 32nd minute when Mathewson broke from the fringes of the lineout, brushing off Saia Faingaa on the way, before putting winger Alfi Mafi over in the left corner.

Genia looked sharp for Queensland in his 40-minute comeback from a knee reconstruction and almost ran down Mafi to stop the try.

While the Reds were held try-less for only the third time at Suncorp Stadium, Mathewson almost set up a second try to Junior Rasolea but his long-range break and chip was snuffed by a tiny fumble before the reserve back dived over. 

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Re-live all the action from the Force's triumph at our Super Rugby Match Centre, with video highlights and all the stats.

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Queensland were forced into a late change when Anthony Faingaa succumbed to a back injury and Mike Harris was the surprise starter at outside centre.

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Records tumble as India belt Aussies

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Record breaker ... Dhawan hit the fastest hundred by a Test debutant. Source:Fox Sports

Australia's bowling attack was destroyed again on Saturday as Shikhar Dhawan blazed his way to 185 not out, the highest score by an Indian batsman on Test debut.

3rd Test - Punjab Cricket Association Stadium

14 March 2013 - Day 3, Session 3

India 1st Innings

M. Vijay	83	181	10	2	45.86
S. Dhawan	185	168	33	2	110.12
N. Lyon	15	3	69	0	4.60

India raced to 0-283 from 58 overs at stumps on day three in reply to Australia's first innings of 408.

The day was made even more painful for Australia's Steve Smith (92) and Mitchell Starc (99), who both fell narrowly short of scoring their maiden Test hundreds.

Dhawan reached his century off 85 balls, which is a record for a debutant in all Test matches.

The Delhi-born 27-year-old smashed 33 fours and two sixes from 168 deliveries while Murali Vijay is unbeaten on 83 from 181 balls.

Dhawan's century included an amazing 21 fours.

The left-hander looked in command from the outset, after coming into the side as a replacement for dumped veteran Virender Sehwag.

Earlier, Australia relied on a lower-order fightback to produce their highest score of the series of 408 after being 7-251.

No.5 batsman Smith and No.9 Starc shared a crucial 97-run stand for Australia's eighth wicket.

The homework affair which sent shockwaves through world cricket on Monday presented Smith with the chance to play his first Test since January 2011.

The energetic 23-year-old grabbed it with both hands with a brilliant knock on a turning pitch.

Starc, also 23, was on 56 when his New South Wales teammate Smith was stumped playing a defensive prod at 8-348.

Starc and Nathan Lyon (nine not out) added 51 for the ninth wicket.

A nervous Starc was caught behind on 99 off the bowling of paceman Ishant Sharma after hitting 14 fours off 144 balls.

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Follow all the day four action from LIVE Mohali with our Match Centre.

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Honours even in breathless Big Blue

Bewildered ... Alessandro Del Piero missed a second-half penalty against Melbourne Victory. Source: News Limited

Sydney FC salvaged a vital point to keep their A-League finals prospects alive in a 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory on Saturday at Allianz Stadium.

An 85th-minute equaliser from Sky Blues substitute Yairo Yau cancelled out a Mark Milligan strike in the third minute.

Yau headed into an open goal at the far post after Rhyan Grant had skilfully headed the ball on from the near post from an Alessandro Del Piero corner.

The goal from the Panama international brought the 22,233 crowd to its feet after the Sky Blues had missed a number of chances to level the scores in the second half.

Uncharacteristically, Del Piero was the chief offender when he pushed a penalty kick into the path of a diving Nathan Coe on the hour after a Victory defender handballed in the box.

In a high tempo free-flowing game, Marco Rojas was wasteful at the other end for the visitors but a draw was probably a fair A-League result.

