The Sport Matrix: Friday 27 March 2015

Skrtel feels no guilt over De Gea stamp

Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel insists he does not feel guilty about his challenge on Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea. Skrtel was handed a three-match ban for stamping on the Spaniard towards the end of United’s 2-1 victory at Anfield on Sunday. “It was an accident,” Skrtel said. “I don’t feel guilty. It was a long ball and he went towards me and I wanted to jump over him.”

West Bromwich to pay tribute to Astle

West Bromwich will pay tribute to their former striker Jeff Astle by wearing a replica 1968 FA Cup final kit against Leicester next month. Astle, who scored 174 goals in 361 games for the club, got the winner as Albion beat Everton 1-0 at Wembley. Astle’s family will launch a foundation on the day of the game to promote care of and research into CTE, a brain condition from which Astle died.

Ferdinand handed one-match ban

Queen’s Park Rangers’ director of football, Les Ferdinand, was yesterday fined £12,000 and banned from the touchline for one match for abusing an official. The 48-year-old former England striker lost his temper with the fourth official following Rangers’ 2-1 home defeat by Tottenham Hotspur this month and admitted a Football Association charge of misconduct.

Storey seals gold in British medal haul

Great Britain won four gold medals and one silver on the first day of the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands.

Dame Sarah Storey (above) led a British one-two in the C5 500m time trial while Jody Cundy was victorious over twice that distance in the C4 category.

Sophie Thornhill and Neil Fachie defended their blind/visually impaired tandem kilometre time trial titles with their respective pilots, Helen Scott and Pete Mitchell.

Storey clocked a winning 37.847sec for her time trial, beating the previous best time by 0.03sec.

McDowell pulls out of Texas Open

Graeme McDowell is a doubt for next month’s Masters after being forced to withdraw from the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio with an ankle injury. The Northern Irishman suffered the setback in practice on Wednesday and, although he managed to play his opening nine holes yesterday, he pulled out of the tournament before setting his sights on Augusta. McDowell tweeted: “With Masters upcoming I decided getting fit is imperative.”