Old friends

I spent a night in the City of London last week. I flew back on a whim to see my Mum, who is recovering from a heart operation, and whizzed up to the smoke from the south-coast to have a pint or three with my partner Ready.

We put the world to rights over a couple of Nelson Madela's and were joined by sporadic N&R FL manager Stuart Kilpatrick, and the first N&R married couple Soozie and Ryan Saveall. They were off to see Robbie at the o2, Kilpo apparently was going to a black-tie event and Ready and I were not finished.

We headed into wind and drizzle and walked to Leadenhall Market where, shock, horror, we bumped into Godders standing outside a pub with a Bud in his hand.

We then moved around to a very busy Swan where I was thrilled to bump into ex N&R FL champion Jonathan Poole. He was sharing a jar with Francey and his new boss Jason Harris, who was looking very fetching in an all in one lycra number. Francey looked disappointed that his new work-wear was not pink but yellow, but dress codes can't please everyone. I have to wear long socks and shorts!!

JP, Francey and I talked at length about Charlton and Brighton and tucked away a few more pints of Peroni. Keith and I then moved around to The Moon and was amazed that Rutts wasn't in there, but we talked to a few other faces and we'll apologise now if we saw you and blanked you, or worse spoke to you because by then it was all a bit squiffy!

Announcements

Quite a lot of movers and shakers in the N&R FL. Fantasy stalwart Hilary Flynn has been promoted by AIG to UK head of commercial property. More.

Ian France started at XL last week after tending to his garden and takes up the role of Chief Underwriting Officer for International Property.

John Hardiman is leaving QBE in London to travel for a couple months making his way home to New Zealand where he will take up a position with QBE there.
Michael Stout is currently working in Munich after moving from Chicago. He is still at Allianz and is now their Head of Underwriting Coordination Developed Markets at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty. Sounds a very German job description that!

In New York City Tony Murray has been promoted to a Team leader in Aon's Property Practice Group. Well deserved too, if you ask me.

And finally Kate Chillman got married to a lucky bloke called Sutcliffe, hopefully not Peter!

Team Challenge update - Miles ahead

A rather belated first 2012/13 N&R Team Challenge round up.

The table up to week 13 is attached to the email but you will see that Miles Smith lead the way driven by fine performances to date by Sweaty and Luke. In 2nd is QBE and 3rd the rebranded AIG, obviously enjoying better form now they are shot of Francey!

In 4th place is our Lloyds friends at JRP, 5th is the Fac monster of AonBenfield with Rutts typically bringing up the rear.

6th are last year's champs RSA and in joint 7th is Aon Global and Bluefin.

9th see the boys from Tokio, 10th HDI and surprisingly in last place in Gravity.

More soon.

Leeds, Leeds, Leeds

N&R Division 1 - Week 14

We are the Darts are 14 ahead of Gooner win league with Ollympic Games in 3rd. To Elland Back have new financial backing and instantly climb to 4th. Paris Eagles lie 5th, Guinness & Eggs 6th, Magnificent Eleven 7th and Boys on tour 8th.

These 8 have been the same now since early November and the closest challengers are OJ's Red & White Army, RVP's Red Army, the freedom army of Hannoi and the rebel forces of Pure Irish.

Bingo continues to go backwards, Brox is a small climber and the Jager Squad lift themselves out of the relegation spat to be replaced with Blue Euro Champs furiously waving a Benitez Out banner.

Twists fall to Smash and Hazard

N&R Division 2 - Week 14

Two sides topped the table in week 14. Monster Smash and Moral Hazard both unseated long time leader Aniseed Twists.

Addington Bears are up to 4th with Anfield Second XI 5th. The Sloan Rangers are 6th, Jager Bombers 7th and DTF FC 8th.

Mobotinho falls to 9th, tied with stwike him centuwion vewy woughly and then From SE6 to SB04 are 11th and Kings of Leon Osman 12th.

Mark Hughes may be a @@@@ but Neil slips to 15th, and Leave Myarselona are up to 14th.

Preston Pie Muncher remain bootom with Forest Green Gingers, Morgan and Hannah's Newco, Norfolk 'n chance and Roger Melly is my hero immediately above him.

N&R Weekly predictions

Another blankety-blank. Week 13 below:

Nobby
Sunderland v WBA HOME No
Man U v QPR HOME Yes
Southampton v Newcastle HOME Yes
Stake £2
Potential Winnings £13.80
Balance £-26

Ready
Everton v Norwich HOME No
Man U v QPR HOME Yes
Tottenham v West Ham HOME Yes
Stake: £2
Potential Winnings £5.31
Balance £-9.12

Photograph of the week

As the Premier League sack race got into full swing Mark Hughes' sacking will be met with quite a lot of mirth among the N&R FL managers judging by some of the team names. Hughes was sacked Friday night and replaced the next morning by 'Arry Redknapp.