The point moved Sydney to equal fifth with Newcastle but the Sky Blues can still fall out of the top six if Perth and Central Coast each win on Sunday.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Western Sydney	25	17	2	6	17	53
2	Central Coast	24	13	6	5	22	45
3	Victory	25	12	5	8	3	41
4	Adelaide	25	12	4	9	3	40
5	Sydney	25	9	4	12	-8	31
6	Newcastle	26	8	7	11	-12	31
7	Brisbane	24	8	5	11	1	29
8	Perth	24	8	4	12	-2	28
9	Heart	25	8	3	14	-6	27
10	Wellington	25	6	6	13	-18	24

Sydney goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic was benched for arriving to the ground late after getting stuck in the pre-game traffic and he hardly had time to take his seat before the Victory scored through Milligan in the third minute.

A lovely cross from Connor Pain found two Victory forwards free and, at the far post, Milligan duly threaded the ball past Ivan Necevski for the early lead.

Sydney had their chances to hit back but couldn't convert. In the 17th minute, Terry Antonis meekly headed to

Nathan Coe before a poor first touch from Joel Griffiths denied him a golden chance when Del Piero put him one-on-one with the Victory keeper.

Del Piero surprisingly then put two free kicks wide of the net.

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Re-live all the drama from the epic encounter at our A-League Match Centre, with video highlights and all the stats you need.

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Coe was yellow-carded when he collected the ball from outside the area in the 15th minute but Del Piero pushed the attempt wide.

The Italian World Cup winner then pushed another effort over the bar from a little further back in the 22nd minute.

But Yau's late equaliser ensured the Sky Blues are still well and truly in the finals hunt.

Given the opportunities his side had, Sydney FC coach Frank Farina was unhappy with the result.

"We are a little bit disappointed to be honest," he said.

"We gave away an early goal which put us behind the eightball but after that we were still well and truly in the game and for a large part we were dominant."

Victory coach Ange Postecoglou bemoaned his side's inability to put the game beyond doubt.

"We needed the second goal to get clear and that was probably the only thing lacking in our game," he said.

"We kept them sort of in the game."

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'Tahs fall short against Cheetahs

Heartbreaker ... Waratahs players react after the loss. Source: Tim Hunter / News Limited

Wallabies playmaker Berrick Barnes suffered a suspected broken wrist as the New South Wales Waratahs' Super Rugby woes continued on Friday night.

The Waratahs slumped to a 27-26 loss to their South African bogey side the Cheetahs and Barnes' latest setback only compounded their misery at Allianz Stadium.

2 Tries 3
Peter Betham 26'	Robert Ebersohn 1'
Adam Ashley-Cooper 40'	Raymond Rhule 17'
	Raymond Rhule 69'
2 Conversions 3
Brendan McKibbin 27'	Johan Goosen 3'
Brendan McKibbin 40'	Johan Goosen 19'
	Johan Goosen 70'
4 Penalties 2
Brendan McKibbin 4'	Johan Goosen 33'
Brendan McKibbin 14'	Johan Goosen 50'
Brendan McKibbin 62'
Brendan McKibbin 73'

Making his first appearance of the season after missing the opening month of the competition with a knee injury, Barnes appeared to get hurt while making a try-saving tackle on giant Cheetahs lock Lodewyk de Jager in the 17th minute.

With Barnes off contract at the end of the season and weighing up his future amid rumours he will take up a big-money deal in Japan, the 26-year-old might even have played his last game in Waratahs colours if the injury proves serious.

NSW's defeat was their third straight and the 'Tahs also take a dubious place in the Super Rugby history books as the first team to lose three times in a row to the Cheetahs.

Adding insult to injury, former Waratahs halfback Sarel Pretorius was the architect behind the South Africans' triumph, putting lively winger Raymond Rule over for the match-winning try 10 minutes from fulltime.

A 40th-minute try to centre Adam Ashley-Cooper had given NSW an unlikely 20-17 lead at the break and the Tahs continued to hold sway for most of the second half.

But after dominating possession and territory for the bulk of the match, the Cheetahs eventually broke through to back up their win last week on the road against the Highlanders.

