Crawley Town Goal run Ends

In League Two CRAWLEY TOWN drew 0-0 at home to GILLINGHAM. Crawley after a goal run of eight games, they picked up their 7^th blank of the season. Gillingham picked up their 14^th and have now scored just one goal in their last four games. 

World Cup Day Three

In the first full day of fixtures we had seven more of our teams in action.

In Group C we have all four teams in this group with favourites ARGENTINA playing their first game against SAUDI ARABIA. As it seems unbelievable, we get the first shock of the tournament as Saudi Arabia beat Argentina 2-1 after Argentina having three goals cancelled for offside in the first half. Argentina have been with us for all of the nine World Cups that we have covered. Their biggest total of goals came in the 2006 Germany where they finished with a total of 11 goals getting to the quarter-finals. In Russia 2018 with 24 votes, they finished with a total of 6 goals going out in the second round. This World Cup they have a total of 20 votes.  Saudi Arabia are in their first World Cup with Golden Goals. MEXICO drew 0-0 against POLAND after they missed a penalty in the second half. This becomes our second goalless draw of the day. Mexico are making their 7^th appearance in our World Cup. In Russia 2018 they finished with a total of 3 goals and went out in the second round. They once again have just one vote in this World Cup. Poland are in their 2^nd World Cup with us and they started with us in Russia 2018 and finished with 2 goals and went out in the group stages. They have just one vote this time. 

The group stands as SAUDI ARABIA are top of the group with 3 points. MEXICO and POLAND have a point each with ARGENTINA in fourth place. 

In Group D we have three of the four teams. DENMARK drew 0-0 against TUNISIA in their first game and it’s the first game for us without any goals. Denmark are in their 4^th World Cup with us. Their highest total of goal was in the France 1998 with 9 goals. They went out in the quarter-finals. In Russia 2018 they scored just 3 goals and went out in the second round. In Qatar they have three votes. Tunisia are in their first Golden Goals World Cup. FRANCE went a goal down in the first 9 minutes of the first half against Australia, before they came back and won the game 4-1. This is France 7^th World Cup with us and their highest total of goals came in the 1998 World Cup with 15 goals when they won the trophy in France. In the last World Cup in Russia 2018 they finished with a total of 14 goals when they won the trophy for a second time with Golden Goals. In Qatar they have picked up a total of 19 votes. 

The group stands as FRANCE top with 3 points, followed by DENMARK and TUNISIA both with a point each. Australia are in fourth place. 

After the third days play, thirteen of our twenty-two nations have now played and five have picked up a blank score sheet. We stand at a total of 19 goals to date. 

 

World Cup Day Two

In the first near full day of fixtures we had five of our teams in action.

In Group A we have three of the four teams in this group. After the opening game, SENEGAL lost 2-0 to HOLLAND in a bit of a dull game. Hollands goals came in the 84^th minute from Gakpo and then in the last minute of the game from Klassen. Holland have been in seven out of our nine World Cups and they were last in Brazil 2014 where they finished with a total of 11 goals and 13 votes. They have a total of 15 votes in Qatar and are second favourites to win the cup. Senegal are in their second World Cup with Golden Goals. They first appeared in the Russia 2018 with just one vote and did not go beyond the first group stage. They finished with a total of 4 goals. So after all of the group have played their first games,

ECUADOR are joint top with HOLLAND with 3 points each. SENEGAL are third place with the host nation Qatar last in the group. 

In Group B we have three of the four teams. ENGLAND go top of the group after they won 6-2 against Iran. England’s six goals came from Bellingham 35’ Saka 43’ and 62’ Rashford 71’ and Greahlish 90’. England have been in all except for the 1994 where they failed to qualify. In the last World Cup they finished with their biggest total of goals with 12 and they made it to the 3^rd/4^th play-offs. They have a total of 15 votes this time round. In the other game USA took on WALES and drew 1-1. The USA dominated the first half. But it took them 36 minutes to score their goal by Weah. Wales did come out fighting in the second half and they got a penalty in the 82^nd minute for Bale to drive it home. USA are in their fifth World Cup with Golden Goals and they just one vote. They were last in Brazil 2014 and finished with a total of 5 goals. Wales have made their first appearance in our World Cup competition. 

England lead the group with 3 points, USA and Wales are in joint second place both with a point each. Iran are in fourth place. 

