Stephen Bunting silenced his critics as he inflicted a third final defeat of the season on Gian van Veen to win night four of the Premier League in Belfast.

The 40-year-old has seen his place in the tournament questioned by spectators after he failed to win a game in the first three weeks.

That followed ‘the Bullet’ taking nine weeks to register a point in last year’s event – his first involvement since being a challenger in 2020.

Bunting, who has come off social media because of the criticism, registered his highest Premier League average (106.63) in his 6-4 quarter-final win over defending champion Luke Humphries.

He backed that up with another 106 average in a 6-0 clean sweep against current league leader Jonny Clayton in the semi-finals, before a clinical 6-2 win over Van Veen in the final.

“I do believe I am one of the best players in the world – I deserve to be in the Premier League,” Bunting told Sky Sports.

“Everyone was writing me off, people saying I should not be in it, but I know how hard I work behind the scenes. These are the nights I play for.

“Losing seven or eight on the bounce last year really helped me, gave me a lot of experience in this field. When you play in the Premier League, you’re playing against the best of the best. This ranks up as one of the best wins of my career.”

Van Veen, who is playing in the tournament for the first time, has impressed in making three finals in four weeks but is struggling to get over the line.

Northern Ireland’s Josh Rock, who is the other debutant in this year’s field, lost 6-2 to Van Veen in the quarters, but delighted the home crowd with the first nine-darter of this year’s tournament.

Elsewhere, there was more disappointment for world number one Luke Littler, who lost 6-3 to Clayton in the quarter-finals, meaning he has only won one game in four weeks.

The Minnesota Vikings are in the market for an extra quarterback this offseason, outwardly announcing that no stone will be left unturned in the pursuit of a passer to compete against or support J.J. McCarthy in 2026. The list of options is already behemoth, but on Wednesday, Andy Dalton entered the chart.

Dalton isn’t a long-term answer, but he fits as a steady QB2 if the Vikings want a low-drama insurance policy.

Dalton is apparently drawing trade interest. He’d make sense for Minnesota if it wants a steady-eddy QB2.

Andy Dalton Has Surfaced in Minnesota’s Quarterback Conversation

The Red Rifle struts into the Vikings’ rumor mill.

Adam Schefter: Teams Have Called about Dalton Trade

ESPN’s Adam Schefter spilled the beans: “Another available QB: Carolina has been getting calls about Andy Dalton for a potential trade, per sources.”

The Athletic‘s Daniel Person added, “The Carolina Panthers have not disguised their plans at the backup quarterback position — with the outside world or with Andy Dalton, whose time with the Panthers could be nearing an end.”

“General manager Dan Morgan said Tuesday that he informed Dalton the Panthers intend to add another quarterback to compete for the backup spot behind Bryce Young — the job Dalton held for Young’s first three seasons.”

Dalton won’t be Vikings fans’ first choice, but he’s experienced and may be available.

Person also noted on Dalton, “ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Wednesday that the Panthers have fielded calls about Dalton. That does not guarantee they will find a robust market for the 38-year-old quarterback. Two landing spots that could make sense are the Minnesota Vikings and New York Jets, both of whom have assistant coaches with ties to Dalton.”

“Jets offensive coordinator Frank Reich was the Panthers’ head coach when they signed Dalton in 2023, while Vikings quarterbacks coach/pass game coordinator Josh McCown was on Reich’s staff. Dalton is 1-6 in seven starts with Carolina, including a 1-4 mark in 2024 after Dave Canales benched Young in Week 3 following a slow start. The Panthers would create $2.2 million in salary-cap space by trading Dalton, with $3.7 million in dead money.”

