Archive

  • Kendall hits first century but students hold Hants

    Shaun Udal recorded match figures of 8-108 and skipper Will Kendall scored his first century of the season - but Hampshire's three-day match against Oxford UCCE finished in a draw yesterday. Will Kendall scored a first innings 114 after Udal had completed

  • Academy taught a lesson by Hibberd

    James Hibberd is keeping his fingers firmly crossed that a match-winning performance for Calmore Sports against Hampshire's newly-promoted Academy side will boost his prospects of further trials with Kent. The 21-year-old all-rounder took three wickets

  • Two-win start for champions

    Bashley-Rydal's bid to launch an early season ECB Southern Electric Premier League leadership challenge floundered in the rain at title-holders Havant. They lost by 15 runs to the reigning champions in a match reduced to 28 overs per side. It was Havant's

  • Peacock is a star for the Larks

    Lymington, whose opening match against Purbrook was another weather victim, began their Southern Electric Premier League Division 2 challenge on a positive note, beating recently relegated Burridge by eight wickets. All-rounders Dan Peacock and Glyn Treagus

  • SARS forces charity cyclist into desert

    A BRAMLEY man who was set to cycle in China to raise funds for Mencap will now slip into the saddle in Egypt, due to the SARS outbreak. Russell Burton, of The Street, said Foreign Office guidance had forced the charity to change the destination of the

  • Title demolition job

    CENTERPRISE International are the new champions of the Basingstoke and District Table Tennis League after demolishing St Peter's A 9-1 in their final match of the season. All Centerprise needed to do was draw the game as they were one point in front but

  • Chance to join cricket academy

    DUMMER Cricket Centre threw open its doors recently to the stars of the future. Some 50 youngsters aged b-tween eight and 11 were able to enjoy a free cricket session in one of the top indoor cricket centres in the country. As a result, one boy has been

  • Team of the Week: Basingstoke Saints FC

    THE SAINTS are on the march. While Southampton have reached next Saturday's FA Cup final, the Basingstoke Saints have completed another excellent season with a third consecutive promotion in the Basingstoke and District Sunday League after finishing champions

  • Soccer benefits schools scheme

    MORE than 20 teams from firms and organisations in the Basingstoke area yesterday took part in a special five-a-side competition. The inaugural Urbis Lighting/Basingstoke Gazette Challenge Cup competition is delivering a cash boost of several thousand

  • Opening day setback

    FOR the second year running, Basingstoke and North Hants suffered an opening day Home Counties League defeat by Slough. Last year in Berkshire it was by nine wickets and on Saturday at May's Bounty by seven wickets. Slough wrapped up victory in the final

  • 'Stoke trio help county to win

    HAMPSHIRE stand a win away from a Twickenham final after beating Somerset in their final County Shield pool match at Basingstoke on Saturday. The 23-19 win means Hampshire topped their group and now meet pool three winners Oxfordshire at Down Grange this

  • Giving the ultimate gifts

    Leaving a legacy to a charity could be one of the most important acts of our entire lives - but are we prepared to do it? Kieran Fox reports... A CHARITY'S work is never done! There will always be someone who can benefit from the dedicated and often pioneering

  • ARSENAL 6 - SAINTS 1

    THIS MATCH was billed as a dress rehearsal for Cardiff - let's hope not. Saints were comprehensively beaten at Highbury last night just ten days before they face the Gunners in the FA Cup final, but the big question is how much bearing will this result

  • SAINTS 0 - BOLTON 0

    SAINTS fans turned up in buoyant mood to cheer their team off to Cardiff in the last St Mary's match before the FA Cup final but went home more muted than they had hoped. This game had few chances and a very odd feel to it. It was almost like and end

  • CHARLTON 2 - SAINTS 1

    GORDON STRACHAN said after this game that if Saints are to move on a level in the league next year they need to win more games away from home - and the stats back him up. The Saints boss, along with many of his players, has always insisted that the league

  • SAINTS 3 - LEEDS 2

    PRIOR to important games, the legendary Hungarian side of Puskas apparently used to warm up against works teams in an effort to establish the patterns of play they would require for the major occasion. With an FA Cup final looming large on the horizon

