Had Steve Hanley been capable of hanging on to a pass – any pass – Sale would have gone ahead well before Cueto crossed to make it 17-11 with Hodgson’s conversion.When Vaughan Going fell offside at a ruck on Sale’s line, they had every chance. Luke Sherriff, a fresh replacement, grabbed the try, but poor Slemen’s conversion attempt slid wide and Sale made good their escape when Hodgson dropped an 86th-minute goal.Sharks: Tries Hodgson, Cueto; Conversions Hodgson 2; Penalty Hodgson; Drop Goal Hodgson. Harlequins: Tries P Sanderson, Sherriff; Penalty Slemen; Drop Goal WilliamsSale: J Robinson; M Cueto, J Baxendell, M Deane, S Hanley (V Going, 60); C Hodgson, B Redpath (capt, N Walshe, 69); J Thorp (K Yates, 59), A Titterrell, B Stewart, C Jones, S Lines (D Schofield, 69), A Sanderson, S Pinkerton, P Anglesea.Harlequins: N Williams; M Moore, N Greenstock, V Satala, B Gollings; D Slemen, S Bemand (N Duncombe, 55); J Leonard (capt), T Fuga (L Sherriff, 80), L Gomez (B Starr 61), B Davison, J Evans, A Tiatia, P Sanderson, T Diprose.Referee: T Spreadbury (Somerset).* Borders celebrated their Netherdale debut with their first competitive win, a 23-18 victory of Leinster, leaving the Celtic League champions almost certain not to qualify for the quarter-finals.. Belgium’s Justine Henin gained revenge on Daniela Hantuchova yesterday, beating the rising teenager 6-4, 7-5 to make her way into the semi-finals of the Sparkassen Cup in Leipzig. British tennis leapt aboard the builders’ bandwagon yesterday, announcing plans for a £39m National Tennis Centre to be constructed at the Bank of England sports grounds in Roehampton, little more than a lob away from Wimbledon. After waiting ages for progress, three projects arrived at the same time.The National Tennis Centre, scheduled to open in 2006, will be funded by the Lawn Tennis Association and the All England Lawn Tennis Ground plc.

Profits from the annual Wimbledon Championships are passed on to the LTA for the development of the sport in this country.Although the pre-tax surplus from this summer’s tournament has yet to be announced, the amount has exceeded £30m each year since 1997. The All England Club relies chiefly on the sale of debentures to finance capital expenditure on the Wimbledon grounds.Tim Phillips, the All England Club’s chairman, said yesterday: “Wimbledon is delighted to be able to support the LTA and welcomes this important step towards the establishment of a world-class facility that will benefit British tennis for years to come.”A new hub for tennis coaching cannot come soon enough. Tim Henman, who last weekend almost single-handedly kept Britain in the World Group of the Davis Cup in their play-off against Thailand, reiterated that “we need a whole bunch of guys coming through” – not to mention some women to revive the dormant female side of the game in the country.Patrice Hagelauer, the LTA’s performance director, who played a key role in the development of France’s productive tennis programme and the national tennis centre at Roland Garros in Paris, has campaigned to increase tennis participation for youngsters at club level as an essential first step. A National Tennis Centre is integral to his plans.”This decision underlines the commitment being made to tennis in Great Britain,” Hagelauer said.

“We will now have a world-class centre comparable to leading tennis nations. Malcolm Gracie, the LTA president, who has seen overseen several initiatives during his term of office, which ends this year, described the building of the Centre as “fantastic news for British tennis.” He added: “It is a vital step in our drive towards encouraging more players and better players in Britain.”. Golden LionPeter McCoy’s village pub on the green is a roaring success. There’s good beer: Hambleton and Fools Gold, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord from Keighley. But it’s the superb renditions of pub classics such as steak and kidney, mashed potato and peas, a home-made burger with Mexican salsa, chicken Kiev and coq au vin, served in an uncluttered bar or no-smoking upstairs dining room that make its reputation.
Village Square, Osmotherley, Northallerton, North Yorkshire (01609 883526) McCoy’sAfter 25 years, the mothership, a basement bistro and Saturday-night-only restaurant, is still the well-lived in, well-loved McCoy heart and soul. The menu, in extrovert handwriting, is long, vigorous and varied: black pudding with grilled beetroot sauce, apple jelly, horseradish potato, grilled focaccia and mustard dressing; sea bass with potato r?, spinach, chorizo sauce, curried butter, coriander oil and Greek yogurt are just two examples.