How to take action shots?

Hi have the Tamron AF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 Lens (Nikon Mount). I find that the auto focus is very slow and dragged out and have opted for manual focus. Is there anyway on either of these settings that I'm able to get clear and sharp action shots of a live football game without the blur or noise? I'm fairly new to photography so any links to tutorials, cheat sheets and tips would be greatly appreciated.

Unless it is super bright in there and you are able to up your shutter speed without upping your ISO you are going to get noise. When I was second shooting for a Vancouver sports action photographer it was expected that the images would be noisy, even for clients like the Canucks. Your other option is to set up strobes and light the images, but chances are it would be cheaper to buy a fast focusing lens.

It's not a very fast lens but it should still be possible.

Really it all comes down to the available light. You may have to bump up the ISO quite high (introducing noise) so you can get a fast enough shutter speed, but that's not necessarily a disaster. You can shoot RAW, and process the noise out with your RAW conversion software.

Either that, or rent a fast telephoto lens.

1- Shoot RAW for better noise processing in post and to recover a tiny bit of light in post (half a stop at most).
2- Test to see what the max ISO you can go to before noise becomes a real issue. I'm comfortable shooting at up to ISO 3200 with my 5DMkII but I won't go past 400 with my old Rebel XSi due to noise.
3- Auto focus on these cheap lenses can be Really slow so learn how to manual focus. Thi sis where the lighting fast auto focus systems on the higher end lenses really shine.