Rain keeping me in again this dismal Devon morning, so I've "helped out" with Saturday's fixtures for those with a life.


February 1st is National Dark Chocolate Day which reminds us to indulge a little. Many tout dark chocolate as the healthier chocolate. Sadly this is an America only day.

Cheltenham Town v Chesterfield. Kick-off at 12:30pm
Gillingham v Notts County. Kick-off at 12:30pm

AFC Wimbledon v Bradford City. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Bromley v Grimsby Town. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Carlisle United v Swindon Town. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Doncaster Rovers v Milton Keynes Dons. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Harrogate Town v Crewe Alexandra. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Morecambe v Fleetwood Town. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Newport County AFC v Barrow. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Port Vale v Accrington Stanley. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Tranmere Rovers v Colchester United. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Walsall v Salford City. Kick-off at 3.00pm

Two goals in the first 17 minutes sealed the game for Fleetwood against a decidedly average Walsall side, in doing so the Cod did the double over the Saddlers, having won 6-2 at the Bescot earlier on in the season.
Having been unbeaten for months, this was a second defeat on the trot and the nine point gap they have may not be enough if they continue to play like this.
Early stages were slightly tetchy, Rooney the Fleetwood wing back, he was less than inpressed, but got his revenge in the 12th minute, Hunt free kick midfield left hand side, Rooney guided his header into the net. Four minutes later, Hunt corner from the left found it's way to Bolton who had the easy task of scoring.
Rattled the entire Walsall team had a team meeting before kicking off for the third time, it didn't really help them they didn't create anything of note apart for a Jellis effort which was scuffed wide from the left side of the penalty area.
Second half could be classed as forgetable, neither keeper was troubled, we had the traditional keeper injury which kills play and let's both teams go for a team talk with the managers, the raft of substitutions which also disrupt play.
A decent 400 or so from the Midlands probably realised early on, it was not going to be their night.

Group A

Zinman 17
Minizin 15
Themaclad 12
Twerton 11
Amelia 6
A.A.A. 3

A decent week in Group A this week but a recurring theme seems to be taking shape where the top 4 in the League table share the top 4 weekly spots with a change of order occasionally but the bottom 2 cannot seem to match them at the moment!! This week sees Zinman rise to the top -of the weekly chart with a very good 17 points. He scored a CR on both the Gamball and Bonus and added 2 CSs on the other games. Minizin is 2nd with 15 points, he managed 3 CSs, including the Bonus but his failure on the Gamball kept him behind Senior Zin!!

Themaclad is 3rd with 12 points, with Twerton one point behind. They both scored a CR on the Gamball, Twerton missed on the Bonus but added one extra CS to keep them close.

Amelia only scored on 2 games, one the Gamball and one CS. AAA also scored on two games but missed the Gamball and played his scoreball on a dreaded 0-0 draw to lose a point there as well.

224 Themaclad
200 Minzin
188 Zinman
187 Twerton
162 A.A.A.
151 Amelia

Only one change this week. Themaclad still has a healthy lead and Minizin passed the double century but Zinman moved above Twerton into 3rd spot by a single point. AAA and Amelia are getting left behind unfortunately.

Cheers
SCO


Group B

SCO 14
Stairs 10
Snooty 9
Derby 6
BaggieOne 4
Lady Jane 1
BBB 0

A fairly average week for Group B with the scores once again brought down by some poor bonus ball choices. SCO returned to form after last week's blip to head the table for the 3rd time in the last 4 weeks. He secured the most correct scores (2) and correct results (5 - including the gamball) to give him a healthy lead over Stairs in 2nd place. Snooty was the only player to score on the bonus ball but just 3 correct results and a failure on the gamball meant he could only reach 9 points and 3rd place.

Derby failed to get a correct score though he was the 3rd player to score on the gamball which was enough to see him in the mid-table spot. BaggieOne was one of 2 players to miss out on all his balls though he did get a correct score. Lady Jane scored on just 1 game but managed to get a maximum on it with her scoreball point lifting her into positive territory. BBB was denied evn that small comfort as just 2 correct results and a blow out on his balls left him with zero points this week.

[b]202 Lady Jane
181 Derby
177 SCO
174 Stairs
161 Snooty
144 BBB
126 BaggieOne[b]

Just one change in positions this week and once again it's SCO and Stairs swopping positions. Lady Jane stays weel ahead but she is in her worst run of the season - she hasn't reached double figures for 5 weeks and is now on the league's worst gamball run with 4 losses in a row. Derby's place in the final play-offs is looking more vulnerable with SCO and Stairs closing in.

Zin

Our u18’s beat Norwich 4-2 away in the FA youth cup to qualify for the last 8

Great result … well done guys

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has extended his contract until the end of the 2027-28 season.

