EPL clubs in FA Cup upsets

In staging one of the most remarkable comebacks seen at the New Zealand bowls championships, Hillcrest’s Tony Fabling secured a place in the men’s singles final in Auckland yesterday.

Fabling, with three Waikato titles plus the Auckland-run NZ Open singles crown to his credit, set himself up for the biggest moment in his 13 years in bowls, when he ousted, against all predictions, Stoke’s Shannon McIlroy 21-20 with his final delivery in the semifinals.

McIlroy had looked odds-on to be heading for his third singles title in four years when he led 15-1.

However, Fabling displayed a coolness under fire that saw him reduce the deficit to 16-9 and then he turned it up even more.

‘‘Once I got down by a fortune, I just tried to get a few points to not embarrass myself,’’ Fabling said.

‘‘I’m just incredibly lucky . . . I got a few close. But there’s a game to go.’’

Fabling’s opponent in the final will be Mangere’s Taylor Horn. Horn, a finalist in the men’s fours last season and a past NZ Open pairs winner, defeated Musgrave Hill’s Chris Le Lievre 21-17 in the semifinals.

Hinuera’s Debbie White ensured that Waikato will also be represented in the women’s singles final when she beat Stoke’s Kirsten Edwards 21-19 in a tense semifinal. It illustrated that White, with 13 Waikato titles plus four national club crowns, had sufficient steel to compete at the highest level.

White’s opponent in the final will be Carlton Cornwall’s Selina Goddard. Goddard, the champion of two years ago, overcame an early 5-0 deficit against Te Rangi’s Sarah Scott to win 21-10.

Thames Valley’s Karl Garrett and Colin Gawith advanced to the men’s pairs final when they ousted Victoria’s Richard Corry and Raymond Martin 17-13 in the semifinals.

They led for the majority of their semifinal, gaining more of an edge from the mid-point. Playing the last end, Corry and Martin trailed by three shots. They held three before Gawith with the final bowl of the match drove the jack into the ditch to ensure victory.

Mangere’s Jordan King and Chris Lowe, who have been highly successful in Auckland, are the second finalists. With King leading expertly, the duo came from 5-1 down in the semis to trounce the Taranaki pair of Gerry O’Sullivan and Dean Elgar 22-5.

The women’s pairs final will be between Linda Ralph and Reen Stratford against Lisa Prideaux and Val Smith.

Ralph and Stratford were far too hot for Goddard and Amy McIlroy. Even though a four on the eighth end kept Goddard and McIlroy in touch at 8-6 behind, Ralph and Stratford pulled away to win 17-10.

Prideaux and Smith won the other semi emphatically, 22-3 over Te Atutu Peninsula’s Robyn Reihana and Marion Hakaraia.

The pairs finals start at Carlton Cornwall at 9am today, with the singles finals to follow. Results of the New Zealand bowls championships in Auckland yesterday:

Men’s singles, quarterfinals: T Fabling (Hillcrest) 21 G Goodwin (Riverhead) 5, S McIlroy (Stoke) 21 L Amer (Johnsonville) 14, C Le Lievre (Musgrave Hill) 21 J Hill (Eastbourne) 17, T Horn (Mangere) 21 R Andrew (Manurewa) 16. Semifinals: Fabling 21 McIlroy 20, Horn 21 Le Lievre 17. Women’s singles, semifinals: S Goddard (Carlton Cornwall) 21 S Scott (Te Rangi) 10, D White (Hinuera) 21 K Edwards (Stoke) 19.

Men’s pairs, quarterfinals: J King/C Lowe (Mangere) 20 S Hoeft/J Patelo (Pt Chevalier) 9, G O’Sullivan/D Elgar (composite) 16 B Turner/A Haywood (Browns Bay) 8, K Garrett/C Gawith (composite) 15 L Fitness/R Hocking (composite) 13, R Corry/R Martin (Victoria) 19 T Grantham/M Symes (composite) 8. Semifinals: King/Lowe 22 O’Sullivan/Elgar 5, Garrett/Gawith 17 Corry/Martin 13.

Women’s pairs, semifinals: L Prideaux/ V Smith (composite) 22 R Reihana/M Hakaraia (composite) 3, L Ralph/R Stratford (composite) 17 S Goddard/A McIlroy (composite) 10.

Draw for today’s finals: 9am, men’s pairs (King/Lowe v Garrett/Gawith), women’s pairs (Prideaux/Smith v Ralph/Stratford); 11.30am, women’s singles (Goddard v White); 2pm, men’s singles (Fabling v Horn). English Premier League side Leicester City were handed a huge FA shock as lowly Newport County bridged a gap of 74 places on the league ladder to dump them out of the English FA Cup yesterday.

Padraig Amond’s 85th-minute penalty fired the Welsh side into the fourth round as 2-1 winners after Mark Albrighton was guilty of a needless handball in the area.

The penalty came just three minutes after Rachid Ghezzal had levelled for Leicester, who had trailed since Newport’s opener, which was headed in by Jamille Matt from Robbie Willmott’s cross after just 10 minutes.

Newport play in League Two, English football’s fourth tier.

County manager Michael Flynn told BBC Sport the upset was ‘‘unbelievable’’.

‘‘My voice has gone. I’m so proud of the players. They were excellent from start to finish – the amount of work they did off the ball and the chances we created as well.

‘‘Let’s not say that we just hung on – we created quite a few chances.’’

Newport’s success followed another giantkilling earlier when Premier League strugglers Fulham were upended 2-1 by fourthtier side Oldham.

The Londoners took the lead against Oldham, three divisions below them in the league, through Denis Odoi.

Sam Surridge equalised with a penalty but Fulham missed a penalty through Aleksandar Mitrovic, who was brought on as a substitute to take the kick, before Callum Lang snatched the winner two minutes from time.

‘‘It is one you have to savour. I am the most proud man in Oldham, I can’t believe it,’’ Oldham boss Pete Wild said.

Non-league Barnet caused an equally big shock as they won 1-0 at Sheffield United – 84 places higher than them in the English football pyramid – Shaquile Coulthirst scoring the only goal from the penalty spot on 21 minutes.

It was an emotional afternoon for caretaker manager Darren Currie, who led Barnet to their 1-0 win over Sheffield United – the club where his uncle, Tony, is regarded as a football great and has a stand named after him at the stadium at Bramall Lane.

‘‘Naturally he’ll be hurting,’’ Darren Currie said. ‘‘He wants his team to go through, but he’s proud of me and what I’ve done today.’’

Barnet will be the only nonleague side in the fourth round. They are in 15th place in the fifthtier National League.

There were no problems for Premier League champions Manchester City, though, as they hammered Rotherham United 7-0 to join Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United in the hat.

Premier League side Watford won 2-0 at non-league Woking, Championship leaders Leeds United went down 2-1 at Queens Park Rangers but Millwall and Doncaster Rovers both advanced to the fourth round.

– AP, Stuff