Alex not a loan with two-try heroics for Connacht

Connacht 32 Cardiff 17

BY JOHN FALLON

ALEX WOOTTON took his try haul into double figures as the winger on loan from Munster crossed twice to bring Connacht’s losing run to an end at the Sportsground.

He struck twice before the break as Andy Friend’s men came from behind for a win which keeps them on course for Champions Cup slots and also still gives them a slight shot of catching Munster in Conference B.

“That gave us a foothold and we had something to build on in the second-half,” said Wootton (left), who has now scored 10 tries on loan from Munster to Connacht this season.

Cardiff came into the game under something of a cloud as young centres Mason Grady and Ben Thomas were unable to travel to

Ireland due to Covid-19 testing issues.

Loosehead Rhys Carré went over for his first try for the Blues but Connacht took over before the break.

A brace of tries from Wootton in a blistering five-minute spell pushed them 20-10 in front.

Wooton, 26, went over again before Corey Domachowski scored but Jarrad Butler and Abraham Papali’i tries settled it.

CONNACHT: Tries, A Wootton (2), J Butler, A Papali’i; cons, J Carty (2); pens, Carty (2).

CARDIFF: Tries, R Carré, C Domachowski; cons, J Tovey, M Morgan; pen, Tovey.

ASTON VILLA boss Dean Smith would love the Premier League’s Big Six to become a ‘Big 10’ in the future.

But, in the meantime,

Smith (right) has one focus – getting his high-fliers to gatecrash this season’s Champions League places – or, at very least, secure a Europa League spot.

Villa can take another significant step towards that immediate goal with a victory over Leicester this afternoon.

The Foxes, third in the table, are where Smith’s team wants to be in terms of overall development at their club.

The Villa boss admitted as much while discussing the race for Europe – and the Villans’ short and long-term dreams.

Ahead of the King Power showdown, Smith said: “This is a progressive club, with the owners we have here.

“They want us to be challenging in the higher echelons of this Premier League. My job is to design a team that can compete in the top six.

“It will take time, because of the head-start the big clubs have over us, with us having three years in the

Championship.” Villa would move to within a point of Brendan Rodgers’ men if they take all three today AND win their two games in hand on their Midlands rivals.

Which brings the thorny topic of a ‘European Super League’ into serious question. Asked whether such a prospect would kill the competitive ambitions of clubs like Villa and Leicester, Smith’s response was cautious yet emphatic.

The ex-Brentford and Walsall manager (left), 49, said: “That’s what sport is about – you want teams to go and break the mould of the Big Six, so to speak.

“I believe that Leicester are there already. They’re a top-four club. We want to become one of those clubs and make it a more competitive league – make it a Big 10.

He is full of praise for the job opposite number Rodgers has done since assuming the King Power reins a little over two years ago.

Smith said: “I did my Pro Licence with Brendan. He was Chelsea B team coach at the time and has progressed extremely well.

“And as a British coach he’s been outstanding.”

HERO Toon star Matty Longstaff enjoys his winner against United

EXCLUSIVE

BROTHERS Sean and Matty Longstaff have been told they might have to quit Newcastle to save their careers.

The warning comes from Alan Thompson, cousin of their father David, who has watched the pair grow up and play for their hometown club.

Thompson, 47, a former England international, can speak from experience because when he was 20, the same age as Matty, he left Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle in search of regular football. Newcastle face Manchester United at Old Trafford this evening with the siblings likely to be on the bench, neither having started a game since mid-January.

What a contrast from last season when Matty scored his first Toon goal as the Magpies beat United at St James’ Park, then struck in the return fixture.

Thompson said: “I spoke to their dad, and there’s no doubt they are frustrated.

“I know what they are like

BY SIMON MULLOCK

LUKE SHAW’S renaissance at Manchester United is down to sheer hard work – and becoming a dad.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reckons the left-back could win an England recall after producing his best form since arriving in a £30million deal from Southampton in 2014. The Old

Trafford chief insists the credit must go to Shaw, 25, and the responsibility he started to feel after son, Reign London, was born in November 2019.

Solskjaer said: “Luke has shown real dedication and I think that maybe becoming a dad has helped him big-time.”

MIKEL ARTETA knows the comparisons between him and his mentor Pep Guardiola will last for as long as he’s a football manager.

But the Arsenal boss (left) also knows any comparisons are unfair because there is no symmetry whatsoever between the situations that the two are in. Guardiola, 11 years Arteta’s senior, was handed the reins at Barcelona after a short but successful spell in charge of the Catalan club’s B team.

He inherited a stable of thoroughbreds at the Nou Camp with Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol chief among them. Guardiola helped that stellar group hit the