Volcano To Erupt For England

The was a surprise in the world of rugby this week as Gloucester winger Lesley Vainikolo was selected by Brian Ashton for England's 6 nations squad.

Nicknamed The Volcano, Tongan-born Vainikolo made his name for the Super League's Bradford Bulls scoring 149 tries in 152 games. He has also represented New Zealand at Rugby League.

The 17 stone powerhouse then switched codes from League to Union joining Guinness Premiership leaders Gloucester two years after initially turning them down. In his 9 games so far he has averaged a try a game.

However, despite adapting so quickly, is the 28 year old is ready for the demands of the International game? Vainakolo had knee problems throughout his time in Yorkshire but has thus far not suffered any relapse at Gloucester.

Another problem for Vianikolo will be the instant comparisons to the unfortunate, injury-prone centre Andy Farrell - one of the more recent less than successful league-to-union converts - who himself has been dropped from the England squad following his indifferent showing at the recent World Cup.

The general feeling is that 'Big Les' - often compared to the legendary Jonah Lomu - should be eased into the team rather than people expecting miracles from the get-go. Bring him on late in the game as legs are tiring and allow his quick feet and power to punish the opposition. The man loves scoring tries and that's what winning matches is essentially all about.

Vainikolo's inclusion has been heralded in many quarters and should add something different to the England team. It will certainly make for interesting watching once the tournament kicks off next month.


The Volcano scoring 5 tries on his Rugby Union debut. Apologies for the quality...

In Attendance: Carling Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg, Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur @ The Emirates Stadium, January 9th 2008

North London's great footballing divide was once again brought to the fore on wednesday evening. Historically, Arsenal and Tottenham are two of the biggest names in the country and have a fierce rivalry which is, in my opinion, one of the most bitter any football fan will encounter.

Tottenham were the original kings of North London until a bunch of interlopers from south of the river came and invaded their turf. Not only that, these unwanted guests went on to become far more successful than thier rivals and currently, Arsenal enjoy the kind of superiority over Spurs that has most gooners considering Spurs to be more of an irritant than a real threat.

But recent years have given an indication that the tide may be turning somewhat. In recent years, Arsenal have faded from the title picture and had it not been for a last day tragedy of Shakespearean proportions 2 years ago, Tottenham would have finished above Arsenal and clinched the much sought after champions league place and then who knows how different the fortunes of the two clubs would have been?

This season however, all indications seem to suggest that, for Arsenal fans at least, normal service has been resumed. Flying high, playing fantastic football, and a realistic shot at thier first league title since 2004. Meanwhile at White Hart Lane, there has been both managerial and boardroom unrest, player disatisfaction and poor results on the pitch. Arsenal have already done the double over Spurs and in doing so extended an unbeaten run in North London derby matches stretching back to 1999. When the Carling Cup semi final draw was made, Spurs would hardly be relishing the prospect of 2 more clashes with their illustrious rivals.

Incidently, Tottenham's last trophy, also in 1999, was in this same competition and suprisingly, was masterminded by George Graham an Arsenal legend both as player and manager. The team would also be galvanised for this game by the battling performance they gave at the Emirates a little over 3 weeks ago when they were unlucky to come away empty handed.

Arsenal on the other hand, despite their frequent presence in the latter rounds of this competition, clearly consider it to be bottom of their list of priorities in a season and generally choose to play 'the kids' instead of the first team. This second team however, is not to be underestimated as Tottenham themselves found to their cost last season. This time around, they knew there was no way they could make the same mistake...

As I stood on the platform at Euston waiting for the Victoria Line train to Finsbury park, I was wondering how the game would pan out. Spurs' new manager Juande Ramos is still very much an unknown proposition in this league. Would he go for the win or try and play out a draw or even be prepared to sacrifice a 1 goal defeat before going back to the lane?

My thoughts were interupted by the announcement that trains had been suspended due to 'problems' at Finsbury Park. Fighting at football? Never!

I wont bore you with tales of my journey but I eventually arrived at the magnificent Emirates Stadium with just minutes to spare. Or so I thought. The 'problems' had meant kick off was delayed by 15 minutes to allow people to get to the stadium.

I met up with a friend and his Dad and went into the stadium. Much is said about how the soul of the club is lost slightly when they decide to up sticks and move ground. The Emirates, as beautiful as it is, cannot really feel like home to fans that packed themselves into Highbury all those years. The history of the North Bank, Clock End and Art deco East Stand cannot be replaced. Esspecially not when sections of the ground are quite lazily named after colours.

