Tributes have poured in for one of rugby’s cross-code greats following the death of David Watkins at the age of 81.

Blaina-born Watkins, known affectionately as “Dai”, played rugby union for Newport and was part of the team which famously beat the touring All Blacks in 1963.

He also won 21 caps for Wales and captained the British Lions before making a shock switch to rugby league with Salford in 1967 having resisted interest from St Helens as an 18-year-old.

A statement from Salford read: “Salford Red Devils are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of club icon, David Watkins, one of the very greatest to represent our club, and to ever play our game.

“All our thoughts go out to David’s family and friends at this truly difficult time.”

The Rugby Football League described Watkins as “one of the best cross-code converts from Wales”.

A statement from the Wales Rugby Football League read: “Everyone at Wales Rugby League was sad to hear about the passing of David Watkins MBE, one of our greatest ever players. He was aged 81.

“Dai, as he was affectionately known as, is recognised as one of the greatest Welshmen to have ever pulled on a rugby shirt.”

Watkins played a key role in Salford’s golden era, making more than 400 appearances and scoring almost 3,000 points as they were crowned champions twice in three seasons during the 1970s.

He kicked a world record 221 goals during the 1972-73 season and his feat of scoring in 92 consecutive matches for the club remains unbeaten.

His club form once again earned him recognition at international level with both Wales and Great Britain, who he represented on the Lions tour to Australia in 1974.

Watkins, who coached Britain at the 1977 World Cup final and later took charge of Wales, also had brief spells with Swinton and Cardiff Blue Dragons.

He moved into media work following his retirement in 1982, and was awarded an MBE for his services to rugby league four years later.

Watkins was elevated to the Wales Rugby League hall of fame in 2018 and admitted to the RFL’s equivalent during last year’s World Cup.

Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus fired Arsenal to a stunning 3-1 stoppage-time victory against Manchester United as a thrill-a-minute clash came to an unforgettable conclusion.

Last year’s Premier League runners-up hosted the side that finished third on Sunday afternoon as these teams looked to kick on from more unconvincing starts than their respective points tallies suggested.

Marcus Rashford brilliantly put Erik ten Hag’s United ahead in the first half at the Emirates Stadium, only for Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard to impressively level 110 seconds later.

The match looked set to end in an absorbing draw after a penalty for a foul on Kai Havertz was overturned following a pitchside review, before the VAR ruled out substitute Alejandro Garnacho’s late winner for narrowly straying offside.

United’s wholehearted celebrations were cut short and there was still time for more drama in a jaw-dropping ending.

A deep corner found Rice to slam home his first Arsenal goal off the heel of Jonny Evans in the sixth minute of stoppage time, before substitute Jesus coolly added gloss for Mikel Arteta’s men.

Lewis Hamilton apologised to Oscar Piastri after he admitted he was “totally at fault” for his collision with the McLaren rookie in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

Hamilton was hit with a five-second penalty for the coming together at the Variante della Roggia as the two drivers duelled for eighth on lap 41 of 51 in Monza.

Hamilton improved to sixth and was able to pull out a seven-second margin on Williams’ Alex Albon to ensure the sanction had no impact on his result.

However, Piastri, 22, suffered front-wing damage and was forced to stop for repairs, dropping him out of the points. “He just turned across me under braking,” said Piastri on the radio.

Hamilton, who was also hit with two penalty points on his driver’s licence, doubling his total to four, went over to Piastri to concede his error at the chequered flag.

“It was totally my fault,” said Hamilton, 38. “It actually wasn’t intentional. I went and apologised to him straight afterwards.

“I got up alongside him and just misjudged the gap I had to the right and clipped him. It could happen at any time.

“I knew shortly afterwards it must have been my fault and I wanted to make sure he knew it wasn’t intentional. That’s what gentleman do.”

Hamilton’s Mercedes boss Toto Wolff had no complaints with the stewards’ verdict and praised his superstar driver for taking accountability.

“That was Lewis’ mistake,” said Wolff. “I think a five-second penalty for that is what the menu says. These things happen, you know. It’s hard racing and we’ve seen a few of these. It’s justifiable.

“Lewis is very sportsmanlike on these things. And he is the only one that I see out there admitting things that he did wrong.

“We just had a chat and he said ‘I didn’t see him on the right and that is on me.’ And I think that kind of sportsmanship is what you need to admire with him. Pretty much everyone else is complaining and moaning to try to avoid getting a penalty.”

