Joining Sheffield's Craziest Club

What is the wackiest club you can join in Sheffield? I may have found it. Unicycle hockey is not you're average run-of-the-mill sport and I'd never heard of it until the captain of Sheffield's team approached me and asked me if I wanted to join.

On invitation, I arrived at the Broomspring Lane, all-weather community sports pitch, with an open mind and an eagerness to learn a new skill. Sheffield's unicycle hockey team are a friendly bunch and very welcoming, they gave me a trial unicycle straight away to practice with, complete with fat tyres and banana-shaped saddle.

Andy Whelan, 26, vice captain, took me to one side and gave me my first lesson of getting on and staying on. The technique, he said, is to have the unicycle slanted towards you and then to "jump on, straighten yourself, then use the pedals, and the fence to gain control. The next stage is to get the balls to actually ride it forwards."

Assisted by the sturdiness of a rusty iron fence and the guidance of a master, I was cycling for one rotation of the wheel and then falling off. Despite my anticipation of great lacerations up the shin and getting my wrists scuffed like shoes, falling off isn't that bad. Coming off a unicycle is a walk in the park if you're lucky enough to fall forwards. However, if you fall off backwards then you're guaranteed to land on your ever-so tolerant behind.

My first experiences of unicycle hockey consisted of building confidence and shattering fear, they say your greatest enemy in this strange sport is being afraid. Whilst I was continuously falling off and dragging myself and the one-wheeled anomaly back to the fence to start over, the rest of Sheffield's 'only' unicycle hockey team were playing a friendly game against each other.

Rules of the game
• The goals must be six foot wide and four foot high.
• The bottom of the hockey stick must not be lifted above hip height.
• One hand must always be placed at the top end of the stick.
• The stick must not be released or thrown intentionally.
• Putting your stick under or through someone else's wheel is a foul.
• A goal can only be scored from within your opponents half
• You can hit the ball with your hand but you cannot score a goal like that.
• After a goal the non-scoring team restarts by playing the ball over the half way line.

"They're called rules but they're merely guidelines" said Ben Staples, 17, team member, "just keep your eyes on the ball and chase it till it's stuck to your stick!"


A week goes by and I was really excited to get back on the unicycle at practice. It's fair to say that the rest of the team seem to be pleased that I came back for another shot. However there didn't seem to be as many people thrashing a tennis ball up and down the pitch with their hockey stick this week, which made me think that they struggle with keeping the team numbers up. I later found out that one of the players broke their ankle, practising this brutal sport.

Another go and I reached halfway across the gritty all-weather pitch, this was the farthest I had ever reached and it was dually noticed by the vice captain, Andy. "I might actually be able to play for them sooner rather than later?" I thought.

Another go and I fell off after two metres, back to the drawing board. "Keep your body straight, your leaning too much into it which is making your legs have to peddle faster" Andy would say, repeatedly!

I tried again and reached halfway across the pitch for the second time in my unicycle career. For the rest of the practice session I managed to go forwards, dodging people as my arms flew chaotically in the air to keep balance. Soon I'll be ready for turning, which as Andy said will "just happen automatically, don’t think about that for now".

At the end of the session they all gathered round to talk about future plans for the team. One person mentioned that everyone puts "a pound in every week to rent out a hall or buy equipment to encourage new people to come along", which seemed to go down well with the rest. Another team member suggested about trying to apply for financial support off the council.

I looked around and saw a bunch of unicycle hockey enthusiasts, who are passionate about what they do. There are only 13 nationally recognised teams in England and this was one of them. Before saying goodbye for another week, I was kindly given a unicycle to take home and practice on.

Five weeks went by, and a lot of practice and now I'm in the team. At first, it all seemed like a bit of a joke. "Why not just play hockey like everyone else does, with your feet on the ground?" I would think. Now that I'm acquainted with this bonkers sport and the people in it, it's not so crazy anymore. In such a short amount of time I've become a member of one of Sheffield's craziest clubs and I intend to stay in it.

