Football: Evans Scores On League Return After Four Year Absence

LONDON, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th August, 2016) - Former Wales striker Ched Evans, who spent two years in prison only to have his rape conviction quashed, scored on his return to league action after a four year hiatus on Saturday. The 27-year-old -- who also scored in a pre-season friendly -- secured a 1-1 draw for his third-tier side Chesterfield against Oxford with a superb 25-yard free-kick in the second half. Evans, who last played a league game for Sheffield United in April 2012, had several chances during the game including a relatively easy opportunity which he miscued so badly it went out of the ground.

Evans was jailed and sentenced for five years in 2012, being released in 2014, for raping a 19-year-old woman.

The Court of Appeal quashed his conviction in April. He will go on trial again for alleged rape in October and has pleaded not guilty. The forward penned a one-year deal with Chesterfield in June. The Spireites lost a sponsor just days after signing Evans.

The company in question said it did so "in light of recent events". In the 2011-2012 season Evans -- capped 13 times for Wales -- scored 35 goals in all competitions for Sheffield United, then in the third-tier League One.