Rugby League Four Nations final - England V Australia.

I shouldn't really admit to this, but I had every intention of placing two large bet on both France to win their play off tie against Ireland in the soccer world cup and England to beat Australia on a +10 handicap. As it was, the ever tempting lure of alcohol stood in my way.

I took £15 worth of betting money to Leeds to spend before going into the match itself and witnessing the match, hoping for an England win. Or at least a loss of no more than nine points. Neither came, but it didn't affect the betting record as badly as you might  think.

The Old Peacock pub saw almost every penny of my £15 betting budget as I dragged myself away from the bar and headed to the west stand of the Elland Road stadium in time for kick off.

Inside the local bookmakers had its own stand which allows it to provide punters a chance to gamble once inside the ground. I think it was called Taylors. I could be wrong, though. My alcohol blood content was way beyond any acceptable level by this point in the evening.

I do distinctively remember the amount of money I placed on England (+10) to win, £1.32 exactly. I did what any betting alcoholic does in a situation where he is extremely intoxicated. Write out the bet, put your hand in your pocket, and dump a vast amount of silver and copper coins on the counter. Then smile to the employee who has to spend the next two minutes counting your change while a seven man queue quietly forms behind you.

But having spent the rest of my money, it meant no more alcohol for me that night. Which is just as well because £5 for a pint of watered down Carling isn't on my list of must have beverages. It meant I could watch the game and remember the details. Sam Burgess dummied both Petro Civoniceva and the world's best fullback, Billy Slater to score England's first. Brett Morris equalised before Peter Fox gave England back the lead. Then Greg Inglis scored a controversial try before Jonathan Thurston extended Australia's lead with a penalty before half time.

Sam Burgess got his second try and England held on until the hour mark when Australia opened the floodgates and dominated the rest of the match. Final score; England 16-46 Australia.

Picture taken by Nicholas Woodward.
Match report seen at www.bbc.co.uk/rugbyleague

France V Ireland - second leg.

Another frustrating loss. But this time I couldn't care less.

Due to the horrendous act of cheating displayed by one, Thierry Henry, I couldn't have cared less about losing the money I placed on France to beat Ireland at the Stade de France.

I was going to put bet on France to win the tie itself over the two legs. However, the temptation of alcohol was too much and I ended up spending the money in Leeds. More on that can be seen here.

After finding the result of the first leg at Croke Park, France were going into the second leg 1-0 up on aggregate and would play the second leg at home. There was not a cat in hells chance they were going to lose. Or were they?

In a word, yes. The bet I placed was for France to win the second leg after 90 minutes, £3 at 1/2 from Coral. The score was 1-0 to Ireland, who had played out of their skin and their goal from Robbie Keane was thoroughly deserved. On aggregate the scores were tied 1-1 with both teams having scored an away goal.

Ireland had all the momentum behind them going into the tense and pulsating drama that is extra time. They had the French cheese-eating surrender monkeys on the back foot and were cutting through the defence like scissors does to paper. I'd lost the bet, I couldn't care less now. I wanted Ireland win win the tie. And then it happened.

After 13 minutes of extra time, Thierry Henry became public enemy number one in not just Ireland, but the entire footballing world.

His actions are up there in sporting injustices for 2009. He sits along side David Ngog of Liverpool when he dived to deny Birmingham City of a memorable win. Hell, some people are even comparing him to Diego Maradona.

A ball sent into the box from a free kick was controlled down by Henry, first using his forearm, then by his hand before tapping it towards William Gallas to head the ball into the net.

Its another loss to add to the list, but its one I'm glad to have lost as I'd be a very unpopular man if I were to boast a win in front of an audience of Irish folk.

Picture taken by Nicholas Woodward
Match report can be seen at www.skysports.com

Flashback - The bittersweet moment of betting against your own team.

This is the first of several flashback articles telling the stories of significant wins, but mostly devastating loses.

As you may or may not know, I am an avid rugby league supporter of both the game itself and of my home town club. I can boast having missed only two Warrington Wolves matches last season, and even fewer the season before that. Having turned the legal age of 18 just before the 2008 season, and having been a gambler of sorts whilst being 17 in my first year of college (they shouldn't have put a bookies down the road to tempt us) I have three years experience of betting on sports events, matches and even the roulette machines. Not that I've learnt much.