By LIAM DAY

Sheffield hosts annual half marathon

Sheffield City centre fell to a standstill on 26th April as thousands competed in the annual Half Marathon, raising an estimated £75,000 for charity.

The event started at 9.30am and caused a number of road closures and diversions across the city, so that the 5,500 participants could complete the 13 mile circuit.

The route for the race started and finished at Don Valley Stadium, stretching across Sheffield within a 3 hour time limit and was won by Jason Ward of Altrincham in 1 hour and 8 minutes.

There was also a 3 kilometre Fun Run taking place alongside the marathon which saw members of the public dress up in costumes and run for charity.

The event is part of the ‘Take to the streets’ campaign which aims to get 2 million people a year active and engaged in sport for the run up to the 2012 Olympics.

Tori Wheatman, 21 is a Health student at Sheffield Hallam University, she completed the half marathon in 1 hour 39 minutes, she said: “It was a fantastic event for a good cause, it was very tiring but there was a good crowd to spur us all on”.

There are a total of 10 charities that will benefit from the event, which includes RSPCA and the Macmillan Cancer fund. The first Half Marathon in Sheffield took place in 1982 and Don Valley Stadium has been the venue since 1991.

By Sean O'Malley

Those Summer Nights

Sheffield is the place to be this summer, as plans were announced yesterday to repeat last year’s successful project of boosting nightlife on a Wednesday.

Wednesday Night Live, a scheme launched in 2008, is back again in hope to draw people into the city centre for some special summer late night shopping, drinking and dining.

Creative Sheffield are organising the programme with the intention of drawing people back into the city centre after they’ve finished work.

The scheme will also help to support businesses through the summer by providing early-evening economy.

This year, select bars, restaurants and shops around the city will all be providing evening services on Wednesdays between 5pm and 8pm, including special offers and events.

Brendan Moffett, Director of Strategic Marketing at Creative-Sheffield, said: “Creative-Sheffield aims to bring the city centre to life throughout the summer months for the benefit of our businesses and for the community to enjoy.”

She added: “The city centre has recently undergone fantastic transformation. Sheffield people should get out there and enjoy everything that the city has to offer. Let’s join forces and create a Summer to remember!”

Over 40 businesses were involved in last year’s programme, many of them reported the project a success and massive boost to their income.

Last year’s project saw a 73% increase of people recorded walking in the city centre on a Wednesday night during the summer, Creative Sheffield hope that 2009 shall see a further rise in this figure.

Jim Farnan, 20, retail assistant at T.K. Maxx, said: “We’re one of the stores in the city centre which will be staying open on a Wednesday night and I’m positive that we’ll gain a lot of business out of it.”

Other stores that are set to open till 7pm are John Lewis, Marks and Spencers, River Island and many more.

By Liam Day

Sheffield's Largest Market Is A Hit

Thousands of shoppers came to city centre last weekend to browse upon Sheffield's largest street market.

The World Snooker Festival Market took place from 30th April to 4th May selling various products and foods from all over the world.

The five day market was organised by Sheffield Markets in partnership with Marketplace Europe Ltd to coincide with the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible.

Ian Hill, Director of Marketplace Europe Ltd said: “We really like bringing such a big market into Sheffield, and this year the response from the shoppers was fantastic."

Whilst some people were watching live snooker coverage on a giant plasma screen outside the crucible, others were buying didgeridoos and ostrich burgers from the many stalls.

There was over 100 traders at the market selling world products, plants and continental foods such as cheese, sausages and paella.

James Davies, 46, Sheffield resident, said: "We came down here in the morning and stayed till it got dark. It's been brilliant to just wander around smelling and tasting all the different foods whilst keeping in touch with the snooker scores."

Organisers hope to return the market again next year to celebrate the World Snooker Championships at the crucible.

By Liam Day

Sheffield marks 20th anniversary of Hillsborough Disaster

Sheffield paid tribute to the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster by allowing public access to the leppings lane end of the stadium, in respect of the 96 people who lost their life in the tragedy.