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell brushed off the significance of joining Celtic at the top of the cinch Premiership but hailed his players for “pushing the boundaries” with a 1-0 win at Tynecastle with 10 men.

Callum Slattery’s well-worked first-half goal and a resolute defensive display – especially after Paul McGinn’s 69th-minute red card – sealed victory against a Hearts side who only forced one save.

Motherwell are second on goal difference behind Celtic but Kettlewell is not getting carried away with the table after four matches.

“I don’t mean to be all doom and gloom but it means nothing at this point,” he said.

“I did speak to the players about pushing boundaries as much as we can and I think, as a short-term goal, coming to Tynecastle and getting a clean sheet and winning is pushing the boundaries for a club like Motherwell.

“Their resources and everything that they have is astronomical compared to ourselves but that doesn’t mean that we can’t come here, push boundaries and win games of football – and acquit ourselves in the way that we did.

“We’re not going to look at the league table or speak about it as a group.

“For supporters and people outside our club it’s a big story and it’s something to talk about. But for us, very simply we feel as if we have hit an unbelievable stretch of form.

“That’s now 10 Premiership games without defeat and we have not lost an away game since I took charge.”

Kettlewell added: “It was a brilliant performance. In the first half we were very good. We did a lot of things well in possession and out of possession.

“Fundamentally when you come here you want to turn the crowd, you want to try and ensure the opposition have to change their shape and their personnel. They did all of those things so we felt that first marker was there for us.

“In the second half you know you are going to have to suffer at times. At times you won’t have the ball but when we were reduced to 10 men that had to bring out a different side in us.

“We were laughing with the players because we work on attack versus defence and you saw how comfortable they were with it.

“It looked like they enjoyed it and there was a unity in everything they did. I think for Liam Kelly to face only one shot on target all game, that’s pretty incredible. But it also shows the work done in front of him.”

Hearts technical director Steven Naismith admitted his team’s performance was “poor” as they suffered a fourth consecutive defeat.

Naismith added: “It’s been very similar to every game we have played after a European tie. A very slow start, lethargic, safe, which then turns into nerves, turns into giving away cheap chances.

“I don’t think we deserved to win the game, we didn’t create enough, especially when they went down to 10 men.

“It was more of hope than real desire to get the goal to get back in the game that would put them under real pressure, which we failed to do.”

Naismith refused to use the exertions of Thursday’s European tie against PAOK as an excuse.

“If you’re at a club where the demand is you play in Europe season in, season out, then you need to understand you need to dig deep when you’re not feeling at your best,” he said.

“You need to have that mentality that says ‘no matter what, we’re going to win this game if it might not go straight to plan’.

“We need to have enough to cause other teams problems and I don’t think we have done that in these games after the European games.”

Hibernian caretaker manager David Gray credited his side for the hard work that led to them beating Aberdeen to earn a first cinch Premiership victory of the season.

There has not been too much for Hibs supporters to smile about in recent times, but they now go into the international break with a much-needed 2-0 win under their belts thanks to goals from second-half substitutes Adam Le Fondre and Christian Doidge.

Victory also saw Hibs climb off the foot of the table, moving above St Johnstone and Aberdeen, who who are both still searching for their first league wins of the campaign.

Gray, who has taken the reins following the sacking of Lee Johnson and saw his side exit the Europa Conference League at the hands of Aston Villa on Thursday, said: “The opportunity and incentive today was to go ahead of Aberdeen in the league.

“Our schedule has been gruelling with around 12 games in six weeks, but that’s reward for the success we had last year. This is the most important thing and I’m delighted we came away with the win today.

“We’ve been conceding too many goals of late, but David Marshall makes a very important save at 0-0. We’ve needed to be harder to beat and the players have bought into that.”

Aberdeen boss Barry Robson conceded his side looked tired after their own European exploits and is looking forward to the international break as a chance to help his heavily revamped squad get to know each other.

He said: “I think you were looking at two tired teams today. We tried to freshen things up today and put lots of fresh legs on, but the heat and effort we’ve put in caught up with us.

“Hibs were the same and I think they managed it a little bit better than us. I thought we looked a tired team and there were players we wanted to take off but weren’t able to.

“It was a difficult day for us, but we’re honest enough to know that we need to be better.

“It’s a good time to get all the new players together and let them get to know each other. We will get better game-by-game, and we’ll have the opportunity to work with the players who aren’t away on international duty.”

