Sports
The Prospects: Nehemiah Oriola, Brighton & Hove Albion
The Premier League 2 play-offs reached the quarter-final stage last week, and in the latter stages of any competition, sides need their big-game players to stand up.
There were some excellent displays over the course of the weekend, culminating in another all-Manchester semi-final.
But in the other half of the draw, Brighton & Hove Albion entertained West Ham United for a chance to face Tottenham Hotspur in the last four, and it was a diminutive left-winger that caught The Athletic’s eye.
Player: Nehemiah Oriola
Club: Brighton & Hove Albion
Date of birth: June 11, 2007 (18)
Position: Winger
The backstory
Oriola began his football journey at West Ham but switched to Manchester United in 2020 after impressing during a trial. He moved on to Brighton in 2023 after leaving United by mutual consent.
He signed his first professional contract a year later and has been in and around the first-team squad this season.
The teenager has been on the substitutes’ bench in the Premier League six times and made his senior debut as a substitute against Leeds United in November, albeit only for the last minute and stoppage time at the end.
Nehemiah Oriola playing for Manchester United against Coleraine back in 2021 (Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
However, manager Fabian Hurzeler is a fan and has described him as “an unbelievable talent”. “He’s a very good left-footed player,” he said after including the youngster in a senior squad against Newcastle United in October. “He’s very good one-on-one; he shows good reactions when he loses the ball.”
This season, he has scored 11 goals and provided six assists in 26 appearances for Brighton’s under-21s and went into the West Ham game with three goals in his previous four games.
He has yet to declare whom he wishes to represent at international level; Oriola was born in England to Ghanaian and Nigerian parents, so he has plenty of options.
What we saw
Quality players affect big games, and that is exactly what Oriola did against West Ham.
He was playing in his favoured left-wing position but had a very quiet start. Of the front three, he seemed to be the one looking to run in behind the Hammers’ defence while centre-forward Shane Nti dropped in a little deeper to link play, but he was not involved heavily in the game until midway through the first half.
Then we saw his explosive pace as Brighton played him in behind the defence. He burst away from his markers, only for his cutback from the byline to be intercepted.
Nehemiah Oriola is a winger of some promise (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
It was a trick worth repeating and he was in down the left flank again just minutes later, beating full-back Jethro Medine with a couple of stepovers before picking out Josh Robertson. His shot was blocked, but whenever Oriola received the ball in space, he looked to be positive.
One of the best examples was in the build-up to the first goal as an attack by West Ham, who were on top for long spells, broke down and Oriola picked up the ball just outside his own box and raced forward to win the corner that led to Callum Mackley’s opener.
He demonstrated similarly incisive movement again just before half-time as he ran inside the full-back to receive a pass before pulling the ball back for Nti to add the second. It was a much more even game than the scoreline suggested, with Oriola effectively the difference between the two sides.
He will be a player who will excite fans because of his natural attacking instincts. He was always looking to get forward and attack the opposition defence, and he demonstrated this mindset again just before the break when he took on three defenders only to overhit his cross.
Oriola had to show more of a disciplined side in the second period as the visitors pushed for a way back into the game, and Medine also showed his attacking tendencies, too, at times. Yet that effort was severely affected by the sending off of West Ham’s Joshua Ajala and, again, Oriola was involved.
Ajala was shown a straight red card for a lunge on the winger as he was attempting to pinch possession back for Brighton.
Oriola was substituted not long afterwards and Brighton went on to complete the 3-0 victory to reach the semi-finals, where they will face Tottenham. Their progress stemmed mainly from Oriola’s eye-catching performance.
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County Championship: Leicestershire have eight points reinstated from 27-point deduction for poor pitch blamed on Bollywood film shoot | Cricket News
Leicestershire’s 27-point deduction for breaching pitch regulations in August’s win over Glamorgan has been reduced to 19.
The Foxes were relegated from Division One of the County Championship last week following an innings defeat by champions Warwickshire.
Leicestershire’s groundsman Callum Lewin had argued filming of an unscheduled Bollywood film – believed to be for a biopic of former India captain Sourav Ganguly – had taken place at the ground four days before the Glamorgan fixture between August 20-23, preventing the pitch from being covered for eight hours in bright sunshine and heatwave temperatures.
The Cricket Discipline Panel (CDP) upheld the charge against Leicestershire for a breach of the ECB’s Pitch Regulations.
It imposed an immediate eight-point deduction from the County Championship plus the 19 points Leicestershire earned from winning the match by 42 runs.
A further eight-point deduction was also suspended until the end of the 2027 season and a £5,000 fine.
Leicestershire confirmed last Thursday that they would appeal against the original sanction.
Following the CDP holding a further hearing last Wednesday, the sanction has been amended with Leicestershire having eight points reinstated.
Leicestershire chief executive Emma White said in a statement: “The (CDP) Panel made clear that the latest hearing and Amended Decision, which relates to the sanction alone, were not appeal proceedings.
“Our position on the charge is therefore unchanged. We continue to believe it should not have been upheld, and that we ought not to have suffered the points deduction we have. We therefore still intend to appeal, focusing upon the process and resultant evidential position upon which the Panel was caused to decide the case.