The 57-year-old is in his second spell in charge of his boyhood club.

He led them from League One to the Premier League in his first stint at Bramall Lane between 2016 and 2021 before returning in December 2023.

Wilder's previous deal had been set to finish at the end of this season but the Blades' new owners, American-based consortium COH Sports, have moved to tie him down long-term.

"Sheffield United is my club, and there is no place I'd rather be, so I am thrilled to be signing a new deal," he told the club website., external

"The football club is in a really good place, there's a real feel-good factor around the training ground and I'm excited about what we can achieve together.

"The new owners have been incredibly helpful to me since they arrived, and I'd personally like to thank them for their faith and support in what we are trying to work towards."

Wilder returned to the South Yorkshire club just over a year ago after the sacking of Paul Heckingbottom and, although he was unable to stop them finishing bottom of the Premier League, he has helped to spearhead a promotion push this season.

The Blades are two points behind Championship leaders Leeds United with 17 games to play.

Chris Wilder has, not for the first time, completely changed the fortunes of Sheffield United.

Last season was one to forget, with relegation to the Premier League inevitable by the turn of the year. Despite losing players over the summer — and having to rely heavily on astute signings and the club's academy — he has United right in the promotion mix to return to the top flight.

The club's new owners have hit the ground running, with impressive January window signings and now a new deal for the manager and his two key lieutenants Alan Knill and Matt Prestridge. Nobody understands the Bramall Lane club better than Wilder and he will undoubtedly be a source of great help to the ownership moving forward.

It also needs to be remembered that last time the Blades were promoted, Wilder had them pushing for Europe and they secured a top-half finish. There's nobody better to try and get United back in the big time and keep them there.

With two promotions at the club already secured and a potential third in his future, this deal until 2028 could secure Wilder's legacy as Sheffield United's greatest modern-era boss.

Gamball:
Swansea - Coventry

Others:
Everton - Leicester
Ipswich - Southampton
Wolves - Villa
Oxford - Bristol City
Watford - Norwich
Hull - Stoke
Millwall - QPR
Brentford - Spurs
Arsenal - Man City

2 points for correct result
4 points for correct score
2 points for each correct scorer
Correct joker doubles your score   (correct score on a joker would give you 8 points)
Wrong joker result gives you minus 2
Correct Badger gives you 2 points

The prize for winning the league is one rep point.

Cup games: In the event of a draw, it's half the points if you've predicted a draw when it gets to 90 mins and the full points if it's still a draw after extra time. Half the points will be awarded for correctly predicting the winner of the match if it goes to penalties. However, if you do predict a draw and it's a match that won't be going to a replay, you can get a possible extra point by stating which of the two teams you think will eventually win.

Random score generator: I will be using the random score generator again for those who miss predicting, so we shouldn't get some people too far behind that after missing a couple of weeks they lose all interest, because I know it's not easy getting on here every week.
To be fair to everybody, this is going to be like, say if three people in one week miss their predictions, the first one in the table will be given all 0-0, the second one down the line will get 1-0 and the third will get 0-1 and so on, like if there's four missing the 4th will get 1-1, then 5th 2-1, 6th 1-2. and if there are so many missing, might as well pack in.
And if you miss two weeks on the trot, I'll stop until you come back on again. Not doing it for half a season like I did t'other year.  


At the end of the season, the winner of group 2 and the bottom of group 1 will swap places in what is commonly known as "promotion" and "relegation". It's something that most football fans will be familiar with, unless you're a fan of Liverpool or Arsenal or one of those other fashionable clubs.

The second placed player in group 2 will then have a play off with the player who finishes second from the bottom in group 1 to decide whether they will be going up, down or staying where they are.

We're going to have two seasons in one though, just to try and make it a bit more interesting and not so long drawn out. The first season will end on the Boxing Day fixtures, with the play offs being on the dates of the Twixtmas fixtures and the NYD fixtures.

The second season will start the following week, which is usually the FA Cup 3rd round, finishing on the last game of the League One season. Then another period of relegation/promotion play off games, taking in such fixtures as the EFL play offs, FA Cup Final, UEFA finals and such like.

Each group will have it's own set of fixtures. Both groups will have the Town games, with scorers to predict as before. Then it will be a split of League One fixtures and bonus matches, hopefully around ten, eleven or twelve games per Matchday.

The random badger is restricted to three goal scorers in any of the fixtures in your group.

Here's how that will appear at the end of the fixture list. All you have to do is fill in the blanks.......


*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

Any of those will score two points if correct. No minus points for getting it wrong.

Postponed matches will only count if the match is re-played before the next Matchday is under way. Abandoned matches will be awarded half the points for the score at the time of abandonment, so 1 point if you have the correct result, 2 points if you have the correct score.

