Thank you

Well there it goes.... Whoosh! Another season gone. Thank you to everyone that took part, the winners, the losers, the nearly's, the if only's, the quiet ones, the noisy ones, those abroad, those of you that call the beautiful game football and if you must those of you that call it soccer.

We had 59 managers this season, and some of those have been there since the mid-90's and most have hung around for most of the past decade. The Nobby & Ready's Fantasy League is not just any old fantasy football competition, it is about friendships, it's about connecting old mates around the world, it is a laugh and we get a kick out of it otherwise we wouldn't do it.

As I have said before, for Keith and I the N&R FL has been for many years a vein between our various times living overseas. Those veins now stretch as far as Australia, Mexico, USA, France and frequently Thailand. Thanks for keeping in touch, it means a lot.

A big thank you to Mark Simmons for keeping score. Simply we couldn't do this without him.

Thank you also to Aon for sponsoring Man Utd to the tune of $100m. I didn't get a pay rise but at least everyone will now know who the fcuk I work for.

Enjoy the South African World Cup and we will see some of you tomorrow night.

Nobby & Ready xx

Reminder - End of season prize giving and drinks

Don't forget and please pass onto anyone that knows me (or blondes that don't), that Keith and I will be hosting end of season drinks and prize giving this Thursday, 27th May from 5pm outside the New Moon.


We both really look forward to seeing you and we will be collecting entry money for the N&R FL 2010/11 season.

The Special One - Ready claims treble

Breaking news8888888The N&R Champions League Final Scores - the top 12

I will take considerable pride and no doubt plenty of ribbing in presenting Ready with 3 (THREE) trophies tomorrow night after he became the first ever N&R manager to win the domestic treble - The N&R FL league title, the N&R Cup and the Team Challenge Trophy.

I feel I need to add that in 14 years I, Nobby, have never won anything, a few quid aside, yet I see all the teams, all the transfers and all the tables. Nor has Mark Simmons, who does all of our scoring. Yet this is Ready's 3rd N&R FL title after winning it in 2001/02, 2003/04 and now 6 years later.

Of course our very own 'Special One' will have trouble getting his head through the door of the New Moon, and I fully expect him to be wearing a Mourinho style Ralph Lauren suit with a blue and black tie with the top button of his shirt undone. The specks of grey hair have been there a while though, in fact specks of hair would be a better description!

Hannoi Utd (and yes he knows it is spelt wrong) were in the top 12 for all but 11 weeks of the season. One week he got as low as 20th but he used his transfers well - a mark of a true champion - and spent 4 weeks in 6th in March biding his time.

A big week 33 propelled Keith into 3rd behind Tanus Terriers and leader's Frank & Beans. Glasgow kiss was next to take the driving seat but Hannoi Utd hung in there as the title race got tighter and tighter. Steve's Guinness & eggs joined the fray as did Paris Eagles but in week's 38 and 39 when it really mattered Keith took advantage of slip-ups by Kirstie and Tim & Dennis to claim what become an unassailable lead and took the 2009/10 title by 19 points. Well done mate.

Vodka Hooligan, Glasgow kiss and Frank & Beans all slipped backwards before the finish line, which allowed Guinness & eggs to come up on the rails to claim a fantastic 2nd place. Steve bettering his 10th finish last season. In 3rd was long time leaders Frank & Beans. The Chicago boys were top for 15 weeks, more than any other managers, but ran out of transfers but Tim & Dennis can be very proud of their campaign.

In 4th was old bar steward Barry Paull. One of our original punters, Paris Eagles spent up until Christmas outside of the top 12, then had a purple patch before dropping back again. But they finished very strong and with an armful of Chelsea players in his team Barry snatched 4th on the last day of the season.

Tanus Terriers had a very strong season. Our first league leader in August, he maintained a top 12 place for each of the 40 weeks (only Frank & Beans managed the same) and moved around the top 5 until the early part of this year periodically claiming top spot. During March and April we thought his title aspirations were done, but Lee came strong again in one last push and finished 5th.

Ah, Petal. What can we say. We once before had a female champion (Soozie in 2005/06) and for many weeks we thought we were going to witness another one as Glasgow kiss gave a lesson on how to play fantasy football. Kirsty was very consistent from around week 15 through to almost the last two weeks. Top for 7 weeks including weeks 36, 37 and 38 and with a fortnight left she had one hand on the coveted trophy but our little haggis stumbled badly and ended up in 6th (she was 3rd last year). Unlucky Pet.

Finishing in 7th was last year's champion Neil Reynolds and Gooner win league. Neil had a very slow start but to me he was always a threat, and he made his move into the top 12 at Christmas but was still very much on the periphery until week 32 but he left himself with too much to do and couldn't emulate the then joint management team of Godfrey and Rose, the only managers to be able to retain this so sought after title.

In March and April Vodka Hooligan was putting in some very solid performances and became a strong contender. Mark burnt his transfers though and as others around him got stronger, he floated backwards slightly and ended up 8th, which was a huge improvement on last season.

I've promised myself that in a dull summer moment I will go back through all 14 years of N&R FL and see who has been our most consistent performer. I will hazard a guess that Johnny McGowan will be very high in that list.

Loads of Roubles last four seasons have seen finishes of 9th, 4th, 3rd and 7th. This season he spent oodles of weeks hanging around the prize money positions, but never higher than 4th. John also ran out of transfer opps but a 9th place finish is nothing to sneeze at. In 10th was our only team that is sponsored. Old Bodeanians were a bit of a surprise if I am honest. But then again I don't know why I say that because last year Oakers finished 7th, this year 10th. But for every year before that he was down the bottom. Hmm, nurse check his blood..

11th came our man from Mexico City Greg Foulger. He will be disappointed I am sure. Last season Boys on Tour came 5th, the season before 7th. Some of us would die for a top 10 slot but I am sure Greg will go back to his bottle of Tequila and plot another challenge next year.

And the final prize money went to Morgan's Machines in 12th in Scott's virgin N&R season. He played almost the whole season high up the table and it was a fine effort for the Aon Benfield boy.

The Champions League sob stories

Breaking news8888888The N&R Champions League Final Scores - 13th to 26th
In 13th and just 5 points short of a cash prize was Jason Syrett's Gunner Bag It. Soozie's older brother improved on last season as he did throughout this campaign. Never once featuring in the top 12 others will be more downhearted that they didn't collect a prize. Namely one Henry Williams, a smartly dressed young Villa fan at Chartis who spent 31 weeks mixing it with the hoi polloi in the upper echelons but Aston Globetrotters couldn't dig it and all out of transfers they fell back to 14th place.