The stand was filled with hundreds of messages, flowers, scarves and football shirts which were laid out before a two minute silence was observed at 3.06pm, the same time that the semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest was stopped on the 15th April 1989.

A brief service was also carried out at the stadium which was attended by hundreds of locals in front of the Leppings lane stand. A memorial plaque was implemented as a permanent reminder of the disaster that took place at the stadium, the plaque reads: ‘In memory of the 96 men, women and children who tragically died and the countless people whose lives were changed forever’.

Brian Watson, 56 is a local resident of Sheffield and was present with his family at the emotional Hillsborough service, he said: “It was important for me to come along to the memorial today as it puts life into perspective, this tragedy unites football supporters across the country and I’m delighted that people in Sheffield have the chance to pay their respects.”

The Hillsborough service for family members who lost loved ones in the disaster took place at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium today and every football club across the country will mark a minute’s silence in this Saturday’s football fixtures.

BY Sean O'Malley

Fully-Comp Sheffield Shopping Website

A new interactive shopping website was launched yesterday that is set to help residents of Sheffield with their buying needs.

The website, www.shop-sheffield.com, is designed to aid residents and visitors to Sheffield in finding what they are looking for in the city.

Using the interactive map and satellite imaging, users can find just about any kind of shop, pharmacy, even brand they want within the city centre.

The site can also be used to search for any retail job vacancies in the city centre, plus details and locations of any sales discounts, offers and events.

Behind the website are Sheffield City Council, Creativesheffield and Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Brendan Moffett, Director of Strategic Marketing at Creativesheffield, said: “Given the current economic climate and the consequential challenges that city centre retailers are facing, our aim is to create a coordinated approach that will help drive our city’s economy forward."

Hopes are that smaller businesses and shops will also benefit from the marketing and publicity that the site provides.

Caro Whiteside, co-owner of Prego in the West One Plaza, said: “This is a great concept, and we hope it will encourage more people to shop in Sheffield rather than going to other cities."

She added: "The site is a good marketing tool for independent retailers, and will help shoppers uncover some of the city’s hidden gems.”

Shopping and dining information regarding other areas of Sheffield can also be found on the site.

By Liam Day

Sir Adsetts Returns to Sheffield

Sheffield business pioneer returned to Sheffield Hallam University, for a tour of its newly-extended learning centre yesterday.

Sir Norman Adsetts, 78, former president of Sheffield's Chamber of Commerce, opened up the original building in 1996 and was amazed with the new development.

He was also chairman of Sheffield Hallam's board of governors until 1999 and during his time the university named the building after him, calling it the Adsetts Centre.

Sir Norman Adsetts said: "It's a unique building. I was proud of it when I opened it, and I'm even more proud of it now. To have my name attached to it is wonderful."

During his visit students demonstrated how they use digital technologies such as videos and podcasts to share information and how the new visualisation suite aids them in their studies.

Sir Adsetts has played a major part in the regeneration of Sheffield and he is credited with saving Kelham Island.

On his visit he said that the results of regeneration are only starting to show in the city and "it feels vibrant and lived-in".

He added: "It's happening because the different elements of the city are working together, not fighting with each other or ignoring each other. Both of the city's universities have been strong agents for the regeneration of Sheffield."

Local man died of natural causes

An inquest reveals a man who was found dead in his flat in Sharrow last October died of natural causes.

Robert Bradwell, 30, a keen Rotherham United supporter had a history of heart problems going back to childhood.

Being an enthusiastic football fan he was well known in the local areas particularly at the Byron House Pub, Nether Edge, where he regularly watched matches.

One local who became good friends with Robert was Howard Brooks who said:

“The news of his death was very shocking but at least with this inquest result there is some form of closure now.”

By Tom Wright

Sheffield cleans up its act

Sheffield is currently undergoing a ‘Big Spring Clean’, an initiative put forward by local councillors who aim to show the positive impact of keeping the city clean.