  • SAINTS 2 - WATFORD 1

    Occasionally in life things come along that you want so much it hurts - for Saints fans another FA Cup final is one of them. Since the victory in 1976 an entire new generation of fans have not known what it's like to taste the full magic of the cup -

  • SAINTS 2 - ASTON VILLA 2

    IT'S JUST as well referees are keen to add on injury time at the end of games - Saints' season could almost seem mundane without it. Kevin Davies' last minute equaliser against Aston Villa was incredibly the ninth time this season in the Premiership Saints

  • SAINTS 2 - WOLVES 0

    SOMETIMES things happen in life that just make you think something's meant to be. And when Chris Marsden scores an overhead kick in an FA Cup quarter-final, maybe, just maybe, Saints are destined to lift the famous old trophy this year. The stage was

  • SAINTS 1 - WEST BROM 0

    YOU'D HAVE NEEDED the concentration of a chess grand master to focus on Saturday's game against West Brom and not let your mind drift to the FA Cup. In fact, Kylie Minogue and Justin Timberlake dancing naked in the centre circle might have gone unnoticed

  • SAINTS 2 - NORWICH 0

    SUDDENLY Cardiff doesn't seem so far away. When a team of footballers and a football manager say they think they can win the FA Cup, you know they've got a real chance of doing it. Normally, such things are played down until the last possible moment -

  • Cricket: Two-win start for champions

    Bashley-Rydal's bid to launch an early season ECB Southern Electric Premier League leadership challenge floundered in the rain at title-holders Havant. They lost by 15 runs to the reigning champions in a match reduced to 28 overs per side. It was Havant's

  • Cricket: Peacock is a star for the Larks

    Lymington, whose opening match against Purbrook was another weather victim, began their Southern Electric Premier League Division 2 challenge on a positive note, beating recently relegated Burridge by eight wickets. All-rounders Dan Peacock and Glyn Treagus

  • All revved up!

    IT WAS a biking bonanza that turned part of Hampshire into the motorcycle capital of Britain. The New Forest echoed to the sound of powerful engines yesterday as an estimated 6,000 riders revved up for a major charity event. Totton turned into a sea of

  • 'Bigots' claim in bid to curb travellers

    COUNCILLORS in the New Forest have been branded as "bigoted" in their opposition to groups of travellers who turn up on land in the district. A report presented to a meeting of the council at Lyndhurst stressed the importance of having a policy to deal

  • Iraq aid mission

    HAMPSHIRE company Water-mark joined forces with Virgin Atlantic to operate the first aid flight to Basra to help with relief and long-term reconstruction. The Virgin 747-400 was the first non-military aircraft to land in Iraq since 1990. Watermark, based

  • SARS contract

    A HAMPSHIRE company has landed a contract with Asia's largest private healthcare firm to decontaminate Singaporean hospitals against the SARS virus. Bioquell, based at Andover, has won a contract with Parkway Group Healthcare to use its special sterilisation

  • NUT will vote on boycott of SATS

    THOUSANDS of children across Hampshire are preparing to take their controversial SATS from today. As children prepare to be put to the test this week, there are calls for the tests to be scrapped for seven and 11-year-olds. The SATS (Standard Assessment

  • Four accused after £50m cocaine haul

    A £50M cocaine haul has been stopped from reaching the streets of Britain following its discovery in the back of a lorry in Hampshire. Four men were due in court today after the drug was found near Winchester by customs officers. The drug haul, weighing

  • Keep on learning. . .

    THE JOYS of lifelong learning are to be celebrated across Southampton with Adult Learners' Week. The fun event, which runs until Friday, aims to showcase the huge variety of lively courses on offer in the city. The week was opened on Saturday when Saints

  • All revved up!