The Insurance Option for McCarthy

Multiple theories regarding what Minnesota will do at quarterback have already rocked the offseason. The club has five main paths:

1. Do nothing and roll with McCarthy as the starter, signing another Carson Wentz-type as the QB2.
2. Sign a better backup and Wentz while remaining all-in with McCarthy.
3. Sign or trade for a high-upside youngster like Anthony Richardson or Will Levis to compete with McCarthy this summer.
4. Obtain a passer who will probably defeat McCarthy in a summer camp battle — like Kyler Murray.
5. Somehow land a really big fish like Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson.

Dalton would fall into the second category; some might argue the first.

An Already Huge List

Minnesota’s list of possible quarterback additions is massive. Utterly massive.

Adding Dalton to the mix, here’s the current menu:

• Aaron Rodgers
• Andy Dalton (trade)
• Anthony Richardson (trade)
• Carson Wentz
• Case Keenum
• Daniel Jones
• Davis Mills (trade)
• Derek Carr (trade)
• Drew Lock (trade)
• Gardner Minshew
• Jake Browning
• Jalen Milroe (trade)
• Jameis Winston (trade)
• Jimmy Garoppolo
• Joe Flacco
• Kenny Pickett
• Kyler Murray (trade)
• Mac Jones (trade)
• Malik Willis
• Marcus Mariota
• Mitchell Trubisky
• Russell Wilson
• Spencer Rattler (trade)
• Teddy Bridgewater
• Tua Tagovailoa (trade)
• Tyrod Taylor
• Will Levis (trade)
• Zach Wilson

Yes, the list is approaching 30 dudes.

Most consider a player like Kyler Murray, Mac Jones, Kirk Cousins, or Malik Willis as the frontrunner to land in Minnesota — a guy from Option No. 4 on the list above who can either compete with McCarthy or take his job.

Dalton’s Most Recent Performance(s)

Dalton is basically Kirk Cousins with less criticism from naysayers. His teams have compiled an 84-83-3 win-loss record on his watch, and he has faithfully started in the NFL for about a decade (2011-2020). In recent years, he’s served mostly as a backup, sans the 2022 campaign when injuries nudged him to the top of the New Orleans Saints’ depth chart.

Here’s his career resume through 15 seasons:

• Cincinnati Bengals (2011–2019)
• Dallas Cowboys (2020)
• Chicago Bears (2021)
• New Orleans Saints (2022)
• Carolina Panthers (2023–now)

In the last three years, while playing minimally in Carolina, Dalton has banked a 0.038 EPA+CPOE. For perspective, that is akin to the 2025 performance of Tyrod Taylor, Quinn Ewers, and Jake Browning. Minnesota would basically get a game manager at this stage of Dalton’s career and probably a guy who wouldn’t immediately threaten McCarthy’s job.

He’ll turn 39 in October.

The Conference League, Europe’s third-tier competition, is only in its fifth season, with two English sides – West Ham in 2023 and Chelsea in 2025 – among its first four winners.

From the start of this season’s edition Palace have been the bookmakers’ favourites, even though they only finished 10th in the league phase and had to go through two matches against Bosnian champions Zrinjski to get into the last 16.

But there are not many clubs in the competition Palace will fear.

They will find out on Friday whether they play German side Mainz, a team 13th in the Bundesliga, or Cypriot side Larnaca, who only scored seven goals in six league phase matches, though they did beat Palace 1-0 in October.

“We’re hungry for more [silverware] but you don’t talk about winning it three months out,” added goalkeeper Henderson, who became Palace captain after Guehi left the club.

“It’s knockout football and we go into it with confidence. You see the supporters get into the stadium early and Selhurst was rocking tonight and we can make it a fortress.”

Former Palace defender James Tomkins, speaking on TNT Sports, said: “They go through to the next stage, into the last 16 of this competition and they are favourites to go on and win it from here.

“They’ve got to concentrate on the Conference League. The opportunity they’ve got is incredible. To add a third trophy in two seasons would be remarkable and beyond the wildest dreams of the fans.

“They needed a second goal to get over the line and it’s a great night for the club. The atmosphere is amazing and you can see all the fans are behind the team and the manager and it means a lot.”

Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou, trainers of Arctic Glamour, are keeping close tabs on Sydney’s weather patterns because of her struggles on wet tracks prior to her expected engagement in the Guy Walter Stakes at Randwick.

The five-year-old has zero wins from six efforts on yielding ground, prompting Ryan to note they would opt for a backup without hesitation if Randwick turns sloppy on the day to preserve her chance.

“We will know on Saturday morning at 7.30 (AEDT),” Ryan said.

“If she doesn’t run Saturday, she will go to Newcastle. But she won’t be running on rain-affected ground.”

While the Newcastle Stakes (1400m) at the Hunter circuit on March 6 offers a viable Plan B, Ryan hopes local conditions cooperate for Arctic Glamour to begin in the Guy Walter Stakes (1400m).

Arctic Glamour has a sharp first-up profile, including success in the Hot Danish Stakes (1400m) last spring resumption, and her trainer rates her just as well now.

“As good as ever. Her fresh record is great, she’s had seven goes for two wins, a second and a third, and there was one race first-up at Randwick you could just put a line through,” Ryan said.

“Her first trial was good. She probably ran out of a bit of puff.

Then the other day we went back and rode her quiet and she hit the line really well – I didn’t want her to have a hard trial, I wanted her to run home for 300 or 400 metres, and she did that really well.”

Tom Sherry draws barrier four aboard Arctic Glamour, and strong showing could lead straight to the Coolmore Classic (1500m) at Rosehill in two weeks’ time.

Discover premier betting sites with competitive sports betting on the Guy Walter Stakes.

Former India captain Anil Kumble reckons that the Men in Blue will retain the playing combination that featured in the T20 World Cup 2026 game against Zimbabwe for the do-or-die clash against the West Indies. Admitting that India should ideally have not changed their combination midway through the tournament, he explained that circumstances forced them to do so.

India beat Zimbabwe by 72 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday, February 26 in a crucial Super 8 clash of the T20 World Cup 2026. Sent into bat, the Men in Blue posted 256-4 on the board and then held Zimbabwe to 184-6. India made a key change at the top of the order, bringing back Sanju Samson as opener, pushing Ishan Kishan down to No.3 and Tilak Varma to No. 6.

During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, Kumble opined that the Men in Blue must stick to this combination for their remaining games in the T20 World Cup 2026 and stop chopping and changing the playing XI. He commented:

“Nobody expected Abhishek Sharma to get out three times not scoring a single run. Then, suddenly off-spinner becoming a major hindrance to the batters at the top. The squad had only one [additional] top order batter. So, I guess you have made that decision, now you have to stick to it. You can’t keep changing. I think this combination will continue.”

Opening the batting, Samson got India off to a rapid start, smashing 24 off 15 balls. Abhishek Sharma top-scored with 55 off 30 balls, while Hardik Pandya (50* off 23), Varma (44* off 16), Kishan (38 off 24) and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (33 off 13) all chipped in.

“Why not keep the same team?” – Faf du Plessis backs India to retain playing XI for T20 World Cup 2026 match against West Indies

Former South African captain Faf du Plessis also reckons that India must retain the same team that beat Zimbabwe for the must-win clash against the West Indies. Du Plessis opined that having Samson at the top of the order definitely makes the side stronger and also helps with the left-right combination. He explained:

“They had all these lefties. So, Sanju came in today and gave them a better look. They had a right and a left at the top. It wasn’t as obvious where the holes are. If you lose a couple of wickets, Tilak Varma can come in and play that anchor innings. You’ve got Hardik, so there’s options. It’s a very flexible batting line-up. They’ve played so well today, so why not keep the same team?”

Samson and Abhishek added 48 for the first wicket against Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup match. Abhishek and Ishan then featured in a 72-run stand for the second wicket. Towards the end, Varma and Pandya were part of a rollicking 84-run unbeaten partnership, which came off just 31 deliveries.