Roller Derby Leicester will look to maintain their unbeaten record when they host Sheffield Steel Rollergirls this afternoon.

Leicester go into the game buoyed by last month's 188-130 victory over South West Angels of Terror.

Sheffield, meanwhile, will aim to bounce back from a narrow defeat to the Lincolnshire Bombers.

The South Yorkshire side will be looking to make the most of their five years' competitive experience against a Leicester team that, still unbeaten in their debut season, have risen to 39th in the European rankings.

Leicester's clash will be followed by a charity game between two exhibition teams, featuring high-profile skaters from all over the UK.

Team Metal Legs consists of skaters who have returned to roller derby following a long-term injury, while Team Crazy Legs contains skaters who have experienced mental health issues. The teams will be raising money for St John's Ambulance and the Samaritans respectively.

The event takes place at De Montfort University's Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Sports Centre, on Duns Lane.

Doors open at 11am, with Leicester v Sheffield starting at 11.45 and the 'Legs' game getting under way at 2pm.

Tickets are priced at £7 on the door. Student tickets are just £5. Under-12s are free and must be accompanied by an adult. For more information, visit:

rollerderby- leicester.co.uk/events/

A "courageous" couple who fought off armed robbers have been praised by a judge.

David and Rebecca Malpas managed to scare off a group of robbers, who were carrying axes and stopped them stealing expensive jewellery from their antiques shop, in Uppingham.

Between them, the daring duo, who own Rutland Antique Centre, in Crown Passage, fought off three masked armed men and managed to spray them with theft detection spray.

The four-man gang, Ricky Fry (26), of Hill Street, Rugby, Jadiel Williams (26), of Duddeston Manor Road, Birmingham, Eric Scott (19), of no fixed abode, and Daniel Large (25), of Hurlingham Road, Market Harborough, were later arrested and on Thursday jailed for nearly 19 years between them.

At around midday on April 19, Large entered the shop and approached a glass counter containing expensive jewellery.

The shop was full of screaming customers, including children, teenagers and pensioners.

Mr Malpas, 62, said: "A chap came in with a black mask over his face, shouting and wielding an axe.

"At first I thought it was a poor-taste practical joke.

"Suddenly he smashed the axe down on the counter and glass went everywhere.

"I shot round the counter to tackle him and pushed him out of the way."

As Mr Malpas started tackling him, Large sprayed - what seemed like pepper spray - in his eyes.

Despite this, Mr Malpas, grabbed a three metre ruler to defend himself.

"I felt this surge of anger – how dare he," said Mr Malpas.

"He had his axe raised up and was spraying stuff into my face, but fortunately my glasses prevented me from being disabled by it."

At the same time, two other men, Scott and Williams, both armed with axes - who had been hovering at the door - came running into the shop.

Mrs Malpas, 63, then threw a picture at the oncoming men and sprayed them with red criminal identification spray - a red dye that cannot be removed from clothes easily.

Soon after that, the three men fled, without any jewellery and took off in a car in which Fry had been waiting outside for them.

A nearby resident spotted the car and reported it to the police, who later arrested the men.

Mrs Malpas said: "I've never been so frightened in my life.

"They absolutely terrified us and we will never feel the same again.

"It's made us very wary of people and we used to be trusting of everyone before this."

On Thursday, in Leicester Crown Court, Judge Simon Hammond praised the couple for their brave actions.

He said they showed "incredible presence of mind" during what was a "terrifying ordeal".

The court heard that the men had sent numerous texts prior to the incident, which said they wanted it to be like an "old school, East London bank robbery."

"It was only because of their courage that the robbery failed," Mr Hammond added.

Both Mr and Mrs Malpas have said they will "never forget" what happened and have since had many "sleepless nights" following the incident.

The four men, who each said in court that they felt great remorse, were jailed for a combined total of nearly nineteen years.

Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Malpas said: "Justice has been done.

"I feel that the men have been given a good enough sentence."

The couple, who plan on retiring within the next two years, said that they have now been given "closure".

Mr Malpas added: "I'm pleased that the seriousness of what they did was recognised.

"I admit, I found the hearing hard at times but now we can move on."

First album: This is somewhat embarrassing, it was Madonna's Like A Prayer, on cassette. What did it for me? Probably the title track. I was 11 or 12 maybe. I did have a Now That's What I Call Music! volume seven, on double cassette. Can I remember what was on it? Something by the Pet Shop Boys.