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Re-live all the action from the Cheetahs thrilling win over the Waratahs in our Super Rugby Match Centre, featuring video highlights.

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Things looked ominous for the Waratahs from the moment Pretorius dummied and broke clear in the opening seconds of the match.

Centre Robert Ebersohn benefited from a lovely chip and regather from winger Willie Le Roux to score the opening try after just 54 seconds.

The Cheetahs were in again in the 17th minute when Rhule stepped his way over for the first of his two tries and five-eighth Johan Goosen again converted.

Two penalty goals from halfback Brendan McKibbin kept the Waratahs in touch at 14-6 before winger Peter Betham ran a nice line from a lineout win and took a short ball from McKibbin and beat two defenders to score under the posts.

McKibbin's conversion left NSW trailing by a point but, after Goosen added a penalty to nudge the Cheetahs four points ahead, the Waratahs snatched the halftime lead when Ashley-Cooper touched down on the stroke of halftime.

Goosen and McKibbin traded second-half penalty goals before Goosen's conversion of Rule's second five-pointer restored the Cheetahs' advantage.

Another McKibbin penalty in the 73rd minute reduced the deficit to one point but the Waratahs were unable to bridge it.

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Aussies waste good start in Mohali

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Solid start ... Ed Cowan and David Warner combined for a 139-run partnership. Source: William West / AAP

A golden duck for Michael Clarke and the potentially career-killing form of Phil Hughes have left Australia struggling at 7-273 in the third Test against India.

3rd Test - Punjab Cricket Association Stadium

14 March 2013 - Day 2, Session 3

Australia 1st Innings

S. Smith	58	137	7	1	42.34
M. Starc	20	21	3	0	95.24
I. Sharma	21	7	41	2	1.95

Steve Smith, recalled to the side following this week's shock suspensions of four players over the homeworkgate affair, was unbeaten on 58 at stumps on Friday's second day in Mohali.

Tailender Mitchell Starc will resume on Saturday on 20. No.5 Smith hit seven fours and one six from 137 balls and looked in good touch in a fine effort as wickets fell around him.

Ed Cowan (86) and David Warner (71) shared an opening stand of 139 before Australia lost 7-112 on a docile, brown-looking pitch which offered some slow turn to India's spinners.

India claimed three wickets in the middle session after Australia were 0-109 at lunch.

The first-ball duck of Clarke in his new role at No.3 left Australia's dressing room in shock after the right-hander had batted beautifully to score 268 runs in the first two Tests of the series.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Warner and Clarke (0) in successive deliveries.

Clarke's first-ball exit on Friday, stumped by rival skipper MS Dhoni, was only his second Test duck since 2009.

Hughes continued his woeful series (27 runs at 5.4) when the left-hander was caught behind for two to spinner Pragyan Ojha at 3-151.

Cowan gave three chances - two at slip and one at silly mid-off - before departing on 86 when he was caught at slip by Virat Kohli from the bowling of spinner Ravi Ashwin at 4-198.

The Tasmania opener fell 14 runs shy of his second Test hundred and showed his trademark patience in a five-hour knock that included eight boundaries.

Smith and Brad Haddin added 46 for the fifth wicket before seamer Ishant Sharma (2-41) made the old ball talk in the 94th over, removing Haddin (21) and Moises Henriques (0) bowled within three deliveries.

Peter Siddle also made a duck, becoming the third victim for Jadeja (3-56).

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Follow all the day three action online with our Match Centre, and watch it LIVE, EXCLUSIVE and in HIGH DEFINITION from 2.20pm (EDT) on Fox Sports 2.

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Reds denied late winner in draw

Draw ... Dario Vidosic and Zenon Caravella fight for the ball. Source: Sarah Reed / News Limited

Adelaide United secured a home A-League final with a 1-1 draw on Friday night against Newcastle Jets.

Newcastle's Michael Bridges and Adelaide import Marcelo Carrusca both scored in the Hindmarsh Stadium stalemate.