15th was yours truly Bermuda Addick, which is actually pretty good for me. A marked improvement on past years, if only I could completely dedicate all my time to blogging, fantasy football, drinking and eating then.... Oh what's that? Oh, I do....

Rather embarrassingly in my shadow was Lamb to the slaughter, who found a superb burst of form for around 16 weeks in the middle of the season. Actually Glenn was top for 5 weeks (longer than Ready) but despite 4 transfers in his closet, he fell steeply away in early April never to recover. 17th was Harry Houdini who showed early promise. 3rd in week 7, Tim also never used all of his transfer options and will be left with what onlys.

In 18th came previous champion and one of the pre-season favourites Pk's Mexican Banana Split. A slight lift in week 15 gave us all false hope but Paul's season never exploded into life. I blame Gemma. In Tatters proved again how consistent Nige can be but he will be hoping to climb to the next step on the ladder next time out.

Another ex-champ Godders looked like reinventing the good old days during the winter months when he reached 2nd place in week 25 but Godders@mobileemail.vodafone.net went backwards from there unfortunately. However his career has gone forwards and we look for a strong challenge next season from one of our first ever managers.

In 21st finished the real Special One. Ben went out on his own this season and had a relatively good season but he will be looking for more luck in the tranfer market next time. 22nd was probably one of the most relieved men in the league! Normally to relieve himself Rob needs to be watched, but that's another story. No stop it, To Elland Back are relieved because finally Dirty Leeds are out of the cesspit that is the 3rd Division. Well done again mate and better luck for the next N&R season.

Davor, my favourite Serbian gypsy was our 6th and final manager who had the pleasure of being top of the N&R FL at one time this season. W Wallace Boys sat tall (very tall) and pretty (not so pretty) on top of all 59 managers for 4 weeks in November and December, but firstly Dav struggled when most of his players left for the African Nations and he didn't react quick enough and then by the end of January he was jettisoned out of the top 12 and could not find a way back.

Arsene Wenger and Danny Rose have something in common. No, not little boys. Yes, they are both trophy-less again! Arsene Knows last real title challenge was way back in 2003/04. Come on Dan, now you have Godders doing all of your work for you there will be no excuses next season!

Chris' Student Ninja had a decent season and won a tenner for making the penultimate place so I'm not going to knock him. Not as good as mine or Ready's (better than Hilary's and Rob's) but his school report will read "can do better." And finally FFC 4Ever. What an incredible season for Steve's Fulham eh? In fact at one point I thought we had a young Woy Hodgson on our hands as Steve excelled himself around Christmas. 96 points he scored in week 20 and was then 3rd. Steve made transfers but sadly he couldn't match Hodgson's achievements, but does he care? Probably not.

Bermuda Triangle

Coming up for two years in July on the rock. Life has been good, if not sometimes a bit boring. The trick is always to have a flight booked to go somewhere else as island fever can certainly kick in.

When you have been to the same restaurant three days running (as I did last week) or you find yourself discussing a quote with an underwriter on the beach on a Saturday afternoon, or when you can't buy a loaf of bread outside of 9-5 Monday to Friday then you know it is time to get off this 21-square mile hook-shaped peculiar, if not stunningly beautiful isle.

I miss London, but if I'm honest only family, friends and footie, oh and I do miss the market. I spent 16 years trawling those streets with a slipcase under my arm (now in the possession of Pk) and I am fortunate to still have a lot of very special friendships with people I met on the way.

I miss Chicago, some of the people definitely but the city mostly. If you have never been to Chicago, then you do not know what you are missing. This time of year is spectacular. But Bermuda is still not a bad place to hang out, it is certainly a nice melting pot of people and the market acts more like a proper face-to-face market in the London way, than it ever did or does in Chicago.

People ask me all the time where is next and honestly I have no idea. I gave up a long time ago planning my life too far ahead. But next? My heart would without a shadow of doubt say London, but my head would probably say the US. Part of me would like a completely different challenge altogether but simply it will boil down to opportunity, quality of life and what is ever best for my new family here with careful consideration to my son.

Recently however, I signed up for a new work permit. I was given 4 years which sounds a scary long time but the tax rate is lower :-) and if an earthquake ever hits an area that is not already impoverished then Bermuda will go crazy. I was also given 4 years because obtaining work permits for ex-pats here is getting harder and harder.

We also plan to move house this summer. The rents have come down a fair bit, although they are still absolutely ridiculous. We found a much nicer, more modern, bigger house that was cheaper than our current one and we are looking forward to the move. We have the sea and a beach just a 5-iron away. Oh and on either side is a golf range that for some mad reason includes a very good curry house and on the other side is the PGA course at Port Royal. Jealous yet? Well come and visit.

I should play more golf, but my thumb and my torn ACL need sorting out first. Anyway the summer will be taken up with lazy days watching football, drinking very cold sauvignon blanc and the smell of barbeques. Come on England! Football's coming home!

Trade Mark

Breaking news8888888The N&R Europa League Final Scores

Mark Dewberry completed a fine season as he strolled to the Europa League title. The Toothless Hogget was someway clear of 2nd placed Soozie-Sooz Sizzlers who held onto 2nd place and also easily beat fiancee Ryan Saveall by a meaty 61 points. Ryan's Savlyuchenko Spurs were down in 9th.

In 3rd was early leader St George's Rovers. Put simply Razor should have been more active in the transfer market, but the patriotic one did have a good season but couldn't match his first place in the losers plate last season.

4th and the last Europa prize winner was Factastic Fancies. Sarah was the holder of the Best weekly score and collected another tenner for her league efforts. Missing out on the cash in 5th was the No Hopers, with ex-champ and new father Barry and 2Infinity & beyond in 6th and fantasy old timer and old father Alex Boswell and his Megan & Hannah's Teddy Bears in 7th.

One bloke I always look forward to sharing a Fosters with is Rutts and no doubt we will sink a few on Thursday but Goonersmoan ended a unspectacular season in 8th, Savlyuchenko will be getting it in the ear after his 9th place finish but Neville should be pleased with his Not a chance final placing of 10th, but with better transfer timing he will improve next season.

Fellow Tokio-ite Mono finished in exactly the same placing as last year, which was quite a feat for Blue flag up your arse. In 12th was Lovejoy Luvvies, another consistently mediocre season for Alex. 13th in the Europa League was our Irish charm Hilary and Pure Irish. Hills had a great start to the season and was 4th overall in week 4 but she has never quite recreated the days of her 4th place finish in 2005/06. Next up was Leigh's One night in Paris, down on last season's performance.