First gig: Somewhat embarrassing again. It was probably Madonna's Blonde Ambition tour, 1991 or 92, at Wembley Stadium or Wembley Arena. It was all right. It was my first concert. It was interesting. There were some strange people there, as you'd expect for a Madonna concert. I was 16. I don't listen to her much any more. I listen to quite a lot of hard rock. I'm a big fan of Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, The Beatles.

First job: Working in a Superdrug warehouse in Croydon. I was about 18, straight after I left school. All the orders would come in from the shops, we'd go around this massive warehouse collecting stock, putting it in the trolleys and taking them to the central hub.
It was a very dull job. I had the job for three months. It was £5.50 an hour, which was good pay back then.

First car: I drove my mum's Fiat Uno 45. I can still remember the registration, I've got a strange memory like that. It was F349 KMX.
The first car I bought was a Renault Clio when I moved up to Leicester. At Saracens I had a company car. My first car, when I was 24, was a brand new Renault Clio. Very nice to have. Lovely car. I still like them.

First place of your own: I was 24 or 25 and the first house was up here in Leicester. It was a three-bedroom detached with a very annoying gravel drive. The gravel would get everywhere. The garden was horribly overgrown with fir trees, I never cut them back.
I decorated it myself – and it was a shocking job. I'm sorry for the person who bought it off me.

First school: Broadmeade Infant School, in Croydon. Can I remember my first day? Yes, I do. I wasn't too pleased. I might have cried, I can't remember. But when I got home I thought that was it. When my mum said I had to go again, I said, "I went yesterday!" I didn't realise I had to keep going. I thought it was just one day and that was it.

First kiss: Probably with a girl named Sandra. I can't remember her surname. I would have been 10 or nine. I had a massive crush on her. She was the new girl. She joined halfway through the year and she lived not far away from me so I would see her a lot. It was just at break time. I probably gave her some crazy line, like I would. She was blonde with very, very thick blonde hair. Freckles. And she always wore this black and pink jumper.

First holiday abroad: My parents took me to France when I was two. I've seen photos but I don't remember it. We couldn't afford to go abroad when I was a kid. There was a school cricket tour to Holland. We had a French trip when I was 15. I have no idea where it was, somewhere near Paris. It was just a school trip. Eight days. We went on the ferry and a minibus, about 20 of us.
We stayed in this chalet-type place with two to three floors. I was showing off to a group with girls, and I fell off the second floor and landed on a wall. On my back. I don't remember it hurting. I was hanging off the balcony for some reason and I slipped and fell, and well, I landed on my back. I walked back into the chalet. It was a little embarrassing.

First rugby club: Wallingham Rugby Club, in south London. I was probably about 12. I played loosehead prop for two games and then hooker. There weren't many clubs then and you'd play the same people
every other week. I had very long hair down to my shoulders and it was really curly. I don't know if there are any photos around...

First trophy: I think it was the 18 to 19 County Championships at Twickenham, against Surrey. We won 19-10. It was 1994. We beat some good teams on the way there – Gloucester away. I think that summer we went on to win the championship sevens.

First rugby hero: Dean Richards. There wasn't a lot of rugby on telly at that time. One hour a week on Sundays. They had the England games on, Five Nations. It was the mid to late-80s when I first started watching it. Why Deano? I liked the way he played, with his socks rolled down. He looked like a normal bloke. The ball always found him. He was like a magnet. It's funny how things turn out.

Upstairs and Intimate with George Chuter takes place at The Western pub, in Western Boulevard, Leicester, on Tuesday, at 8pm. Tickets are £10.
George will be donating proceeds from the evening to Scotty's Little Soldiers, a charity which supports children who have lost a parent in the armed forces.
www.upstairsatthewestern.com

George is now fronting up a new interactive coaching website with former Tigers teammate Sam Vesty.
www.prorugbycoach.com

When I was eight, I built my own radio. I was always into electronics. As an only child of working parents on a council estate in Newbold Verdon, I'd learned how to occupy myself. Dad worked at Desford Tubes and mum worked in a shoe factory. I was on my own a lot and this gave me the opportunity to experiment.

At school I scored zero.  I had no ambition, no interest and no intention of finding any. I was obsessed with all things radio, influenced by offshore pirate radio stations such as Caroline and Radio London. These were the days just before Radios 1 and 2.

I left Ibstock school at 15 with nothing. I never even bothered taking any exams. I just couldn't wait to finish school to get on with following my dream.