The draw ensured Adelaide can't finish lower than fourth and will host a final, most likely an elimination playoff.

But their goal-scorer Carrusca limped off with an apparent groin injury after scoring the equaliser in a free-flowing fixture.

The Reds (42 points) took third spot from Melbourne Victory (40 points), who travel to play Sydney FC on Saturday night. Newcastle (31 points) rose to fifth ahead of the sixth-placed Sky Blues (30 points).

The Jets scored in bizarre fashion in the 44nd minute with Bridges netting a goal he knew little about.

The scoring opportunity started when Adelaide defender Cameron Watson had a throw-in but inexplicably launched into his own penalty box.

But the throw-in was errant and lobbed between Reds defender Nigel Boogard and goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic, who sensed danger and instinctively grabbed the ball, resulting in a free kick.

With a wall of Adelaide players just a metre in front of Galekovic, Newcastle's Craig Goodwin blasted a free kick which struck Bridges' left foot and ricocheted into the net.

While fortunate, the goal was justice for the Jets who were denied scoring in the eighth minute due to an incorrect linesman's call.

Jets striker Adam Taggart found the net with a superbly judged strike which sailed over Galekovic's head, only for the Newcastle attacker to be penalised for offside - a ruling replays showed was wrong.

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Re-live the controversial finish between the Reds and Jets in our A-League Match Centre, featuring video highlights.

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Newcastle took a 1-0 lead into halftime but conceded their advantage four minutes into the second half when Carrusca scored a gem.

The Argentine, who has already logged two goal-of-the-year contenders, turned Goodwin on a wing with a deft touch and then drifted toward goal in the 49th minute.

When within 20 metres, Carrusca launched a searing left-footer which beat Jets 'keeper Mark Birighitti, diving to his right.

Adelaide believed they pinched a winner in the 91st minute when Dario Vidosic netted from close range, only for a linesman to deny the goal.

The linesman ruled Jeronimo Nuemann was offside when the ball was crossed to Vidosic, but replays again showed an incorrect ruling.

"It was a clear goal,'' Vidosic told Fox Sports.

"Everyone makes mistakes but unfortunately that one cost us three points.''

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Brilliant Lions claim NAB Cup title

Victorious ... Lions captain Jonathan Brown celebrates a goal. Source: Andrew Tauber / News Limited

Brisbane Lions claim their first title since 2003 with a comprehensive 41-point win over Carlton in the NAB Cup grand final.

The Lions led early before Carlton took over in the middle stages of the match but the only undefeated team in the pre-season were determined to stay that way, prevailing 0.16.13 (109) to 2.7.8 (68).

1.2.0 (21)	Q1	0.5.3 (33)
2.6.6 (60)	Q2	0.7.5 (47)
2.7.7 (67)	Q3	0.12.10 (82)
2.7.9 (69)	Q4	0.16.13 (109)

Eddie Betts 1	Jonathan Brown 5
Levi Casboult 1	Joshua Green 3
Nicholas Duigan 1	Dayne Zorko 2
Bryce Gibbs 1	Rohan Bewick 1
Matthew Kreuzer 1	Patrick Karnezis 1
Mitch Robinson 1	Ashley McGrath 1
Sam Rowe 1	James Polkinghorne 1
Zach Tuohy 1	Jack Redden 1
Simon White 1	Daniel Rich 1

Midfielder Daniel Rich claimed the Michael Tuck Medal for best on ground with 23 touches and a goal.

It was a fitting reward for the Lions, who had been forced to travel for much of the NAB Cup and were controversially robbed of a home final because the Gabba was unavailable.

The Michael Voss-coached team stormed out to an early lead thanks to a five-goal first quarter but were quickly pegged back by Carlton.

The Blues took the momentum in the second quarter, kicking five majors - including a super goal - to take a 13-point margin into the main break.

The tide swung again in the third term as the Lions re-emerged after the break with another five goal burst.