After Leigh was Torres Rosso. Aaran has all the abilities of a decent fantasy player.... so he once told me, yet we are yet to see it! Then talking of abilities we have Francey in 16th place. Keep the faith clearly missing the help this season of some whizz kid young arse kisser in the office!

In 17th was Real SociableLad. One of my favourite team names and Rob had a terrific early few weeks, made some transfers but just ended up going backwards but did finish above his ex-team mate Bingo FC. Behind Rob and Wardy was Jimmy 5 Bellies, still on a diet we understand, and then in 20th was Chris' Californication. Busy man that Waterman flying around the world but he has never forgotten Nobby & Ready who gave him his first chance!

Did the Ginger Rabbit really win the coveted title five years ago? Do we need to go back and look at the DNA to see if he was chomping on performance enhancing carrots? This year's Ginger reincarnation Viking came 47th overall.

Ian Kennett and Goliath's big brother can only dream about winning the N&R FL. He did once come 15th though! 48th this year for the Folkestone Red. Next was Turtles Breath, and Martin is another manager who has been with us a long time but has never won fcuk all. Newbie Dan Martin and egg chasing is best had a decent start and even won a MoW but best stick to Rugger Bugging Dan.

Nancy Lollygaggers were 51st overall and Megan always gives it her best shot and this season unusually she got beaten by her other half Michael. Sexual favours for the summer then. Bloody hell I bet June 12th will be a bit lively in your apartment?!

Atlanta based James Down struggled the whole season and only improved slightly for Cesc and the city to finish 8th from bottom. Wenmania struggled a different way in that Wenners kept losing his job and therefore had about 5 email addresses throughout the season. He is now back in the market and I look forward to collecting a pint and another business card from him on Thursday.

Down under Huw's Adelaide Taffs just never got their season going, and Gianfrancophiles likewise. Severe beatings from the rest of the Aon Benfield team for Ben then. In 56th was Sweaty and That's not you. Lee's placings from the past 4 seasons: 56th, 52nd, 52nd and 51st! Enough said.

Squire Cryer and his beloved Rochdale Allstars (think that old bint who got slagged off by Gordon Brown in the back of his limo left) finished 57th and 3rd from bottom. If he is looking for small mercies then it was an improvement on his bottom place finish a year ago!

Bottom of the whole lot, in 59th place was Mutley's Brighton Blues, the only team not to crack the 1,000 point mark. Dear, dear Paul it's like you've had nothing else to worry about!! And finally - and can you believe we really give a 10 quid prize for this? - in 58th and the penultimate place was Kilpo's Killers. I think you'll agree that this must rate quite highly in the list of Stuart's lifetime achievements!

Barry and Danny don't get the Blues

Breaking news8888888Week 40 scores
There was no MoW prize in week 40 as there was only one game. Of course anyone that had a team stuffed with Chelsea players would have grabbed most of the points available. Quite a few transfers were made in that last week in a final effort to claim prizes and climb the table.

The top week 40 team's were Paris Eagles and Arsene Knows, both claiming a magnificent 32 points. Gunner Bag it scored 29, Bermuda Addicks hurdled a few places with 22 and W Wallace Boys likewise with 21.

Keep the faith, Loads of Roubles, Goonersmoan and Blue flag up your arse rather ironically scored well with 21 points. On 19 was United fan Michael and No Hopers, with One night in Paris, To Elland Back, Vodka Hooligan and Egg chasing is best 18.

Remember the lowest score didn't count, but we should mention it was Rochdale Allstars with -3.

Reminder - Oldies & Young 'Un's Qualifiers

We split the league in week 21 to keep it interesting and put anyone around middling age (plus Ready and Nobby) to old fart status into an Oldies Qualifying Group and every man and woman a bit wet behind the ears but with large libido's we stuck into a Young 'Un's Qualifying league.

The top 13 from each group at week 33 qualified for the N&R Champions League, and the others dropped into the losers plate, that we kindly bigged up to call the N&R Europa League.

The net result was that in the Oldies despite Glenn's Lamb to the slaughter leading the Oldies for most of the mini-season, it was Ready's Hannoi Utd who snatched the top place and
the £25 prize, with Mark's Vodka Hooligan missing out by just one point and three points points further back was John's Loads of Roubles with Lamb to the slaughter ending in 4th.

In the Young Un's group Tim and Dennis' Frank & Beans edging out Kirsty's Glasgow Kiss giving the Americans the $40 pot. Gooner win league finished 3rd with the consistent Tanus Terriers in 4th.

2009/10 Manager of the week's

The N&R Manager of the Week's were nicely spread around as always. John McGowan had the most weekly success with 3 stand-alone wins, although Mark Simmons also won three, but had to share one and Glenn Francis was forced to share two of his three bumper weeks.

My favourite Yugoslavian Davor won twice, as did Tim Harris, Alex Boswell (also the owner of the worst weekly score) and Lee Horne did double too. Here is a list of all the weekly winners who collect a fiver (or USD equivalent) for a weekly win or £2.50 for a shared one (or USD equivalent).

LEE HORNE (2), HILARY FLYNN, DAN MARTIN, JOHN McGOWAN (3), TIM HARRIS (2), DAVOR DUVANCIC (2), KIRSTIE BAILLIE, SCOTT MORGAN (2), ALEX BOSWELL (2), MARK SIMMONS(2 + 1 shared), GLENN FRANCIS (1 + 2 shared), STEVE BLACK, STEVE MERCHANT, LEE BAUGHAN, ALAN OAKLEY (shared), SARAH SHERON, FELDBRUEGGE/MALLOY, BRIAN RUTTER, NIGEL TATLOCK, CHRIS WATERMAN, IAN KENNETT, CHRIS WRIGHT, BARRY PAULL, PAUL KELLEHER, NEVILLE WHITE, MARK DEWBERRY.

Team Challenge - Bluefin swim to the title

In the end Bluefin cantered to the N&R Team Challenge Trophy beating Lloyds start-up JRP by 25 points. Ready, who dominated this season's campaign was joined by Ryan Saveall and they will be presented with the prestigious trophy on Thursday night to sit proudly in Keith's corner penthouse office.

JRP were newly formed during the season and Godders and Danny will be pleased with their 2nd spot after reigniting their old friendship and fantasy partnership.