New Zealand hit back at Edgbaston to inflict a heavy 74-run defeat on England in the third T20 and keep alive the four-match series ahead of Tuesday’s finale at Trent Bridge.

Jos Buttler’s world champions could have clinched the series with victory in Birmingham following fine wins in Durham and Manchester, but the Black Caps were able to post an imposing 202 for five after deciding to bat first.

Finn Allen smashed three consecutive sixes off Adil Rashid on his way to 83 and Glenn Phillips contributed a rapid 69 before Ish Sodhi starred with the ball, finishing with three for 33.

Sodhi claimed the key scalps of Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook cheaply and when Mitchell Santner ended Buttler’s blistering innings of 40 off 21 balls, the hosts’ race was run despite the best efforts of Moeen Ali, who was England’s second top scorer with 26 in a below-par batting display.

England were eventually dismissed for 128 to disappoint a typically boisterous sun-soaked Edgbaston crowd and Buttler’s men now head to Nottingham with a narrow 2-1 lead aiming to secure a first T20 series success since they were crowned world champions last November.

After New Zealand decided to bat first, Allen set out his stall with two classy drives for four from Luke Wood’s first over.

The breakthrough arrived soon after though, when Allen pushed for three and opening partner Devon Conway was run-out by Buttler for nine after Moeen’s strong throw from the deep.

Black Caps number three Tim Seifert struggled and was stumped by Buttler from a turning Liam Livingstone delivery for 19, but Allen remained unflustered.

Rashid and Livingstone were hit for maximums to help Allen bring up his fifty from 35 balls.

Rashid had managed to tie up an end and only went for 23 from his first three overs, but Allen sent him out of the attack with a bang after three successive sixes in the 15th over.

The first maximum was hit high over deep extra cover and Allen showed his range with another through cow corner before a stand and deliver shot down the ground moved him up to 77.

A second T20 century appeared in sight but Allen’s fine innings ended when he lost his off stump to Wood’s inswinging yorker to walk off for an excellent 83 off 53 balls.

Phillips had provided able support to Allen in a crucial 88-run partnership and upped the ante following the opener’s departure with Livingstone’s last over smashed for 22 to give the all-rounder expensive figures of one for 55.

Livingstone was pulled for back-to-back maximums by Phillips before the last ball of the 18th over was driven for another six, but Atkinson concluded the fun of the tourists’ number four.

The Surrey quick produced an excellent 77mph slower ball to bowl Phillips for 69 before he accounted for Daryl Mitchell caught behind to end with respectable figures of two for 31.

New Zealand still managed 202 for five, which left England needing their third highest T20 chase but they made a horrendous start.

Kyle Jamieson sent Will Jacks back for 11 and Dawid Malan produced a painful innings at three, scoring two runs before he hit Tim Southee to Conway at deep cover.

Malan’s dismissal after a scratchy 11-ball knock brought the in-form Brook to the crease but while his innings was eventful, it was also short-lived.

Brook, still reeling from being left out of England’s preliminary World Cup squad, got off the mark with a four but was dismissed in Sodhi’s second over.

He survived being given out lbw after a review showed he got glove on the delivery but Sodhi’s next ball was hit straight up in the air and Mitchell took the catch.

Sodhi had already dismissed Bairstow for 12 and England’s hopes of victory were pinned on captain Buttler.

Buttler, after he survived a tight lbw call, got off the mark with a six down the ground against Sodhi and hit another maximum off Santner after replays showed Allen grounded his foot over the boundary rope having initially caught the shot before attempting to throw it back to team-mate Mitchell.

Santner had the last laugh though when Buttler pulled him straight up in the air and the Black Caps spinner took the caught and bowled chance to end the England skipper’s counter-attack.

Moeen remained and hoicked Matt Henry over deep midwicket for six to bring up England’s hundred but he was one of two scalps in Jamieson’s third over as the hosts were convincingly beaten.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff called Max Verstappen’s drive into the Formula One record books at Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix “completely irrelevant”.

Verstappen went behind enemy lines in Ferrari’s backyard to fight his way past Carlos Sainz’s scarlet car and become the first driver in the sport’s 73-year history to win 10 consecutive races.

The Dutchman, now a victor at 12 of the 14 rounds so far, bettered the record he had shared with Sebastian Vettel. Verstappen has not lost a race since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on April 30, 126 days ago.