    IT WAS a biking bonanza that turned part of Hampshire into the motorcycle capital of Britain. The New Forest echoed to the sound of powerful engines yesterday as an estimated 6,000 riders revved up for a major charity event. Totton turned into a sea of

  • It's 54 hours from Cardiff

    HIS grandad bought him his first Saints kit on the day he was born. Now, 27 years later, football-mad Nick Lawton is making an exhausting 54-hour journey from the other side of the world to see his heroes take on Arsenal in the FA Cup Final. Determined

  • BLACKBURN 1 - SAINTS 0

    THE SPINE of any football team is easily the most important part and, despite losing this match, Saints will take heart that theirs is still one of the best around. Everything that happens to a football team when they step on to the pitch revolves around

  • Coming to the party?

    THE Fishtank is celebrating its eighth birthday on Friday and you and a friend can go for free. We have a pair of VIP tickets up for grabs for the event, being held at the South Parade Pier, Southsea. The winner will also receive their choice of an exclusive

  • STOP THIS SHELTER

    RESIDENTS spearheading a campaign to stop a homeless shelter being built on their doorstep in Fareham have vowed to fight the plans all the way. Homeowners in Gosport Road say they are outraged that plans to convert a former pub into a shelter have been

  • Homes protest revived

    CAMPAIGNERS have pledged to re-ignite the protest against plans to convert an historic fort into housing. The Fort Gilkicker Action Group led by Don Gordon has lain dormant for two years since the plans to build 17 luxury apartments at Gilkicker, near

  • Over 50s' festival starts on high note

    FAREHAM'S first festival for the over 50s got under way in fine style this weekend. Members of the over 50s' choir from Fareham Leisure Centre's Health and Fun Club treated shoppers to an open-air concert in West Street to mark the start of a week-long

  • Passenger train in need of a platform

    PASSENGER trains may soon be seen at a new railway station in Hampshire for the first time since 1969. The new hourly rail link at Chandler's Ford will open next weekend without the new £2m station currently being built on site, which is not due to open

  • Grand opening for school concert hall

    TONIGHT pupils will perform at the official opening of their Chandler's Ford school's new £2m concert hall - just months after a major fire. World-renowned deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie will join a number of student ensembles at Thornden School's

  • OUR YEAR OF ACHIEVEMENT

    A DELIGHTED Gordon Strachan has hailed his players after they achieved Saints' highest league position for 13 years. A 1-0 win at Manchester City in the last ever game at Maine Road was enough to secure eighth in the final Premiership table and the Saints

  • EU cash to help port cities

    IN A bid spearheaded by Southampton City Council, an international network of port cities has won European funding worth more than £670,000 to promote sustainable economic and social development. The announcement of the award, which has given the green

  • Casey: Rose helped me to blossom says

    PAUL CASEY romped to victory in the last-ever Benson and Hedges International Open at the Belfrey yesterday and then promptly thanked Hampshire's Justin Rose for spurring him on. The 25-year-old from Surrey won by four shots over Ireland's Padraig Harrington

  • Fundraisers scoot off to the capital

    A BASINGSTOKE chef and his mate were the focus of attention as they scooted through London in a huge Westminster-bound motorcycle cavalcade that raised a lot of money for the NSPCC. While Jeff Hunt, 27, of South Ham, rode his 1990 Vespa T5 Piaggio 125

  • Schools given bonus for improved results

    STAFF at several schools in Basingstoke have been given a Government cash bonus for high or improved test results. The school achievement awards were introduced to reward staff whose schools had either significantly improved their key stage test or GCSE

  • The old ones are the best

    HUNDREDS of beautifully-polished and restored old vehicles turned Basing-stoke's War Memorial Park into a bustling Mecca for motor lovers yesterday. The Thornycroft Society's Festival of Transport attracted more than 700 entries, including early Thornycroft

  • Silverware for Labour Club

    Labour Club 3 Wellington Social 2 GEOFF Poulter's Labour side have not had the best of seasons but, with Lee Chambers and Barney Powell back from Overton United, they fully deserved this Supplementary A Cup final win. Wellington, without a couple of key

  • BIRMINGHAM 3 - SAINTS 2

    EXCITEMENT seems to follow Saints wherever they go these days - unfortunately on this occasion they were on the receiving end of an entertaining turnaround. It's hard to believe this is the same Saints team that a few months found it difficult to score

