The Sports Matrix: Monday 13 February 2012

Handshake row #2? Villa park mascots

Copycat crime or mere slip of the hand? The Aston Villa mascot stands accused of ignoring the hand of his Manchester City counterpart before kick-off yesterday. But he has perhaps been punished enough – Joleon Lescott's goal for City won the game. MORE

Odemwingie treble gives Baggies spoils

Peter Odemwingie struck a hat-trick as West Bromwich recorded an emphatic 5-1 win at Wolves in the Black Country derby. Steven Fletcher had equalised Odem-wingie's first, while Jonas Olsson and Keith Andrews also found the net for the visitors. MORE

Celtic appeal over Majstorovic red

Celtic manager Neil Lennon says the club will appeal Daniel Majstorovic's red card during Saturday's 1-0 win over Inverness. "I thought he got the ball," Lennon said of the defender's last-man tackle. "How the linesman could give [the card] is beyond me."

Cook aiming to find perfect recipe

England begin a four-game one-day international series with Pakistan in Abu Dhabi today with Alastair Cook under pressure to prove his value as captain. The 27-year-old is the leading scorer in the team but has failed to win over all of his doubters. MORE

Briers piles pain on sorry Broncos

Lee Briers inspired Warrington to a convincing 50-10 win over London Broncos at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, the recalled player going over twice as well as landing two goals. The hosts ran in nine tries in all, including 28 unaswered second-half points. MORE

Wales inspired by heroic Halfpenny

A strong second-half showing helped Wales beat Scotland 27-13 in Cardiff yesterday to take the hosts to the top of the table. Alex Cuthbert scored a try on his home debut and Leigh Halfpenny added two more as the full-back contributed 22 points. MORE

James Lawton

Kenny Dalglish made a statement so detached from reality it was almost beyond belief. It left a vacuum hardly filled by yesterday's apologies, which came in response to outrage which had never been so intense or widespread. MORE