We had back row seats in the lower tier of the BLUE quadrant and awaited the teams. As soon as the away fans' "COME ON YOU SPURS" chant was greeted by "F*** OFF YOU SPURS" from the home fans, you know the banter was going to be in great supply. Spurs had suprisingly dropped Paul Robinson in favour of Radek Cerny which natuarally has sparked rumours of a rift between player and manager. Arsenal, as expected, put out a second string team.

As the match kicked off, Arsenal started the brighter. For about 20 minutes, they stroked the ball around in the way we've all become accustomed to over the years. Retaining possesion well and not allowing their opponents a momments rest. Denilson put in a cross that presented Bendtner with a chance to open the scoring but his header lacked power.

The home supporters began to get a little arrogant and even "OLE"'d a lot of the passes. At least until Gilberto insisted on giving the ball away. Little details change the complexion of football matches. Young Polish keeper Lucaz Fabianski in the Arsenal goal often chose to distribute the ball short to his full-backs. On one occassion, Justin Hoyte on the right squared it back to Johan Djourou, where the young Swiss defender struggled under pressure from Robbie Keane and the unspeakably good Dimitar Berbatov and ultimately give the ball away.

From then on, it was all Tottenham. Berbatov was giving Djourou the runaround. Whenever Arsenal had the ball, possession was often squandered. The atrotious Gilberto was the main culprit. A quick word on the Brazilian: Gilberto's all round play last night truely exposed him for what he is, a fraud. For years, he's gotten away with the fact he's been alongside world class midfielders in Patrick Vieira and Cesc Fabregas. Up against the raw Jamie O'Hara and the shocking Jermaine Jenas, Gilberto looked out of his depth,; something Arsene Wenger should be very concerned about.

Everytime Spurs had the ball you felt they could open Arsenal up. They should have taken the lead when Malbranque, who spent the game charging around like a headless chicken, put the ball wide with the goal at his mercy. And just to confirm the first miss was no fluke, he planted a free header wide of the mark after great work by Keane.

It was only a matter of time before Tottenham opened the scoring and after Berbatov toyed with Djourou, his pass found Keane who squared to Jenas (dear God) who scored! The first thing that dawned on me is that the two times I've seen Jenas in the flesh this season have resulted in 3 goals for the "England International". If you think that would change my opinion on his complete and utter uselessness, you'd be very wrong!

Keeping with mediocre players who are just not good enough, When I saw Philip Senderos was Arsenal captain, I thought that this was a game that Arsenal might not win. As the goal went in, and I saw this so-called captain hunched over with his hands on his hips staring at the floor, I knew that this was a game Arsenal WOULD NOT win. The Swiss' body language was a disgrace. His duty in situations like that should be to lift the team. If any Arsenal players were paying attention to what was essentially a surrender from Big Phil, then what motivation would they even have to try and get back in the game? Just goes to show that these days the captains armband is just a bit of fabric and means nothing save for the fact you get to walk out of the tunnel first and observe a coin toss.

Spurs were flying and didn't want half time to come such was their dominance. Arsene Wenger hauled off the useless Djourou and the ineffective van Persie and introduced Bacary Sagna and the in-form Eduardo.

This changed very little as Spurs continued to pile on the pressure. "JUST LIKE THE LIBRARY" and "SHALL WE SING A SONG FOR YOU" were belted out of the away end making reference to both the percieved lack of atmosphere at Arsenal home matches and the fact Spurs were leaving the gooners stunned silent.

Moments of sublime skill from Berbatov as he would frequently control balls out of the air like he had glue on his boots were alone worth the admission. Arsenal mistakenly gave the Bulgarian far, far too much space and on another day he may have punished them more.

However, no real chances were created - thanks in part the Aaron Lennon's lack of a left foot and delivery akin to a parapalegic postman - but you felt if anyone would get the game's second goal, it would be Spurs. Kevin-Prince Boateng was brought on for Malbranque to shore up the midfield alongside O'Hara and Jenas. Ramos might have done well to retain the former Fulham man's attacking threat but instead decided to exercise caution.

With little over 10 minutes to go however, I felt as though I had witnessed the kind of daylight robbery not unfamiliar to the infamous Seven Sisters Road that connects the two clubs... Arsenal somehow equalised!

Some nice work from Sanga feed Gilberto who instead of giving the ball away found Eduardo whose played a perfectly timed through ball to the feet of the preciously annonymous Theo Walcott. As the 'Boy Wonder' sped into the box, an attempted tackle by Lee Young Pyo saw the ball skip up and hit Walcott on what from my seat looked like his hand before beating the keeper and slowly, slowy finding its way into the net. The youngster cheekily celebrated if front of the Spurs fans who had been no doubt giving him abuse all game.