Sergio Perez finished runner-up as Red Bull – who remain unbeaten this season – claimed a one-two finish, with pole-sitter Sainz third ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and sixth for Mercedes.

Hamilton’s Mercedes machinery carried him to six world championships in seven seasons, but the British driver was never able to win more than five successive races. The best Michael Schumacher, so dominant in his Ferrari at the turn of the century, could manage was seven.

Yet, despite Verstappen’s historic streak, Wolff found it difficult to express praise for Red Bull’s star man.

“For me, these kinds of records are completely irrelevant,” he said. “They were irrelevant in our good days in Mercedes.

“I don’t know how many races we won in a row. I didn’t even know that there was a count of how many wins in a row, so if you are asking me to comment on the achievement it is difficult, because it never played a role in my own life until I heard about it yesterday.

“The result itself shows a great driver in a great car, who are competing on an extremely high level.”

Wolff’s lacklustre appraisal came after Hamilton devalued the strength of Verstappen’s team-mates in an interview on Italian television on Thursday. Verstappen responded in the Dutch media by suggesting Hamilton was “jealous” of his current success.

Hamilton was then asked about Verstappen’s record-breaking run after Sunday’s 51-lap race.

“I had strong team-mates,” he replied. “Valtteri (Bottas) was quick a lot of times. I don’t care about statistics in general. Good for him.”

Since he claimed his maiden title at the controversial season-ending Abu Dhabi race in 2021 – denying Hamilton a record eighth championship – Verstappen has won 27 of the 36 races staged. In his last 25 appearances, Verstappen has failed to win just four times.

“What Max is doing is breaking records and driving at an unbelievable level,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

“I don’t think there is anybody in the world at the moment that can beat Max Verstappen in this car, that’s for sure.

“You have to recognise and applaud what Max is doing. It is very special to achieve what he has achieved and we shouldn’t detract from that in any way.

“In sport it is very rare that something like this happens and it is a golden moment for him and certainly a golden moment for the team.”

Verstappen was made to wait 14 laps and a handful of corners before he assumed the lead of Sunday’s race at the Variante della Roggia. From there, he never looked back to seal another crushing win and move 145 points clear in the standings.

There remains an outside chance he could be crowned champion of the world for a third time as early as the Japanese Grand Prix in three weeks with half-a-dozen rounds still remaining.

“I never would have believed that it was possible,” said Verstappen after his record triumph. “But we had to work for it today and that definitely made it a lot more fun.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insisted the club’s stance would not waver on Mohamed Salah, despite speculation of a potential world-record bid for the forward arriving this week.

The club rejected a £150million deal for the 31-year-old from Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad on Friday and said at the time, they considered the matter closed.

That has not prevented suggestions the Pro League champions are prepared to return with a bid of around £200m but Klopp said even though the Saudi transfer window remained open until Thursday, the position of owners Fenway Sports Group would not change.

“I didn’t realise a little bit of a distraction in the whole week, besides answering questions about it – not from people inside (the club) but people outside,” said Klopp after his side’s 3-0 victory over Aston Villa in which Salah scored the third after Dominik Szoboszlai’s first goal for the club was followed by Matty Cash putting through his own net.

“I have no clue, nobody came to me and told me something could happen or whatever. I’m pretty sure I would have got a call but I didn’t.

“And Mo didn’t look for a second like he thought about anything else other than about Aston Villa, being involved in all the goals.

“He has unbelievable numbers but it’s not a surprise that he has the numbers. And he had chances on top of that and (is) involved in creating and setting up and all these kind of things.

“He’s a world-class player, no doubt about that and I’m really pleased he is in my team.”

Szoboszlai said in a post-match television interview to that Salah wanted to stay.

“You know it is football, everyone is talking. We are really happy that he has stayed,” said the Hungary captain.

“We are of course speaking between each other but he wants to stay, he wants to be here and be with us. We are really happy – we need people in the team like him.”

Klopp was asked whether Salah had conveyed that message to him.

“No. He didn’t tell me, but he didn’t have to. He speaks with his training and performances and behaviour,” he added, after admitting the only downside to the afternoon was a hamstring injury to Trent Alexander-Arnold which was likely to rule him out of England duty in the coming international break.

“We had meetings this week and the meetings were not about what we did in the past, it was about what we will do in the future.

“Mo was with the players’ (leadership) committee and had his moments where he was talking and it was nothing like ‘By the way, this is only until next week’ or whatever.

