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It is the same penalty Crusaders were given after they entered administration late last year.

But new owner Andrew Glover says he will do everything possible to ensure the club gains a new Super League licence after completing his takeover.

He told BBC Radio Leeds: "We are going to make sure everything that needs to be done to get it is done."

He added: "We are going to try our hardest to get it."

The governing body has already stated that one current Super League club will not get a new licence from next season.

And Glover, whose takeover was rubber-stamped on Thursday, has a fight on his hands to convince the RFL that the side deserve a new three-year licence.

Wildcats have suffered this season following their administration and additional problems around their attempts to get their new stadium built at Newmarket.

Glover admitted he has contemplated dropping down a division, adding: "We have to bare with the reality that we might not get a licence, but that doesn't mean we are just going to sit back and expect not to get it.

"We go all guns blazing now into not just trying to get the licence but also pushing on with the stadium.

"We have our work cut out here but we feel we have all the right people in the right places to make it all work."

Glover also insists the Wildcats will be his main priority as he takes a backseat from his other company, West Yorkshire Windows.

"This will be my daily job, I imagine I'll be here everyday for the next few years. My team at the window company know what they are doing, so they'll be fine looking after that.

"I'll be here daily for the foreseeable future as we look to keep Wakefield on the right track."

Labels: docks, points, Sport, Trinity, Wakefield, Wildcats

A brace from Wayne Rooney in a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa kept Manchester United five points clear at the top of the Premier League, but Arsenal and Chelsea stayed in touch with the unbeaten leaders with come-from-behind victories on Tuesday. Rooney scored with virtually the first and last kicks of the first half at Old Trafford to help United to a convincing win that equaled the club's...

Labels: brace, clear, keeps, points, Rooney, United

Celtic moved eight points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League table last night with a 3-0 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

The home side had to play virtually the whole game with 10 men after defender Andrew Considine was shown a red card for a foul on Scott Brown in the penalty area inside two minutes. Jamie Langfield saved Anthony Stokes' penalty but Celtic took the lead in the 12th minute through Gary Hooper.

Mark Wilson got the second with 15 minutes to go and Stokes made amends for his penalty miss soon after.

Labels: Celtic, clear, eight, Hooper, Independent, lifts, points

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP)—Celtic moved five points clear of Glasgow rival Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premier League with a 3-1 victory at Dundee United on Sunday.

Celtic went into halftime at Tannadice with a 2-0 lead thanks to deflected efforts by top scorer Anthony Stokes and Mark Wilson.

The hosts, who came into the match boasting an 11-game unbeaten run, halved the deficit in the 64th minute when David Goodwillie crashed home a close-range finish.

But Celtic wrapped up the win when Daniel Majstorovic headed in from an inswinging free kick, extending its run to 16 matches without defeat.

Second-place Rangers, which beat Motherwell 6-0 on Saturday, has two games in hand over its cross-city rival.

Labels: beats, Celtic, clear, Dundee, points

ATHENS, Greece (AP)—Olympiakos scraped a 1-0 win over visiting Xanthi after an own goal by defender Olubayo Adefemi on Sunday, maintaining a seven-point lead over defending Greek champion Panathinaikos.

Ten-man Panathinaikos won 1-0 at PAOK to move 13 points clear of its third-place rival.

Also Sunday, Volos beat Atromitos 2-0, Ergotelis defeated Panionios 2-0 and Kavala downed Kerkyra 1-0.

Olympiakos attacked from the start but it was Xanthi which missed the first scoring chance in 16th minute when Christopher Katongo dribbled past two defenders and shot from the edge of the area, only to be denied by goalkeeper Urko Pardo.

Ten minutes later, Albert Riera’s free kick found Francois Modesto inside Xanthi’s area but the latter’s header bounced off Xanthi’s crossbar.

The hosts scored their only goal seconds before halftime. Vassilis Torossidis crossed from the right, David Fuster rose to head the ball and Adefemi, attempting to defend, pushed the ball into the net.

In the 60th, Riera found Torossidis inside the area but Xanthi goalkeeper Michael Gspurning blocked the shot with his legs.

Gspurning also had to intervene in the 77th when he jumped and palmed away a long lob by Ariel Ibagaza.

Xanthi nearly equalized in injury time, but Pardo rushed out of his goal to meet the charging Adefemi at the edge of his area and kick the ball away.

