The Sport Matrix: Tuesday 6 January 2015

Vokes denies Spurs to set up replay

Sam Vokes put nine months of injury hell behind him with the equaliser as Burnley held Tottenham to a 1-1 draw in the third round of the FA Cup at Turf Moor. Vokes’ last goal came in a 2-0 win over Doncaster on March 25, days before he ruptured his cruciate ligament. The striker netted with a confident finish to cancel out Nacer Chadli’s 53rd-minute opener, and the two teams will now contest a replay.

Ex-police officer leading Evans fight

A retired senior police officer on the Oldham Athletic board is leading the argument in favour of signing Ched Evans as the League One club deliberate over whether to employ the convicted rapist. Club director Barry Owen, a former Greater Manchester Police superintendent is understood to believe in the rehabilitation of offenders and has been pressing chairman Simon Corney to give Evans a chance.

Broad: Cook’s form dragged us down

Stuart Broad says he feels sorry for Alastair Cook after the opening batsman lost his England one-day captaincy to Eoin Morgan, but admits his poor form was dragging his team-mates down ahead of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which starts next month. “He came under so much pressure it made him tighten his game and possibly made the team tighten their game, too,” Broad said.

Serena’s in the espresso lane

Serena Williams is believed to have set a first by ordering a double espresso in the middle of a Hopman Cup match yesterday.

Struggling with jet lag and with the 10am start in Perth, Williams won just 11 points in the first set of her opening match against Italy’s Flavia Pennetta. The problem, the American decided, was that she had missed her usual morning cup of coffee.

Williams asked the umpire if requesting a coffee during a match was in order, whereupon a ballgirl brought her a double espresso. Williams even masked the branding on the cup when she drank it.

“I wanted a coffee with my bagel [losing a set to love]. Whatever coffee that was, it was really good,” she said later.

It appeared to have an instant effect as Williams recovered to win the match 0-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Celtic closing in on top spot after win

Celtic moved to within a point of Scottish Premiership leaders Aberdeen after beating Kilmarnock 2-0 last night. Emilio Izaguirre and Stefan Scepovic got the goals as Ronny Deila’s side dominated from start to finish in front of a large contingent of travelling fans at Rugby Park.