Substitute or scorer in one of the Town games:- These will be only be allowed if you change them before the match involved has kicked off.

Prediction League Archive: https://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=12830



Division One table after Matchday 3:

1. jjamez = 43 pts
   
2. Baggiebob(BBB) = 42 pts
   
3. Lord Snooty = 36 pts
   
4. neonfoxinthebox = 36 pts
   
5. St Charles Owl = 28 pts
   
6. themaclad = 27 pts
   

Saturday 1st February:
Northampton v Town
Town scorers:
Northampton scorers:

Stevenage v Exeter City (12:30)
Leyton Orient v Stockport County
Reading v Bolton Wanderers
Shrewsbury Town v Mansfield Town
Wigan Athletic v Lincoln City

Bonus matches:
Friday:
Championship:
Blackburn Rovers v Preston North End (20:00)

Saturday:
Plymouth Argyle v West Bromwich Albion (12:30)
Sheffield Wednesday v Luton Town

Sunday:
Premier League:
Brentford v Tottenham Hotspur (14:00)
Manchester United v Crystal Palace (14:00)

*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

1. ritchiebaby = 57 pts
   
2. SHEP_HTAFC = 47 pts
   
3. Devongone = 46 pts
   
4. theo_luddite = 46 pts
   
5. Amelia Chaffinch = 30 pts
   
6. WakeyTerrier = 24 pts
   

Saturday 1st February:
Northampton v Town
Town scorers:
Northampton scorers:

Barnsley v Burton Albion (12:30)
Birmingham City v Rotherham United
Blackpool v Charlton Athletic
Cambridge United v Wycombe Wanderers
Crawley Town v Wrexham

Sunday 2nd February:
Bristol Rovers v Peterborough United (15:00)

Bonus matches:
Saturday:
Scottish Premiership:
Hibernian v Aberdeen

League Two:
Cheltenham Town v Chesterfield (12:30)

Premier League:
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Aston Villa (17:30)

Sunday:
Arsenal v Manchester City (16:30)

*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

Though I swore never to do the fixtures again here are the midweek games to help Matt and anyone else with not much time. On a breezy soaking dismal Sunday doing this was a better bet than searching Spireite reports of our geriatric team for non-existent green shoots.


Tuesday 28th January Kick-offs 7.45

Accrington Stanley v Cheltenham Town
Bradford City v Morecambe
Chesterfield v Bromley.
Colchester United v Port Vale
Crewe Alexandra v AFC Wimbledon
Fleetwood Town v Walsall
Grimsby Town v Gillingham
Milton Keynes Dons v Harrogate Town
Notts County v Carlisle United
Salford City v Newport County AFC
Swindon Town v Tranmere Rovers

Wednesday 29th January

Barrow v Doncaster Rovers Kick-off at 8:00pm

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 25TH JANUARY KO 3PM

v

LAST MATCH



We ended up with a point as we decided to sit back for the majority of the 2nd half and got punished late on. We were the better team in the first half without being scintillating and took the lead when Valery got down the right and crossed for Gassama to fire home. We had a couple of chances but it stayed 1-0. Onto the 2nd half and City quickly levelled, Wells heading in a cross from the right. We were quickly back ahead when Bernard score from the edge of the box via a deflection. Then for the rest of the game we sat back and Bristol made it count near the when we conceded from another cross as our defenders turned into statues. City nearly won it, but thankfully the effort struck the bar.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Next up and a trip to the capital as we take on QPR. After a disappointing start to the season, they have seen an upturn in form which has them on a four game winning streak and they now up to 10th in the table and on the same points total as ourselves. If they can maintain there form is the big question but if they can, a shot at the playoffs is definitely a possibility. They are managed by Martí Cifuentes, who took over in October 23 and has a 35% win percentage. There leading scorer is Michael Frey with 5 goals so far this season.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 34
QPR 26
DRAW 19

CURRENT FORM

OWLS  D L L D W L                                                                      

QPR W W W W D L                        

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

SAM ALLISON
Andrew Fox and Carl Fitch-Jackson
Fourth Official: Will Finnie

THE TEAM

Beadle
Palmer Bernard Iorfa Johnson
Bannan Ingelsson
Musaba Windass Gasama
Smith

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

2-1 Gassama

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

26

ATTENDANCE

N/A

BML LEAGUE

Imre 20
SCO 19
Washington 19
Maddix 16
Wereham 11

BMPL

Stateside 15
Owlkev 13
Southey 12
Pei 8

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Bournemouth v Notts Forest
Bristol City v Blackburn
Leyton Orient v Reading
Chesterfield v Port Vale
Altrincham v Forest Green

AAHHD

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC