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“We definitely believe the goal can give us some momentum – 2-1 compared to 2-0 is a big difference and it could be a very important goal.

“I am glad to have been the one to put it away and hopefully we can put a few more away in Cardiff on Tuesday.”

Morgan said Wales’ players were frustrated with a performance that Wilkinson described as the “worst” in her time as Wales boss.

“It’s obviously disappointing for us as a team, we felt prepared coming in and we didn’t get the result that we wanted,” she said.

“Slovakia were aggressive and we knew they were. Maybe we didn’t react to what they were doing and challenge them enough and compete at their level.

“We will review the game, watch it individually and show where we need to be better and hopefully we can put it right on Tuesday, which I know that we can.”

Michael Cohen

College Football and College Basketball Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Try as they might, the horns and the percussionists from Ohio State‘s famous marching band couldn’t drown out the boos as the third quarter drew to a close on Saturday afternoon. Clinging to an increasingly fraught five-point lead, the Buckeyes’ offense had just gone three-and-out for the third time in a span of four possessions, with the only reprieve coming in the form of a gobsmacking interception by quarterback Will Howard. The latest irritant to the crowd of 104,830 at Ohio Stadium was a failed third-down carry from running back TreVeyon Henderson, who was enveloped for negative yardage while the offensive line capitulated. Smatterings of fans let their exasperation be heard as the punt team readied for duty and the band played on like nothing was wrong.

But there were plenty of problems with Ohio State’s harrowing 21-17 survival against Nebraska, a middling Big Ten foe that, seven days prior, was garroted by 49 points in a nationally televised implosion against then-No. 16 Indiana. The Cornhuskers arrived here as underdogs of more than 25 points and losers of their last 26 games against ranked opponents, a streak that predates head coach Matt Rhule. And yet there stood the Buckeyes, dumbfounded and dazed and disbelieving what they were seeing, trailing by three with 10:47 remaining once Nebraska tailback Dante Dowdell soared across the goal line for a 1-yard score. In that moment, and with all the warts that had been exposed, the idea that Ohio State should be viewed as one of the best teams in college football — a bonafide contender to win its first national championship since 2014 — felt rather farcical. 

“It wasn’t perfect,” Howard said. “But a win is a win.”

And the fans could feel it. Sure, there were some micro frustrations amid the collective disdain on a beautiful fall day in Columbus. They were irritated by an ineffective rushing attack that only gained 2.1 yards per carry on 31 attempts. They were annoyed by the porous pass blocking that seemed to accelerate the clock in Howard’s head. They were galled by the shanked field goal from kicker Jayden Fielding. They were incensed at the trio of penalties called against cornerback Davison Igbinosun, even if one of them was declined. They were livid over the ejection of linebacker Arvell Reese for targeting and threw bottles onto the field, briefly halting the game as stadium staff cleared debris. And they were mystified that head coach Ryan Day and his staff hadn’t done a better job of energizing and enlivening this bunch with two full weeks of practice since their soul-crushing loss to Oregon.

But it was the macro overtones that were far more concerning for a fan base desperate to cleanse itself after watching archrival Michigan win the Big Ten Championship and reach the College Football Playoff in three consecutive seasons, the last of which was punctuated with the conference’s first national title in a decade. Indeed, what the Buckeyes displayed against Nebraska was far from the kind of gritty, fourth-quarter win that Day described it to be in his postgame news conference, an equivocation that raised more than a few eyebrows among reporters. No amount of coach speak or cliché spewing could obfuscate the harsh reality facing Ohio State: that it is an immensely talented football team falling short of expectations.

“We’ve gotta go back and look at the film and get it corrected because [it’s like] we’re in the playoffs now,” Howard said. “Every game is the most important game. We can’t afford to put a performance out there that we’re not proud of like today. And I think today will wake us up and remind us that we’ve got to just continue to grind every single day, every single week and not ever get complacent, because you never know.”

That Ohio State’s offensive malaise against Nebraska could be easily juxtaposed with the 56-7 beating Indiana applied to the Cornhuskers last week only deepened the concern. How could the Buckeyes, whose running back tandem of Henderson and Quinshon Judkins is arguably the best in the country, be tackled behind the line of scrimmage seven times by a defense that surrendered 215 rushing yards and 6.5 yards per carry to the significantly less-talented Hoosiers? How could Ohio State, whose receiving trio of Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka and Carnell Tate is the envy of college football, only convert once in 10 tries on third down after Indiana moved the chains against Nebraska at a 55.6% clip? How could an offense overseen by Day and first-year offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who is considered one of the brightest minds in the sport, produce 35 fewer points than IU did when facing the same unit in successive weeks?

To varying degrees, all of those questions point back to Ohio State’s injury problems along the offensive line, where starting left tackle Josh Simmons is out for the season with an undisclosed left knee injury suffered in the loss to Oregon. Without Simmons, who had blossomed into the team’s best lineman in his second season since arriving from San Diego State, offensive line coach Justin Frye entrusted senior Zen Michalski to fill that role against Nebraska despite logging just 105 snaps across the first six games.

A former four-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting cycle, Michalski struggled in his first career start before exiting in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a hip injury. He allowed a sack on Ohio State’s opening possession when defensive lineman Jimari Butler beat him at the line of scrimmage and seemed to miss an assignment on each of the Buckeyes’ next two drives, including one that directly contributed to a three-and-out. Were it not for the lengthy touchdown throws from Howard, who connected with Tate for a 40-yard score and Smith for a 60-yard score, the revolving door of mistakes off the left side would have proven even more detrimental considering Judkins and Henderson only combined for 54 rushing yards and failed to reach the end zone on the ground. 

“For our offensive line,” Judkins said, “definitely wasn’t our best day up front. But I think those guys will get it corrected. Coach Frye, you know, he is great at what he does as far as coaching, and I think he’ll definitely fix it for next week. But I think everyone could improve.”

It’s a message that applied to nearly every member of Ohio State’s team on an afternoon when the Buckeyes needed to mount an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive with 6:04 remaining in the fourth quarter to finally reclaim the lead, when the victory wasn’t assured until defensive back Jordan Hancock intercepted a poorly thrown ball from five-star freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola — a one-time OSU commit — in the final 90 seconds, when the toughness and desire and will of a roster that reportedly cost more than $20 million to assemble were all called into question as the path toward an expanded College Football Playoff temporarily faded.

That’s why there were boos echoing around the stadium on Saturday. And even the Ohio State band couldn’t overpower them. 

“We’re going to look back,” Day said, “and find that we should not be in games like this, quite honestly. I mean, that’s just the way we look at it.

“But we were [today]. Give Nebraska credit.”

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.

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“Shaq is not the only Bristol Rovers player to receive racial abuse, with an incident under investigation only last week.

“Even more sickening is that some of these messages come from individuals claiming to be Bristol Rovers supporters. Each time, the club has sought to act in the appropriate manner.”

The incident occurred just days after Luton Town striker Elijah Adebayo was the victim of racist abuse sent to him by an Instagram user after the Hatters lost 2-1 to Sunderland in the Championship.

Bristol Rovers said the “old methods of ‘combating’ racism”, the “carefully-crafted press releases and saturated social media posts” are “not working”.

The club statement added: “Our supporters – our real supporters – are sick and tired of being in any way associated with those ‘fans’ who comfortably send such abhorrent messages.

“To the person who sent Shaq this racist message, and to any person who claims to be a Gashead and engages in similarly deplorable behaviour, we simply say this: You are not a Bristol Rovers fan. You are not welcome at The Memorial Stadium. We do not want your support.”

Opponents Reading also expressed support for Forde and say they “strongly condemn” the abuse sent to him.

“We will work alongside Saturday’s visitors to ensure the perpetrator is identified and evidence is provided to the relevant authorities,” a Royals statement, external said.

“No individual, whether on or off the pitch, should be subjected to such abuse. We stand by you, Shaq.”

LOS ANGELES — When Yoshinobu Yamamoto joined the Dodgers last December, he made a strong declaration: He would stop admiring the players he looked up to and instead “strive to become the player that others want to become.”

Ten months later, manager Dave Roberts leisurely emerged from the dugout in the seventh inning Saturday night at Dodger Stadium and took the ball from Yamamoto, but not before shaking the 26-year-old’s hand and giving him a quick hug on the mound. In his first career World Series appearance, in the midst of his first big-league postseason, facing a Yankees lineup featuring the presumptive American League MVP and a pending free-agent superstar set to test the boundaries of every competitive owner’s pocketbooks, Yamamoto delivered the type of outing the Dodgers dreamed about when they made him baseball’s wealthiest pitcher last offseason. 

“From pitch one, you knew he had his good stuff all night,” Freddie Freeman, the previous night’s hero, said after Los Angeles’ 4-2 Game 2 win. “Just an awesome first start in a World Series, everything we needed out of him. He delivered.”

[RELATED: Full coverage of the World Series] 

Yamamoto had already dominated the Yankees once in New York, supplying seven scoreless innings in a performance many pointed to as a case study in his ability to handle the sport’s highest-pressure environments. Nearly five months later, three of which were spent rehabilitating a shoulder injury that might have stemmed from that overpowering outing, he did it again at home in the most consequential start of his career, moving the Dodgers two wins away from the ultimate prize by carving up a Yankees team that had once envisioned him wearing pinstripes. 

A standing ovation from 52,725 fans, many chanting “Yo-shi,” awaited Yamamoto on his walk off the mound after allowing one run in 6.1 innings in his longest start since his tour de force in the Bronx. 

“I’m really proud of him,” Mookie Betts said. 

Beyond the significance of the stage, there was one considerable difference Saturday compared to his previous start against the Yankees: This time, he had to face Juan Soto. If not for the Yankees lefty, Yamamoto would have held New York off the scoreboard again. 