Led by inspirational co-captain Jonathan Brown (five goals), the Lions held on in the final term to claim the pre-season premiership and enter the season full of confidence.

More to come ...

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How to survive a relegation dogfight

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Look out ... QPR are in for one hell of a ride over the next two months. Source: Jonathan Brady / AAP

Can Harry do it? Can my old boss really conjure the impossible and lift Queens Park Rangers from the bottom of the drop-zone with nine games to play?

That's the hysteria at the moment in England, after a vital 3-1 win over Sunderland. 

Some great goals – including Jermaine Jenas and Andros Townsend's goal of the week in the video above – all came from players he has brought to the club. Bobby Zamora is talking with optimism. Harry is setting targets. In fact, QPR would be ninth if the season had started on the day Redknapp took over from the sacked Mark Hughes. 

It's all thrilling for us from the sidelines – but let me tell you first hand, this is the worst time of year for a player. I've been there, staring down the final two months of the season, just like these teams are right now. 

It's exciting. It's horrible. It's an extraordinary time. 

I remember in 1996-1997, playing with Southampton under Graeme Souness. I'd just returned from playing  a Socceroos game in the Terry Venables era. I got back to England and we were last on the table, just like QPR. We were travelling to Nottingham Forest, who were just above us – also a bit like Redknapp's side, who visit Aston Villa this weekend. 

We were sitting around having our pre-match lunch and we were watching TV. I remember looking up and seeing host Mark Lawrenson say something like: "all we can say at the moment is it is Southampton and two others going down". 

I remember the look on all our faces.

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The thing about relegation battles is they are incredibly tense. There are the odd blues at training or on the pitch.

There's anger. And there's denial. The first reaction is think 'we'll be right, we have next week'. Then, all of a sudden, you run out of games … 

But there was no denying what the pundits were saying that day. That galvanised us. Souness used it in his pre-match talk: "you need to show your character, you need to show you're good enough". 

We went out and smashed them 3-0, went on a run and saved ourselves. Boy, it was a bumpy ride – we won quite a few games, drew a few, there were times we thought we were out, then we were back. But we did have an extraordinary revival. 

Matches like this weekend at Villa Park are just massive. Aston Villa's win last weekend at Reading, for example, was huge for them. And this weekend is your quintessential six-pointer: Villa can create brief daylight, or QPR can mount the pressure. It's extraordinary how fans react, too. There's both tension and fear in the stands. 

I'll never forget the words Souness uttered after we blew a 2-0 lead at home against Coventry in the same scenario that season. A six pointer. We blew it. They got one back, then in the last minute Francis Benali hit a horror back-pass, gifting an equaliser.

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I will always remember this – Souness was filthy. He came into the dressing room and declared: "you've just cost us the premiership". It was harsh at the time and poor old Franny was distraught. 

But we went on to play Sunderland at Roker Park with three games to, won 1-0, won the penultimate game of the season and were just about safe on the final day. 

I played against the Big Boz that final day at Villa Park. We were unlikely to go down, but we were still at risk, so I said to Bosnich "if I hit one, let it go in".

He said: "no worries, I'll make sure I make it look good."

I enjoyed a pretty good spell in that two months and that day, hit a pearler - top corner. And what did the Bozza do? Plucked it out with the save of the week!  

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	28	23	2	3	37	71
2	Man City	28	17	8	3	27	59
3	Tottenham	29	16	6	7	15	54
4	Chelsea	28	15	7	6	26	52
5	Arsenal	28	13	8	7	21	47
6	Liverpool	29	12	9	8	20	45
7	Everton	28	11	12	5	9	45
8	West Brom	29	13	4	12	2	43
9	Swansea	29	10	10	9	4	40
10	Fulham	28	8	9	11	-5	33
11	Stoke	29	7	12	10	-8	33
12	West Ham	28	9	6	13	-9	33
13	Newcastle	29	9	6	14	-10	33
14	Norwich	29	7	12	10	-18	33
15	Sunderland	29	7	9	13	-9	30
16	Southampton	29	6	10	13	-12	28
17	Aston Villa	29	6	9	14	-26	27
18	Wigan	28	6	6	16	-22	24
19	Reading	29	5	8	16	-21	23
20	QPR	29	4	11	14	-21	23

We lost 1-0, but stayed up. 

