Sheffield Eagles 7

Widnes 19
It is too early to talk of a return to the days when Widnes were the most feared of Cup campaigners. Indeed, those days may never return to a club which, for the foreseeable future, will have to watch its spending and rein in its aspirations.But of the sides left in this year’s Silk Cut Challenge Cup, and with the obvious exception of Wigan and Leeds, they are as well equipped as anyone to make a mark on the competition.Their victory at Sheffield Eagles, coming on the back of two league wins to ease their relegation fears, was more decisive than it sounds, Sheffield’s only try coming in injury time, long after their fate was sealed. Before that, Widnes had shown a near total command, exploiting the Eagles’ defensive frailties in the first half and then displaying much more determination themselves when they were the side under pressure in the second.Karl Hammond, perhaps the brightest of their new breed of homespun talents, was their outstanding performer, even though his afternoon began and ended badly.His kick-off straight into touch put Sheffield on the attack from the start, with the result that Carl Briggs dropped a goal to put them ahead. That slender lead was soon undermined by some slack and unreliable work for the rest of the half.Adrian Hadley was left free on his wing after five minutes, although Hammond still had to find him with an excellent long range pass to set up Widnes’ first try. Sheffield briefly threatened to bounce back before subsiding completely, Briggs missing the simplest of penalties and Lee Jackson finding himself without support when he made a promising break.The rest of the half was all Widnes. Hammond broke through Paul Broadbent’s tackle to exchange passes with David Hulme and score, and before half- time the Hulme brothers linked up to send Peter Smith in for another try which exposed the poverty of the Eagles’ tackling.Three goals from Hadley put Widnes firmly in control, although they had to survive long periods of pressure after the interval. With their captain and usual inspiration, Daryl Powell, right out of sorts, however, there was rarely much direction or focus in Sheffield’s attack and Widnes’ solid defensive effort turned them back time after time.On a rare foray up field, Hammond put over a drop goal, but then, while he was in the sin-bin, Paul Carr went over for the long delayed and by now irrelevant Sheffield try just after the 80-minute mark.Sides will not be quaking the way they once did at the prospect of drawing Widnes this evening but in an ill-assorted last eight they may have more say in this year’s Challenge Cup than their league form has ever suggested.Sheffield Eagles: Lucchese; Senior, Gamson (Carr, 69), Price Stott; Briggs, Sheridan; P Broadbent, Jackson, Glancy (Young, 48), Carr (Hughes, 47), Turner, Powell.Widnes: G Broadbent; P Smith, Devereux, Wright (Singleton, 52),Hadley; Hammond, D Hulme; Ireland, McCurrie, Hansen (Makin, 20), Collier, Myler, P Hulme.Referee: R Connelly (Wigan)..

ROUND-UP

Wigan, the Challenge Cup holders, crushed Batley 70-4 to continue their quest for an eighth successive Wembley triumph.
Martin Offiah scored a hat-trick of tries in the first 38 minutes to help Wigan to an 46-0 lead at the interval. Frano Botica, who had a spell in the blood bin for treatment to a head wound, still managed 10 goals from 11 attempts. Henry Paul scored two tries and three goals.Batley hardly worried the Wigan defence at all, their misery completed when their scrum-half, Glen Tomlinson, was sent to the sin-bin for holding down.In the other Challenge Cup fifth-round ties, however, Wigan’s 11 tries were bettered by Workington, who ran in 17 in a 94-4 demolition of Leigh. Dean Marwood scored a club record-equalling 13 goals and 42 points in Workington’s biggest-ever win, beating the 78-0 thrashing of Highfield two years ago.Jim Fallon scored four tries in Leeds’s 44-14 win over Ryedale-York. His best score came eight minutes after the break, when he ran almost the length of the field after intercepting a wayward pass.Hull KR had Nick Halafihi and Andy Thompson sent off as they lost 18- 14 at home to Whitehaven. They finished the match with just 10 men, having had Garry Brown, Mike Fletcher and Mike Bibby sent to the sin-bin..

The Rose Monday Carnival here came a day early for Richard Krajicek and Michael Stich, who did not need red noses or funny hats to produce moments of farce during the final of the Eurocard Open. Stich, who had stunned his top-seeded compatriot Boris Becker in Saturday’s semi-finals, 6-0, 6-3, performed for most of yesterday’s match as if his steaming racket had been doused in water. He double-faulted 13 times, one more than his ace count.
Krajicek won, 7-6, 6-3, 6-7, 1-6, 6-3, but not before coming close to tossing away a first prize of $395,000 (£255,000) and a return to the top 10.The unseeded Dutchman hit 23 aces, bringing his total to 92 for the week’s five matches. But his 12 double-faults yesterday almost undid all the good work.After controlling the contest for the majority of three unspectacular opening sets, the unseeded Dutchman held three match points with two serves ahead of him at 6-3 in the second tie-break. He lost the next five points, double-faulting to beckon the startled German into the match.Stich, the fifth seed, was grateful for the generosity. He had played as haplessly as he had made Becker look during the opening set the previous day, and may have been reconciled to a swift execution after being unable to take his earlier chances.In the first-set tie-break Stich lost a 4-2 lead, which he had gained by courtesy of two of Krajicek’s double-faults.

The German then netted a volley when faced with an empty court and the opportunity to go 5-3 ahead in the shoot-out. He lost it, 7-4.When two sets down, Stich created two set points on Krajicek’s serve at 5-4 in the third. The Dutchman saved the first with an ace, and then watched a return drift wide.In the second tie-break, Stich double-faulted and netted a forehand to leave his opponent to serve out at 6-3. Krajicek thought he would surprise Stich by serving to his forehand, but the German’s racket was waiting to make a winning return.Krajicek tried the same move again, but missed his first serve. He intended to aim into the body with the second serve, but the ball was again attracted towards Stich’s racket.The German saved the third match point with an ace, followed this with a service winner, and watched Krajicek self-destruct to lose the shoot- out, 8-7.At that moment, Krajicek must have wondered if the carpet court here was again about to be pulled from under him. When he played Stich in the 1993 final he was convinced he had saved a match point with an ace at 6-5 in the fifth set So was the crowd.

But the umpire overruled the call in the corner of the service box farthest from his chair.After losing the third set yesterday, Krajicek failed to hold serve until the second game of the fifth set, by which stage he had managed to calm his nerves and was ready to test those of his opponent.The crux came in the seventh game. Stich saved three break points but failed to put away four game points before the Dutchman cracked him with a backhand pass.Two games later, Stich was broken again, Krajicek converting his fourth match point with a confident forehand return down the line to close the show after three hours and two minutes.. Andre Agassi lost his temper and suffered his first defeat of the year when he was beaten by the unseeded Thomas Enqvist, of Sweden, 7-6, 5-7, 6-2 in the semi-final of the US Indoor tournament in Philadelphia. The American was out of sorts for much of a match which lasted two hours 29 minutes. He was also fined $1,566 (£1,000) for his behaviour.
Enqvist went on to beat Michael Chang in the final, 0-6, 6-4, 6-0.In the first set tie-break, Agassi smacked a ball from the baseline to the other side of the court, sending a linesperson jumping out of the way and knocking down the radar gun.After losing the tie-break, Agassi threw his racket from his side of the court to a table behind the umpire’s chair, knocking over drinks and flowers.