The event which started on 23rd March is ongoing until the 19th April, encouraging everybody to get out on the street and clean up the rubbish they find around them. The initiative has gained a successful response from local businesses, schools and community centres, who have pulled together to get their hands dirty and ensure that Sheffield keeps its reputation of being the greenest city in England.


There have been organised litter pickups around the city, with the council providing plastic sacks and lending cleaning equipment to entice people to get involved. Local citizen Caroline Yates, 37 took part in an organised cleanup at Darnall Community centre, she said: "I think this is a great idea, there was a great response up at the community centre. If more people get involved across Sheffield then the place will look alot cleaner on April 19th ready for the summer”.


Similar 'Big spring clean' events are taking place up and down the country to try and make England a cleaner place. Nottingham City Council’s clean up commenced on the 20th March.


By Sean O'Malley

Gripple Spider Gag

One of Sheffield's favourite inanimate statue's became animated yesterday as a spoof news report had thousands of people in stitches on April Fools Day.

Award-winning manufacturers Gripple Ltd, Savile Street East, Sheffield, removed their famous sculpture of a spider off their building a week ago not knowing that it would be the focus of a side-splitting humorous gag.

The hoax YouTube report by NNN news journalists has over 4000 views already, leaving the question on every ones lips, where has the spider gone?

The mock broadcast consists of a reporter interviewing staffs at Gripple Ltd, who voice their concerns about the spider walking off to pastures unknown.

James Lambert, 34, Employee of Gripple Ltd, said: "It was a great gag and I enjoyed acting in it. I hope it makes people who watch it laugh n'all."

Onlookers also acted out eye-witness accounts of the spider crawling off, backed up by CCTV type footage of the actual event itself with great computer animation.

The whereabouts of the spider are still unconfirmed and Gripple are asking the public to keep their eyes peeled.

By Liam Day

Wicker Bus Gate

Councillors have agreed to consider relaxing the law on a 24 hour bus lane which penalises drivers with fines of up to £60.

The Wicker bus lane which picked up £100,000 in car fines within the first 7 weeks of implementation, was discussed at the City centre, south and east planning and area board meeting. A total of 2047 people have signed a petition to support a change in the current 24 hour operation.

Local business people and residents were present at the meeting, to discuss the current bus lane enforcement. Mrs. Bennett from Wicker Pharmacy spoke on behalf of businesses based in Wicker, she said: "Businesses around the area are struggling, the bus lane is putting customers off coming to wicker, and we see a restructure of the bus gate times as a lifeline for our businesses as well as a way of improving road safety."

The Bus gate has been in place since Monday 12th January 2008 and has caused controversy among local citizens, Highways Officer John Lashmar disagrees with a change in operating times by suggesting that changing bus lane rules would 'encourage more traffic and congestion whilst being a hindrance to public safety.'

The 2047 people who initially signed the petition brought the discussion to the council on 16th February 2009, but it was a petition of 88 signatures requesting an urgent decision which brought this topic up for further discussion.

The planning and highway board indicated that it would look into relaxing the 24 hour law by setting a list of criteria which officers need to monitor and submit for further discussion. The criteria will look into vehicle movement and traffic accidents within the area since the camera has been in use, as well as evaluating other factors relating to the bus lane. A final decision is due to be made once all the criteria has been presented to the planning board.


BY Sean O'Malley

sheffield hallam 1st team manager chris james

By Richard Moran

Sheffield Hallam Varsity preview- 1st team manager Chris James talks about the approaching varsity fixture against rivals Shef uni

Create, Write and Win

Sheffield Hallam University launched a new annual short story competition yesterday and they're giving away a full-time scholarship to the winner.

As part of the E.A. Markham Scholarship Prize, the university is giving students the chance to show-off their creative writing skills and win a place on their Masters of Arts (MA) Writing course for free.

Judging the short-stories will be author Hilary Mantel who wrote the award-winning Beyond Black, and Maggie Gee, Vice-President of the Royal Society of Literature.

