San Francisco 24-16 Denver

Michael Crabtree celebrates scoring a touchdown in the second half

By Tim Love
BBC Sport at Wembley Stadium

A fourth-quarter onslaught by San Francisco gave them a 24-16 win over the Denver Broncos at Wembley Stadium.
A dreary first half saw the 49ers go 3-0 up but Tim Tebow's quarterback sneak gave the Broncos a 7-3 lead.
49ers quarterback Troy Smith came to life in the fourth quarter, running in for a touchdown and completing a 28-yard score to Michael Crabtree.
Frank Gore bundled over the line to extend the lead before Brandon Lloyd's consolation touchdown for the Broncos.
Running back Gore shouldered the burden for the 49ers with 118 yards from 29 carries, while Smith threw 110 of his 196 yards in the exciting final quarter.
Opposite number Kyle Orton threw for an impressive 369 yards but could not complete key plays with the pressure at its highest.
After last season's London contest ended in an easy win for the New England Patriots over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a closer game was expected this year with both teams in desperate need of a win.

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San Francisco gave up a home game to play in London, and they were rewarded with the raucous support of the majority of the 83,941 fans.
After the game, 49ers cornerback Shawntae Spencer said: "We got to get an NFL team over here. The energy is unbelievable. The fans, the wave, the flags. It really felt like a home game tonight."
In an electric atmosphere, former Destiny's Child singer Michelle Williams sang the US national anthem and guitar legend Jeff Beck played an instrumental version of God Save the Queen.
Distance runner Mo Farah and three-time Olympic sailing gold medallist Ben Ainslie acted as honorary captains for the Broncos and 49ers respectively.
But the biggest pre-game cheers were reserved for Niners legendary wide-receiver Jerry Rice and former Broncos great John Elway as they appeared on the Wembley turf for the coin toss shortly before kick-off.
San Francisco struck first, quarterback Smith - starting an NFL game for the first time since 2007 due to an injury to Alex Smith - leading a seven-and-a-half-minute drive that resulted in a 35-yard field-goal by veteran kicker Joe Nedney shortly before the end of the first quarter.
With the Broncos being booed by the partisan crowd on every possession, Denver's quarterback Kyle Orton - second in the NFL passing rankings with over 2,000 yards already this season - struggled to move his offence up the field despite completing 13 of 16 pass attempts in the first half.

Troy Smith and Anthony Davis celebrate a 49ers touchdown

In a scoreless and uneventful second-quarter both teams failed to establish any dominance.
The crowd began to get restless as the third quarter got under way and a Mexican wave reverberated around the stadium only five minutes into the second half.
But the fans came to life when Orton completed a 71-yard pass to former 49ers wide receiver Brandon Lloyd to leave the Broncos with an easy scoring opportunity from the one-yard line.
Tebow's sneak gave Denver a 7-3 lead after the conversion, and with influential tight-end Vernon Davis ruled out of the second-half with an ankle injury Smith struggled to provide an aerial threat.
The Niners were playing a very one-dimensional and predictable game, with Gore handed the ball on the majority of plays.
After a promising drive broke down on the Denver 34-yard line, Nedney came within inches of reducing the deficit with a 52-yard field-goal but his kick struck the right post.
They were almost severely punished for the miss at the end of the third quarter.
A flea-flicker play by the Broncos ended with a 38-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jabar Gaffney but the play was nullified due to a chop block penalty on running back Knowshon Moreno.
With the Broncos in the ascendency, they extended their lead to 10-3 at the start of the fourth quarter when Matt Prater kicked a 32-yard field goal.

Brandon Lloyd is tackled just short of a Denver touchdown
It looked as though there was no way back for the 49ers with QB Smith struggling badly, but the game shifted momentum in spectacular fashion in the fourth quarter.
A speculative pass to Delanie Walker resulted in an unlikely 38-yard completion and Smith completed the drive with a one-yard run to level the score at 10-10.
The 49ers responded to a rejuvenated crowd and scored again several minutes later after a 28-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Crabtree gave San Francisco a 17-10 lead.
The momentum was now firmly with the team coached by the under-pressure Mike Singletary, and 49ers linebacker Manny Lawson stripped Kyle Orton of the ball deep in Denver territory on the next set of plays.
Takeo Spikes recovered the football and several plays later Gore bundled over for a deserved score.
The Broncos struck back with Lloyd's touchdown but a missed conversion - as Sprater shanked his attempt - left Denver with a mountain to climb with only two minutes remaining.
An interception by Spencer with 39 seconds left effectively ended the game and allowed them to leave London with a morale-boosting victory - just their second of the season.
Denver have now lost four games in a row and lie bottom of the AFC West.
Head coach Josh McDaniels said: "There's some things we need to address and fix. It might be a longer list than we would have liked at this point."