In Thessaloniki, Panathinaikos took the lead in the 10th minute through Sotiris Ninis’ curling free kick and had to fend off PAOK’s continual attacks for the rest of the game.

The hosts missed their best chance in the 37th when Vieirinha’s long-range shot hit the crossbar.

The defending champion was forced to play a man short for the whole second half after Nikos Spyropoulos saw a yellow card in the 43rd. PAOK was unable to capitalize on its superiority despite having eight shots on goal to Panathinaikos’ none.

PAOK also ended the game a man short after Pablo Contreras was dismissed in the 74th.

Panathinaikos’ only second-half foray into PAOK’s area came in the 88th, when Gilberto Silva’s through ball sent Costas Katsouranis alone with goalkeeper Costas Halkias, but Katsouranis shot wide.

Labels: beats, leads, Olympiakos, points, Xanthi

Eredivisie Table


Ajax 2-0 De Graafschap

The home side put in a far from impressive performance in the opening minutes of the game, but they still managed to grab the lead minutes before the interval. Miralem Sulejmani set up Mounir el Hamdaoui after a good cross from the left and the Morocco international slotted home from close range to open the score. De Graafschap were unable to really trouble the Ajax back-line and attacking midfielder Siem de Jong put the match to bed in the 79th minute with a calm finish from a narrow angle.

Heerenveen 0-0 NEC

Heerenveen attacker Roy Beerens caused the NEC defence all kinds of trouble in the first half and the Friezen got several chances to open the score via Viktor Elm and Christian Grindheim. Nevertheless, the NEC goalie proved to be too much of an obstacle and kept a clean sheet. Bjorn Vleminckx came close for the away side on two occasions, but the Belgium international eventually failed to add his name to the score sheet.

PSV 0-1 ADO Den Haag

The hosts were the better side of the two in the first half and both Orlando Engelaar and Balazs Dzsudzsak should have opened the score. However, sloppy finishing kept ADO alive and the Residentieclub eventually left Eindhoven with the full three points courtesy of a Wesley Verhoek goal deep into stoppage time after PSV goalie Andreas Isaksson failed to collect a low cross from the left.

Excelsior 2-1 AZ

AZ started the match with attacking intentions and were rewarded for their positive attitude in the 10th minute. Stijn Schaars found Iceland international Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and the young striker found the net with the outside of his right boot. Excelsior did their utmost to fight back after the interval and the referee had no other choice but to award the Kralingers a spot kick in the second half after Dirk Marcellis handled the ball inside his own area. Tim Vincken then fired home the the penalty to restore parity. The hosts continued to create chances and young midfielder Jordy Clasie helped Excelsior to the full three points with a free kick that surprised AZ glovesman Sergio Romero at the far post.

VVV 3-0 NAC

The Venlo side started the match brilliantly and needed only two minutes to break the deadlock. Nigerian international Ahmed Musa beat his marker to the ball after a free kick and headed home from close range to open the score. VVV striker Ruud Boymans then missed a spot kick in the 38th minute, but the Limburgers doubled their lead after all around the hour mark. Sloppy defending from Milano Koenders and Kees Luyckx gifted Jorge Chula the chance to try his luck and the young winger found the net from inside the area. Achmed Ahahoui piled even more misery on NAC when he tapped home a rebound in the dying seconds of the match to make it 3-0 for the relegation candidates.

Vitesse 1-1 Feyenoord

Vitesse winger Haruna Babangida got the biggest chance to open the score in the first half, but the speedy winger failed to beat Feyenoord goalie Erwin Mulder from close range. The Rotterdam giants then opened the score in the 56th minute. Diego Biseswar found the unmarked Luc Castaignos and the highly rated youngster had no trouble finding the net from five yards out. Vitesse weren't impressed too much though and playmaker Ismail Aissati restored parity only minutes later with a well taken penalty.

Groningen 7-1 Willem II

The Pride of the North deservedly opened the score halfway the first half via towering defender Andreas Granqvist. The Swedish centre-back headed home after a superb cross from Dusan Tadic. Experienced full-back Fredrik Stenman doubled Groningen's lead only minutes later before prolific hitman Tim Matavz added his name to the score-sheet in the dying seconds of the first half. Groningen were then dealt a bit of a blow when Granqvist received his marching orders after the break and Andreas Lasnik converted the following spot kick. However, Willem II were reduced to ten men as well in the 54th minute when Arjan Swinkels received a controversial red card. Matavz stepped up to take the penalty and kept his cool to make it 4-1. Willem II youngster Gerrit Pressel was then dismissed as well to make things even worse for the Tilburgers. Slovenia international Matavz got his hattrick shortly after before Thomas Enevoldsen and Tadic added their names to the score sheet too to complete the rout.

Utrecht 1-1 Twente

The Domstedelingen recently beat Ajax in the Galgenwaard and they seemed all fired up to get another good result against the reigning champions. Utrecht deservedly grabbed the lead in the 37th minute. Nana Asare picked up a long ball after sloppy defending from Peter Wisgerhof and reached Leon de Kogel inside the area. The young striker didn't hesitate and beat the Twente custodian with a low shot in the far corner. Twente then took over the initiative and promising winger Nacer Chadli levelled the score from five yards out. Edouard Duplan came close to helping Utrecht to victory on two occasions, but an amazing save from Nikolay Mihaylov and the cross-bar denied the French attacker.

Heracles 1-0 Roda

Heracles started the match the better side of the two and created several chances to open the score in the first half. However, it took them until the 53rd minute before versatile attacker Willie Overtoom broke the deadlock with a good long range strike. The hosts were reduced to ten men when Tim Breukers was dismissed, but Roda were unable to salvage a draw in the remainder of the game.

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Labels: Celebrate, Eredivisie, Goalcom, points, RoundUp, Spill, Twente

* Pato puts Milan ahead but Floro Flores equalises

* Napoli win and Lazio draw before Inter v Roma

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MILAN, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Serie A leaders AC Milan slipped up for the second straight game in a 1-1 draw at Genoa on Sunday which opened the door for Napoli to cut the gap at the top to three points. Surprise packages Napoli failed to take advantage when Milan drew 0-0 with Lazio in midweek when they lost at Chievo but red-hot striker Edinson Cavani helped make sure they did this time in a 2-0 home victory over lowly Cesena.

The Uruguayan, Serie A’s top scorer with 18 goals, converted Christian Maggio’s cross in the first half against second-bottom Cesena before Jose Sosa netted in stoppage time.

“We must improve our continuity,” Cavani told Sky TV.

Champions Inter Milan, in fourth, host last term’s runners-up AS Roma later (1945 GMT) and can move within five of Milan if they win while also having another game in hand.

Milan’s Alexandre Pato, preferred to Antonio Cassano upfront, latched on to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s pass to give the visitors a 29th-minute lead but Genoa forward Antonio Floro Flores struck home a loose ball just before the break.

Milan’s midfield was almost back to full strength after injuries and suspension but the hosts defended stoutly and deserved their point, with Rossoneri fans now fretting that a first scudetto since 2004 does not look as clearcut as before.

“We knew it wouldn’t be easy against Genoa,” Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri said, adding that Cassano was still not fully fit after missing three months of action.

“We were unlucky with their equaliser and in the second half we didn’t play well, we gave away too many balls.

“We know the championship is long. Napoli don’t have any pressure, they are not obliged to win.”

LAZIO HELD

Tensions were high at the Marassi given the game was the first time since the death of a supporter 16 years ago in crowd trouble that Milan fans had been allowed to the encounter.

Scuffles between fans were reported but nothing major.

Third-placed Lazio missed the chance to pressure Milan themselves with a 1-1 home draw with Chievo.

Hernanes put the Romans in front with a ferocious freekick deep into first-half stoppage time but Cesar equalised.

Palermo lie just two points behind Lazio in fifth following a thrilling 4-2 win at struggling Lecce.

Previously struggling on-loan Juventus forward Amauri superbly netted his first Parma goal in a 1-1 draw with Fiorentina, who had Adrian Mutu back for the first time since being banished for quitting training last month.

Third-bottom Brescia won the relegation battle with basement side Bari, Alessandro Diamanti netting a penalty and Andrea Caracciolo an injury-time strike in a 2-0 victory which puts eight points between the two sides.

Bologna beat Catania 1-0 to send the Sicilians closer to the drop zone with new coach Diego Simeone failing to stop a slide.

Juventus ended their bad run with a 3-1 victory at Cagliari on Saturday when Alessandro Matri scored twice against his former club while Udinese continued their ascent with a 2-0 win over toothless Sampdoria. (Writing by Mark Meadows; Editing by Justin Palmer; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Labels: Again, close, Milan, Napoli, points, Reuters