Marina Lewycka, former student and best-selling author of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian said: "I found the MA Writing course at Hallam enormously stimulating, both intellectually and creatively. It helped me to get my first novel published."

The deadline for the competition is Wednesday 1st April 2009 and the writer of the best short story submitted will be given the award in honour of Professor Emeritus E. A. Markham who was a tutor at Sheffield Hallam University who died in 2008.

There are also nationwide prizes for students with the best: linguistics essay, undergraduate dissertation on a literature or language topic, poetry work and overall performance by a first year English Studies student.

Applicants for the short story scholarship prize can receive further information by visiting: www.shu.ac.uk/english/prizes.

BY LIAM DAY

Event Sheffield - Sports and the law

On Wednesday 4 March in the Pennine Theatre, City Campus, a debate was held about the significant impact law can have on sport.

The evening was due to be hosted by BBC Sports editor Mihir Bose but the recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan on the Sri Lankan Cricket team meant he was called back to cover the story in London. Instead John Palmer chaired the discussion with the main question: Is it right a legal challenge can be made to influence sport?

The Panel included Birmingham Solihull Rugby player Alex Davidson, Michele Verroken, Director of Sporting Integrity (formerly in charge of anti-doping in the UK) Sara Friend, Director of Legal Services at the British Olympic Association and Mark Gay, DLA Piper - specialist in Sports Law.

It was an evening packed with interesting discussion and the panellists provided a great insight into how the law has intervened in sport for both good and bad reasons.

Lawyer Mark Gay provided most of the interesting comments having worked for the premier league in their case against west ham in the Carlos Tevez affair and having also worked on the Rio Ferdinand case.

At the start of the Tevez case West Ham were fined £5.5million and Mark described it as “Breathtaking” although he worked to get West Ham punished he said the fine “Was unprecedented at the time.”

The case was recently concluded with Sheffield United being awarded compensation upwards of £15million.

The other topic of popular debate was the Dwain Chambers case. Sara Friend said that Chambers made life difficult for himself in his quest to be able to compete at the Beijing Olympics because he delayed proceedings for so long.

She said Chambers ignored letters for months which could have started his appeal proceedings instead leaving it until 5days before the national trials at which time the judge dismissed any injunction to let him run at the trials as it would have been unfair to disrupt the other athletes competing.

However she went on to say that Chambers could have used to courts to his advantage as he “Could have got an injunction allowing him to run at the Games and then been found guilty and banned afterwards.”

Although Mihir Bose couldn’t make the evening it was still a very good event with many queries being answered and it’s great that hallam university is able to stage such evenings.

By Tom Wright

Gordon Ramsey Cook and Review

‘Roast Lamb with Paprika and Oranges’

1 Leg of Lamb (part boned) 1-2 kg

2 tea spoons of Paprika (sweet and smoked paprika mixed)

1 tea spoon of ground ginger

Pinch of salt and pepper

1 table spoon of olive oil

2-4 cloves of garlic

2 sliced oranges

(Recommended serving with potatoes and salad)

Serves 4-6

In current times many people have been affected by the global credit crunch and are looking to spend small amounts of money on meals, but if you have a few pounds to spare or fancy treating someone special then this offering from Gordon Ramsey is definitely for you.

To give a bit of background on Gordon Ramsey, he is a world renowned chef who is ranked third best in the world in terms of Michelin stars awarded, with an impressive total of 16. He is one of only three British chefs who have held 3 michelin stars at one time and known as a ‘TV celebrity chef’. Gordon Ramsey has also featured in a number of successful TV programs including ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ and ‘Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares’.

With all this in mind, I decided I would cook and review one of his recipes.

'Roast Lamb with Paprika and Oranges' is taken from his ‘Healthy Appetite’ cook book which was released in 2008 and the ingredients for this dish can be bought for around £15.

