Sunday Mercury

Baggies' Krul Luck ; Stand-in Newcastle Keeper Frustrat Tes Albion Attack

Martis 39 mins WEST BROM 1

Saddlers Get Things Off to Bright Start

BRIGHTON 0 WALSALL 1 WALSALL made the perfect start to the new season when they survived heavy second half pressure from Brighton to win a difficult opening League One game against one of the promotion favourites.

Emile's Got the Fior-Ce

POWERHOUSE centre-forward Emile Heskey was the matchwinner as Aston Villa brought their pre-season to a close with a 1-0 win over Italian Serie A side Fiorentina at Villa Park yesterday. The England striker, pictured, was on target in the 14th minute to earn victory for Martin O'Neill's men ahead of next week's Premier League kick-off.

Cloughie Edges Out Ferguson ; Derby County 2 Peterborough 1

DERBY manager Nigel Clough was happy to give the home supporters an opening day victory to cheer in what he thought was a great advertisement for the Coca Cola Championship. He said: "It's nice to send the supporters home with a win on the first day which is something they have not experienced for seven years. We want to be positive and create chances and for the majority of the game we did just that.

Stylish Villa Show No Fior ; Heskey's Super Strike Seals Italian Job No.2

Villa rounded off their pre-season with a second defeat of top ranked Serie A opposition inside six days with a 1-0 victory over Fiorentina. Satisfied manager Martin O'Neill said: "We scored a brilliant goal and played some great stuff."

Pearson Is Already Eyeing Promotion ; Leicester 2 Swansea 1

NIGEL Pearson believes his Leicester side can mount a promotion challenge after seeing the Foxes make a winning return to the Coca- Cola Championship. Leicester came from 1-0 down to beat Swansea 2-1 at the Walkers Stadium.

Royals Denied Win by 10-Man Forest ; Reading 0 Nott'm Forest 0

JIMMY Kebe spurned the best chance to give Brendan Rodgers a debut win as Reading were held by the 10 men of Nottingham Forest in their CocaCola Championship clash. Winger Kebe stabbed wide from inside the sixyard box as Rodgers failed to inspire the Royals to a first win at the Madejski Stadium since January.

Eck Waits On Bid for Gijon Ace ; Pounds 3m Michel Impresses in Stalemate: Birmingham 0 Sporting Gijon 0

ALEX McLeish admitted that he didn't know whether he would be able to launch a bid for Gijon star Michel after this friendly ended in stalemate. The midfielder strolled elegantly around St Andrew's yesterday in Blues final warm-up before the Premier League trip to Manchester United a week today.

Richards Is Spot On to Seal a Point ; Port Vale 1 Rochdale 1

NEW Vale manager Micky Adams was pleased to get off the mark with a point against one of the teams he expects to be in the promotion chase. Adams had pulled no punches in assessing the squad he inherited and placed six players on the transfer list in midweek. But he was full of praise for the efforts of those who took the field yesterday, despite admitting there was a "gulf " between the two teams.

Joss Shines for Shrews ; Shrewsbury 3 Burton Albion 1

YOUNG West Brom midfielder Joss Labadie produced a man of the match performance and grabbed a goal to get Shrewsbury's season off to a flying start against football league new boys Burton Albion. The 19-year-old is on his second loan spell with the Shrews and gave the sort of display which made up for the disappointment of breaking his foot in his first game last season and returning prematurely to the Hawthorns.

Pugh Brace Secures Draw ; Morecambe 2 Hereford 2

WINGER Marc Pugh scored twice as the Bulls grabbed a late draw at Christie Park. Hereford goalkeeper Adam Bartlett produced a couple of good saves in the early stages to deny Ian Craney and Phil Jevons.

Hayles Gets Robins Rockin' ; Cheltenham 2 Grimsby 1

CHELTENHAM substitute Barry Hayles, fresh from a stint of jury service, showed no mercy for Grimsby with a clinical winner at the Abbey Business Stadium. The former Fulham man also had a hand in Lee Ridley's equaliser as the Robins fought back from a goal down to steal the points.

Baggies' Krul Luck ; Stand-in Newcastle Keeper Frustra Ates Albion Attack

WEST BROM 1 Martis 39 mins NEWCASTLE 1 Duff 55 mins WEST Bromwich Albion were forced to settle for a draw after being denied a win thanks to a stunning performance by Newcastle's substitute goalkeeper Tim Krul.

Saddlers Get Things Off to Bright Start

very pleased with the discipline of BRIGHTON 0 WALSALL 1

Tamworth Pleased to Take Point

STEVENAGE 1 TAMWORTH 1 TAMWORTH announced their return to the Blue Square Premier with a solid point against last season's beaten playoff semi-finalists Stevenage.

Hayes Make It Hot Work for Harriers

KIDDERMINSTER 1 HAYES 0 MATTHEW BARNES-HOMER underlined the significance of his decision to ignore the Aggborough exodus and commit his future to Harriers by letting his goals do the talking.

Lee-Thal Hooper Is Town Hero

MIDLAND ALLIANCE GOAL ACE Lee Hooper took just 90 seconds to get his MFA account up and running and give Malvern Town a perfect start. Hooper was the key man as the Worcestershire side, relegated from the Southern League last season, beat visitors Biddulph 3 - 1. Hooper's opener saw him rifle home from the edge of the area but this was cancelled out on 11 minutes by a Darren Chadwick header.

Sloppy United Feel the Four-Ce

Redditch United.......................1 Stalybridge Celtic ................... 4 REDDITCH crashed to an opening day defeat against one of the expected title contenders. Stalybridge looked comfortable from the start as Redditch struggled to make an impact, with only Gary Hay up front.

City Choke On Mcbean

Worcester City .......................1 Bromley ............................... 2 WORCESTER City started their league season with a home defeat to 10-man Bromley. Worcester pushed forward looking to make their man advantage count but Warren McBean collected a loose ball and lashed home a 93rd minute winner.

Vidic Success Helped Make Up Ned Mind

SERB and volley specialist Nenad Milijas has revealed how he watched a Vid before agreeing to move to England. Ned, who smashed several spectacular goals as he became his country's joint leading scorer last season, admits seeing the success of compatriot Nemanja Vidic helped persuade him to move to the Premier League.