The Emirates errupted and the Spurs Faithful were greated with chants of "WHO ARE YA? WHO ARE YA?" which was a tad impolite!

Arsenal finally began to play but Spurs were still the ones who might have snatched the winner as substitue Jermanie Defoe, crap haircut and all decided he would rather rather star on the next football bloopers DVD by missing an open goal from less than 10 yards out.

Arsenal's last minute corner might have had some Tottenham hearts in mouths but it Jenas on the back post was fortunately able to prevent Arsenal winning the game...

Full time. Admitedly with hyperboly, I have to say, never has there been such an unjust result to a game of football. Spurs could rightly feel aggreived having dominated proceedings for so long in the match.

Theoretically, home advantage should see Spurs get that elusive win over Arsenal in the second leg in two weeks but there are no guarentees thanks to this obvious jinx. When the gooners fans sang "YOU'LL NEVER BEAT THE ARSENAL" at the end, a small part of every Tottenham fan actually believes it. To play this well and not win was criminal.

Final Score:
Arsenal 1 (Walcott, 78)
Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Jenas, 37)

Attendance: 53,136

Man of The Match: Dimitar Berbatov - Too good for Arsenal's kids, maybe too good for Spurs. PLEEEEEEEEASE dont go to Man utd!

What's That All About, 'A'?

Football has always seen weird, wonderful and wacky goal celebrations. That feeling of excitement when the ball hits the back of the net can get people to do the craziest things.

Others are more reflective and like to use their goals to make dedications. We've all seen the dated 'baby' celebration - made famous by Bebeto during USA '94 - repeated over and over again prompting the sarcastic among us to opine "Let me guess, someones just had a baby, right?". What I want to know is who really cradles a baby like that???

Carlos Tevez got a little bit more creative this week as he sucked on a dummy after securing the points for Man Utd against Birmingham on New Years Day.

However, there are some celebrations that just boggle the mind....



Titus Bramble after his screamer salvaged a point for Wigan against at Anfield last night. And he's not the only one...




Rumours that the players are pointing to wedding bands, throwing up gang-signs (word!), warding off Vampires or learning the first letter of the alphabet have all been quashed.

In actual fact, what the above players are doing is actually signaling the letter 'A' which represents the brand new A-Star project many of them are getting behind.

The project, co-founded by the likes of Fitz Hall and Andy Johnson and is aimed at encouraging young people to steer clear of trouble by getting involved with projects where they can express themselves and have role-models who do not glamorise, guns drugs and violence.

Personally, from someone who has seem who easily it is for youths to fall into that trap, I think the A-star (as in "every child is A STAR") project is great idea and I wish them all the best.

The scheme looks to highlight things like knife crime figures as a way of deterring children from getting involved in that lifestyle and "opening pathways into employment".

For more information, check out the website.

Aside from Johnson and Hall, players like Emile Heskey and Leigthon Baines are also involved but I very much doubt we'll see Joey Barton's name attached to something so noble.

A quick word on Barton. It's sad to see an undoubtedly talented player throw his career away because he cant seem to keep out of trouble. For his sake, you kind of hope he can pull his finger out and turn his life around before it's too late for him. From England reckoning not so long ago to a jail cell. A sad decline for the boy.

Window Shopping

So as the world makes the transition from 2007 to 2008, many people take a minute to reflect on their lives. What they achieved or failed to achieve in the previous year and what they hope to achieve in the coming months.

In the world of football, things are ever so slightly different. The new year signals the middle of the season in most leagues. Across the continent, many countries take a mid-season break depriving their fans of the excessive feast of football we get here in the UK. January the 1st is not so much about new beginnings but rather the resumption of business as usual. However, there is an opportunity for reflection and an introspective look at self-improvement amongst clubs...

In 2003, FIFA, in order to fall into line with the rest of the continent, introduced a mandatory transfer window during the season in which clubs could conduct their necessary transfer dealings. This meant that apart from the summer, top flight clubs only had one month in which to buy, sell or loan players. Lower league clubs abide by the same window rules but also have a separate 'loan' window which operates twice during the season.

This ruling has been heavily criticised. Surely this constitutes some form of restriction of trade? Something the authoriies said they wanted to avoid in their rebuttal of introducing quotas (Not that I'm a fan of this suggestion either).

