Sports Briefs

Champions Manchester

The Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA)-Errol Miller Cricket Competition ended on Friday at the Kensington Cricket Club in Kingston, with Manchester defeating defending champions St Catherine by 24 runs.

Batting first, Manchester made 180 all out off 19.5 overs, with Orville Pennant top-scoring with an even 100, which included five sixes and 11 fours.

Two other players made double figures, Stevon Patterson 20 and Vernon Boswell 12.

Nieve McNally was the pick of the bowlers with five for 25 off 3.5 overs, and Verdane Smith two for 11 off four overs.

In response, St Catherine reached 156 for 7 off their allotted 20 overs. Wayne Morgan with 47, Dwayne Ewart, 38, Alceymour Anglin 16 not out and Herbert Garriques 19 not out were the leading scorers.

Bowling for Manchester, Gary Graham took two for 28 off four overs and Jasford Gabriel two for 28 off four overs.

Orville Pennant was named Man of the Match.

Grand Slam

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP):

France won their first Six Nations Grand Slam since 2004 after narrowly beating England 12-10 yesterday.

After a bright start from England, France came back into the game and three penalties from Morgan Parra put the team 12-7 up at half-time.

Fullback Ben Foden scored a try for England early in the first half, moments after flyhalf François Trinh-Duc's drop goal put the French 3-0 ahead.

Flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson came off the bench and soon kicked England to within three points of France to ensure a nervous last 10 minutes at Stade de France.

It was the first Six Nations since 2007 for France, who also won the Grand Slam in 2002.

Scotland's 23-20 win over Ireland in Dublin meant France was already assured of the Six Nations title before taking the field.

Inter draw

MILAN (AP):

Inter Milan drew 1-1 away to Palermo yesterday to leave them vulnerable at the top of Serie A.

Diego Milito put Inter ahead with a penalty, but Edinson Cavani pulled Palermo level before half-time. Inter have won just one of their last six league games, despite eliminating Chelsea from the Champions League midweek with a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.

Inter lead with 60 points, but are only two ahead of AC Milan, who play Napoli today.

AS Roma are third with 56 points after beating Udinese 4-2.

Luca Toni gave Roma the lead and Mirko Vucinic added a second before Antonio Di Natale pulled a goal back with a penalty before the break.

Real Madrid in charge

MADRID (AP):

Real Madrid used a second-half flurry of goals to rally for a 3-1 victory over Sporting Gijon and move three points clear of Barcelona at the top of the Spanish league.

Madrid were shaken into action yesterday by David Barral's 53rd-minute goal, with Rafael Van der Vaart and Xabi Alonso scoring within two minutes of each other to put the home side ahead by the 57th minute at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Gonzalo Higuain then scored his 20th goal of the season in the 68th as Madrid moved to 68 points. Barcelona, who play at Zaragoza today, are on 65 points.

Earlier, Valladolid ended their three-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory at Deportivo La Coruna, last-place Xerez beat Tenerife 2-1 for a second straight win and Pedro Leon's 86th-minute goal earned Getafe a 2-2 draw at Athletic Bilbao in a match which saw each team finishing with 10 men.No strikeNEW YORK (AP):

Major League Soccer and its players have signed a five-year labour contract that avoids a strike scheduled for next week.

The MLS Players Union had said it would strike if an agreement wasn't reached before March 25, when the new season kicks off.

Negotiators began intensive talks on Thursday in Washington, D.C. A deal was signed yesterday.