Sunderland defeat sets up Sunday showdown

Sunderland will face a battle for survival on Sunday after Portsmouth came from 1-0 down to win 3-1 at Fratton Park. Read more

North East website, The Music Magazine, forced to close

A national website based in the North East has been closed down by the Sunderland student who created it two and a half years ago. Read more

Danny Wallace - the finest comedy writer in Britain?

There aren’t all that many British writers that have had their moderately successful tale of a man taking on a weird and wonderful challenge, but mostly sitting around in his flat drinking tea, made into Hollywood movies. Read more

Superb strikes ditch Reading as Burnley march on

Burnley will face Sheffield United in a Roses clash at Wembley for a place in the Premier League after beating Reading 2-0 in the second leg of their semi-final, going through 3-0 on aggregate.

Two stunning goals from Martin Paterson and Steven Thompson early in the second half saw the Clarets through after a nervy and tight first 45 minutes.

Reading had started the brighter side and the visitors had to rely on goalkeeper Brian Jensen to keep them in the game, palming Shane Long’s fierce shot away to safety and generally handling the ball well.

The Clarets were restricted to the odd chance on the break. Twice Reading’s stopper Marcus Hahnemann saved Clarke Carlisle headers from corners comfortably and Wade Elliott’s deflected volley was the only other bright spot for Burnley in a testing opening.

Referee Mike Riley then had a big call to make as Jensen lumbered off his line and out of his area to handle the ball. But Riley deemed it accidental, correctly so, and Jensen saved Dan Harding’s resulting drilled free-kick.

Burnley looked to see out the early stages of the second period but went one better, taking the lead just a few minutes in. Paterson was given far too much room to cut inside from the right touchline, amble forward twenty yards, and smash home a glorious left-foot drive inside Hahnemann’s far post from well outside the penalty area.

Reading manager Steve Coppell, who seemed to offer his resignation in a post-match interview, reacted by throwing on three substitutes, Glen Little, Dave Kitson and Stephen Hunt, but as the team struggled to settle Burnley put the tie to bed.

Jensen booted the ball long to Thompson, who held off Duberry to bring the ball down after it bounced awkwardly. The Scot then looked up and flicked the ball instinctively towards the goal, where Hahnemann was just too far off his line to stop it crashing in off the underside of the bar.

After that hammer blow Burnley’s progression was never in doubt, and they will fancy their chances in the winner takes all game on Bank Holiday Monday at the national stadium having beaten Kevin Blackwell’s Blades twice already this campaign.

Liverpool can breathe easy: A new long-term deal for Benitez

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has signed a new long-term contract in the wake of his side’s demolitions of both Real Madrid and Manchester United, two of football’s super-powers, in the last week

The news that Benitez has tied himself to the club until 2014 comes as a huge surprise, as he has seemed ill at ease with the club’s American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett for much of their tenure at Anfield

The Spaniard’s decision to stay is made after the club’s chief executive Rick Parry chose to leave the club at the end of this season . Benitez told the BBC: “My heart is with Liverpool, so I’m delighted to sign this new deal.”

Benitez and Parry had a fractious relationship with Parry thought to be behind the transfer of Robbie Keane to the club, a player Benitez didn’t want. The manager promptly sold the Irishman back to Spurs at the first opportunity.

That move seems to have convinced Benitez that in future he will have more control over incoming transfers, something he has fought for over his time at the club.

Rumours have persisted that Benitez would be tempted by the chance to take over at Real Madrid, a club who have long admired his managerial talents. But this news seems to quash those rumours.

“I love the club, the fans and the city and with a club and supporters like this, I could never say no to staying.”

Liverpool haven’t won the league title for almost twenty years, and if Manchester United win the Premier League this year they will equal the Merseyside club’s record of eighteen Championships.

Benitez has never led the club close to winning the league, but has brought great success in European competition. Liverpool won their fifth European Cup with Benitez at the helm in 2005, with one of football’s great comebacks against AC Milan in Istanbul, and two years later again reached the final, where the Italian club had their revenge with a 2-1 win. But the only other silverware Benitez has won is the FA Cup, in 2006, when Liverpool were lucky to beat West Ham.