  • SAINTS 1 - WEST HAM 1

    THERE WAS every danger of this match being the one that got in the way of the semi-final. Gordon Strachan and his players clearly wanted to win this game and tried their hardest to. But the atmosphere around the ground, from the fans and even on the big

  • EVERTON 2 - SAINTS 1

    BATTLING for a European place on two fronts this late in the season is an unusual experience for Saints. It's one they want to repeat regularly, but they're finding it hard work. For the opening half an hour against Everton on Saturday they looked jaded

  • Driver jailed after life-wrecking crash

    A HAMPSHIRE woman's life has been wrecked by a maniac driver who ploughed into her delivery van. Angela Townsend was so badly injured that she couldn't return to work. Her world was turned upside down when tree surgeon Wayne Luke drove like "a lunatic

  • Fisherman speaks of ordeal

    A FISHERMAN has spoken of his shock as he hauled up a body in his nets in the western Solent near Lymington. The fisherman, who wants to stay anonymous, pulled in one of the net anchors and was horrified to find the body of a man draped over it. The 36

  • HOSPITAL HOLDS 2,000 ORGANS

    BOSSES at Southampton General Hospital revealed today that almost 2,000 brains have been retained from patients for research. The hospital admitted it still held 2,000 whole organs, most of which are brains, at its premises in Tremona Road. The figures

  • SLAP IN THE FACE

    HE LAID his life on the line to disarm a man who brought terror to motorists on a busy road in Hampshire by wielding a gun. But now heroic policeman Howard Miell feels the public and the police force have been let down by Britain's top judges. He spoke

  • Wendy: No one to be charged

    A HAMPSHIRE mum today spoke of her disappointment after learning no one would be prosecuted following her daughter's death from taking Ecstasy. Heather Jones had hoped police would be able to charge whoever supplied 18-year-old Wendy Papas with the fatal

  • Foster mum who extended house just for the kids

    HAMPSHIRE foster mum Sue Edmond loves children so much she spent more than £10,000 expanding her home so more youngsters can come to stay. She specialises in caring for teenagers with behavioural problems - and when her three bedroom home in Harefield

  • Kelly's eyes are on the 400 metres

    ISLE of Wight all-rounder Kelly Sotherton is quitting multi-eventing this summer to become a specialist one-lapper. The 26-year-old, who finished seventh in the hepthlon at last summer's Commonwealth Games in Manchester, wants to channel her efforts into

  • MULTIPLEX PLAN BACK ON TRACK

    EASTLEIGH'S silver screen dreams of building a multiplex cinema in the heart of the town centre are back on stream following a bold marketing move by civic chiefs. More than three years ago planning permission was granted for an 11-screen multiplex as

  • Dream home lost in chip pan inferno

    A FIRE ripped through a Bishopstoke couple's open-plan dream home last night after they forgot about a chip pan. Anne Garrard and her partner, both in their 30s, were lucky to escape the inferno in Fair Oak Road, said a fire spokesman. It started in the

  • STRACH HAILS SUPER SAINTS

    GORDON Strachan yesterday praised his players after they achieved Saints' highest league position for 13 years. The team's 1-0 triumph in the last ever game at Manchester City's Maine Road ground surged the Saints up to eighth in the Premiership table

  • But it's only agony for Pahars

    MARIAN Pahars is having to face up to the news that will miss the FA Cup final - even as a spectator. The Latvian hotshot was always going to be unable to play because of an ankle injury, but now - according to Saints' website - he will not even be able

  • Parlane sailing - until the British weather butts in

    New Zealander Neal Parlane, from Wellington, demonstrated his batting prowess with a selection of fine shots before BAT's ECB Southern Electric Premier League match against Portsmouth at Southern Gardens was abandoned due to heavy rain. Parlane, pictured

  • Mob violence erupts outside takeaway

    A BOTTLE was smashed over the head of a 25-year-old man as mob violence erupted outside a West End takeaway. Police are hunting the gang, aged between 16 and 20, who were involved in the attack, which also involved the use of cans and a whip. The drama

