Wins for Roy in Oslo, Mark in Monaco and Luke at Wentworth

FOOTBALL… Last Saturday, England beat Norway 1-0 in Oslo with an early Ashley Young goal – getting manager Roy Hodgson’s reign off to an excellent start. England huffed and puffed at times; good in the first half, moderate in the second… we’ll see what transpires

Euro 2012 starts soon… Other recent ‘friendly’ results: Republic of Ireland 1 (Shane Long) Bosnia & Herzegovina 0, Brazil 3 Denmark 1, Spain 2 Serbia 0, USA 5 Scotland 1 and Switzerland 5 Germany 3 (yes, that’s right).

Goal-line technology will be seen in Saturday’s England-Belgium clash at Wembley.

However, it will not be referred to if there are contentious decisions.

“It’s just a trial” said an official.

Roberto Martinez could be (or not to be) Liverpool’s tenth at manager since Bill Shankly. The Wigan boss was due to have talks at Anfield 48 hours ago. Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 4-1 in the 109th Copa del Rey last Friday as Lionel Messi hit his record-breaking 73rd club goal of 2011-12.

Absolutely brilliant.

This was Barca’s 26th Cup win. In the Play-off finals last weekend, 52,100 saw Huddersfield beat Sheffield United 8-7 on penalties to reach the Championship (goalkeeper Alex Smithies netted the vital spot-kick) while Crewe defeated Cheltenham 2-0 to move into League One.

Last Sunday a crowd of 75,000 at Old Trafford saw England beat a World XI 3-1 in the annual celebrity Soccer Aid/UNICEF encounter. Over £3m was raised on the day – that’s over £12.5m in four years.

ROUND-UP

* GYMNASTICS… for the first time ever all five members of GB’s men gymnasts reached the final of their respective event at the World Championships in Montpelier, France.

This bodes well for the Olympics!

* BOXING … Three-time super-middleweight world champion Carl Froche battered Lucian Bute in five rounds at Nottingham.

* CRICKET … Thanks to another Andrew Strauss century and some terrific bowling by Messrs. Anderson, Broad and Bresnan, England beat the West Indies by nine wickets (111-1) in the second Test at Trent Bridge.

Alastair Cook was ‘dismissed’ twice with no balls in England’s first innings.

* FORMULA 1 … Mark Webber won last Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix… the sixth different driver to take the chequered flag in six races so far this season.

After qualifying in pole position, seven-time World champion Michael Schumacher started sixth on the g rid, due to a penalty incurred after the Barcelona Grand Prix.

The seventh race takes place in Montreal on 10 June.

* RUGBY UNION … Harlequins claimed their first-ever Aviva League Championship by beating Leicester 30-23 in a pulsating final.

* GOLF … The BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth was won by Luke Donald who has also regained top spot as the World’s number one golfer.

The US Open starts in Augusta soon.

* HORSE RACING… Henrietta Knight, who trained Best Mate to three Cheltenham Gold Cup victories, has retired…. to spend more time looking after her husband, former champion NH jockey Terry Biddlecombe, who suffered a stroke last year.

* Jessica Ennis set a new British heptathlon record when winning in Austria last Sunday.

Her tally of 6,906 points bettered Denise Lewis’s 6,831, achieved in 2000.

DID YOU KNOW? The last time England won a football match Norway was back in 1966… when Alf Ramsey was manager. And we know what happened next!