Dai Sport

Matthew Maynard insists Glamorgan are still reaping the rewards of a positive approach to their County Championship campaign despite their latest defeat. The Welsh county lost by 58 runs to Durham in a match they looked well placed to win at the start of the final day. Instead, they were bowled out for just 137 with England Test hopeful Matty Potts taking 7-40, to leave Glamorgan in third place in Division Two with two wins, two defeats and two draws from their opening six matches.

It’s coming. D-day for Wales in their bid to make the World Cup finals. But few things are certain about this fixture, including the eventual full starting team that manager Robert Page will plump for. Daniel Parker reckons nine are nailed on, but two more will keep us guessing . . . and arguing. Sunday 5th June – it’s getting a bit close for comfort now, isn’t it? We’re less than three weeks away from Wales men’s golden opportunity to end 64 years of hurt by qualifying for a World Cup, and there remain a host of Rusmfeldian “known unknowns” in play.

Sophie Ingle will celebrate her Double triumph with Chelsea by trying to break the attendance record for a Wales women’s international later this year. The Wales captain helped her club lift the Women’s FA Cup at the weekend when they overcame Manchester City 3-2 at Wembley after extra time. It followed the club’s historic third successive Women’s Super League title clinched last weekend, a Double accomplishment of which Ingle has been a key part.

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson insists even if his club fail to get a Hollywood ending to their promotion push, they will not be left on the cutting room floor. Parkinson has got used to cameras everywhere he goes as the manager working for A-listers and joint owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The perfect script would be for Wrexham to win the National League title and return to the EFL after 14 years away by winning at Dagenham and Redbridge on the final day of the regular campaign.

Steve Cooper insists he and his Nottingham Forest side will not be burdened by the weight of history as they prepare to face Sheffield United in the first leg of their Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final at Bramall Lane on Saturday. The Welshman will lead a club that has not featured in the Premier League this century, an absence keenly felt in a city steeped in the traditions of Brian Clough and his all-conquering sides that swept to back-to-back European Cup wins in 1979 and 1980. Expectations have been raised again by the club’s extraordinary rise since former Swansea City boss Cooper’s arrival at the City Ground in September, but the Pontypridd native is adamant that history must only be seen as a positive as they look to take the first steps towards a return to the game’s elite.

Patrick Swan may be from Cornwall, but he is more than happy to regularly make the trip across the Severn Bridge to compete in - and for - Wales. Despite being based across the water in England’s most south-westerly county, Swan is a familiar face on the Welsh athletics circuit, competing for Swansea Harriers and pulling on the red vest of Wales. Last weekend, the big shot putter added 15cms to his personal best at the National Athletics League’s opening Premiership fixture of the summer in Cardiff.

Dean Ryan admitted his Dragons team had given Rhys Priestland the chances to win their derby clash against Cardiff at Rodney Parade. Priestland kicked four penalties and a conversion for Cardiff as they edged out the Dragons 19-18 in a fiery neighbours’ dust-up which saw two players sent off. It was Cardiff’s first away win of the season, while the Dragons remain winless at home after their outside-half Will Reed missed a 79th-minute penalty that would have pinched victory.

Dai Young insists both Cardiff Rugby and the Dragons have a duty to produce an entertaining affair at Rodney Parade on Friday night following the downbeat mood which seems to have settled over Welsh rugby. The two sides will face each other in Newport in the final United Rugby Championship derby of the season, with all of the Welsh regions having failed to make the play-offs. But with Young still believing his men will take on a motivated Dragons side, he knows his own team will need to be at their best in order to claim a derby win.

Gymnast Poppy Stickler is the latest pupil to be honoured in Whitchurch High School’s renowned Hall of Fame. Gareth Bale, Sam Warburton and Geraint Thomas already grace the walls of the most famous sporting school in Wales. Now it’s the turn of Sticker. The Cardiff pupil – who turns 16 on June 12 – is a strong contender to be named in the Wales squad for this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.