  • Thames trains slammed for service withdrawals

    THAMES Trains has been criticised for axing the last weekday train home from Reading. Under a new timetable - to be introduced on May 18 - the first train to leave from Basingstoke, at 5.20am, and the last journey from Reading, at 12.10am, are both being

  • In Port

    Today's Principal Arrivals: APL Denmark, container, 0800, 206; HMS Portugal, container, 0900, 204; P&O Nedlloyd Genoa, container, 1030, 205; St Angelo, vehicle carrier, 1100, 105; Anemi Breeze, bulk, pm, 107. Today's Principal Sailings: Lykes Innovator

  • Overton school teams enjoy success

    OVERTON Primary School teams have enjoyed spectacular sporting success recently. The lastest triumph saw them contest a Daily Echo six-a-side soccer finals day at St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, as Basingstoke district winners. Unfortunately, the local

  • MANCHESTER CITY 0 - SAINTS 1

    AFTER 38 hard fought matches, the perceived success of Saints' league campaign rested on one game - thankfully for them they won it. Before the match, Saints could have finished anywhere between eighth and 13th and, with only their fourth away win of

  • FULHAM 2 - SAINTS 2

    AM I DREAMING? Is there something wrong with my eyes or are Saints really becoming the most wonderfully bizarre team in the country? Just when you thought things couldn't get any more surreal than Chris Marsden scoring from an overhead kick...they did

  • SLAP IN THE FACE

    HE LAID his life on the line to disarm a man who brought terror to motorists on a busy road in Hampshire by wielding a gun. But now heroic policeman Howard Miell feels the public and the police force have been let down by Britain's top judges. He spoke

  • Takeover bid extended

    MORAY, the company bidding to take over health clubs operator Fitness First, has extended its offer for two weeks. The organisation, backed by private equity firm Cinven, last month tabled a £200m offer for the Poole-based clubs. Fitness First confirmed

  • Desperate search for 'lucky' mirror

    THE race is on to find a "lucky" Saints mirror which has been stolen from a Southampton shop. Staff at The Football Shop in Northam are desperate to get the cherished 1976 souvenir back in time for Saints' FA Cup final on Saturday. Smash-and-grab raiders

  • So, just who will be running Southampton's £232m show?

    SO WHERE do we go from here? Just over a week ago, voters in Southampton delivered their verdict at the polls. But the question who will run the city's multi-million-pound budget is as far away from an answer as it was before May 1. The Liberal Democrats

  • Review: Troubled tales to melancholy music

    Cara Dillon - Turner Sims Concert Hall, Southampton WITH a mixture of traditional folk songs and original material, and a backing of keyboard, double bass, guitar and violin, Cara Dillon enchanted the audience at the delightful Turner Sims Concert Hall

  • Club swings into summer

    THE Concorde Club, Eastleigh, gets into the summer mood with a season of international jazz nights on Wednesdays. On May 14, music fans can experience the up-tempo big swing band sound of 9;20 De-Luxe, while on May 21 there's a tribute to brothers Bing

  • Quality of teaching is key to success

    QUALITY of teaching has been the key to success at a Sarisbury school, according to Ofsted inspectors. Staff and the head teacher of Sarisbury Church of England Junior School were highly praised during the education watchdog inspection for improving standards

  • Marimba! Look at that lad go . . .

    WINCHESTER athlete-in-waiting Marimba Odundo-Mendez is spoilt for sporting choice. The 16-year-old, who is moving south from the Aldershot, Farnham & District Athletic Club, is not only a gifted sprinter, but his rugby union skills have earned him

  • Ormerod and Beattie were inspirational

    THE margins between success and failure, and happiness and sheer disappointment in any sport are small. In the Premiership, they can sometimes be tiny. After nine months of effort, Saints could still have finished anywhere between eighth and 13th before

  • Container trade rises

    TRADE at Southampton Container Terminals continued to be a major cornerstone of the city's port, according to figures for the first quarter of the year. P&O, which jointly owns SCT with Associated British Ports, said container volumes rose 28 per