To begin, you trim any excess fat from the leg of lamb before creating a criss cross pattern on top of the thin layer of surface fat, this is instructed so that the spices and flavours can soak into the meat. You then mix the recommended amounts of paprika, ginger with salt and pepper in a bowl before spreading them all over the outside of the leg and the boned cavity. This is followed by stuffing the boned cavity with the garlic cloves and half the orange slices.

Then put the lamb on a rack and baste with olive oil, with a splash of water on the bottom of the rack before heating the oven to Gas Mark 7-220c and roast for 20 minutes. After this put another splash of water at the bottom of the rack and roast for further 20 minutes per 500g, half an hour before the lamb is done cover with the remaining oranges.

When cooked rest the lamb on a platter for 10 minutes before carving and serving. This dish is recommended to be served with potatoes and salad, I opted for mashed potatoes with herbs and a salad, the oranges can be added with the serving as well. After this eat and enjoy.

Overall I feel that this dish is full of flavour and very filling, the only down point would be that people may want to add more paprika to suit their taste as the recommended amount may not suit everybodys taste. Apart from that it was an easy recipe to follow with every stage explained in detail and the oranges added a surprise element to the meat which worked very well.

Gordon Ramsey has been hitting the headlines recently for events in his personal life, but this recipe is another of example of why he is such a popular chef and it is hard to criticise what he creates in the kitchen. I would personally recommend this to everyone who enjoys lamb but due to cost it is worth saving for a special occasion.

BY Sean O’Malley

A Vintage Clothes Fair

Sheffield's Vintage Clothes Fair was a big hit last Saturday at The Basement,in the city centre, with people turning up in the masses to buy cheap unique clothes.

The Basement, which is normally a busy bar on West Street, was transformed into an 'old skool' clothes market on Saturday between midday and 5pm encouraging people to buy second-hand clothes and unique new labels at a cheap price.

Admission to the event was only £1 and there were between 30-40 stalls in total each one selling mainly men and women's handmade, reworked or vintage clothes at wholesale or sale prices.

Many stalls were predominantly selling women's clothing including vintage and uniquely designed reworked dresses, trousers, blouses, t-shirts, handbags, belts, hats and many other garments. Other creations being sold were greetings cards, crafts, postcards and 1950s style feathers to put in your hair.



Although the bar was open as usual, most people were refreshing themselves with cups of tea and homemade fairy cakes with flamboyant multi-coloured icing priced at a not-so credit crunch friendly price of £1.75 for a large one. However, if you bought some Asian-influenced handmade jewellery at one stall, you automatically received a free chocolate brownie.

Louise Whitehead, organiser of the Sheffield Vintage Clothes events said: "It was a very successful day with many well-dressed people turning up. I'm very happy with how it's gone and look forward to the next one."

The next event Louise is holding is a Vintage Clothes Swap on Wednesday 25th March at Bang Bang Vintage in Sheffield. The idea of the event is that you bring vintage clothes (rules apply) and swap them for other clothes. Tickets cost £5 and more details can be found on their website www.sheffieldvintage.com.

By LIAM DAY

CREDIT CRUNCH MUNCH

Credit Crunch Munch- The Green Banana Curry

5 green (under-ripe) bananas

2-3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, finely sliced

1 tbsp curry paste

400ml coconut milk

Serves 4

It seems like most people in these times of recession are constantly looking for meals to cook for under a fiver. Jamie Oliver has been doing his best on TV to promote cooking pasta as one of these cheap meals, but Jamie "people have been doing this for years, for under a pound!"

Wouldn’t it be nice to cook something exotic for once that doesn't break the weekly food budget? The green banana curry is the ultimate taste of African cuisine and the best bit is: it's easy to cook.

After a recent trip to Zanzibar, which is a mostly Muslim populated island in East Africa, I was amazed at the dishes they cooked up at their sunset-feast during Ramadan. The tastiest of all these dishes had to be the green banana curry, which was always accompanied with a spicy porridge drink.