So after the second days play we have had six of our teams that have played and they have scored a total of 12 goals between them. 

Week Seventeen

Here we are with Week Seventeen of the competition  we are down to just the lower leagues for both north and south of the country. So there is no cash prize money to win this weekend until we are back to a full league fixture. But saying that we did have one player that picked up the most number of goals on Saturday and they were LUCIFER (John Wood). John picked up a total of 5 goals and he is the only player to have all of his teams still in action. His teams are Alloa, Bonnyrigg Rose and Stenhousemuir.

100 MIDWEEK GOALS JACKPOT

Only twelve of us managed to pick up some midweek goals this week but it was DEAN ZENIOS that picked up the most goals with a total of six. They came from Derby and Gillingham. His third team is Manchester City. 

In the lead this week we still have NICK HORTON with a total of 39 goals. His teams are Manchester City, Middlesbrough and Norwich. In second place we have HAYLEY ADKINS with a total of 38 goals. In third place we still have RICK WOOD our 2007/08 Champion with a total of 35 goals. In fourth place we still have JAMES BLYTH and JACQUI RATTLE both with a total of 34 goals. In fifth place with a total of 32 goals we still have MARK GREGORY. In sixth place all on 31 goals we still have STEVE AYRES and TERENCE WARWICK but they are now joined with GEOFF CARTHY and PETER PORTER.

WEEKEND RESULTS

Due to the World Cup starting we had just one of our teams without a game this weekend and we had six teams that failed to score any goals. The highest score that we had was three goals and they came from the Scottish League One where ALLOA lost 4-3 away to FC Edinburgh but they take their goals total to 39 and a goal run of seven games.

LEAGUE ONE

Top of the table PLYMOUTH have remain top after they drew 2-2 away to Burton Albion and they are on a total of 40 goals and they have now scored in all of their last eighteen games. IPSWICH are still in second place after they won 2-0 away to Exeter City.  Ipswich are on a total of 41 goals and they have now scored in all of their last six games. SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY won 1-0 at home to Shrewsbury and they are on a total of 43 goals and a goal run of fourteen games. MK DONS lost 3-1 away to Barnsley and that is goal number 28 for them. BRISTOL ROVERS won 1-0 at home to PETERBOROUGH and are on a total of 31 goals and a goal run of ten games. Borough picked up their 6^th blank of the season. LINCOLN CITY won 2-1 at home against Morecambe. Lincoln are on a total of 29 goals. OXFORD UNITED drew 1-1 at home to FOREST GREEN ROVERS. Oxford are on a total of 29 goals and they have now scored in all of their last nine games. Rovers hit goal number 20. CHARLTON picked up their 4^th blank of the season as they lost 1-0 away to Port Vale.

LEAGUE TWO

The highest team that we have here are still BRADFORD CITY but now in fifth place. They lost 3-1 at home to Northampton. Bradford are on a total of 29 goals. MANSFIELD TOWN lost 3-0 away to Harrogate and that is their 5^th blank of the season. GILLINGHAM lost 2-0 away to Newport and they have now had a total of thirteen blank score sheets. SALFORD CITY after a bad run of five games without a goal, they are now on a total of 21 goals after they lost 4-1at home to Carlisle Utd. STOCKPORT COUNTY lost 2-1 at home to Leyton Orient and they are on a total of 29 goals. SUTTON UNITED after failing to score in their last three games, picked up goal number 17 as they win 1-0 at home to Rochdale. SWINDON lost 1-0 at home to Crewe and that is their 7^th blank of the season. AFC WIMBLEDON won 2-0 away to Tranmere and they are on a total of 28 goals. CRAWLEY TOWN lost 2-1 away to Walsall and they have taken their goals tally to 25 and they have now scored in all of their last eight games. 

SCOTTISH LEAGUE RESULTS

In League One, after a goal run of six games, KELTY HEARTS lost 1-0 away to Aidrie and picked up their 9^th blank score sheet.

In League Two STENHOUSEMUIR drew 1-1 at home to BONNYRIGG ROSE and they are on a total of 36 goals and they have now scored in all of their last thirteen games. Bonnyrigg are on 26 goals and have a goal run of nine games.