What we have seen in this country since the window was introduced is a spate of panic buys resulting in a deluge of players that clubs have ultimately found to be, lets just say, not as good as first anticipated.

Desperation is the name of the game and negotiation skills seemingly fly straight out of this metaphorical window. Clubs have the opportunity to over-inflate their asking prices because they know they buying party are willing to pay whatever it takes to get their man. On the flip side, a club that needs to sell will end up only receiving a fraction of a players true value when they are up against the clock. Also, on a time limit, managers have no time to replace players or have to do so with inadequate alternatives.

It is possible to pick up a bargain although these are very few and far between. Good fortune may also find that players, both existing and new buys/loanees up their game in the crucial second half of season in the knowledge that they have to stay put where they are and as such are expected to perform.

If a manager cant shift his dead wood during this time, he's stuck with an unhappy player possibly disrupting the camp for the rest of the season.


Managers only have a month in which to re-shuffle the pack during which time fixtures are still ongoing. Players end up being scouted off the back of individual performances rather than over a longer period of time. For struggling clubs, bad business during the transfer window could see them falling through the relegation trap-door!

The problems are far reaching. There's no telling who, when or how long a player or players may be injured for. If this happens at a crucial time of the season such as in a title race or the midst of a relegation battle for instance, clubs, although they have the money, are prevented from purchasing replacements. I suppose you could say they could draft in a youth team player but is it really fair to throw novices in at the deep end for what could crucially make or break a career? Some managers might do this anyway but I'm sure most others would at least like to have options.

Finally, differences of opinion between board and management over when or who to buy and how much they should pay, could - and often does - lead to in-fighting within the club causing instability and ultimately, a detriment to on-pitch performances.

Transfer window? Many would say just leave it open otherwise, you might wake up on 1st February to find out your club has just signed Nigel Quashie!

RIP Phil O'Donnell: 25/03/1972 - 29/12/2007

Tragedy struck yesterday as Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell tragically collapsed and died during his side's 5-3 SPL win over Dundee United at Fir Park.

It's always really upsetting when something like this happens and while I admit I wasn't too familiar with O'Donnell, my thoughts are with his family at this time. The tributes have been pouring in and his club are postponing their next two fixtures as a mark of respect for the 35 year old father of 4.

When people are constantly complaining about comparatively trivial matters such as the offside rule or whether or not a player overreacts to a foul, it takes an event like this to really put things into perspective.

In Attendance: Barnet FC v Chesterfield @ Underhill, Barnet - December 29th 2007

With the matches coming thick and fast over the festive period there is a danger of fans getting bored. Oversaturation can happen very easily. The Sports channels are pumping out the games at such a rate it's almost difficult to keep up. There are even those who championed the idea that this country should adopt a winter break during the football season...

Not me though!

Me and my mate 'The Mooch' have for a long time been talking about throwing our support behind Barnet as they are esentially one of our local sides here in wonderful North London. The Bees are currently languishing in league 2 so Me and Mooch hopped on the Northern Line (High Barnet branch naturally) to see if Paul Fairclough's side could show some signs of progressing beyond this level.

Having arrived at the Ground about an hour early, we thought we'd get tickets from what we thought was a ticket office. Let me set the scene: Underhill is essentially a football pitch surrounded mostly by corrugated iron... on a SLOPE! We approached a portacabin when people seemed to be queueing. When we got to the window they told us that we just pay at the turnstiles. Sheepishly we shuffled our way round to the East Terrace handed over our 15 quid (yes, 15 pounds stirling to watch 4th Division football!) and enter The ground.

The Theatre of dreams his was not.



The South Stand is currently being redeveloped while the North is uncovered and essentially protected by a fence so I can imagine the wind, if it's strong enough, having a major impact on the result.



As I said, we arrived early so we had the pick of almost the entire stand in which to take up a decent vantage point. We were soon to discover that our location had a restricted view of the corner to out left. D'oh!

I would like to say that the pre-match entertainment consisted of cheerleaders, a light show and a performace from Shakira but i'd be lying. We were However, privilaged to watch Hertfordshire's finest going through their pre-match warm up. We were literally spitting distance of our new heroes.

The Barnet side contained former Arsenal youngsters Adam Birchill, Nicky Nicolou and Joe O'Cearuill.

In contrast, the Spirites had lined up Jack Lester, Gregor Robertson and Keeper Barry Roche. All former Nottingham Forest players.

On that basis, I expected a dose of quality play from the Bees considering the lads were products of the Gunners' famed academy and having watched Forest for 3 years while at uni I have to say I wasn't excepting a great deal from Chesterfield.