The curry seems to be a very simple recipe consisting of only five ingredients: curry paste; under-ripe bananas, onions and coconut milk. All ingredients came to under £3 at Tesco's; this is potentially a credit-crunch student fantasy.

Firstly I peeled and chopped the green bananas about 3 centimetres thick, then threw them into a deep pan of the heated vegetable oil. It's now when you realise why it has to be hard green bananas rather than yellow soft ones as they tend to stick to the bottom of the pan. Treat it like a stir-fry and keep them moving in the pan until they've browned slightly.

Take the bananas out of the pan and put them on kitchen paper, two fold, to let them dry a bit as they seem to act like little sponges in a sea of oil. This is the time to add the onion to the remaining banana-flavoured oil and stir until soft.

The bottom of the pan shouldn't be too oily now and the onions should be silky. Add the slightly drier bananas to the mixture along with a tablespoon of the curry paste and mix them all together until it smells like your favourite balti-house.

Pour over half of the coconut milk and stir on a low heat for ten minutes. Notice the mixture transcending from white to orange like a British girl at a fake-tanning salon.

The curry should now be bubbling like lava, so pour over the rest of the coconut milk to cool it down. Leave the concoction for a few minutes and serve when the bananas start to mush and breakdown a little. Garnish with coriander and accompany with rice. Bon-appetite or "ufurahie chakula chako" as they say in Swahili.

Green banana is a perfect ingredient for a curry, tasting like a mix between potato and parsnip. Do not be fooled in thinking that this curry is going to be too sweet on the palette as the under-ripe banana provides perfect balance with the spices in the curry paste, no matter how hot you want to make it.

This tasty, cultural, bittersweet, spicy, simple, cheap recipe will impress your friends and is definitely something tropical and different that will engulf your home in the aromas of an East African beach at sunset in Ramadan. Enjoy!

BY LIAM DAY

Sheffield Tigers reach EDF Semi Finals

Sheffield Tigers 21-13 Newport(Salop)

Sheffield Tigers roared to victory against Newport (Salop) in the Quarter finals of the RFU EDF Energy Intermediate Cup in a convincing display at Dore Moor.

The match ended in a 21-13 score line with Centre Charlie Spon-Smith capping an excellent 80 minutes with four conversions to help the Tigers book a place in the Semi-finals of the competition.

Newport started the stronger of the two sides and within the first five minutes they pushed the Tigers back into their own 22. Possession then changed and Tigers were on the attack, Spon-Smith found fellow centre Tom Bray who sprinted 40 metres to the corner before being illegally high tackled. A penalty try was then awarded which Spon-smith swiftly converted to give Tigers a 7-0 lead.

On 15 minutes Spon-Smith struck again for the Tigers as he converted a penalty to stretch the lead to 10-0, with Newport being penalised for entering the ruck from the side.

Newport began to get back into the game and played some high tempo rugby which was rewarded when Matthew Curvengen brought the ball over the try line whilst holding off three players. This was followed by Jamie Simpson’s Conversion to make the score 10-7.

Newport drew even after 30 minutes of play when Tigers were penalised for infringement, causing another Conversion to be slotted away for Newport by James Curgenven from 40 metres out. In a match full of penalties another was awarded 10 minutes later for Newport at the stroke of half-time, this was converted by Jamie Simpson ensuring a 13-10 lead.

Sheffield Tigers came out after half time full of confidence and dominated from the start with slow, powerful rugby which lead to a number of penalties being given in their favour. Spon-Smith levelled the scores from a penalty and he also converted another penalty on 53 minutes, allowing the Tigers to regain the lead at 16-13.

Newport kept pressing the Tigers in the hope of getting back into the game but on the 67th minute Tigers Captain Richard Joel sealed the match with a try from a metre out to ensure Tigers a 21-13 victory and a place in the Semi-Finals.

Sheffield Tigers will travel to Clifton in the semi-finals on the 21st March, with a place in the EDF Energy Intermediate Cup Final at stake.