I also used to work in a pharmacy for 18 months during my time at college, which had two bookmakers within 100 yards of the front door. One was even next door. It will come as no surprise that I spent a fair bit of my wages in either the Ladbrokes or the regional David Pluck bookmaker. One Saturday, before arguably the biggest game of the year for Warrington away to St Helens, I took a trip next door to place a bet against my own team. For St Helens to win by a margin of 1-5 points came out at 16/1 odds. A £2.50 wager paid out profit of £40.

Shock, shock, horror, horror!

I couldn't separate either team at the time, and the results previous didn't look good in Warrington's favour. Since 2005, Warrington have come so close to ending one of the worst records in rugby league. In thirteen season of Super League, Warrington have beaten St Helens only once. But on two occasions since 2005 we had been narrowly beaten. At home that year we lead 16-4 with ten minutes to go until full time. Saints scored three quick tries, one of which was on the final play of the game, and we lost 18-16 at home. I sulked like a baby for days.

Eight rounds later, the reverse fixture was even more emotional. Having outplayed them for over 75 minutes, they came back at us again  scoring two tries and two conversions. In Manchester United style fashion, serial wanker Sean Long kicked over a drop goal to break all Warringtonian hearts in the final minute to end the scores 31-30. I didn't speak until the next day.

Back to the topic in hand and with the betting slip firmly in my wallet, I watched as the team in the primrose and blue shirts battled hard for 76 minutes, leading 16-10 at that point. All thought of my earlier bet had disappeared. I wanted us to finally beat them and celebrate like there would be no tomorrow. I wanted the sweet taste of victory not had at Knowsley Road in over thirteen years. Then it all went sour. Lee Gilmour went in next to the posts for one of the softest tries ever seen in a competitive game of rugby league to level the scores at 16 all. Then it was drop goal time. The magic one point could sealed the game for wither side with less than two minutes remaining. Warrington stand-off, Lee Briers takes a shot at goal, only for the ball to sail wide of the post. A minute later Saints were at the other end of the pitch. Log received the ball from a twenty metre pass directly backwards, and it all looked so similar as he drop kicked the ball on the 40 metre line.

Like in a cheesy Hollywood sports film, the ball took an age to reach the sticks. Would he miss? Would it fall short of the crossbar? Would the wind blow it off course? The answer was a resounding no, as the ball hit the groud on the other side of the crossbar after 41 metres in the air. With three seconds left to play, Warrington needed a miracle. It never came. I shed a small tear as we stood there is disbelief. Those bastards had done it again!

I was dropped off at the bookies next to where I work, the darkness having settled in hours ago made the shop stand out from across the road as a dragged my feet to receive the winnings. It was a strange moment. £40 at the time meant a lot to me. It meant I could afford to travel to Castleford in two weeks time and see us get beat 44-24. The manager was the only person in at the time. He saw my dejected face as I strolled in wearing my Warrington shirt and let out a small laugh and a smile. He wasn't smiling as I produced the slip to claim my winnings. His emotions turned to both surprise and disappointment as he handed over the money.
"Don't be sad, at least you've won some money over it" he said. "What would you have wanted, the money or the win?"
"The win," I replied.
He asked, "Then why did you place the bet against Warrington?"
I turned around and said firmly, "I know they'd lose because I support them."

Its sod's law, isn't it.

That damning match report can be seen here at www.sportinglife.com

Chelsea V Manchester United.

Manchester United were never going to win this game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a month of Sundays.

Their form at the home of the north London club in recent years has been nothing short of dreadful for Sir Alex Ferguson's team. They have not beaten Chelsea away since 2002. Since then they have succumbed to five defeats and almost as many draws.

So it was always going to be a 50:50 call on whether to go for a Chelsea win, or a bore-draw. But Chelsea were in-form and United had several keys players missing. And maybe it should have been a bore-draw.

A Darren Fletcher challenge on Ashley Cole was judged to have made contact bringing down the Chelsea defender. To my personal annoyance, John Terry scored from Lampard's resulting free kick.

Until this point neither team had looked like scoring.

But only £2 was wasted on a draw, which after reading and listening to all the hype before the game I assumed the event itself would be a let down. The boxing fight the night before recouped a lot of money lost so far, so two quid wasn't going to reduce loss margin too much. It did mean I couldn't buy a bottle of coke on the way back to university.