In 3rd place was Aon's International group, I think probably our highest ever finish. Led by Tim with good performances by Nobby and Davor, we were let down by our Welsh Antipodean mate Huw! Just one-fourteenth of a point behind in 4th came Aon Benfield, our erstwhile rogues gallery of fac brokers led by Rutts. In fact 4th is an excellent finish bearing in mind there are 11 players in the team, the highest placed being Lee Horne.

Not far behind them in 5th was the RSA's London-Mexican duo of Langton and Foulger (I'm not even sure they know each other). 6th was Chartis and the 9 underwriters that make up the team. Not for the first time it was Barry Paull that top scored, and also not for the first time, Chris Waterman low-scored. Does the loser still buy a curry guys?

Disappointingly down in 7th was last season's champions Willis. Kirsty had a wonderful season but M&A guru Ian Kennett let the girls down. 8th were QBE way down the list in 9th. Chris Wright top scoring with Rob on about 100 points less. Just below in 9th came the Tokio boys Neville and Mono, who were on about a level par.

This season's wooden spooners were the Lloyds boys, fully 60 points adrift at the bottom of the table. Tatters had a decent campaign but Cryer and Kilpo occupied two of the bottom three overall places with Dan Martin not an awful lot higher.

N&R 2010 Celebrity Death Pool Draw

The N&R Celebrity Death Pool will continue through until the end of 2010. So far no one has collected the £25 prize but to remind yourselves of your celebrity pick, then click here.

Season's best weekly score

Sarah Sheron's season promised so much but ended just with a 4th place consolation prize in the Europa League. But Sarah did claim the N&R FL best weekly score with a cracking 101 points earnt in week 25. It was quite a way short from the best ever N&R FL weekly score of 132 but century girl Sarah fully deserved the £25 award, especially after also owning the 8th best as well.

Steve Merchant was 2nd with 96 and long time title challengers Feldbruegge and Malloy were 3rd with 96.

Here are the top 10 best weekly scores:
1. Sarah Sheron. Week 25. 101 points
1. Steve Merchant. Week 20. 96 points
3= Felbruegge/Malloy. Week 25. 95 points
3= Alex Boswell. Week 33. 95 points
5= Neil Reynolds. Week 25. 91 points
5= Alan Oakley. Week 25. 91 points
7. Scott Morgan. Week 33. 89 points
8. Sarah Sheron. Week 19. 88 points
9. John McGowan. Week 26. 87 points
10. Alex Byatt. Week 25. 86 points

Well done Ms Sheron, I look forward to a cuddle on Thursday!

Season's worst weekly score

Incredibly we champion the lowest weekly scores in the N&R FL, but for all of the gloating throughout the 40 weeks, we also present a 25 quid prize to the winner, or loser, whichever way you want to look at it.

Last season 8 managers scored 0 or less points so I suppose we should claim this one a success as Alex Boswell came up with the Season's worst weekly score in week 15 of a 1 whole point. A point better was eventual 4th placed Barry Paull, with 9th placed John McGowan in 3rd.

The top 10 worst weekly scores were:
1. Alex Boswell. Week 15. 1 point
2. Barry Paull, Week 30. 2 points
3. John McGowan. Week 10. 3 points
4. Paul Long. Week 5. 4 points
4. Michael Stout. Week 18. 4 points
6. Ian Monahan. Week 18. 5 points
6. Ryan Saveall. Week 18. 5 points
6. Ian Kennett. Week 30. 5 points
9. Soozie Syrett. Week 17. 6 points
9. Sarah Sheron. Week 32. 6 points

Congratulations Alex.

Where did the prizes go?

This how the money was won last season. Ready and I will automatically take £25 or $40 from any prize money for next season's entry unless you advise us otherwise.

The N&R Champions League
Champion - 220 and the famous N&R FL trophy KEITH READ
Runner Up - 150 STEVE BLACK
3rd place - 110 FELDBRUEGGE/MALLOY
4th place - 85 BARRY PAULL
5th place - 60 LEE HORNE
6th place - 50 KIRSTIE BAILLIE
7th place - 40 NEIL REYNOLDS
8th place - 30 MARK SIMMONS
9th place - 25 JOHN McGOWAN
10th place - 15 ALAN OAKLEY
11th place - 10 GREG FOULGER
12th place - 10 SCOTT MORGAN
25th place - 10 CHRIS WRIGHT

The N&R FL Europa League
Winner - 60 MARK DEWBERRY
2nd Place - 40 SOOZIE SYRETT
3rd place - 30 RICHARD NATHAN
4th place - 10 SARAH SHERON
58th place - 10 STUART KILPATRICK

Others Prizes
N&R Cup Winner - Trophy KEITH READ
Benfleet Bet Winner - 25 MARK DEWBERRY
Team Challenge winner - Team trophy BLUEFIN
Best weekly score - 25 MARK DEWBERRY
Worst weekly score - 25 ALEX BOSWELL
N&R Celebrity Death Pool - 25 TO BE CARRIED THROUGH 2010
Oldies Qualification winner - 25 KEITH READ
Young 'Uns qualification winner - 25 FELDBRUEGGE/MALLOY

40 x Manager of the week - 5 each, shared equally if tied and listed below:
LEE HORNE (2), HILARY FLYNN, DAN MARTIN, JOHN McGOWAN (3), TIM HARRIS (2), DAVOR DUVANCIC (2), KIRSTIE BAILLIE, SCOTT MORGAN (2), ALEX BOSWELL (2), MARK SIMMONS(2 + 1 shared), GLENN FRANCIS (1 + 2 shared), STEVE BLACK, STEVE MERCHANT, LEE BAUGHAN, ALAN OAKLEY (shared), SARAH SHERON, FELDBRUEGGE/MALLOY, BRIAN RUTTER, NIGEL TATLOCK, CHRIS WATERMAN, IAN KENNETT, CHRIS WRIGHT, BARRY PAULL, PAUL KELLEHER, NEVILLE WHITE, MARK DEWBERRY.

This represents 32 different winners. Not bad for 25 quid or 40 green ones? Plus, think about all of the fun you have had?

*All denominations in GBP
**Nobby and Ready will retain GBP 25 or USD 40 for next season's entry fee unless you state otherwise.

The N&R FL Hall of Fame

Well last season we had our first ever double winner and then this season Ready went one better incredibly to win the treble. The special one indeed.