How does it feel at the end of it? 

Put it this way, I won a premiership with Blackburn Rovers two years before – and it was the same type of emotion. Nearly as good. It's a tremendous feeling when you escape. It truly marks you, and when you get through it, it gives you immense belief. 

It lives with you: I can still picture winning at Roker Park; I can see Francis's back-pass; my goals against Blackburn and West Ham, my former clubs, are still all vivid like it was yesterday. 

What will happen this year? 

My old boss Harry has been involved in loads of battles before and those who have experience know it's an unforgettable experience. 

He knows he took over in a hopeless situation – but the signs are there. His signings have been clever and he's starting to work his magic.

Despite back-to-back wins, they're still last, but they have momentum. Victory over Aston Villa, who are 17th, will cut the gap to Paul Lambert's side to a point.

Personally, I'm not sure how clever it was for Reading to sack Brian McDermott, but it just shows how nervous people get and how little faith they have.  These situations make people react in different ways. 

This year, with the title all but run and won, the battle to avoid the drop will be absorbing. There are a heap of teams who still have some work to do reach the magical survival number. In fact, any team in the bottom half can slip back into the race if they're not careful. 

It's an amazing time. Bring it on. 

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Sharks boss Irvine steps down

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Irvine ... is set to step down as Cronulla chairman. Source: Anthony Reginato / News Limited

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Cronulla chairman Damian Irvine has stood down in the wake of the ASADA drugs scandal at the club.

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Irvine came under fire on the weekend for claiming players were injected with horse drugs.

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He refused to elaborate or back down from the claims but admitted he could have handled the situation better.

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"One regret I do have is that my comments that were reported on Sunday probably could be inferred that they had someway deliberately acted against the players' best interest and that would never be the case for those gents," said Irvine. "I apologise for that."

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"I don't think it did (help). And I'm honest it's been a period of time of extreme pressure and strain for a lot of people.

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"That conversation I had I won't back away from it. But it wasn't an interview in a calm situation. It was a middle of the night conversation after quite a bit of badgering. It wasn't sensible to make those comments and I'll take responsibility for those."

Irvine said he made the decision to stand down and was not pushed out.

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That claim was backed up by the presence at the press conference of former Sharks winger Glenn Coleman, who has been appointed to take over from Irvine.

"I feel my presence at the club may prove be to an obstacle in allowing those affected by the decisions made by the board last week to move forward," Irvine said.

"As a result I'm standing down as chairman of the board of directors today.

"I made this decision very clearly on my own bat. It was tough because you don't like to see people you care for and done a lot of good things for this club be left in it on their own."

He said he understood discontent within the club over the drugs drama but rejected claims that he and his board had put themselves before the interests of the club and its fans since the ASADA investigation started.

"I understand there is anger among our supporters and the coaching staff," Irvine said.

"There's been some dark days in this club.

"I don't mean to down play at all what is happening at the moment.

"There's been ill-informed speculation recently reporting the motivation and reasoning of the board's strong action last Friday. 

"I want to make something perfectly clear.

"Self interest was the furthest thing from the minds of the directors when they took the tough decisions they took last week.

"I believe we made the right decision for the right reasons."

Interim CEO Bruno Cullen, former boss of the Brisbane Broncos, arrives at the club today to take over operations.

Irvine's departure follows the standing down on Friday of coach Shane Flanagan.

The Cronulla board also sacked football general manager Darren Mooney, head trainer Mark Noakes, physiotherapist Konrad Schulz and long-serving medico, team doctor Dave Givney, who is also the NSW State of Origin team's medical officer.

Irvine was overseas at the time of Friday's announcement. 

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