North London babies

The one on the right is Ready.

Neil down with a fiver

Week 14 - MoW
Neil Reynolds sauntered to the week 14 MoW fiver with 64 points. Rob Munden and Soozie Saveall were just a point behind with 63. Then Andi and Geoff McCormack both notched 61. Graham Ward scored 60 and Godders and Sav rolled in a 59.

Other notables were Hills 56, Andy Shepherd 53, Rutts 49, Paul Keaveney 44, Paul Long 40, Paul Hodges 38, Muddy 33, Alex Boswell 24 and week 14's bottom feeder James Down with 13.

In the media

"This blog post is going to use several words that may offend people. That is, sort of, the point. Some will be a*******ed out, some not, according to house style; that will, in turn, annoy other people. Don't read on if you think you may be one of those people."

The Telegraph's Tom Chivers investigates our industrial language. 

For the whole article click here:

League Cup 4th Round Draw

The draw for the 4th Round of the League Cup's was drawn the other night on my kitchen table and is as follows:

Div 1 League Cup 4th Rd Draw

2Infinity & beyond v Bingo FC
Too Big to Fail v Brox Banditos
Ollympic Games v RVP's Red Army
We are the Darts v The Jager Squad

Graham Ward has a tough tie away at to Geoff, who is the league leader. Plums meets Wardy. Alastair entertains Chris Wright and Godders travels to Sav's, where no doubt Soozie will have the dinner on!
Ties to be played over week 15.

Div 2 League Cup 4th Rd Draw
Monster Smash v Kiwislop
Bardzo lubię nie musieć nic v Addington Bears
Dan's Dribblers v Moral Hazard
Leave Myarsealona v Mobotinho

Aaron provides a tough host for Kiwi John Hardiman, Mark has a difficult tie but does have home advantage over Neil Addington, Ben G plays away at Dan's and Andi and Razor meet in the last tie.

Ties to be played over week 15.

Good luck to all of you.

Photograph of the week

So you can racially abuse someone and stay team captain and hero, but if you win the FA Cup and Champions League for the first time in the club's hsitory, you can't stay manager!! The world according to Roman!

Week 14 overview

Week 14 and Robbie Di Matteo managed his last Chelsea league game. The team that also thought he was rubbish put his p45 in an envelope and Juventus sealed it.

What else? Liverpool finally showed what they can do, although rumours persist that Suarez will leave in January. City stuffed a poor Villa side. What really is the point of teams like Aston Villa in the EPL? People talk about the top teams breaking away and forming a new league, well how about those middling ones that clog up the end of Match of the Day all pissing off and playing mid-table teams from other countries?

Man U lost as well at the resurgent Norwich and Mark Hughes got another vote of confidence.

Week 14 was as follows:

Mon 19 Nov 2012

West Ham 1 - 1 Stoke
Fulham 1 - 3 Sunderland

Sat 17 Nov 2012
Arsenal 5 - 2 Tottenham
Liverpool 3 - 0 Wigan
Man City 5 - 0 Aston Villa
Newcastle 1 - 2 Swansea
QPR 1 - 3 Southampton
Reading 2 - 1 Everton
West Brom 2 - 1 Chelsea
Norwich 1 - 0 Man Utd

Photograph of the week

Former England captain David Beckham is leaving Los Angeles Galaxy next month after six years at the American Major League Soccer (MLS) club.

He intends to quit after the season-ending MLS Cup final on 1st December.

In a statement Beckham, 37, said: "I wanted to experience one last challenge before the end of my playing career."

Paris, Russia, Australia, China and Brazil are all rumoured destinations for Golden Balls.

In the media

Grant Wahl is a must read when it comes to American football soccer. His views on David Beckham's effect on the game in the USA are an interesting read.

"Between now and the MLS Cup final, you'll hear a lot of eulogies about Beckham's MLS career and his impact on the U.S. league. In many ways, Beckham's most important moment Stateside came in January 2007 when he surprised the world by deciding to sign with the Galaxy."

Read full Sports Illustrated article here.

Neil x2

Week 13 - MoW

Another MoW for Neil Addington. Two in a row for Neil as he hit a 48 in week 13. Hills was nxt with a stirring 42, Paul Hodges whacked 41 and Kirstie 39.

Ken Cobbett knocked a neat 37 as did Sarah Sheron and 35 was the score of choice for Bix, Bingo, Oakers and Chillers.

Random scores were Mitesh 34, Francey 30, Sweaty 28, Lee Horne 28, Steve Black 25, Chris Wright 24, Huw 18 and last but not least current champion Woody with 13, probably fair to say his lowest score in two seasons!

N&R weekly predictions

Another dud week in our predictions.

