Allgemein » . Krzysztof Kasprzak was in fine form for the

Britains national weather service announced this week they had suffered their wettest winter ever. Yet, when Arsenals players woke up on Saturday morning, the calendar had turned to March and the sun was shining. In Stoke, of all places. The white ball was back, a sign that the harshest conditions were behind us, but also a stark reality that the final stretch of the season was now here. Arsenals journey, in the marathon that is the Premier League season, had so far been a success with them spending much of the race out in front. Many onlookers expected them to hit a wall but here they were in March, now, and the only thing remotely looking like a wall was a brief meltdown as they passed through the red half of Merseyside last month. Four points against Manchester United and Sunderland, plus a win over Liverpool in the FA Cup, had put them back on track, sprinting into March with more and more believing they could be the first across the line when their race is run in Norwich on May 11. Yet, still there were the non-believers. "They have always been an outstanding team and they have great ability within their ranks," said Stoke manager Mark Hughes on Friday before going on to tell us what he really thinks: "but I just felt maybe they wouldnt have the ability to sustain a challenge. I think there are possibly stronger challengers, stronger teams that could take it away from them." Arsenals match with Stoke was only one of 38 encounters that will define their league season but given the time of the year and their history with this opponent, it felt much more than that. It proved to be a test they failed miserably. The result went against them, losing 1-0, as did the decisions, a questionable penalty call and a missed red card for Stokes Charlie Adam amongst them, but if Arsenal want the jury to make a decision on whether they are genuine title contenders, this would not be evidence theyd want to present them. The Gunners were unimaginative in attack, too narrow and slow in tempo. They lacked the creative brilliance that has so often helped them this season and the sharpness in possession. As often happens when they struggle going forward, they look to have too many similar players; ball treasurers who demand it and flock towards it. Oh, how they missed a Theo Walcott, someone in attack who can sprint on to a ball rather than run towards it. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is showing he will one day be a fine player, offered this in all-too-brief substitute appearance late on. Stoke, of course, deserved credit for defending well and it should be noted that Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City have also not won there this season, but the concerns for Arsenal didnt start and end with the final result. "Its a defeat that hurts," said Wenger after the match. He added: "The consequences of this defeat could be very difficult to take and we will have to respond very quickly." Wenger is not a man that allows a conclusion to be reached based on one game but the choice of consequence as a word shows he has a concern that the league challenge could slip away. Arsenal ended the day in third place on 59pts after 28 games, four points off leaders Chelsea. On this same weekend four years ago, Wenger also met with the media at the Brittania Stadium after his team had won 3-1 against Stoke (to this day their only victory there in eight attempts). It was a sad day for the Frenchman after Aaron Ramsey had broken his leg but, despite being visibly angry and upset, Wenger admitted that he felt his team was very much in the title race after the win. Arsenal ended that day in third place on 58pts after 28 games, three points off leaders Chelsea. Arsenal faded down the stretch, going from an average of 2.07 points per game (PPG) to 1.70 in the last ten games, with 17 added to 58 to give them a total of 75. They finished third, 11pts back of winners Chelsea and they were out of the race with a month to go. Two years earlier, on this weekend during the 2007-08 season, Arsenal led the league with 10 games to go, sitting on 65pts to Manchester Uniteds 64 and Chelseas 61. At the end of the season, United won the title on 87pts (23 in their last 10 games), Chelsea finished second on 85pts (24 in their last 10 games) and Arsenal finished third on 83pts, going from an average of 2.32 PPG to 1.80 PPG (18pts in their last 10 games). With 10 games remaining in the 2010-11 season, Arsenal were second on 57pts, just three points off leaders Manchester United. Once again they faded down the stretch, going from an average of 2.04 PPG to 1.10 PPG, achieving just 11pts in their last 10 games to with a total of 68, in fourth, and 12pts back of winners Manchester United.Arsenal hit their wall while the best got stronger. 2009-10 -- Chelsea 25pts from a possible 302010-11 -- Manchester United 20pts from a possible 30 That is the nightmare scenario that Arsenal fans are concerned about happening again. The fixture list will ensure the Gunners will have their answer to this by early April. Of their last 10 league games, the four most difficult happen next - Tottenham (a), Chelsea (a), Man City (h), Everton (a) with the first three all happening this month, which also includes a trip to Bayern Munich and an FA Cup match against Everton. Talk about March Madness. After that, Swansea, West Ham, Newcastle and West Brom all come to the Emirates while Hull and Norwich welcome the Gunners. Last season, Arsenal achieved just 13pts from these 10 games (using Hull as Reading) losing at Tottenham, Chelsea and Norwich and at home to Man City and Swansea. It is their difficulties against these teams, coupled with their recent history, as title contenders through 28 games, that leads many to believe Arsenals pursuit of the finish line will fade quickly. Ironically, last season they ended the season extremely strongly, gaining 28pts from a possible 30 to qualify for the Champions League. Unfortunately, for them, at this time last season, they were already 24pts behind