I wanted to work for Marconi in Leicester. I eventually managed to get an interview, thanks to the village rector at Newbold Verdon, the Rev Gibbons. He helped my fill in the application form for an apprenticeship there.
I'd never have been taken on if it wasn't for him. I've always had religious beliefs, or rather, I believe in Christian principles because I think they provide a recipe for a good life for everyone. I'm not on my knees praying all day, by any means.

My apprenticeship at Marconi took me two years longer than it should have done because I was behind in my academic studies – that's the only time I thought I should maybe have paid more attention at school.

When my dad bought me a shed, it was my domain. He set me up with a bench and I started to get my electronic future together, collecting old radios and eventually televisions – tinkering and experimenting on them.

I built a radio transmitter when I was 16. It worked! But dad chucked it away because it was against the law. So I decided to buy a licence and became a radio amateur. It was great – I could transmit and receive from all over the world.

I developed a whole network of friends across the midlandsand in fact, all over the world. Me and this lad called Kurt, from Gothenburg, in Sweden, used to chat every morning. People could listen to us, but not join in. It was nothing like CB Radio.

My first marriage didn't last, but it did mean I moved to Coalville. I was still working for Marconi as an apprentice. When I was 22 I became qualified and stayed there in engineering.

I'd always fancied running my own business, so after a few years I left Marconi and set up with a guy I met on the radio who came from Leeds. His name was Damien. We started a company specialising in sending TV pics down telephone lines. This was in 1982, so we were quite cutting-edge. We had thought the market for our products was video conferencing, but soon we realised it was security.

We designed and produced several devices for the likes of British Gas and the Ministry of Defence. We employed 50 people in our offices, first at East Midlands Airport. We outgrew these and moved to former Rolls Royce offices in Derby.
When it seemed to be coming to the end of its time, I got out and moved on.

A boyhood dream of mine was to run a radio station. In 1999, I had the opportunity to get involved with Loughborough Hospital radio. It came through to the wards on loudspeakers. I was able to use the skills I had developed to convert it into a real radio station, broadcasting on medium wave.

It was the beginning of everything, really. The radio grew and extended to Coalville and Ashby hospitals. It was obvious there was enough demand to expand further. The opportunity came when the legislation changed to allow community broadcasting, so with friends and colleagues we applied for a community broadcast license. It wasn't granted, but we never gave up, we kept trying. Six years later, in June 2008, it was finally granted.

Four of us went looking for premises and found some overlooking the old railway crossing in Hotel Street, Coalville. It was cheap and fairly central. We had to put together a portfolio of business to support the radio station. We formed a nucleus of four like-minded people, me, my wife, Jan, and two businessmen. We invited others to join us, that's when we came up with the concept of a coffee shop, which was to be more than just selling coffee and cakes – it was to become a community centre too, for anyone who felt like socialising.

I set to work building the station. It took a year to build the whole thing – two studios, an office upstairs and the coffee shop and facilities downstairs.
Test transmissions started in early October 2009, a month of playing continuous music and sorting out any identifiable glitches.

Saturday, November 17, 2009 was a momentous day. I felt very pleased with myself to have achieved my dream. I pushed up the first fader and said: Good Morning, welcome to North West Leicestershire's very own Radio Station, Hermitage FM. And then, to the tune of The Fortunes singing Caroline, a homage to Radio Caroline, Hermitage FM officially started.

We chose the name Hermitage because we wanted to resonate with Coalville people and to recognise the place as the principal town of North West Leicestershire.

As for mistakes, I've made loads. I think the main one was I underestimated the whole Hermitage FM project.
At the back of my mind, I was thinking, what if it doesn't work out? I always err on the side of caution. But it grew too quickly in the first months – the listener numbers grew out of all proportion and we couldn't keep up with the phone calls and e-mails we were getting.
Hundreds of people were contacting us daily, wanting to know what it was all about.

In hindsight should probably have advertised what was going to happen instead of keeping it under wraps.

I'm very hyperactive. I don't sleep much, I don't watch TV – I can't sit still long enough. But when I'm focused I am absolutely in the zone. All I want to see is a successful project that survives well into the future and develops way after I've finished.

Our radio station and cafe are growing all the time, especially now we've moved into our new home overlooking the clock tower, which is perfect. We have received amazing and fantastic support from the community as well as the council and work a lot on outside broadcasts for local events.

I'm proud we've created an excellent radio station to serve everyone in our part of the county. We even have listeners all over the world, thanks to the internet. Anyone can tune in on our website.