Ready won the N&R FL title twice before, in 2001/02 and again in 2003/04, and therefore is also the first ever manager to win the coveted N&R FL trophy three times. Well done to my old mucker Keith Read and Hannoi Utd.

This is 14 years worth of N&R Champions:
2009/10 Hannoi Utd - Keith Read
2008/09 Gooner win league - Neil Reynolds
2007/08 Tally.Wacker.co.uk - Paul Kelleher
2006/07 Savchenko Spurs - Ryan Saveall
2005/06 Ping Pong Yo-Yo - Suzie Syrett
2004/05 Ginger (not so) Athletic - Peter Doyle
2003/04 Chang Noi's Ham Yai - Keith Read
2002/03 2Infinity & Beyond - Barry Plummer
2001/02 Read 'em & weep - Keith Read
2000/01 Brighton Revenge - Jonathan Poole
1999/00 Cowboys Ride Again - Brett Davey
1998/99 Millennium Buggers - Richard Taylor
1997/98 Flo's Champs - Godfrey, Rose
1996/97 Flo's Army - Godfrey, Rose

In the Team event, Keith and Ryan Saveall took Bluefin to their 2nd Team Challenge Trophy. In fact Ready also won it with HSBC (now Marsh) as well. No sign of Aon on there you will notice!

Bluefin became the 4th successive broker to win the title. Congratulations lads, and commiserations to Huw Thomas, who left Bluefin to join Aon at the beginning of the year. My apologies mate!

Team Challenge Winners
2009/10 Bluefin - Ready, Saveall
2008/09 Willis - Baillie, Sheron, Kennett
2007/08 BMS - Wenman, Reddy
2006/07 Layton Blackham - Read, Saveall, Thomas
2005/06 AIG - Waterman, France, Dewberry, Barwick, Higgs, Ryan.
2004/05 Marsh - Simmons, Doyle
2003/04 Marsh - Simmons, Doyle
2002/03 Allianz - Jenkins, Day
2001/02 Avon - Godfrey, Rose
2000/01 HSBC - Waters, Murrell, Ready

And finally, just in case Ready's head is not big enough already. In the N&R Cup Ready beat Scott Morgan in the final to grab his historic treble.

N&R Cup Finals
2009/10 Keith Read bt Scott Morgan
2008/09 Neil Reynolds bt Feldbruegge/Malloy

Photograph of the week #2

Inter beat Bayern 2-0 to win their first European Cup/CL since 1965. Inter completed the treble by winning Serie A, the Coppia Italia and the Champions League. Jose Mourinho will depart for Real Madrid a hero and will hope to become the first ever manager to win the top European title with three different clubs and who will put it past him?

Photograph of the week #1

Favourites, no certainties for relegation from the Championship, what Ian Holloway achieved at Blackpool is a modern day football miracle. Blackpool has no training ground, they share with a local small time rugby club and their famous Bloomfield Rd ground has just 3 stands. But for the minute Blackpool and it's famous seaside town has it all.

2010 World Cup

I have listed below some great resources for this summer's South African World Cup:

BBC World Cup site

Fixtures

Official FIFA site

ESPN

South Africa Information

Bet on the World Cup

World Cup Songs

The Guardian

New York Times Soccer Blog

The Times

Planet World Cup Stats and History

Online World Cup Chart

Bermuda Triangle

I spent three hours in emergency this evening after slicing the top of my thumb off!

Using a mandoline to slice beetroot and carrots to make pancakes (honestly they would have been scrummy), the top of my right thumb plopped into the dish followed by a gush of claret. Neither of which were in the list of ingredients!

Sat in the emergency ward, fortunately before the pubs closed, I was thinking that I have spent more time in Bermuda's one hospital than I have in any hospital wherever I have lived before.

The care was good and I am all bandaged up and my thumb will be sore for while but it will heal and will not impact my drinking capabilities on Thursday night!

Blackpool Tower

Congratulations to Blackpool and Ian Holloway, what a fantastic achievement, and one that breathes hope into every unfashionable 'small club' everywhere.

It was a terrific game, with all five goals scored in a topsy-turvy first half but Blackpool thoroughly deserved their season amongst the big boys for the first time since 1971. Blackpool's 111-year old Bloomfield Road will be the smallest ever stadium to grace the Premiership and I look forward to seeing away fans sat on the open away terrace in the rain and sleet!

Blackpool avaraged just over 8,000 last year but this final has been monikered the £90m one-off game and I sure the Oyston family will be looking to improve their famous stadium. Last week we were reminded that Charlton were due a further £250,000 from the Mark Hudson transfer if Cardiff won promotion so not a good day for the Charlton board, but I found it very hard to root for Cardiff and that sandbagger Peter Risdale and am as pleased as punch for Ian Holloway, Jason Euell and the people of Blackpool.

Ready's Benfleet Bet - Final Table

Not surprisingly, all 20 who responded with a Cup Final prediction went for a Chelsea victory but only Honest Mark Dewberry went for a 1-0 which secured him the victory and claim to the £25 prize. Congratulations Mark. Barry and Ben tied in 2nd two points behind with Wardy in 4th and Plummer in 5th.

Final Table:
1) Mark Dewberry 86
2) Barry Paull 84
2) Ben Guarino 84
4) Simon Ward 80
5) Barry Plummer 78
6) Neville White 73
7) Jason Syrett 69
7) Sarah Sheron 69
9) Ian France 67
10) Ian Monohan 65
11) John McGowan 62
11) Alan Oakley 62
13) Greg Foulger 60
14) Kirstie Baillie 58
15) Danny Rose 55
16) Aaron Barden 54
17) Ready 53
18) Huw Thomas 52
18) Neil Reynolds 52
20) Ben Graves 51
21) Nobby 48
22) Peter Doyle 45
23) Mark Wenman 44
23) Rob Saxon 44
25) Paul Long 42
26) Steve Black 41
27) Rob Munden 40
28) Peter Godfrey 39
29) Brian Rutter 33
30) Chris Waterman 30
31) Ian Kennett 29
32) Paul Kelleher 16

N&R Road to Wembley

Chelsea beat our boys poor old Pompey in the final of course. Here was the complete run down of Nobby & Ready's Road to Wembley:

Extra Prelim Round
Bitton 1-1 Newport IOW
Att: 93
Extra Prelim Round Replay
Newport IOW 2-1 Bitton
Att: 153
1st Prelim Round
Newport IOW 0-5 Wantage Town
Att:
1st Qualifying Round
Mangotsfield 3-0 Wantage Town
Att: 146
2nd Qualifying Round
Gillingham Town 1-1 Mangotsfield United
Att: 505
2nd Qualifying Round Replay
Mangotsfield United 3-0 Gillingham Town
Att: 263
3rd Qualifying Round
Truro City 1-1 Mangotsfield United
Att: 574
3rd Qualifying Round Replay
Mangotsfield United 1-1 Truro City (The Mangos won on pens 4-3
Att: 529
4th Qualifying Round
Mangotsfield United 1-2 Forest Green Rovers
Att: 946
1st Round Proper
Forest Green Rovers 1-1 Mansfield Town
Att: 1,149
1st Round Replay
Mansfield Town 0-2 Forest Green Rovers
Att: 2,496
2nd Round
Bath City 1-2 Forest Green Rovers
Att: 3,325
3rd Round
Notts County 2-1 Forest Green Rovers
Att: 4,389
4th Round
Notts County 2-2 Wigan Athletic
Att: 9,073
4th Round Replay
Wigan Athletic 0-2 Notts County
Att: 5,519
5th Round
Fulham 4-0 Notts County
Att: 16,132
6th Round
Fulham 0-0 Tottenham
Att: 24,533
6th Round Replay
Tottenham 3-1 Fulham
Att: 35,432
Semi-Final (at Wembley)
Portsmouth 2-0 Tottenham (aet)
Att: 84,602
Final (at Wembley)
Portsmouth 0-1 Chelsea
Att: 88,335

Week 40 review

Simples really. Portsmouth despite putting up a brave battle finally succumbed to a Drogba goal in the FA Cup Final at Wembley. Minus points for any manager that had Kevin-Prince Boateng in their side for missing the penalty.

Announcement

Nobby & Ready would like to send our congratulations to Barry and Lorraine Plummer on the birth of their little girl Sienna Louise, who was born a couple of weeks ago.

Barry tells this story of the classic nightmare phone call being stuck downstairs in a boozer in the city when the phone goes:

"It was quite a close run thing to a home delivery as when I phoned for the ambulance he was giving me all the blurb.........make sure she's lying down flat, get some cushions, wet towels etc....!!!!

Lorraine went into labour about 1130 and phoned me, I then got on the 1148 train and made it home for 1220, I took one look at Lorraine and said we need an ambulance. The ambulance arrived at 1300 and we got to the birthing centre at the hospital at 1320 and I watched my lovely daughter arrive into the world at 1400 in the birthing pool. The midwife even let me cut the cord."

She weighed in at 8 pound and 8 ounces and height is 56cm. Shame she likely be Palace!

End of season drinks date confirmed

The end of season London drinks and prize giving will be held in or outside the New Moon in Leadenhall Market from 5pm on Thursday 27th May.

I hope everyone can make it. Bring anyone else that I have not seen for a while. Keith and I will see you then.

Photograph of the week

Cup winners to go with the Premier League title. The double for Chelsea for the first time in their history. And a fine game it was too by all accounts.

Read and weep

Breaking news8888888The N&R Champions League Week 39
One week to go and a new leader. Ready's Hannoi Utd (fix! fix!) take the top spot for the first time this season surging past the unfortunate Glasgow Kiss, who had a stinker of the week. Kirsty drops to 4th. Frank & Beans move to 2nd but are 22 points behind Ready with just one week, and remember just one game remaining.

In 3rd are Guinness & eggs and Lee's Tanus Terriers, who were earlier season pace-setters jump a host of teams to claim 5th and in touching distance of Kirsty.

In 6th is last season's champion Neil and Gooner win league with Paris Eagles big climbers to 7th. Once a title contender, Mark's Vodka Hooligan are 8th with Old Bodeanians and Loads of Roubles behind them and both Al and John can tell the same dreamy title hopes story.

Our man from Mexico Boys on tour are 11th and N&R Cup finalist Morgan's Machines 12th. Behind them only probably Lamb to the slaughter and Aston Globetrotters have a chance of breaking into the prize money pot.

In penultimate prize pot, two teams FFC 4 Ever and Arsene Knows share the potential booty.

Mark One?

Breaking news8888888The N&R Europa League Week 39
After a superb week 39 Mark's Toothless Hogget's stride towards the Europa Cup title. Mark is 55 points clear of 2nd place Soozie-Sooz Sizzlers, who in turn is 9 points ahead of 3rd St George's Rovers. In the last prized place is Factastic Fancies, furiously we are sure looking over her shoulder at Megan and Hannah's Teddy Bears, The No Hopers and 2 Infinity & Beyond who are close behind her.

The penultimate prize of basically 2nd worse in the league still belongs to Killer Kilpo.

Honesty does pay!

Breaking news8888888Week 39 scores
Honest Dewbs deservedly won the week 39 MoW. Mark's Toothless Hogget's 'won' an earlier week's prize but Mark spoke up that we had calculated his score wrong and thus the MoW was taken away from him. Honest as a broker - that well known expression - comes to mind!

Mark scored 64, 6 more than a host of teams each on 58. They were Neville's Not a chance, Barry's Paris Eagles, Alex's Lovejoy Luvvies and title challengers Tanus Terriers.

Davor's W Wallace Boys a bit late in the day are putting some better form together and they got 54. Significantly on 52 was Keith's Hannoi Utd, joined by Gunner Bag it. Francey's Keep the faith scored 51 with Soozie-Sooz Sizzlers on a half century.

Other scores of note were Guinness & eggs 47, Old Bodeanians 42, St George's Rovers 41, Vodka Hooligan 33, Frank & Beans 32 and Glasgow Kiss with a miserable and perhaps season defining 19.

The week's low was Goliath's Big Brother with 7 points.

N&R Cup Final Result

N&R Cup Final Result
Keith Read 52-34 Scott Morgan

Ready kept his triple hopes alive with a convincing N&R Cup Final win over Scott Morgan. Keith is flying high in the N&R FL title race and him and Sav have dreams of a Team Challenge win too.

Congratulations Ready, the first 2009/10 silverware will have your name on it.

Week 39 review

Wednesday May 5th
Stoke won at Fulham 1-0 with Matthew Etherington with the goal. I hope he a bet on the first goalscorer!

Then in the biggie Spurs fully deserved their 1-0 victory at Eastlands. Peter Crouch with the late all important winner that meant Spurs finished 4th.

Last day of the season
Chelsea won the title in the best way possible by absolutely stuffing Wigan 8-0.
Lampard took the first from the spot, Kalou, A Cole, two from Anelka and a hat-trick from golden booter Drogba. Man U beat Stoke 4-0 but it didn't matter.

