BIRMINGHAM City chairman David Gold insists manager Alex McLeish retains the faith of the board despite the club's precarious position. The Blues were pushed to the brink of relegation from the Barclays Premier League with yesterday's 2-0 defeat by F
ulham, increasing the pressure on McLeish. The former Scotland manager replaced Steve Bruce – who has subsequently steered Wigan to safety – in November, but Gold said: "If Birmingham are relegated we will stick with Alex."
Bayern bounce back BAYERN Munich put Thursday's 4-0 Uefa Cup semi-final defeat to Zenit St Petersburg behind them yesterday when they completed a domestic double for the third time in four seasons with a 0-0 draw away to VfL Wolfsburg. The result saw Bayern stretch their lead over closest rivals Werder Bremen to ten points with three games left.
Meanwhile, Inter will have to wait at least one more week for their third straight Serie A title after losing 2-1 to city rivals AC Milan. Filippo Inzaghi headed the opener in the 51st minute. Kaka doubled Milan's lead five minutes later before Julio Ricardo Cruz cut the deficit with a free-kick.
Cove clinch title in style COVE Rangers secured the Highland League title for the second time in their history with an easy 3-0 victory over struggling Lossiemouth, Jamie Watt scoring twice to take his season's tally to 30. Eric Watson was also on target for Cove, who needed just a point to clinch the championship. John Sheran's team are now setting their sights on this Saturday's Highland League Cup final clash against an Inverurie Locos side who beat hapless Fort William 13-0 at the weekend. A hat-trick from Kenny Coull and four from Neil Gauld helped add to Lochaber's running total of 146 goals lost this season.
Fleeting fires hat-trick JULIE Fleeting scored an 18-minute hat-trick as Scotland women improved their prospects of qualifying for the European Championship with a 4-1 victory away to Portugal. All the goals came in the first half, Celtic's Jennifer Beattie scoring her first goal for Scotland before Fleeting took her total to 103 goals in 105 caps. The third came from the penalty spot. Fleeting's achievement is all the more remarkable as the Arsenal striker played for 70 minutes with a broken metatarsal in her foot.
Under-17s lose to Serbia SCOTLAND'S campaign in the Under-17 Uefa Championship got off to a disappointing start, with a 2-0 defeat to Serbia in Antalya, Turkey. A double from the youngest ever player to play in a Serbian league match, Danijel Aleksic, just before half time saw off Ross Mathie's youngsters.
Alloa pursue RiordanALLOA Athletic are interested in freed Hibs striker Stephen Riordan, brother of Celtic outcast Derek. The 17-year-old has been told he can leave Easter Road by manager Mixu Paatelainen.
Real Madrid retain title REAL Madrid retained the Spanish league title after last night's dramatic 2-1 win at Osasuna left them with an unassailable ten-point lead over Villarreal with three games left to play. Real, playing with ten men after Fabio Cannavaro was sent off at the start of the second half, fell behind to a Patxi Punal penalty with eight minutes to go, but late strikes from Arjen Robben and Gonzalo Higuain secure a 31st league title.
Bayern Munich completed a domestic double for the third time in four seasons with a 0-0 draw away to VfL Wolfsburg. The result saw Bayern stretch their lead over closest rivals Werder Bremen to ten points with three games left. Meanwhile, Inter will have to wait at least one more week for their third straight Serie A title after losing 2-1 to AC Milan, whose goals came from Filippo Inzaghi and Kaka.
Whitehill feel the heatWHITEHILL Welfare lost 2-1 at home to Preston Athletic but are still favourites to win the East of Scotland League after challengers Edinburgh University also went down 2-0 at Dalbeattie Star. Preston took the lead through Kevin Cairnie before Alan McDonagh equalised on the stroke of half time. However, Preston substitute Stuart McLaughlin struck after only three minutes on the park to earn the visitors all three points. Dalbeattie Star upset the students' hopes of a first league title when John McBeth and Gary Redpath scored in each half. Meanwhile, Cove Rangers secured the Highland League title for the second time in their history with a 3-0 victory over Lossiemouth, Jamie Watt scoring twice.
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