We train people in broadcasting and have some success stories. @What I am doing now is what I always wanted to achieve and that makes me happy. I tell all our trainees: "When you go on to become rich and famous make sure you acknowledge Hermitage Radio." 

Find out more: www.hermitagefm.com

Today: Any mist or fog patches will clear during the morning, with most of the region then having a dry day with some sunny spells developing. Maximum temperature 19C.

Tonight: Cloud will increase from the east overnight, with a little drizzle here and there by Sunday morning. It will become misty by morning, especially in coastal areas. Minimum temperature 10C.

Sunday: Rather cloudy with further light drizzle in places, but also some bright or sunny intervals by afternoon. Maximum temperature 19C.

A motorist had to be freed from a van by firefighters following a collision in Hinckley.

Crews found one person trapped in their vehicle in Watling Street at about 7.55pm yesterday after a crash involving a car, a van and a lorry.

The person was freed and treated at the scene by paramedics before being take to Walsgrave hospital in Coventry.

Their condition is not known.

Premier League players across England will don rainbow-coloured laces today to show their support for gay footballers.

Gay rights charity Stonewall has sent thousands of pairs of the laces to professional players and clubs across Britain in the hope they will use them as part of a nationwide awareness campaign.

It says that homophobia is still rife on the football terraces and that there are no openly gay footballers playing the professional game.

The drive has had the backing of a number of Arsenal players including Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who took part in a promotional video to spread the message.

But as well as footballers, other supporters of the charity were also lacing up their footwear to show solidarity.

The Leicestershire Police Tactical Dogs and Firearms Unit (TDFU) posted a picture of themselves dressed in full tactical gear with rainbow laces in their boots.

Sgt Carl Mee, of the TDFU, said the team had been invited to take part by the force's LGBT group.

Sgt Mee, who is one of the force's 'straight allies' – officers who have made a commitment to support LGBT colleagues - said: "To say it's been busy on Twitter is an understatement.

"In the main the comments on the picture have been positive, although there have been a couple of negative things said too.

"We hope we've done what we set out to do and that is to get people talking about the issue.

"We are dressed head to toe in black and carry firearms and a lot of the work we do is in confrontational situations.

"There is a perception we are a macho, elitist unit but that is not the case."

And their gesture was echoed by Leicestershire Police Chief Constable Simon Cole who also uploaded a picture of his laces to Twitter, saying: "Something for this weekend....time to lace up my boots."

It has also been backed by ex-Leicester City striker Emile Heskey, who showed his support on Twitter.

He wrote: "We can change the game. #RainbowLaces."

Twenty eight food shops, pubs and restaurants in Leicester have scored a big fat Zero when it comes to food hygiene.

City health inspectors have told them to take urgent measures to improve or face further action.

However two have had to be closed temporarily by the court until they met acceptable standards.

Health inspectors said the 28 businesses performed badly in how food was handled, prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored.

They also said the structure of the buildings and cleanliness were not up to scratch.

The inspections were carried out between October last year and last month and food premises were given a score ranging from 0 - which meant the premises required urgent improvement up to 5 - for very good.

Only five premises scored the top mark out of nearly 2,000 rated businesses in the city.

All the ratings can be viewed on the Food Standards Agency website but there is no legal requirement to display them in the premises although many do.

Now a call has been made that eateries and shops should be made to display their scores by law so customers can see them.

Assistant City Mayor Sarah Russell said: "I have been pressing the government to make it a legal requirement for premises to display their food rating at the point of purchase."

The ratings are:

5 – "very good"

4 – "good"

3 – "generally satisfactory"

2 – "improvement necessary"

1 – "major improvement necessary"

0 – "urgent improvement necessary"

We attempted to contact all 28 businesses and only four responded.

Gul Zada of Romario's Pizza, Fosse Road North, said: "We were under different management at the time we were visited. It was a bit messed up, basically. We've got new management, and it's all sorted."