The only blemish on Yamamoto’s night came in the third inning, when Soto turned on an inside fastball on the sixth pitch of the at-bat for a solo shot. That was the only hit Yamamoto would surrender. He retired the next 11 batters he faced, which included striking out Aaron Judge a second time, before Roberts handed the game over to the Dodgers’ bullpen. 

The outing was the first time Yamamoto had gone more than five innings since returning from his shoulder injury on Sept. 10, seven starts ago. 

“Obviously, coming over to this league can be a big-time culture shock,” reliever Daniel Hudson said. “This country, this league, is completely different than what he was growing up in, playing over there, so everybody kind of figured there was kind of going to be some growing pains there. But he’s got elite stuff, he’s got a good head on his shoulders. … We were pretty pumped to get him back there at the end of the year.”

Last year in Japan, Yoshinobu Yamamoto built a reputation for bouncing back, most notably on the country’s biggest stage. He allowed seven runs in Game 1 of the Japan Series only to rebound with a 138-pitch, series-record 14-strikeout complete-game masterpiece. 

In his first taste of the big-league postseason, it looked similar. He labored through three innings against San Diego in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, then helped the Dodgers vanquish their first-round demons with five scoreless innings in the deciding Game 5. Gavin Lux noted then that Yamamoto had “a little Walker Buehler in him,” referring to his big-game prowess. 

In the most pivotal performance of his big-league career Saturday night, Yamamoto didn’t need a feeling-out process. There was no need for a rebound. He was nails all night, just as Dodgers vice president of player personnel Galen Carr, who scouted Yamamoto multiple times in Japan, predicted before the start. 

“It’s hard to really put yourself in these guys’ shoes when they’re changing leagues, changing countries, changing cultures and everything about it is different — the ball, the mound, the schedule, the travel,” Carr said. 

Yamamoto said he considers last year’s Japan Series experience as wholly different from his first major-league postseason, in large part because this is his first season in a new league. What Yamamoto and the people close to him believed, according to Carr, is that after an adjustment period, he would thrive. 

After allowing five runs in three innings in his first playoff start, Yamamoto held the Padres scoreless his next time out. Then he struck out eight in his lone start of the NLCS versus the Mets before registering a nearly flawless World Series outing against one of the most patient and powerful lineups in the sport. 

“Every time I pitch, the last three games, I become more comfortable,” Yamamoto said through a translator before Game 2 of the World Series. 

This time, he triumphed in a different way against the Yankees. Back in June, he featured more of his slider than ever before. It was that pitch that helped guide his success in his lone start of the NLCS, too.

But he didn’t need it to flourish again in his sequel against the Yankees. His slider was responsible for only two of his 12 whiffs in Game 2 of the World Series. Yamamoto relied heavily on his four-seamer, which he commanded erratically early on before locking in the second time through the lineup, and a curveball that dropped in for six called strikes. 

“He seems a little bit more in control trusting his stuff,” shortstop Miguel Rojas said. “Especially at the beginning of the year, he didn’t know the hitters, he didn’t know the league. But it’s not a surprise for me because I know the pedigree of this guy, where he’s coming from, what he did in Japan. I’m excited for him because games like this in the first year, when he comes to the United States, it’s going to give him a great boost of energy and confidence.”

A home run from NLCS MVP Tommy Edman gave Yamamoto an early lead. When Solo’s blast tied it up, the depth of the Dodgers’ lineup became apparent. Teoscar Hernández answered immediately with a two-run shot, followed by a solo homer from Freeman. 

Both of Freeman’s blasts in this series have conjured memories of past Dodgers World Series winners.  

His Game 1 launch was eerily similar to Kirk Gibson’s iconic 1988 Game 1 pinch-hit home run. On Saturday, Freeman’s latest feat hearkened back to the Dodgers’ 1981 Fall Classic triumph over the Yankees. That was the last time the Dodgers had hit back-to-back homers in a World Series game, courtesy of Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager. 

Freeman didn’t get much sleep Friday night. He was tossing and turning, in part because all three of his kids were overtired and awake, in part because he had just deposited the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history. On Saturday, he received a quick boost of energy. Freeman received the first standing ovation of the night. 

“Walking up to the plate, my first at-bat today, hard not to have a smile on the inside,” Freeman said. 

The second went to Yamamoto, after his final pitch of the night. Roberts’ trip to the mound to remove him came at a leisurely pace. 

In the bottom half of the frame, Roberts’ departure from the dugout was more hurried and concerned. The Dodgers took a commanding 2-0 lead in the series, but it might have come at a cost. Shohei Ohtani suffered a subluxation of his left shoulder when he was caught stealing in the seventh inning. 

Roberts was encouraged by Ohtani’s strength and range of motion and at this point is expecting him to be in the lineup when the series shifts to New York, though he won’t know more until further scans are completed. 

It makes the nearly flawless work from their other major offseason signing, the $325 million man, all the more important. 

“Yamamoto,” Freeman said, “was absolutely incredible.” 

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.

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