Match report can be seen here at www.bbc.co.uk/football

David Haye V Nikoli Valuev

It was billed as David verses Goliath. And once again, David won.

Thanks to you charming readers voting in the recent poll, I took your advice and backed Daivd Haye to win on points in his WBA World Heavyweight Championship fight with Nikoli Valuev, the Russian giant. The £5 investment went some way to recover the damage made in earlier bets which was making a loss of just under £20.

After earlier checking the odds at www.oddschecker.com and keeping a stern eye on the site all day, I was able to get the most out of my money after learning the odds had drifted from 3/1 to 10/3. My £5 stake rewarded me with a £21.33 payout, which comes to £16.33 profit. This meant that a lot of the previous damage had been rectified, as well as providing me with enough money to get back to university on the Sunday evening.

I was unable to watch the fight itself due to it being broadcast on Sky Box Office, a pay-per-view subscription service of £15 which would have been covered by winning the bet. Personally, I would much rather spend the money on something I consider worthwhile. Jason Manford's new DVD would be nice.

The fight as it happened at www.guardian.co.uk

Arsenal V AZ Alkmaar

Arsenal did the unthinkable and secured my first pay out since this mindless, and possibly costly venture began thanks to a 4-1 win over AL. I was not able to watch the game due to work commitments, but after placing a small £2 bet on Arsenal to win outright, I was overjoyed to see they did not disappoint.
1/6 odds at Coral ensured I have only had a loss of £19.67 since 1st November after a 33p profit.

The next bet to be placed will be on the WBA Heavyweight fight between David Haye and Nikolai Valuev on Saturday. You can decide what outcome I place my money on by voting on the poll to the right of this article.

Total staked: £22
Total won: £2.33
Profit/Loss: -£19.67

Manchester United V CSKA Moscow

Manchester United were 5/6 to win this match with a (-1) handicap. With no Ferdinand or Giggs and with Rooney starting of the bench, the home team secured a point after going 3-1 down and ensured they would be in the next round of the Champions League with a 3-3 draw. A £5 would bring a return of £9.17, cutting two thirds off the loss I had already made.

After securing a 1-0 win in Moscow two weeks beforehand, and with everything still to play for, I expected Man Utd to go all out for a comfortable win on home soil. I had learnt my lesson from the last three bets and chose not to go for odds that would  possibly payout double the stake. I expected to get my winning streak off to a start.

Alas, United under performed and fell two goals behind thanks to goals from Dzagoev, Krasic and Berezutsk for the Russians. Owen equalised CSKA Moscow's first goal until the Russian's scored two more either side of half time.

From this point, the bet is dead and buried regardless if United can snatch another goal or two. From 3-1 down and six minutes to play by the time Scholes scores, it would be impossible for United to score four goals in that time period for the bet to be won. As it was, United did score two more ensuring their qualification to the last 16.

For the first time since Sunday, I felt let down and disappointed that United couldn't win by two or more goals. Sir Alex Ferguson's side have huge strength in depth, and that was another reason for assuming United would win by two clear goals.

If you think about it, any other team like Arsenal or Chelsea don't have that strength in depth. Therefore they would struggle with a revamped. depleted or unrecognised  starting eleven.

Total Staked: £20
Total Won: £0
Profit/Loss: £-20

Match report at www.mirrorfootball.co.uk

Time to put my money where your mouth is.

On Saturday David Haye takes on Nikolai Valuev for the WBA heavyweight championship. I know its early days in this blog but I want you, the readers, to predict who will win the fight and by what method.Whatever the result of the poll, I will back that outcome.

Leave all your comments below to discuss the fight, and dont forget to vote.

Sheffield United V Newcastle United.

Damn you, Steve Harper.

A fantastic save by the Newcastle goal keeper ensured his side took all three points back to the north east after The Magpies went ahead 1-0 thanks to a Chris Morgan own goal. This was not what I wanted after predicting a 1-1 draw, 11/2 at Coral. A £5 bet would have returned £32.50.

Despite the own goal, Sheffield piled on the pressure in the final moments searching for that equaliser. Darius Henderson was unlucky on three separate occasions not to level the game after a gutsy effort from The Blades despite their league form making poor reading. Sheffield have not won in seven games making it the worst in the division.