The club’s fans will hope that the new contract shows that Benitez is dedicated to Liverpool and that the next five years with Benitez at the helm will be more successful domestically than the five previous.

Tuition fees row set to blow up again

Student friendly political party the Liberal Democrats have again blasted the top-up tuition fees introduced by the government. Read more

Carrick the key to United’s success

Despite still having two and a half months to go in the Premier League, Alan Hansen has already decided that Ryan Giggs should win the annual Footballer of the Year award. Read more

O’Sullivan wins Masters title

The most natural player the game of snooker has ever seen, Ronnie O’Sullivan, took the Masters title after an enthralling final at Wembley Arena, which the Londoner won 10-8.

Read more

Blur reform, headline Glasto?

Britpop heroes Blur have announced that they will reform during the summer of 2009.

Singer Damon Albarn has been prolific since the split, first spawning cult cartoon band Gorillaz, then forming supergroup The Good The Bad & The Queen, and then working on his Africa Express project, but he has clearly decided now is the time to resurrect the Blur juggernaut.

Two live dates have already been announced for mega-venue Hyde Park in London on the 2^nd and 3^rd of July, with the Thursday show still having tickets available to buy from the usual outlets for £45.

And it looks like the Sunday slot at Glastonbury is free for them to play, meaning they could close the three-day bash in Somerset.

Since the band’s split five years ago, the four members have had mixed fortunes. While Albarn’s career has gone from strength to strength, guitarist Graham Coxon has battled through a well-received but not commercially-successful solo career. Bassist Alex James has become a cheese farmer, written for various publications and presented a Panorama programme on cocaine in Columbia, and drummer Dave Rowntree lost an election as he bid to become a councillor.

During the summer Albarn was quoted in an Argentinian newspaper as claiming that ‘Blur are over’. Coxon retaliated on an internet form by stating “Damon didn’t consult anybody else before he took it into his own hands to make this comment. Therefore I think it is nonsense. It isn’t for him to decide.” Coxon and Albarn had fallen out after the former’s alleged alcohol problems had threatened the future of the band. Blur then went on to record their final studio album, Think Tank, without Coxon.

A month ago Albarn did a U-turn on his comments, changing his mind to say that “It’s very possible I’ll go back to Blur. It really is very possible.” He continued by saying “Graham and I have been hanging out together a bit. We had lunch the other day. He’s great, it’s fantastic to get my old friend back. So it’s good, but I can’t really say any more than that.”

And then two weeks ago Albarn revealed that the band would reunite next summer. Coxon and Albarn then gave an interview to the NME, in which the Hyde Park dates were announced.

Fans are now waiting to hear about tiny warm-up dates before the pair of huge London shows. It remains to be seen whether or not the band will record any new material.

Free night out at Independent

A group of 6 Sunderland students have teamed up to offer the students of Sunderland a free night out at city nightclub Independent this Friday (Dec 5).

The promotions company is called Northern Hype and is partly organised by Orkney-born Rory Auskerry. Northern Hype has been putting on nights at the club for fifteen months.

Northern Hype was born out of flat parties at student halls of residence Panns Bank and when the parties started over-filling the flat, in September 2007 Northern Hype took over a Friday night residence at Independent.

Rory said: “We decided that it would be more advantageous to do it in a club. We decided it would be better to do it on a monthly basis this year as well because we’re all third-years and have an increased work-load. We’re expecting 100-200 people on Friday.”

Entry to the Holmeside club is free to students before midnight and there will also be free absinthe distributed throughout the night.

And Rory quashed any concerns people may have over the free distribution of absinthe, a highly alcoholic anise-flavoured liquor, nicknamed the ‘Green Fairy’.

He said: “If people are going to drink irresponsibly they are going to do it whether it’s free or not. We aren’t going to be giving out large quantities of it.”

Northern Hype has previously been named as Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq’s ‘Indie Night of the Week’. Rory will be DJing under his alias DJ Mashup and he will be joined by two of the other members of Northern Hype, DJs Scratch & Sniff.

The music party-goers can expect is current and classic indie, as well as some rock and some funk.

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