By Sean O'Malley

Car Crash Demo

South Yorkshire fire-fighters recreated the scene of a serious car crash last Saturday in Sheffield city centre to highlight the dangers of reckless driving and not wearing a seatbelt.

The Valentine's Day demonstration took place on the Moor at the rear of Sainsbury's at 11am as part of the South Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership’s ‘Kill Your Speed, Not Your Girlfriend’ campaign aimed at 17 to 24 year olds.

It's calculated that 32% of all people killed or seriously injured on South Yorkshire's roads were aged between 17 and 24, from 2000 to 2008. These shocking figures helped to inspire the car-crash demo.

Paramedics were also at the fake crash last weekend to attend to Sheffield University and Hallam students who were acting as casualties of the collision.

Shayne Tottie, from South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s Community Safety Team, said: "We made the scenes as true to life as possible, even using make-up artists on the casualties."
He adds: "We hope it had an impact on those watching, and they will understand what the consequences of reckless driving can be."

Steve Betts, Communications Manager for the South Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership hopes the campaign will also encourage passengers in a car to "speak up and tell their drivers to slow down" as often they feel uncomfortable to do so resulting in fatal consequences.

The car-crash demonstration also took place in Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley on the same day.

Nether Edge On Alert

Businesses in Nether Edge are on high alert after a series of robberies this year.

On January 7th Threshers on Nether Edge Rd was held up by two armed men who got away with a substantial amount of cash from the till as well as a quantity of cigarettes and alcohol.

Store assistant Adam who was working at the time of the robbery said: “It was a harrowing experience and something I’m only just getting over.”

The Byron House Pub on the same road was robbed of the entire selection of keys for the premises including living accommodation above the Pub on 16th February.

Byron Landlord John says the robbers have caused him and his family a big inconvenience and “for the sake of the local community I hope the culprits are caught and brought to justice.”

South Yorkshire Police have said they’ve arrested a couple of people in connection with robberies in the local area but nobody has been charged as of yet.

By Tom Wright

Blades tame Tigers in FA Cup Tie

Sheffield United 1-1 Hull City

Sheffield United held Hull City to a 1-1 draw in their fifth round FA Cup tie at Bramall Lane.

Premier League side Hull city were looking to reach the FA Cup quarter finals for the first time since 1971, whilst this fixture marked the first anniversary of Blades boss Kevin Blackwell’s arrival at Sheffield United.

Hull City were forced to rest their influential midfielder Jimmy Bullard, as he was suffering with a knee injury. Sheffield United’s absentees were strikers Darius Henderson and Arturo Lupoli.

The Blades took an early lead after 6 minutes when Greg Halford latched onto a David Cotterill cross to head home a powerful header past Hull keeper Boaz Myhill.

The Tigers began to pile on the pressure with Richard Garcia heading an Andy Dawson corner over the bar; Hull City began to dominate the game and were rewarded for their persistence on the 34th minute when Dawson turned provider again with Kamil Zayatte rising on to a curling free kick to head a glancing header past Paddy Kenny to make it 1-1.

Sheffield United attempting to take the lead again at the stroke of half time when Cotterill swerved in another dangerous cross which Billy Sharp headed wide.

Both teams were searching for the winner in the second half with Hull City appealing for a penalty after striker Celeb Folan was taken down early on by Halford, referee Andre Marriner waved away the Tigers protests.

Hull City came closest to finding a winner when Bernard Mendy darted through United’s defence, but unable to pick out Manucho inside the opponents area.

The match ended in a stalemate; with both teams failing to find a second goal and a place in the quarter final will have to be decided by a replay which will take place at Hull City’s KC Stadium on Thursday 26th February.

BY Sean O'Malley

Just the four of us...

Sean, Rich, Tom and Liam have joined forces to create as many stories and features as possible. Our goal is to exceed the 6,000 portfolio word limit so that we can extract our best pieces for hand-in.

We hope to achieve greatness through our work by bringing the juiciest stories from within the four hills of Sheffield.