Before this game, Newcastle's own form didn't make happy reading despite their league position either, and that was my reasoning for predicting a draw. Newcastle had themselves only won only one game from five attempts in the build up to this match.

Looking at the league table alone, it would have been very easy to predict a Newcastle win. But Sheffield still have some good players in the Championship. They lost out in the play offs to Burnley last May, which shows they have the talent for that division. On that basis, it could be fair to say they are mirroring Liverpool's form in the Premier League.

And so after witnessing Liverpool defeat Manchester United, raising their game for a one off occasion, factoring in Newcastle's form plus the league position of the Sheffield side, this game had a draw written all over it. Had it not been for an unlucky deflection, it may well have been.

After 3 bets;
Total staked: £15
Total profit: -£15

Rugby League European Cup. Scotland V Lebanon & Wales V Ireland.

To get this profit winning venture off to a start, I thought it was a good idea to begin on a sport that I have expertise knowledge of.

I was brought up into a rugby league family, so it comes as no surprise I was hooked onto the sport from an early age. My Great-granddad was the first on my Dad's side of the family to follow the local rugby league team, Warrington Wolves. I am the fourth generation to suffer a wide range of emotions for eighty minutes every week following the team, but it does mean my knowledge of the sport is vast and on numerous occasions friends have asked questions, and I have instantly known the answer.

And most of the time my betting record shows it. One very particular bitter sweet moment occurred midway through the 2008 Super League season. Using my brain instead of my heart, I placed a £5 bet against Warrington to lose by a winning margin of 1-5 points at odds of 8/1 before they were due to play St Helens. Warrington performed the best they had done all season, outperforming the league leaders for 79 minutes. A Sean Long drop goal for St Helens three seconds from full time ensured they won the match, but with more than a few tears in my eye I collected £40 later that night.

Back to the present and as I tried to enter my local Ladbrokes the door became jammed making me look like a fool trying to force open an unlocked door. I hope it wasn't an omen.

To start the new-found venture, I decided to make it a double header by placing a bet on each match during the final week of the Rugby League European Cup group games. Sky Sports were to show both Scotland V Lebanon and Wales V Ireland. Both games were to act as semi finals, as both the Scots and Lebanese had already defeated Italy in group one. In group two Wales and Ireland had thrashed Serbia. The scene was set so whoever won in both games qualified to the European Cup final.

Scotland went into their game against Lebanon as group leaders on points difference. But that didn't affect the way I betted. I decided to bet £5 on Lebanon to win outright with odds of 11/4. From previous viewing of the Lebanese team, it looked like a license to print money. Lebanon were unlucky to miss out on qualification to the sport's World Cup two years ago, showing physical flare and performing brutal tackles in the process. Despite their inexperience and low skill level, I expected Lebanon to out muscle the Scottish side.

This was not what happened.

Lebanon fell foul to awful weather conditions and their own mistakes counted against them despite leading 4-0 for over twenty minutes in the first half. Scotland were full of semi-professional players from the second and third tiers of British rugby league and leapt upon their opponent's mistakes scoring two tries from Lebanese handling errors. The final score was Scotland 22-10 Lebanon.

The Wales V Ireland game was too close to call on paper. The majority of bookmakers gave Wales a six point start on the handicap, which in my opinion was a fair call. The Irish squad certainly looked stronger, but Wales' performance against England in a friendly two weeks ago would have given Wales a morale boost ahead of their European Cup campaign. A £5 bet for Ireland to win by a winning margin of 6-10 points was what was placed at the Ladbrokes outlet with odds of 9/2.

Ireland started off strongly leading 12-0 after fifteen minutes. But for the rest of the game, Ireland let Wales get on top of them. Two tries from Wales thanks to soft defending on behalf of the Irish on their own try line sent the two teams level going into the half time break. But after half time Ireland's performance dropped faster then the economy. Wales cut through their defence like a knife through butter and ended up 42-12 winners.

So after a dismal first effort, my target of reaching £200 profit is off to a poor start. My knowledge of rugby league let me down today, which goes to show no matter how much you know about a sport it can still be unpredictable.

Profit after 2 bets: -£10

Picture Nicholas Woodward