“He is completely here and if Dom said that, fine. Mo doesn’t have to come into my office and tell me ‘By the way, boss… (I’m not going)’.

“For me it wasn’t a subject for one second, to be honest, besides the questions (from the media).”

Villa were never really in the game after Cash’s 22nd-minute own goal, and head coach Unai Emery admitted – after conceding three in the last half-hour at Newcastle on the opening weekend – he was conscious of getting torn apart at Anfield.

“It is difficult to win here and first half was the key. We had chances, we were not clinical and 2-0 was not really the result we deserved for the first half,” he said.

“Second half we stuck to our gameplan and they scored the third goal and it was match finished.

“We tried to be focused because here, like in Newcastle, we lost the last 30 minutes and we didn’t want it today. I can’t accept to let them have more goals.”

The Prix de l’Abbaye is likely to be the next stop for Go Athletico as connections target optimum conditions for their sprinting star at ParisLongchamp.

The five-year-old is yet to finish outside of the first two in three starts for Adrian McGuinness, claiming Listed honours on stable debut at Cork before finishing second in two high-class Curragh sprint events most recently.

Go Athletico does have the option of returning to the Kildare venue for the Group One Flying Five Stakes during the Irish Champions Festival, but it would be somewhat fitting if he were to head to France in search of big-race success on October 1 having raced 26 times there, winning on six occasions, before transferring to Ireland for €165,000 in the spring.

“We have him in the Flying Five but I don’t think the ground will come up soft enough for him,” said Barry Irwin, CEO of Team Valor, who own the horse in partnership with Shamrock Thoroughbreds.

“He’s a very honest horse and he’s going to try every time, but he can’t go unless there is some moisture in the ground and it was just against him last time.

“I don’t think you will see him again until the Abbaye. That’s where we are pointing and depending on what kind of draw he gets and how the ground turns up, he has a tremendous turn of foot and under the right circumstances he can run with the top horses.

“I think five or five and a half furlongs is what he is made for really.”

Roy Hodgson is confident Odsonne Edouard can provide the goal threat Crystal Palace need this season after the French striker scored twice in his side’s 3-2 win over Wolves.

Palace only added goalkeeper Dean Henderson and defender Rob Holding on transfer deadline day, but Hodgson indicated he was happy with the strikers at his disposal after Jean-Phillipe Meteta set up goals for Eberechi Eze and Edouard following his introduction from the bench.

Edouard, who signed from Celtic for £14million two years ago, has endured a stop-start career at Selhurst Park but with four goals in five league and cup games already this season, Hodgson said the 25-year-old is now ready to take the next step and become a force in the Premier League.

“He was very good today throughout,” Hodgson said.

“He came here from Celtic where he was so highly-regarded and scored I don’t know how many goals and was a big, big star.

“When we first came back to the club he had not established himself as much as he would have liked.

“He did get that position as a centre-forward when we came in and he has got better and better, knowing how we want to try and play.

“He hadn’t lost the technique, talent, the skill or the things that made him so big at Celtic. I spoke to Brendan Rodgers not so long ago and he was glowing in his praise about him.”

Mateta teed up Edouard for his second goal with a perfect back-heeled pass and Hodgson said the big forward, who wanted to leave in the window, is an integral part of his squad.

“That is why we kept him,” Hodgson said.

“If I was to let every player who is not in the first 11 go, that is all we would have if we had a few injuries.

“You try to look after players as best you can, but if the 11 are playing very well, maybe there is not a space for them.”

All five goals at Selhurst Park came in the second half with Wolves equalising Edouard’s 56th-minute strike when Hwang Hee-Chan diverted the impressive Pedro Neto’s delivery past Sam Johnstone.

Neto also set up Matheus Cuhna for a stoppage-time consolation goal – after Eze and Edouard had made it 3-1 to Palace – and Wolves boss Gary O’Neil said although his side looked toothless in attack they deserved to get something from the game.

“It was not one I thought we were going to lose, for the majority of the game I thought we had decent control of it,” O’Neil said.

“Most of their chances came from us turning the ball over in areas where we shouldn’t. They were threatening from those situations but I thought when both teams were in shape we looked the better side.

“We lacked a bit of punch. We had 60 final-third entries, which is a lot for an away game, and more than Palace, but we didn’t really threaten their goal enough.”

