That was the fate of Plymouth Argyle at Home Park, throwing away a 2 – 0 lead to finish the game 2 – 2 and find themselves just four places and two points off the relegation zone. Plymouth are yet to win a home league tie this season so far, three games, three draws. This seems to be a common problem every season, Argyle simply don’t win the matches they really should, as a minimum target Plymouth should aim to win all their home games. The irony is that we’ve won both Carling Cup ties at Home Park this season and now face premiership side West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground a week from Wednesday. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake scored both Argyle goals, first one on 30 minutes and again in the 57th minute. Gavin Rae had an easy tap in after Luke McCormick could only parry Paul Parry’s shot. Steve Thompson levelled the scores in the 89th minute, but Plymouth could have still claimed all three points in injury time, Nick Chadwick was denied by a last ditch block by Roger Johnson to deflect the shot over the bar. It seems to me that nothing ever changes, Argyle build a lead then concede sloppy goals to gift the visitors a point, if the Argyle defence was a ship, it’d be at the bottom of the ocean as it has more holes than the Titanic.
Not much to cheer about the in Rugby either, England were humiliated by the Springboks being beaten comprehensively 36 – 0, frankly England were rubbish and thoroughly deserved to be hammered. This England team are a shadow of the team that beat Australia four years ago to win the rugby world cup. England now have to try to put this humbling behind them and beat Samoa on Saturday and Tonga on the following Friday to make progress into the knock out stages. And guess what, should England make it through the group stage as runner up, the first knock out match will be against Australia, I can’t see the Aussies not winning their group and you can bet your bottom dollar that the Aussies will relish the chance to play England after being beaten on their own turf four years ago, I think England could be facing a cricket scoreline in that tie, assuming of course England actually qualify. I would say England’s chances of retaining their world title are between remote and non-existent, England have too many injuries and are lacking in quality; sad but true!
In Formula 1, well it was disappointing in many ways, the race was boring as hell, nothing happened worth watching, in fact I fell asleep for half the race. Kimi Raikkonen led from start to finish followed by team mate Felipe Massa, and apart from a little battle between the McLaren’s through Eau Rouge on the first lap with Alonso pushing Hamilton off onto the run off area, Lewis Hamilton never challenged Fernando Alonso throughout the race. So it was a Ferrari 1 – 2, followed by Alonso then Hamilton. The only excitement really was between BMW’s Nick Heidfeld and Williams’ Nico Rosberg battling it out to be the best of the rest. Mark Webber did well to bring his car home in seventh ahead of Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen, Webber’s team mate David Coulthard assumed Webber’s bad luck going out of the race with a hydraulic failure 15 laps from the finish. Jenson Button suffered to the same problem to retire just 8 laps from the finish, the final Brit Anthony Davidson finished the race in 16th, behind team mate Takuma Sato. BMW’s Robert Kubica was frustrated missing out on a point being held off by the Kovalainen after starting from 15th after an engine change penalty. Not a race that I will remember frankly, which is a shame as Spa Francorchamps is considered one of the best circuits on the calendar and is well known for it’s drama during the race, but today’s race was about as entertaining as watching paint dry!
In sadder news, legendary British rally driver Colin McRae has been tragically killed in a helicopter crash near his home in Lanarkshire. The 39 year old was confirmed dead along with his five year old son, Johnny. Colin McRae was best known for his fearless driving style and never say die attitude, but will be remembered mostly for bringing the world rally championship to Britain. My thoughts and condolences go out to his family and friends!