Our BEST three teams this week

CELTIC (58) ABERDEEN (49) BURNLEY (44) Total of 151 goals

Our WORST three teams are

GILLINGHAM (11) EVERTON (13) WEST HAM (14) Total of 38 goals

Our best performing team are BURNLEY as they have now scored in all of their last twenty league/cup games played. They have a total of 44 goals. That gives them an average score of 1.9 goals per game.

Our worst performing team is GILLINGHAM this weekend as they have picked up thirteen blank score sheets out of twenty-three League/Cup games played.

Our highest goal scorers in our 40^th Season are CELTIC who won 9-0 away to Dundee Utd in the league and LIVERPOOL who won 9-0 at home to Bournemouth in the league both from Week Five.

Our 2010/11 Champion TONY GUY with his second selection, has remained at number one spot for his 4^th weekend running. Tony picked up one goal this week from his teams of  Arsenal, Celtic and Sheffield Wednesday. Mark Gregory has remained in second place this weekend, after all of his teams are out of action untill Boxing Day. His teams are Celtic, Manchester City and Norwich.

At the other end at 108 we have SANDRA NICHOLLS as all of her teams are out of action until Boxing Day. Sandra has now been here for five weeks over the season. Sandra’s teams are Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Leicester City.

Due to the lack of football this week, the top ten remains mostly the same as last weeks.

          THIS      LAST                                               M/WEEK       W/END        TOTAL

 WEEK     WEEK         NAME                          GOALS         GOALS        GOALS 

      1             -             T. GUY (2)                         28                  107                135

      2                 -             M. GREGORY                  32                  101                133

      3                 -             GRANT PHILLIPS           24                  108                132

      4                 -             S. DICKINSON                 28                  101                129 

      5                 -             MANGO                            27                  101                128 

      6                 -             J. WISE                              27                  99                  126

      7                 8            J. BLYTH                           34                  92                  126 

      8                 7             B. BURROUGHS (1)        16                 107                 123

      9                 -             T. GUY (2010/11)              20                  102                122

     10               -             G. DOWSETT (2)              24                  98                 122  

Opening Game

 

We have started the Qatar World Cup 2022. In Group A the host nation Qatar kicked off the 22^nd tournament at the Al Bayt Stadium against ECUADOR and I must say that it is good to see that both nations singing their national anthem with such pride. 

It was Ecuador that made the early attacks and within 3 minutes of play Ecuador scored with a goal by Enner Valencia but it was disallowed for offside by VAR. In the 16^th minute Ecuador get a penalty and it was very calmly scored by Enner Valencia. Just over the half hour mark and Ecuador score again and again it’s by Enner Valencia with a header. The first half was really all about Ecuador with Qatar making the odd flurry into the Ecuador’s half. Qatar did have all of the last ten minutes of the first half and they should have scored just before the whistle was blown for half time. Score 2-0 to Ecuador at half time.

Qatar kick-off the second half and they seemed to have more control over the ball as their confidence grew. But with attacks coming from both ends of the pitch there was no real threat between the two teams. Although both teams could have scored a couple of goals each in the second half, in the end it was too much for Qatar. Ecuador had a comfortable win and are top of Group A after their 2-0 win. No host nation have ever lost their opening game of a World Cup. Qatar are now bottom of the group and they will have to do a lot better if they want to progress into the 2^nd round. 

Ecuador are in their 2^nd Golden Goals World Cup as they first joined us in Brazil 2014. They then became our 40^th voted nation to join Golden Goals and they failed to get through the group stages as they finished third in their group. They went out with a total of 3 goals. In Brazil they had two votes but in Qatar they have just one this time round.

Derby Draw in League

In League One, DERBY played their second game of the week. After their big result in the FA Cup, they failed to score any goal against Portsmouth away. The game ended in a draw 0-0 which has become Derby’s 8^th blank of the season. 

Second Batch of FA CUP 1st Round Replays

 

In the second batch of replays we once again had three of our teams in action. Out of them only two have made it through to the next round of the cup. They are PETERBOROUGH who won 3-0 away to SALFORD CITY. Peterborough are now on a total of 39 goals while Salford picked up their 9^th blank of the season and they have now failed to score any goals in their last five games. Our other team that are in the next round are OXFORD UNITED. They won 2-1 away to non-league Woking and they have taken their goals total up to 28 goals. Oxford have now scored in all of their last eight league/cup games.