The list of city food outlets published on the internet with zero rating were :

Al Noor, Madras Road, January 10, 2014

Al Sheikh Halal Meat Centre, Narborough Road, April 28, 2014

Amrit Sweet Centre, Green Lane Road, February 13, 2014

Blue Peters Spice, Law Street, August 5, 2014

China Chef, Hinckley Road, March 5, 2014

City Cafe, Upperton Road, February 26, 2014

Doner Master, Narborough Road, October 16, 2013

Kebabish Original, Uppingham Road, June 3, 2014

Kebabish Original, Belgrave Road, June 2, 2014

Mardin Kebab, Narborough Road, August 12, 2014

Mario's Chippery, Braunstone Gate, March 21, 2014

Maryland Chicken, Evington Road, July 2, 2014

Mobius, Braunstone Gate, March 7, 2014

Munch Munch, Narborough Road, February 3, 2014

Pak Foods, Uppingham Road, November 18, 2013

Peri-Peri Original, Narborough Road, October 22, 2013

Peri-zza, Victoria Road East, May 7, 2014

Quba Restaurant, Brunswick Street, July 30, 2014

Queens Pizza, Narborough Road, October 15, 2013

Roble's Cafe, Madras Road, May 29, 2014

Romario's Pizza, Fosse Road North, July 10, 2014

Sahara Tandoori, Narborough Road, August 6, 2014

Sartaj Sweet Centre, Narborough Road, January 28, 2014

Starz, Narborough Road, April 1, 2014

The Charny Public House, Spinney Hill Road, August 2, 2014

The Delhi Box, Fosse Road North, April 29, 2014

Toro's Steakhouse, Highfield Street, June 9, 2014

Yummy's Pizza, Abbey Street, January 30, 2014

These are the latest ratings as published on the Food Standards Agency website.

If your establishment has since had a new inspection please email a copy of the new certificate to newsdesk@leicestermercury.co.uk

A director of a housing charity, who duped his employers out of more than £66,000 has been jailed for 16 months.

Paul Treston (47) also unsuccessfully tried to steal a further £32,631.

Leicester Crown Court was told that Treston, a £70,000-a-year head of land acquisition for the Riverside Group, set up his own businesses to dishonestly invoice his bosses for consultancy work he was not entitled to be paid for, or was never carried out.

Treston also tried to manipulate his employers into paying a builder for work he was having done on his own barn conversion.

The defendant, of Catthorpe Road, Shawell, near Lutterworth, admitted theft of £66,419 between April 2011 and January 2012.

He also pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud, in relation to companies he falsely purported were providing services to Riverside Group.

Sentencing, Judge Simon Hammond said: "This was a carefully worked out fraud, involving several companies, some in his own name and it went on for some time.

"It was a gross abuse of trust.

"He was holding a high degree of trust for a charitable company.

"It included fraud against his employer to pay for building work at his own home.

"He wasn't entitled to claim consultancy fees."

Esther Harrison, prosecuting, said: "The Riverside Group is a registered charity, a national housing association with 45,000 properties, rented out as social housing to those who can't afford market rates.

"The group builds on average 500 properties a year, with funding for the purchase of land provided by the charity, and the defendant was based at the Leicester office, Riverside House, in Western Boulevard.

"When he commenced employment in 2008, his role was to find land for building on and by use of consultants for introductions he was to negotiate the purchasing."

Treston was one of 40 directors in the group, answerable to six group directors above him and the chief executive.

He abused the system to pay "suppliers" in the names of companies he secretly owned, registered at addresses in different parts of the country.

Businesses he owned and used in the fraud, were Wilmar Ltd, SDR and Man In The Middle.

When interviewed by the police he said he could not remember signing a declaration excluding his right to do any contract, or consultancy, work for the charity.

His wife was unaware of his dishonestly, the court was told.

Since then £21,319 of the stolen cash has been repaid and the court confiscated a further £16,131 of available funds to compensate the losers.

James Beck, mitigating, said: "His own finances became a disaster.

"He had two properties, both requiring extensive renovation.

"He sold one at a loss and was left with a barn he was trying to convert – that's why he did what he did and took the money out of the company.

"It's a very big group and the economic impact hasn't been significant.

"His career is ruined, his reputation is ruined and his personal life is in ruins.

"For someone who used to live in a half-a-million pound property that he once owned, he's now been living in a static caravan in a field for some time."

Fire crews were sent to a home in Earl Shilton after a large unattended bonfire got out of control.

Firefighters tackled the blaze at the garden in Ivydene Close, off the Hollow, at about 11.20 today.

A spokesman for the fire service said the burning heap produced a large amount of smoke and was causing a nuisance to neighbours, but it was brought under control quickly.

No one was injured and the amount of damage is not known.

Crews left the scene shortly after 12.10pm.

A two-day festival of music and meditation is taking place in the city centre this weekend and welcoming hundreds of people from all over the country.