Twilight Jet turned on the afterburners to fly home and secure Irish Stallion Farms EBF Abergwaun Stakes honours at Tipperary.

Michael O’Callaghan’s four-year-old has always been held in high-regard and had previously struck twice at Group Three level.

However, he has been out of luck in two starts this season as connections have strived to get the colt back to his very best and he was dropped to the minimum distance and Listed level when sent off the 15-8 favourite on Sunday.

Victory looked out of range with a furlong to run as Kieran Cotter’s Dun Na Sead blazed a trail on the front end.

But Twilight Jet found top gear when it mattered most to surge his way to a neck victory over stablemate Lokada, who also did her best work late in the day from a position at the rear of the field.

“It was great, I’m delighted to get Twilight Jet’s head back in front because he hadn’t the most straightforward path to this as he had two surgeries over the winter,” said O’Callaghan.

“He had one for colic and had to have another surgery having slipped, so it has been a long time coming back.

“Last year he blitzed them in the Lacken (Stakes) but went to Royal Ascot and was sick for quite a while. This year was about getting him back slowly, race to race.

“He’ll go for something like the World Trophy (at Newbury) or I might step him up to six (furlongs) but there are a few options for him in the UK. Leigh (Roche, jockey) couldn’t pull him up today and a stiff five or stepping back up to six will suit.”

On the runner up, he added: “Lokada had a lot of headgear on her to try to get her to relax – we have been tricking around with her and always thought she had the ability to get black type.

“They went so hard in front that Colin (Keane, Jockey) was able to get cover to help her relax and she came home well. Today was huge for her and she might be able to win one of these now.”

Aidan O’Brien’s Los Angeles (13-2) kicked the card off in style with an impressive debut performance in the Camas Park Stud Irish EBF Maiden.

The son of Camelot was an ever-lengthening two-and-a-quarter-length victor and having been handed quotes of 33-1 by Paddy Power for next year’s Derby, he is set for a rise in grade for his next start.

Ballydoyle stable representative Chris Armstrong said: “He is a lovely horse and will come on an awful lot. It was a lovely introduction to bring him here and he will be a lovely middle-distance horse for next year.

“He’ll improve a ton for the run and something like the Beresford or the Criterium de Saint-Cloud could be next, but he is a horse to look forward to next year.

“Seamus (Heffernan, jockey) gave him a lovely introduction and what he does at two will be a bonus. It’s grand to get him out now and see where he fits into the pecking order.”

Also making a taking debut was Jessica Harrington’s Sea The Boss (5-1), who pulled well clear of 15-8 favourite Quickstepping in the Irish EBF Auction Series Maiden to book her ticket to the valuable series finale later in the autumn.

Harrington said: “We have always liked her, we liked her in the spring and she grew a lot. She is a fine looker and is only a frame filly, so is next year’s model.

“We’ll see what we do and there is the final of this series at Naas (on October 15) for her.”

In an afternoon where debutants came to the fore, Caracal made the perfect stable bow for Joseph O’Brien in the Meadowview Stables Race.

The Al Shaqab Racing-owned gelding made three starts for Jean-Claude Rouget in France before switching to the Owning Hill handler and having successfully returned from over 500 days off the track, could now be set sterner tests moving forwards.

O’Brien said: “It’s great to get our first winner for Al Shaqab (Racing) – we haven’t had many runners for them and it’s great to get the first win.

“He had been working smartly at home but had been off the track for a long time, so today was very much about getting him started. I thought it was a good performance against some good, solid horses.

“He obviously had a hold-up in France, was off the track for an extended period of time with an injury and we have had him for the last few months. We’ve liked him since he arrived, he will head for stakes level and is a nice horse going forward.

“He was a little keen and fresh in the race, I think he’ll stay further and there is a Listed race in Cork over a mile which he could potentially go to, but we’ll see how he pulls up first.”

Managerless Hibernian finally brought some cheer to the Easter Road faithful as they put a jaded-looking Aberdeen side to the sword and lifted themselves off the bottom of the cinch Premiership.

With both sides involved in European action on Thursday night, it was perhaps predictable that substitutes would make a difference with Hibs scorers, Adam Le Fondre and Christian Doidge, both coming off the bench to earn a 2-0 win.

That was the Edinburgh club’s first league victory of the season and saw them climb above both St Johnstone and Aberdeen in the table.

Winless Aberdeen set out positively and after just two minutes they passed up a golden opportunity as Jamie McGrath’s cross from the left was headed over by Nicky Devlin from close range.