Wolves ended their season well with a 2-1 home win over Sunderland. In what was in the end a meaningless game West Ham and Man City drew 1-1 at Upton Park, relegated Hull drew 0-0 at home to Liverpool, who just avoided relegation.

Commentators nightmare Bilyaletdinov got the 94th minute winner for Everton over Pompey. Spurs' players were all carrying hangovers as they got well beat at Burnley, who depart back to whence they came. I blame Owen Coyle.

Bolton beat Birmingham, Blackburn won away for a change at Villa Park and Arsenal stuffed Europa Cup bound Fulham 4-0. Arshavin, Van Persie, Baird (o.g.) and Vela scored.

Photograph of the week

Personally I think it's a bit silly to celebrate 4th place. I mean you didn't see the Greens going crazy now did you? Anyhow I am pleased for Ready and all you other Spurs fans and they certainly deserved it after a brave attacking display rightfully earnt them the 3 points against a dull and boring Man City. It was that man Peter Crouch who got the winner 9 minutes from time.

N&R Cup Semi-Final Results

The N&R Cup was played in week 38, here are the results.

N&R Cup Semi-Final Results:
Keith Read 27-11 Alex Boswell
Soozie Syrett 24-35 Scott Morgan

The two favourites won through to contest the final, which will be the final Premier League programme, week 39. Ready saw off outsider Alex Boswell's challenge whilst in a closer match Soozie fell to Scott 35-24.

Congratulations to both Scott and Keith, who has the chance to emulate Neil Reynolds and do the N&R FL double.

5 points between top 3

Breaking news8888888The N&R Champions League Week 38
With 2 weeks left it couldn't be any closer. Sky Sports and Andy Gray would be wetting themselves.

The top 3:
1. Glasgow Kiss 1,419
2. Hannoi Utd 1,416
3. Frank & Beans 1,414

5 points between three teams with just the last round of matches plus what could be the all important FA Cup Final.

In 4th and only 19 points behind 3rd is Guinness & eggs. 5th remains Vodka Hooligan with the next 6 teams all within 18 points. A lot could happen.

Boys on tour were the big mover in week 38, up four places and outside the top 12 In Tatters, Lamb to the Slaughter and Mexican Banana Split all remain in contention for prize money.

The penultimate spot is now tied between Student Ninjas and Arsene Knows.

Dewbs shows some bite

Breaking news8888888The N&R Europa League Week 38
A very fine week for Dewbs' Toothless Hogget's meant they stretch their legs at the top of the N&R Europa League to 41 points and look on course to take the 1st prize money. Now joint second are St George's Rovers and Soozie-Sooz Sizzlers on 1,246 but just 4 points ahead of Factastic Fancies.

Behind the top 4 and definitely still in with a good shout are Megan and Hannah's Teddy Bears and the No Hopers.

Savlyuchenko Spurs, 2 Infinity & Beyond and Goonersmoan are each running out of weeks.

In the penultimate place remain Killer Kilpo.

White Riot

Breaking news8888888Week 38 scores
In week 38 it was Neville's Not a chance that won the weekly fiver with a cheeky score of 40. Morgan's Machines came in a few furlongs behind in 2nd with 35. Boys on tour and Nancy Lollygaggers both scored 34 and W Wallace Boys improved to 33.

Other scores of real prize-winning importance were The Toothless Hogget 30, Hannoi Utd 27, Guinness & eggs 27, Gooner win league 25, Soozie-Sooz Sizzlers 24, Frank & Beans 22, St George's Rovers 18, Factastic Fancies 16, Vodka Hooligan 16, Glasgow kiss 14 and Brighton Blues incredibly not last with 12. Lee's That's not you finished the round with the lowest weekly score of 7.

End of season drinks

I think I may have confused some people before when I mentioned the wrong dates for this. The London end of season drinks and prize giving evening will be either on Thursday May 27th or Friday May 28th. Venue to be advised.

ESPN go big on World Cup

I was reading an interview with my old Kent neighbour Shaun Bartlett the other day and saw that he is doing some well received television work in South Africa. He is also slated to be one of ESPN's World Cup reporters in South Africa this summer alongside Robbie Mustoe.

ESPN and sister network company ABC will have 300 people working in South Africa this summer, more than the BBC. I remember when I first lived in Chicago and the best football coverage was on the mostly Spanish language channel and now defunct Fox Sports World. How the beautiful game has infected the Americans. Next you'll know, a sleepy Chicago based global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage will spend $100m to sponsor Manchester United!

Anyway in 2002 ESPN commentated on half of the World Cup games from a studio in Connecticut, this time they are shipping over a live set and will be at every game as well as the opening ceremony. That's 250 hours of couch potato beer supping football magic.

Not convinced that the growing soccer followers will be happy just to watch the games live, ESPN have also hired some proper commentators. Believe me the last bloke, an actual baseball reporter called Dave O'Brien, was shocking. So what have ESPN's owners Disney done? Well they have opened up their dollar bank accounts to Martin Tyler, Ian Darke and Adrian Healey. I wonder if they will offer subtitles like they do on most British television programmes that get shown on American telly?

Scottish ex-pat Derek Rae will join Tyler, Darke and Healey on the box which fortunately means Tommy Smyth, who I can't abide joins JP Dellacamera on the radio.

In South Africa ESPN have also hired the services of various ex-players including Bartlett, who spent a couple of seasons in the MLS before he found his way to Charlton via Switzerland and Robbie Mustoe who played around 400 games for Middlesbrough and had one season (2002/03) with the Addicks after being signed by Curbs on a free. Ruud Gullit, the sagacious Efan Ekoku, Steve McManaman, John Harkes and the instantly recognisable Alexi Lalas will join them. More surprising is Wigan manager Roberto Martinez who will also provide expert analysis.

Not a bad line up and more than comparable to the BBC team which adds Emmanuel Adebayor, Jurgen Klinnsmann (they'll appeal to Arsenal fans!), Gordon Strachan and Clarence Seedorf to Lineker, Shearer, Hanson and Lawrenson. The smug Colin Murray will also play a big role unfortunately.

ITV as far as I can make out have yet to announce their World Cup team to support big new signing Adrian Chiles.

Election Day

Vote early and vote often as they say in Chicago.

Like all ex-pats the UK Election Day will be viewed by me through a window and although I have found the whole campaign engrossing, although thank heavens it is only a month and not a couple of years like the American election, most of the issues don't directly affect me as I live abroad.