Kirtan Fest, organised by the Hare Krishna Centre, in Granby Street, aims to bring melody and mantras to Leicester with chanting and uplifting music today and tomorrow.

Visitors are invited to take part in ancient Sanskrit mantras at the headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and do their best to "uplift their souls and relax their minds."

Pradyumna Das, president of ISKCON Leicester, said: "Kirtan Fest encompasses the easiest form of meditation.

"Everyone likes music, singing, and dancing, and you can do all of this in mantra meditation.

"Participants just need to turn up, and immerse themselves in the sacred sounds which range from mellow and soothing, to uplifting and high tempo."

For more information, visit: www.iskcon.org

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Lubenham for the annual Scarecrow Festival this weekend.

A collection of weird and wonderful creations are on show for the 7,000 visitors who are expected to descend on the Harborough village over Saturday and Sunday.

Residents have erected a host of homemade scarecrows in the shape of Sherlock Holmes, Thomas the Tank Engine and Mrs Brown.

Gartree prison – a regular contributor to the festival – also handed over a 9ft wooden motorbike complete with spinning wheels and flames.

Festival goer Michael Creighton, 34, from Market Harborough, said: "It's been great, but to be honest I've spent most of my time in the real ale tent.

"The scarecrows I have seen have been ace though."

Other entertainment includes live music, champagne tasting, a marquee, bouncy castle and various stalls.

One of the organisers Trish Woods said: "It's quite remarkable. Usually we have a slow start on a Saturday and it picks up steadily but it really went off with a band this year. It's teeming with people."

It is the 14th year the annual festival has been staged in the village.

"It's grown and grown," said Trish. "And people are quite surprised with how busy it actually gets for a village festival."

Leicester Tigers travelled to Exeter Chiefs to face former team mate Thomas Waldrom at the newly-expanded Sandy Park.

The big No.8 featured on the front page of the home side's programme and lined up in a powerful back row which also included Dave Ewers.

Exeter were looking to build on last week's incredible 52-0 win at London Welsh.

Tigers meanwhile, welcomed back Geoff Parling, Anthony Allen, Tom Youngs and Mat Tait into the starting line-up.

All four had missed last week's bonus-point 36-17 win over Newcastle Falcons at Welford Road.

Scrum-half Ben Youngs skippered the side again with club captain Ed Slater out for the season.

Once again, there was no Tom Croft in the side, although his recovery from a shoulder injury must be in the latter stages as he travelled with the team as a back-up.

Tigers: Tait, Morris, Tuilagi, Allen, Goneva; Burns, B Youngs; Mulipola, T Youngs, Balmain, Kitchener, Parling, Gibson, Salvi, Barbieri.

Subs: Ghiraldini, Brugnara, Pasquali, De Chaves, Crane, Mele, Williams, Smith.

Leicester City return to Premier League action on Saturday after the two-week break for internationals.

They travel to face a Stoke side that will still be buzzing after their shock 1-0 win at champions Manchester City last time out.

City met Stoke as recently as January, when the Potteries club won their FA Cup clash 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium.

If you can't get to Saturday's match, we will be covering the game live with text commentary from the King Power Stadium.

Sports reporter <b>James Sharpe</b> will be providing details of the action and analysis of the game.

You can put your questions, views and comments to James during the game using the interactive link on the match commentary or you can tweet him <b>@TheSharpeEnd</b>.

The action will start at 2.45pm with the announcement of the teams and the pre-match build-up.

Leicester Tigers fought back from a 14-7 deficit to beat Exeter Chiefs 24-20 and stay with the early-season Aviva Premiership leaders.

Tries from Anthony Allen and skipper Ben Youngs, along with a kicking masterclass from fly-half Freddie Burns helped Tigers to a second consecutive victory.

Leicester dominated the early stages but found themselves down to 14 men on Exeter's first attack of the game.

Scrum-half Haydn Thomas broke down the blindside off a scrum and Niki Goneva was adjudged to have made a high tackle near the touchline.

A man short after just five minutes of the game, Tigers found themselves defending for the next 10 minutes.

Although Leicester's line speed was good and a couple of line-out drives were repelled, the home side finally opened the scoring when Dave Ewers stretched out with his long arms to just make the line. Gareth Steenson converted.

Goneva's return to the fray helped Leicester get some possession and territory and they leveled the scores on 27 minutes.

Having driven to the Exeter five-metre line, they had a penalty advantage when Burns sent a grubber kick through the onrushing defence which Ant Allen did superbly well to pull down for a try before sliding over the dead ball line.