“Our recently instructed counsel, Craig Harris, and Oliver Laurence of Periculum Sport shall continue to act for the Club throughout the appeal process.
“As we are now engaged in that process, it would not be appropriate for the club to comment further at this stage. I would again ask all supporters to do the same, and to treat everyone involved, including players and staff from other counties, and those administering this process, with courtesy and respect, both at the ground and online.”
The amended decision adjusts Leicestershire’s points tally in Division One to 119, 17 behind third-from-bottom Essex.
A wholly successful appeal would lift Leicestershire out of the relegation zone and above Essex.
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Dillian Whyte was suffering from a broken foot in Moses Itauma defeat but wants to return in British battle with Johnny Fisher | Boxing News
Dillian Whyte provided a gruesome description while explaining the agonising injury that he suffered, just weeks before his last fight against Moses Itauma.
“It felt like someone had dropped a dumbbell on my foot,” revealed Whyte when asked to put into words the pain caused by the fractured foot that he sustained in training last summer.
“I was running and I felt it [my foot] and then I went to spar and I was sparring big, agile guys and someone was pressing me, I stepped back the wrong way and then it just fractured clean.
“It was terrible, but we’re used to pulling off miracles. We’re used to fighting injured.
“I made the best of the situation and had a decent camp. I felt good during fight week and really thought I would beat Moses.”
Whyte has entered the ring before with debilitating injuries. He famously fought bitter rival Anthony Joshua whilst being hampered by a badly damaged shoulder and other grim wounds have been overcome in a heavyweight career that led him to become two-time WBC interim world champion.
But the Brixton man could not shrug off the effects of his injured foot and the bone fractured again while he was limbering up in the dressing room, only hours before he was due to face Itauma in Saudi Arabia last August.
“I started warming up, jumped a little bit of rope, and then reinjured the foot. Completely fractured it again,” said Whyte.
“We had to call the doctor who was with me to examine it. He advised me not to fight and I said ‘no’. There’s no way I’m going to come all the way to Saudi and not fight last minute.
“I was confident that I would still be able to drag Moses into the later rounds and stop him as [Filip] Hrgovic recently did.”
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Dillian Whyte has welcomed a heavyweight showdown with Johnny Fisher and believes it will be ‘exciting while it lasts’
Whyte tried to conceal his damaged foot, which had been heavily strapped, but his lack of mobility was exposed by Itauma, who piled on a succession of punches before the bout was waved off in the opening round.
While Itauma celebrated his victory, Whyte remained silent about his significant injury and has been absent from the ring since that fight.
“I didn’t want to mention it, go into it, and take away from his win, because he done alright. I got clocked and he won the fight.
“I didn’t want to go on too much about it and I think people got carried away with the fact that I got beat in a round by Moses.
“I don’t think people would draw the same conclusions if they had the full facts.
“People have short memories and they like to say ‘retire because of this, retire because of that’ but what they don’t realise is we’re members of a rare generation of entertaining British heavyweight boxers that are coming to the end of our careers.
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Dillian Whyte believes that rumours the fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua could fall through is nothing more than mind games – and gives his prediction for the fight
“I love boxing and I’ll fight anyone. Be grateful that you have guys like me around because when we’re gone, there will be a long drought in the heavyweight division.”
Johnny Fisher called for the return of Whyte last week, insisting that there is a ‘good chance’ the fight could happen in the near future.
Whyte readily accepted the verbal challenge and was watching from ringside as Fisher battled to a majority decision victory over Michael Pirotton at the Copper Box Arena last weekend.
“Credit to Johnny Fisher, because he’s a big lump, he hasn’t had time to learn a lot, but he’s got a lot of courage, he’s got a lot of heart, he’s a big puncher and he’s brave,” said Whyte, who is open to facing Fisher in November or December this year.
“He’s a bit frantic and that, but he’s very brave and he’s a big guy who punches hard. When the fight gets tough, he keeps trying and he keeps coming back.
“You can never overlook that but let’s be honest, I will knock Johnny Fisher out, simple as that.”
Dillian Whyte’s manager Mike Ofo is hopeful that a fight against Johnny Fisher will be next
Whyte was joined by manager Michael Ofo, who says the fight has already been verbally accepted by Fisher’s team and is hopeful it can be finalised.
“The fight was agreed in principle following Fisher’s win on Saturday night with a handshake between me and Fisher’s manager Adam Morallee,” said Ofo.
“I was unsure whether Fisher and his management would take the fight, in spite of Fisher having called Dillian out, so I called Adam over and asked him. He immediately responded: ‘Absolutely. Let’s do it next!’
“It would be a huge all-British clash and a massive event for London. So, let’s stop talking and get it on!”
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County Championship: Leicestershire have eight points reinstated from 27-point deduction for poor pitch blamed on Bollywood film shoot | Cricket News
Dillian Whyte was suffering from a broken foot in Moses Itauma defeat but wants to return in British battle with Johnny Fisher | Boxing News
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