Departing Striker Liam Hatch was named captain for he day as the Bees took the field. As is tradition, the home side played uphill on the infamous slope in the first half.

The game started out very scrapily. The away side seemed committed to giving the ball away at ever opportunity whereas Barnet employed the useless tactics of passing sideways a lot - that would be the Arsenal influence - before hoofing the ball up to the seemingly disinterested Hatch. Jason Puncheon, the Bees' hero on boxing day, showed some nice touches but his final ball was atrocious.

A lofted ball into box saw Liam Hatch completely mistime a jump as wasted a golden opportunity to open the scoring.

He would shortly come to regret it as the hopeless Joe Devera - an accident waiting to happen - failed to clear his lines and a Jack Lester through ball allowed Adam Rooney (no relation) to give Chesterfield the lead on 20 minutes.

At the time, I suggested that Lee Harrison in the Barnet goal could have done better but on the evidence of the rest of the game, I decided that he probably couldn't have. This is the keeper who also picked up a backpass and failed to convincingly deal with any cross he had to face in the first half.

Chesterfield probably should have the opportunity to double their lead when Lester was seemingly hacked down in the box (Devera again unsuprisingly) but rather than a penalty, referee Mike Thorpe booked Lester for diving. Good to see.

The first half dragged on. It was like marching through treacle wearing concrete boots. The half time whistle couldn't come too soon. The fans had itchy feet and took to heckling the players to keep themselves entertained.

Barnet's one shot on target of the half came from the lively Puncheon cutting in from the right wing. It was simply catching practice for Roche.

At half time, Fairclough tried to spice things up by introducing the nippy Anthony Thomas for the dispassionate Hatch. Suddenly, Barnet decided to play football. It's obvious that the slope makes a huge difference.

However, despite the nice build up play and fluid passing, the home side seemed to completely bottle it every time they got into the final third. Nicolau and Gillet worked well together on the left side but their delivery let them down time and time again. Crossing was aimless to say the least. When Micheal Leary wasn't giving the ball away, he was scuffing his shots and crosses. It was no suprise when he was withdrawn for Ashley Carew on 70 minutes.

Barnet's wasteful play was to cost them. With just ten minutes to go, Spirites defender Janos Kovacs stabbed home a loose ball to make it 2-0 after a poor Chesterfield corner was dropped by Lee Harrison to the shock of absolutely no-one at Underhill. Game over.

Cue more more mishit shots and crosses from Barnet before the ref put everyone out of their misery by blowing the final whistle.

10 years ago, Chesterfield were famously denied an FA Cup final appearance by the fialure of the officials to spot the ball crossing the line. They didn't perform nearly as heroically today but got the result to help keep up their promotion push.

Barnet on the other hand were woeful up front and I very much doubt they would have scored if they were playing til NEXT christmas. The club are currently midtable and at times I got the impression that they were content with that. The Bees wont get relegated but they are unlikely to threaten Chesterfield on any of the other play-off hopefuls.

As me and Mooch strolled back to the tube station, we decided that we would certainly be back to watch the Bees again. Hopefully by then, they will have learnt to put the ball in the back of the net.

Final Score: Barnet 0-2 Chesterfield
Attendance: 2,346
Man of the Match: The ref

In Attendance: Stan James Christmas Festival @ Kempton - December 26th 2007

The great tradition of Horse Racing has been dragged through the mud in recent years. From allegations of race-fixing to Kieren Fallon's recent positive drug test, there are many who look upon the sport with great skepticism. There are even suggestions from some quarters that the past-time should not be conisdered a sport as the gambling aspect is more important than the sporting endevour of the competitors. There are of course animal cruelty complaints as well but those people annoy me too much to warrant any comment.

Regardless of all these factors, a day at the races is still a bloody good day out!

A couple of months back when I agreed to attend The Stan James Christmas Festival at Kempton, I anticipated a day of drinking and losing a lot of money I dont have. I'd been to Sandown eariler in the year and, to say the least, wasn't exacty flashing the cash. Both my racing and gambling knowledge are limited to whatever I saw when I didn't change the channel on Grandstand after Football Focus as a youngster. The numbers and jargon send me into a spiral of confusion. Combine this with some questionable financial nous and you have recipe for disaster. No question I fully expected to be selling my bodily organs on the black market by the end of the day.