Burns then made it 7-7 with a simple conversion and was really finding his range kicking ball out of hand too.

Exeter butchered a try when Matt Jess knocked on wide right with the line at his mercy.

But two minutes later, Haydn Thomas span around the edge of a ruck, wrong-footed Fraser Balmain and with Steenson's extras, the Chiefs led 14-7.

The final few minutes of the half saw a flurry of penalties. Burns kicked two and Steenson one and the home side went into the break with a 17-13 advantage.

Leicester made an ideal start to the second period as good work by Graham Kitchener in the tight earned his side a penalty after just 21 seconds and Burns kicked his third penalty of the afternoon to pull the gap back to just one point.

The play went one way and then the next, with the game in the balance and the next score seemingly crucial.

And it was Leicester who achieved that on 57 minutes. Burns' wonderful kick to the corner from the half-way line forced an Exeter line-out which the outstanding Kitchener stole.

Play went on to the floor but Ben Youngs picked up at the back and was driven over the line. Burns proved he was human by missing the conversion but Tigers led 21-17.

The Cheifs thought they were in at the other end but Sam Hill's final pass was knocked on by Ben White and Tigers escaped.

Steenson kicked his side back to within a single point at 21-20 with 10 minutes to go but another kick from Burns drove Exeter to their own five-metre line.

Ewers was sent to the sin-bin for bringing down a driving maul and 60 seconds later, Owen Williams showed serious steel by kicking a penalty just two minutes after coming on.

The Chiefs couldn't mount the pressure they needed to get back in the contest and Tigers held on for a huge win.

A third goal in four Premier League games for Leonardo Ulloa secured Leicester City's first victory of the season at Stoke.

The Argentinian produced a superb finish after latching on to Paul Konchesky's cross just after the hour-mark to slide the ball past Asmir Begovic.

The resounding emotion at the end of the game could not have been more starkly contrasted from the last time City travelled to the Britannia Stadium in the league, in 2008, when they were relegated into League One for the first time in the club's history.

Six years later, though, and City's victory puts them into the top half of the Premier League.

Such a result had not looked possible after a first half that saw Stoke completely dominate and, at the break, it looked like the very best City could hope for was to hold on for a point.

City had struggled to find the rhythm and tempo that they have exuded in abundance in their opening three games, and often found themselves camped inside their own half.

But the hosts, overrunning City in midfield, were unable to make their dominance pay, as Peter Crouch headed the best chance of the half over the bar.

In fact, most of Stoke's chances fell to the former England international, who fired wide from range on a number of occasions.

But the game changed markedly at the interval when Pearson brought on Danny Drinkwater and former Inter Milan midfielder Esteban Cambiasso.

Before referee Michael Oliver had even blown his whistle to restart the game, the former Argentina international was martialling and organising his team-mates around him.

No sooner had the second half got under way than the 34-year-old was showing the class that has seen him win more trophies than any other Argentinian footballer in history.

He showed superb vision to spot the run of his countryman and duly lofted a perfectly-weighted ball into Ulloa's path.

It was to be City's £8million record signing who would steal the headlines once again, though, as he started, and finished, a fine move to give his side the lead.

Ulloa received the ball on the counter attack, finding Drinkwater, who in turn threaded it to Konchesky on the left. The full-back's low cross looked to be a yard behind the big striker, but Ulloa checked his run, stuck his leg back, and turned it into the net in front of the near 3,000 City fans.

City had been handed a huge injury blow before kick-off with the news that Kasper Schmeichel, who had started the last 141 league games for the club, was ruled out with a knee injury picked up on international duty with Denmark.

This meant Pearson handed Ben Hamer his first league start for the club in an otherwise unchanged side from the one that held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw and, eventually, he would be crucial in City's victory to earn himself a clean sheet on debut.

After a slightly shaky start to his debut that saw him fumble the odd shot and hesitate on a couple of crosses, he grew into the game and came to the fore in the second half.

Hamer pulled off two crucial saves in the dying moments from substitute Mame Diouf as Stoke continued to push for an equaliser. The first saw him tip away a stinging effort before he dived bravely at the feet of the striker.