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Ashes: Ricky Ponting set to lead Aussies in Melbourne

Fourth Ashes Test: Australia v England
Venue: Melbourne Dates: 26-30 December Start time: 2330 GMT on 25 December
Coverage: Listen live on Test Match Special on BBC 5 live sports extra, Radio 4 LW & online; highlights (UK only) and day's review on the TMS podcast; live text commentary on BBC Sport website; live on Sky Sports 1; highlights on ITV4

Ponting bats in nets despite broken finger

Ricky Ponting looks certain to captain Australia in the crucial fourth Test against England in Melbourne after coming through a net session unscathed.
The 36-year-old fractured a finger when he parried a catch during Australia's 267-run third Test victory at Perth.
But he batted against a bowling machine in the indoor nets at the MCG before heading outside to face throw-downs from coach Tim Nielsen.
"Ricky is pretty happy with how things went," team-mate Michael Clarke said.
"He said it felt pretty good after facing some balls on the machines and facing the bowlers [in the nets].
"We're all hopeful and confident. Unless they cut his finger off, it's going to be really hard to leave Punter [Ponting] out.
Uncapped New South Wales state batsman Usman Khawaja has been on standby for Ponting, who will not be able to field in the slips if he does play on Sunday.
"He'll probably field at mid-off or mid-on," Australia vice-captain Clarke added.
"As long as you're pretty close to seeing the line which the bowlers are bowling, it's probably better for the bowlers that Punt's there to be able to talk to them as well.


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"He has fielded there plenty of times in one-day cricket so I don't think it makes much difference."
Ponting has won five of the six Test matches he has captained Australia at the MCG, the only blemish being a nine-wicket defeat by South Africa in 2008.
And the Tasmanian said he is "confident" of leading out his team once again in front of a world record sell-out crowd in the Victorian capital.
"If there is ever a Test you want to play it's Boxing Day in Melbourne," Ponting told The Australian.
"I'm confident I'll be there playing in front of what we all hope will be a world-record crowd of 91,000 or more at the MCG, because it doesn't get much bigger than this.
"I will be very surprised if I'm not out in the middle tossing the coin with [England captain] Andrew Strauss come Boxing Day."
Ponting has an impressive record at the MCG, with a Test average of 62. However, he has only scored 58 runs against England from three innings at the ground.
He has also had a torrid series to date with the bat, averaging only slightly over 16.
"I haven't been in the middle long enough to know whether I'm in or out of form," continued Ponting, who has scored only 22 runs in four innings since the first Test.
"Sometimes you just feel like you are stuck in a trough and can't get out - and it has been a bit like that for me.

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"But I am going to keep doing the things I have always done, and it will turn."
Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin spoke of the captain's importance to the team ahead of what could prove to be a crucial fourth Test with the series tied 1-1.
"The signs are all good at this stage. It's very important that he plays," Haddin commented.
Ponting is not alone in struggling with the bat, as Clarke has averaged only 23 in the series, but the Australia skipper believes he and his team-mate can both hit form in Melbourne.
"As team leaders Michael Clarke and I know our performances have to improve," Ponting added.
"I actually look at our lack of runs as a positive going forward. We just can't keep performing this badly.
"If you watch us train it would appear that nothing is amiss. It's not as if we're struggling. Far from it. I feel good and Michael looks as good as he ever has."
Haddin concurred with his captain and added: "Obviously those guys are class players. Their records prove that.
"One thing class players like is playing on the big stage, and it doesn't get any bigger than Boxing Day."

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After their success in Perth, Australia have also been buoyed by the uncertainty in the opposition ranks, with England fast bowlers James Anderson and Steven Finn both reportedly feeling stiff after their Waca exertions.
"We've got a really good feeling about our group, and there are whispers about some of their bowlers being sore - Anderson and Finn and all that stuff - so the shoe's on the other foot at this moment," Ponting reflected.
"They're thinking harder about the make-up of their team, which is different from after Adelaide."
Khawaja has been the outstanding player in this season's Sheffield Shield, leading the run-scoring charts with 598 at an average of 74.75.
However, the attacking left-handed batsman, whose family moved from Paksitan to Australia when he was a young boy, said he was not expecting a call-up to play at the MCG.
"The boys had a great win in Perth and I am just happy to be doing the job for NSW," Khawaja commented.
Australia levelled the best-of-five match Test series at 1-1 with the victory in Perth last week, although England remain in the box seat, needing only to draw the series to retain the Ashes.
The fourth Test starts at 2330 GMT on Christmas Day with the final match following at Sydney in the first week of January.
England (from): AJ Strauss (captain), AN Cook, IJL Trott, KP Pietersen, PD Collingwood, IR Bell, MJ Prior (wkt), GP Swann, TT Bresnan, CT Tremlett, JM Anderson, A Shahzad, ST Finn.
Australia (from): RT Ponting (captain), PJ Hughes, SR Watson, MJ Clarke, MEK Hussey, SPD Smith, BJ Haddin (wkt), MG Johnson, RJ Harris, BW Hilfenhaus, PM Siddle, MA Beer, UT Khawaja.
Umpires: A Dar (Pkn) and T Hill (NZ)
Third umpire: M Erasmus (SA)
Match referee: R Madugalle (SL)








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