In situations like this, you stay close to those who know what they are talking about and hope for the best. Unfortunately, if everyone you're with knows what they are talking about and are all saying different things then it is very easy to get confused. As I sat silently on the bus from Richmond station, all I could overhear from my frinds was: "He's not been so good on the flats" "It would be stupid not to back him. He's already won 3 hurdle races this season", "He let me down at Cheltenham. I had a score on him each way but he fell at the second and it was on soft ground too."

What?

I was clearly in over my head. What was I to do? I haven't studied the form, I dont have that much money and I cant ask questions like "What's the Tote?" and get away with it in a place like this.

So I did what any reasonable human being would do. Lean over the shoulder of your mates as they fill in their slips. Pretend to study the racecard even though you have no idea who Robert Thompson is (He's a Jockey by the way) and away you go.

The first race was the Novices' Hurdle Race. A novice is apparently a horse which has never won a hurdle race before the current 'jump' season. 'Song of Songs' ridden by A. P. McCoy was the favorite and seemed to be the horse man were plumping for so at 6/4 I thought "why not?". The prize money wasn't fantastic thanks to my paltry stake but hey, a win is a win.

Song of Songs was owned by J. P. Mcmanus. AH-HA! A familiar name. One may remember Mr McManus from the tedious Man Utd takeover saga of 2005 which ultimately ushered in Malcolm Glazier and consequently the on-pitch revolution currently taking place at Old Trafford.

But I digress, the second race was the Nigel Clark Feltam Novice Steeple Chase. Nigel Clark was the former President of the course, a Steeple chase involves a lot of obstacles and a novice is, well, I just explained that. Having got slightly ahead of myself following my win, I opted to stick an each way bet on 8/11 favourite 'Silverburn' as well as going for 5/2 hot tip 'Joe Lively' to win. This caused sniggers from my mates who pointed out that an each way bet on odds so low would still result in me losing money even if 'Silverburn' placed. Luckily the favourite finished 3rd and spared me the humiliation of going back and collecting. Oh, Joe Lively came in first so I was now 2 for 2. There's a lot to be said for copying people when you have no idea what you ae doing yourself! Time for a drink.

As we mulled over the next race, I was made aware of the fact that 'Harchibald' was a clear favourite again at 8/11 and was hardly worth the punt. I happened to spot that 'Straw Bear' a horse I backed at Sandown (Cant remember if it won but familiarity is always a good thing...) was also running in the race at 6/1. Worth a go? Maybe... However, the advice of my friends deterred me at the last minute and I felt the money would be better spent on booze!

Straw Bear, incidently another McCoy/McManus horse, beat Harchibald by a nose. I felt sick as I stared into the black pit that was my drink. Never have resented a pint of Guiness so much. 6 to flipping 1!!! It would have been a stroke of genius. I couldn't believe it. I was gutted. That's the nature of gambling I guess...

Race four was the big one. The King George VI Steeplechase. It was the race everyne had come to see. Kauto Star was overwhelming favourite having won the same race 12 months earlier. He was ridden by Ruby Walsh (a name I was only familiar with thanks to many a morning watching Sky Sports news and hearing Alex Hammond giving us a guide to the runners and riders each day even though I had no clue what she was on about!) was set to make a few people a bit of money even though his 4/6 odds barely represented good value for inexperienced gamblers - such as myself - betting so low. One of my friend's decided to swim against the tide and back 'Exotic Dancer'. Like the proverbial sheep, I followed and invariably Kauto Star won at a canter. I had money on both but naturally lost out as my winnings didn't match my outlay. Still 3 from 4 wasn't bad but the blow from the previous race was hardly cushioned.

My luck, or sneaky copying, was to continue in the next race as 'Boomshakalaka' came in at 5/2. However, another silly each way bet on 'The Hairy Lemon' meant I did't come away with as much as I coud have.

The final race, the Handicap Hurdle, FINALLY saw my win on one of my each way bets as 'Nycteos' romped home. However, this meant my bet on Princlet for the outright win was null and void. What I learnt today? I know it sounds obvious but ONLY ever back one horse! Forecasts and each way bets should be left to those who have an idea what's going on!

So 5 out of 6 winners at the end and a nice little earner in my pocket as we left is certainly nothing to frown upon. Considering I hadn't got a clue about the sport and remain none the wiser afterwards. Whether the sweet taste of success has whetted my appetite and spawned an insatiable gambling addiction inside me remains to be seen but for now, I'd definately recommend a day at the races as a great social event. A boxing day well spent.

My one bit of advice after the 'Straw Bear' fiasco however is that you should ALWAYS follow your gut feeling. In gambling or otherwise.

PLAY SAFE