Teams:

Stoke: (4-2-3-1) Begovic; Bardsley, Shawcross (c), Wilson, Pieters; Whelan, Nzonzi; Moses, Bojan, Walters; Crouch

Subs: Sorensen, Huth, Muniesa, Arnautovic, Adam, Diouf, Assaidi

Leicester: (4-4-2) Hamer; De Laet, Morgan (c), Moore, Konchesky; Mahrez, Hammond, King, Schlupp; Nugent, Ulloa

Subs: Smith, Drinkwater, Vardy, Cambiasso, Knockaert, Wasilewski, Wood

Referee: Michael Oliver

Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson hailed the influence of Esteban Cambiasso in his side's 1-0 victory over Stoke.

The former Inter Milan midfielder changed the game when he came on as a half-time substitute after a difficult opening 45 minutes for City.

Cambiasso's vision, range of passing, organization and delivery from set plays showed just why the 34-year-old has won pretty much everything there is to win in the game.

"His game management is exceptional," said Pearson. "He has not been the success he has over his career without showing qualities, not just with the ball, but also his organizational skills.

"He was a very important influence on the game in the second half. Having said that, of course, we functioned better as a team as well.

"He is a good communicator and he is a good influence but it's not just about his influence, there were lots of very good performances today.

"I am pleased he has played his part in what is a very good win for us."

Stoke dominated the first 45 minutes as City struggled to get any sort of foothold on the game.

But once Cambiasso and Danny Drinkwater came into the game, City had the better of the play in the second half.

"We didn't feel that we played with the same sort of control as we have in the other games so far this season in the first half," said Pearson.

"But at least we stayed in the game. The changes at half-time certainly allowed us to have a little bit more control. We changed our shape and a couple of personnel in midfield and it allowed us to get back into the game, which was important.

"At times we had to, not ride our luck, but we had to defend with a lot of commitment. It wasn't an easy game by any stretch of the imagination."

Cambiasso was not the only Argentinian to make his mark on the contest, though, as Leonardo Ulloa grabbed his third goal in four Premier League appearances to secure City's victory.

"He is contribution to the team so far this season has been very positive," said Pearson.

"For him to get off to the start he has proves that we have a player capable of scoring at this level. His all-round game has been a big factor to our decent start to the season."

There was also a clean sheet on debut for goalkeeper Ben Hamer, who started in place of Kasper Schmeichel, who was ruled out with a knee injury picked up on international duty with Denmark.

"I thought he handled the occasion very well," said Pearson. "There will be some aspects of his game he would like to improve but he made some key saves in the second half."

Thousands of counterfeit DVDs and CDs seized from rogue traders in Leicestershire have been donated to a charity which will grind them down and recycle them.

The 4,000 discs were seized by the trading standards team at Leicestershire County Council in a series of raids in the past two years.

They would normally be destroyed, however, the authority has decided to give them a new lease of life by donating them to a registered charity.

On Friday, they were handed to Planet Zero, which will break them down and recycle them as bottles or mobile phone cases.

Councillor Joe Orson, cabinet member for trading standards, said: "Counterfeiting is a crime and it's great to see that a worthwhile cause will benefit from our work to stamp out this problem."

David Bull, head of trading standards, said: "We will always take enforcement action against those who sell counterfeit goods, which can be unsafe and can cost jobs in local legitimate businesses."

The money raised from the sale of the recycled products will benefit a range of good causes overseen by the charity, including poverty relief, sport for disadvantaged children and sewing workshops for disabled people.

Mick Bonito, founder of Planet Zero, which also recycles unwanted clothing or sells it in its charity shops, said: "Our plastics recycling department is very busy at the moment granulating counterfeit CDs and DVDs.

"We would really like to thank Leicestershire trading standards for supporting our cause."

The trading standards team has also previously donated counterfeit designer clothing to charities which have sent them to developing countries to be distributed to the poor.

You can report anyone you believe is dealing in counterfeit goods by calling Crimestoppers, which is anonymous, on 0800 555 111.

Information can also be sent directly by email to the team at Leicestershire County Council at:

telltradingstandards@leics.gov.uk

Advice on the dangers from buying fake goods and tips on how to minimise the risk of buying fakes is available online at:

www.crimestoppers-uk.org

Firefighters were called to a home in Hinckley after the RSPCA found a cat locked in an outhouse.

A crew from Hinckley station used bolt croppers to release the trapped animal after being called to the property in Canning Street by animal welfare officers.

The incident happened at about 1.15pm on Saturday.

A spokeswoman for the fire service said she did not know the circumstances of how or why the pet became locked in the outside building.

It is not clear whether the animal was injured or not.

Firefighters left the scene at about 1.30pm.