But the visitors, who sacked Lee Johnson after losing their opening three league matches, grew into the game and were unlucky not to go ahead when Will Fish, on loan from Manchester United, rose highest to meet Joe Newell’s free-kick from the right, but he headed over the bar.

McGrath was again involved when Aberdeen threatened again on the half-hour, this time his cross seeking out Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes at the back post, but he was crowded out by the Hibs defence.

It was the home side who were left to breathe a sigh of relief five minutes later, Elie Youan’s strong run down the left creating an opening for Martin Boyle, but this time it was the Aberdeen defence who rallied to block his effort.

And the Dons created a final first-half effort, as Connor Barron crossed for Bojan Miovski, but Josh Campbell was well-placed to block.

The second half continued in similar fashion, with both sides looking vulnerable at the back.

Newell flashed a shot wide for Hibs, while at the other end Miovski headed over from a Devlin cross.

The Dons thought they had won a penalty after 56 minutes when Duk fell under the challenge of Lewis Miller, but after a lengthy VAR check, no spot-kick was given.

And they were denied an opener just after the hour, when David Marshall produced a stunning save at full stretch to keep out substitute Ester Sokler’s effort, the goalkeeper seeming to be in slow motion as he threw himself across his goal.

That save proved to be even more crucial as Hibs took the lead with 15 minutes remaining, with two substitutes involved.

Doidge swung in a cross which Newell knocked down for Le Fondre, and the veteran striker curled past a helpless Kelle Roos.

And five minutes later, Doidge added a second for the visitors, heading home from close range after his initial header from a corner had come off the crossbar.

A well-worked goal from Callum Slattery earned 10-man Motherwell a 1-0 victory over Hearts at Tynecastle as the visitors joined Celtic on 10 points at the top of the cinch Premiership.

Slattery finished off a brilliant move in the 29th minute before the VAR officials reversed an offside decision against him.

Hearts pinned Motherwell back for the vast majority of the second half but could not find an equaliser despite Paul McGinn’s 69th-minute red card.

The home side rarely tested Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly, partly thanks to an outstanding performance from visiting centre-back Bevis Mugabi.

Motherwell have now gone 10 league games unbeaten stretching back to last season and added Tynecastle to the list of away grounds where they have got results from – they remain unbeaten in  the Premiership on the road in more than six months under Stuart Kettlewell.

Hearts made three changes following their 4-0 defeat by PAOK in Greece on Thursday while Harry Paton replaced Joe Efford in the Motherwell team after netting a late winner against Kilmarnock.

Both sides showed an attacking intent from the off but it was Motherwell who were making the opposition goalkeeper work.

Zander Clark tipped over efforts from Mugabi and Blair Spittal before the visitors took the lead.

Slattery and Spittal cut Hearts open as they exchanged passes following Stephen O’Donnell’s diagonal ball and the former Southampton midfielder slotted the ball home in yards of space.

Slattery almost scored an even better goal moments later after winning a tackle just inside his own half and launching a shot which beat Clark but just cleared the bar.

The frustration among the Hearts fans was audible in the aftermath of the goal and their mood might have grown worse only for Peter Haring to survive strong penalty claims for handball.

Alex Lowry had several first-half efforts for the hosts but his most dangerous effort was blocked by O’Donnell.

The on-loan Rangers player was taken off at half-time along with fellow wide player Yutaro Oda as Hearts moved to a back three to match Motherwell. Defender Tony Sibbick and striker Kyosuke Tagawa came on.

Kelly came out to stop Lawrence Shankland getting on the end of a through ball immediately after the restart and Spittal and Tagawa missed good chances at either end.

Hearts began to pin Motherwell back but the visiting defence diverted efforts from Shankland and Liam Boyce over the bar.

Any chance Motherwell had of changing the momentum disappeared in the 69th minute when McGinn hauled down Boyce after the striker got in front of him as he chased a long ball.

The former Hibernian player claimed he had his own shirt pulled but there was no recourse for overturning his second yellow card. He had been booked in the first half for a foul on Alex Cochrane.

Motherwell suffered more disruption when Slattery limped off.  Davor Zdravkovski came on and former Hibernian forward Oli Shaw soon joined him for his debut.

Kelly produced his first save in the 86th minute as Shankland’s effort bounced off the ground and Motherwell survived seven minutes of stoppage-time thanks to more resolute defending.