leaders Manchester United. In the nine seasons since Arsenal last won the Premier League, the average number of points achieved by the champions in the last 10 matches has been 22, with the lowest being 19 coming by two teams who were running away with the league - Chelsea of 2004-05 and Manchester United last season. Should Arsenal get 22pts from their last 10 games, that would give them 80pts, perhaps not enough to win the title but, likely, enough to maintain their challenge into May, and a haul that would show significant improvement considering they havent gotten over the 75. Arsenal players and fans are regularly told they have not won a trophy in eight years and, soon, that needs to change but, above all else, Arsenal finally need to be relevant title contenders into May, no matter who wins the league. Recent history suggests even that moderate, achievable goal could be beyond them. Upon the marathons completion, we wont just know if Arsenal were worthy title contenders, we will know if they were much better than their unsuccessful teams of the recent past. Mike Gartner Jersey . Canada was placed in one of the easiest groups during Saturdays live televised draw in Montreal. Lars Eller Jersey . He could have transferred when academic sanctions barred the Huskies from the NCAA tournament his junior season. http://www.officialcapitalspro.com/Nickl...apitals-jersey/. A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North. Jakub Vrana Jersey . Brazilian striker Brandao opened the scoring with a header in the 55th minute before winger Franck Tabanou volleyed home from close range to double the lead in the 61st. John Carlson Jersey . The team sent out a press release on Friday stating Poile was resting and recovering and that he will remain in hospital for further observation. The Predators were preparing for the game against the Wild when Poile was hit by a puck that flew off the ice at him where he was standing in a tunnel behind the bench.The Coventry Bees won a titanic Midlands derby against the Wolverhampton Wolves, winning 46-44 at Brandon. There was nothing between the two sides throughout the meeting with both trading heat advantages on a night full of entertaining racing, and it went all the way to the final heat before the Bees secured the victory. Krzysztof Kasprzak was in fantastic form for the home side scoring 14 while Sam Masters scored 15+1 from reserve for the Wolves.Things started well for the home side as Kasprzak won an awarded race with Joonas Kylmakorpi falling at the back after laying the bike down to avoid Jason Garrity, a move he was excluded for. Masters levelled things up in heat two with Ashley Morris holding onto third after James Sarjeant had passed him. Wolves Freddie Lindgren produced a stunning final lap to pass both Coventry Bees riders and prevent a 5-1 for the home side Masters was out again in the following heat after Kyle Howarth was excluded for touching the tapes, but it was the Bees duo of Chris Harris and Danny King who took the chequered flag for a 5-1 to the home side. Freddie Lindgren ensured the Bees did not extend their advantage in heat four with a strong move to pass Josh Bates, a move that the British Under-21 champion was not pleased with.It was level again after heat five as Masters and Jacob Thorssell eased to a 5-1 in another awarded race after Garrity fell at the back, before King won heat six from the tapes in a shared heat. Heat seven was actioned packed as Kasprzak won again but it was a terrific battle for second with Lindgren and Harris trading places before the Swede hung on to split the Bees pairing. Masters, down at his new reserve position, was a busy man on the night and won heat eight with Kacper Woryna and Thorssell fighting for second with the Pole coming out on top meaning the scores were level after eight heats. Krzysztof Kasprzak was in fine form for the Bees Wolves regained the lead in heat nine as Lindgren eased to victory with Masters getting past Garrity on the ffinal lap to join his partner for a maximum, but the lead was once again short lived as the Bees bounced back with their own 5-1 courtesy of King and Harris.ddddddddddddThe Bees momentum continued in heat 11 as they recorded another maximum with the in-form Kasprzak winning the heat with teammate Garrity rounding Howarth and hanging onto second. Heat 12 was full of controversy as Masters bike seemed to pack up on the start line exceeding the two minutes allowance, but the Australian was allowed to start from the tapes after solving his bike issues and won with ease for a 5-1 with Morris joining him to level the scores at 36-36 with three heats to go. Coventry boss Gary Havelock says he was proud of his side after they narrowly beat Wolves 46-44 The titanic battle continued in heat 13 as the Bees then responded with a 5-1 of their own thanks to the unbeatable Kasprzak taking the win with Harris holding off Kylmakorpi for second, giving the home side a four point lead with two heats to go.Heat 14 was the heat of the night as the home duo of King and Woryna looked set for another maximum but a phenomenal last lap from Lindgren ensured the win was not sealed for Gary Havelocks men. Lindgren rounded Woryna before cutting up the inside of King on the final bend to take a fantastic victory and take the meeting to a last heat decider. Freddie Lindgren produced one of the heats of the season The drama continued all the way to the end as Harris went down under pressure from Lindgren in heat 15 and was excluded from the re-run. Lindgren won the re-run but with Kasprzak in second the Bees won the meeting 46-44 with Wolves claiming a consolation point.In the other meeting of the evening Leicester and Poole drew 46-46 at the Beaumont Park Stadium. Bottom side Leicester looked to be on the way to a win holding a 12 point lead after eight heats but the Pirates battled back in the second half of the meeting to snatch a draw at the death. Leicesters top man was Szymon Wozniak with 11+1 while Chris Holder scored 10+1 for the Pirates. 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