However it is still the place I call home, my son is educated there and we do have property in London, so therefore I naturally get drawn towards different themes than I'm sure I would if was still living and working there.

I watched a couple of the debates and have followed the campaigns avidly. As an original Lib-Dem cheerleader (SDP before that) I too was swept up with Clegg-mania but you can drive a bus through their manifesto and I'm not convinced Clegg is just David Cameron with a different colour tie.

The thought of a hung parliament both excites and scares me, but living overseas opens your eyes to how other people view us and our government and with a critical few years laying ahead, what is really needed is strong leadership and not an egoistical committee.

I have lived most of my life under Labour rule, but Gordon Brown's bigot gaffe last week surely proved to even the staunchest of followers that they are completely disconnected from the majority of people in the country. Actually ditto the majority of all MP's.

For shits and giggles I had a go at the Who should I vote for Questionnaire and astonishingly I came out Labour, in fact it wasn't even close with the Lib Dems trailing behind in a distant second!

Anyway I was unable to vote even though I tried to. I registered as an overseas voter but put the wrong address on the form of where I thought I was last registered. Then I couldn't remember the address of where I probably was registered, I think it was Paddock Wood but the house number and postcode escaped me. So I ran out of time and interest and will watch the events unfold on the BBC tonight when I get home as a fascinated neutral.

What happens next?

Pretty straight forward. We have three weeks of the season left:

Week 38 - the weekend's game just gone. Results out later this week.
Week 39 - the Premier League's final round of games
Week 40 - the FA Cup where fantasy points are still available.

N&R Cup - Semi-Finals took place over week 38 and the Final will be over week 39. A polished and engraved trophy for the winner.

Benfleet Bet - Predict the FA Cup Final Score. I will send out an email soon. This is the top 5 and it is wide open:
1= Barry Paull 83
1= Ben Guarino 83
3. Mark Dewberry 82
4. Simon Ward 79
5. Barry Plummer 77

Best weekly score - currently Sarah Sheron leads this with 101 points.
Worst weekly score - currently led, if that is the right word, by Alex Boswell with 1 point.
Team Challenge - this most sought after trophy was last led by Bluefin.... but it could have changed!

Bermuda Triangle

As I have long suspected the MRI scan I had last week has shown the ACL to be torn in my right knee. The most frustrating thing is that I'd wish I had found out in January when I did it playing football. The ruddy doctor here said all I needed was some anti-inflammatory tablets and to raise my leg up and down every night when I was watching television!

Fortunately I finally found a specialist physio, who has helped me strengthen the medial and lateral ligaments but something inside wasn't right as my body busily tried to counteract the injury.

As one of my mates said to me, that does make me sound very sporty and an option is to do nothing and change my sporting activities to fishing and snooker but I want to get it repaired, the question is just when I do it and by whom.

We are off on holiday to Mexico next Sunday, and then I plan to be back in London at the end of May. Work is frantically busy through to July 1st and then we move house in July, so little time to get the op done before then and in August my son comes to visit. Perhaps I'll just get Dr Ready to lob it off when I hopefully see all you guys (the London based ones anyway) in a few weeks. I know from past experiences that London Pride is a very good anesthetic!

Week 38 review

Saturday May 1st
In the big games for 4th place Tottenham's Huddlestone scored from long range to beat Bolton and keep them in pole position. City beat Villa 3-1, despite going a goal down. Tevez, Adebayor and Bellamy scored.

Birmingham beat Burnley 2-1 and remain on course for their best finish in 51 years. Burnley meanwhile have have managed only two league wins since 31 October. Pompey beat safe Wolves 3-1, if it wasn't for the 10 point reduction Avram Grant's team would be above both Burnley and Hull. Stoke and Everton drew 0-0.

Sunday May 2nd
Chelsea moved a step closer to the title beating a woeful Liverpool 2-0. Gerrard frankly should get minus fantasy points for his backpass that gifted Drogba the first goal. Lampard got the 2nd. United did beat Sunderland thanks to a Nani finish to take the title race to the last day.

Fulham beat West Ham 3-2 in an entertaining London derby. It was Fulham's first home league win over West Ham in 44 years with victory.

Monday May 3rd
Hull's relegation was confirmed as they failed to beat Wigan 22-0. They drew 2-2 instead. Arsenal could still lose out on 3rd after being beaten by Blackburn 2-1 at Ewood.

Photograph of the week #1

Conspiracy theorists were nodding their heads knowingly when Steven Gerrard played a Sunday park football back pass into the path of Didier Drogba for Chelsea’s opening goal. Liverpool went on to lose 2-0 and now Chelsea just need to beat Wigan at home on Sunday to claim the Premier League title.

Photograph of the week #2

Ex-Charlton player Darren Ambrose scores the all important 2nd goal for Palace keeping them up and putting Sheffield Wednesday down on Sunday. Whether Ambrose will still be at Palace come August, whether anyone will still be there is uncertain. Manager Paul Hart has already left the club. After the game as Palace fans spilled on to pitch, it got a bit nasty with Wednesday fans lashing out at Palace players.

N&R Cup Semi-Final draw

Ok, I have given the balls a good shake and now I have them laid out before me on the carpet....

N&R Cup Semi-Final Draw:
Keith Read v Alex Boswell
Soozie Syrett v Scott Morgan

Ties to be played this week, 38.

Odds:
Ready 5/2
Scott 7/2
Soozie 4/1
Alex 5/1

Good luck all.

N&R Cup Quarter Finals

We mustn't forget about the mighty N&R Cup. In week 37 first of all we had the little matter of a replay to take care off, this is what happened:

N&R Cup 3rd Round Replay Result:
Michael Stout 28-30 Richard Nathan

So after another close encounter it was Richard who continued on to contest the Quarter Final against Alex Boswell, and the results were:

N&R Cup Quarter Final Results:
Keith Read 38-34 Stuart Kilpatrick
Soozie Syrett 65-58 Ben Guarino
Barry Paull 46-68 Scott Morgan
Alex Boswell 54-30 Richard Nathan

And Richard duly lost to Alex Boswell, who makes it into the semi-finals of the N&R Cup, which is wide open. Ready, who would assume the role of favourite now beat Kilpo, but only by 4 points. Soozie defeated Ben in another ding dong battle and Scott Morgan joins them after claiming victory over Barry Paull.

Semi-finalists:
Keith Read
Soozie Syrett
Scott Morgan
Alex Boswell

The draw takes place in a minute!