Week 12 were as follows:

Nobby

Man C v Aston V HOME Yes
WBA v Chelsea DRAW No
Arsenal v Tottenham DRAW No
Stake £2
Potential Winnings £25.81
Balance £-24

Ready

Man C v Aston V HOME Yes

Norwich v Man U AWAY No
QPR v Southampton DRAW No
Stake: £2

Potential Winnings £11.29
Balance £-7.12

League Cup 3rd Rd Replay

Just one point separated Barry and Greg in the Div 1 League Cup 3rd Rd Replay with Barry squeezing through 21-20 to the 4th Rd.

Div 1 League Cup 3rd Rd Draw

2Infinity beyond 21-20 Boys on tour

Double Top for Geoff

N&R Division 1 - Week 13
Another week at the top for We are the Darts, 14 pts ahead of Gooner win league with Paris Eagles in 3rd.

Guinness & eggs are 4th still with Ollympic Games moving up a place to 5th. Magnificent Eleven are 6th, Boys on tour 7th and To Elland Back in 8th.

Hannoi Utd move up to 11th, RVP's Red Army fall to 15th and Glasgow kiss jump to 16th.

The bottom 12 are the same although Jager Squad had a good week and moved up 4 places. The No Hopers are adrift at the bottom by 31 points. Not looking good for a Münchener.

Twist again

N&R Division 2 - Week 13
Aniseed twists remain top of the tree with two managers tied in Jason's rear view mirror. Monster Smash and Addington Bears 12 points behind.

Just behind those three are Moral Hazard with Anfield Second XI up to 5th. The Sloan Rangers are 6th with Mobotinho and Jager Bombers tied in 7th.

DTF FC, Kings of Leon Osman, Mark Hughes is @@@@ and stwike him centuwion vewy woughly make up the rest of the promotion picture.

Bardzo lubię nie musieć nic drop out of the top 12, Socceroos were a big faller to 20th. Leave Myarsealona was a big climber.

Preston Pie Muncher remain bottom.

Week 13 overview

West Ham continued their journey to places such as Albania and Ukraine next June for the Preliminary Round of the Europa Cup. Mark Hughes got another vote of confidence, Roberto Mancini turned down another 6 jobs and this week no one got reported for racism!

Here you go, week 12:

Sun 11 Nov 2012

Man City 2 - 1 Tottenham
Newcastle 0 - 1 West Ham
Chelsea 1 - 1 Liverpool

Sat 10 Nov 2012
Arsenal 3 - 3 Fulham
Everton 2 - 1 Sunderland
Reading 0 - 0 Norwich
Southampton 1 - 1 Swansea
Stoke 1 - 0 QPR
Wigan 1 - 2 West Brom
Aston Villa 2 - 3 Man Utd

Unbearable

Week 12 - MoW
Neil Addington was the winner of the week 12 MoW. Neil hit a half of century of points with Geoff McCormack, Sav and DTF FC all close behind with 47.

Ken Cobbett threw a 43, Godders rifled a quick 39 and Luke Sloan slam dunked a 37. Aaron netted a 36 and Jason Syrett and Ben pocketed 35 each.

Other notables for no other reason than I have mentioned them recently were Henry Williams with a 32, Andi Turner 29, Huw and Kirstie both stuck on 27, Rosie worbled a 24, Chris Minchell snaked a 22, Mark Sterry plumped for a 19 and Tim Harris an 18.

The worst weekly score was owned by Michael Stout, with 10.

Photograph of the week

Brilliant, isn't he?

Addington Bear not lost in 4th

N&R Division 2 - Week 12

Aniseed Twists are still top with Moral Hazard 2nd and Monster Smash 3rd.

Addington Bears are a big climber to 4th, Sloan Rangers are 5th with Mobotinho and Anfield Second XI tied for 6th.

Jager Bombers slip to 8th with Mark Hughes is @@@@, DTF FC, stwike him centuwion vewy woughly, Kings of Leon Osman and Bardzo lubię nie musieć nic all sit in the promotion waiting room.

Hammer Nation drop to 14th and Archdukes of Hazard are now at 21st! Kiwislop was a good gainer and Back in Business passed him the other way.

Preston Pie Muncher are still bottom but they closed the gap on Forest Green Gingers in week 12 to 7 points.

Week 12 overview

In the over-hyped once important game between United and Arsenal, Man U won in horse parlance by about 6 furlongs. Mark Hughes got another vote of confidence, Carlos Tevez salutes the Hammers fans as they hold Man City and Wigan have Spurs fans finally thinking to themselves that they won't win the Premier League this season!

Week 12:

Monday 5th November 2012
West Brom 2-0 Southampton

Sunday 4th November 2012
Liverpool 1-1 Newcastle
QPR 1-1 Reading

Saturday 3rd November 2012 West Ham 0-0 Man City
Fulham 2-2 Everton
Norwich 1-0 Stoke
Sunderland 0-1 Aston Villa
Swansea 1-1 Chelsea
Tottenham 0-1 Wigan
Man Utd 2-1 Arsenal

Geoff Darts into 1st

N&R Division 1 - Week 12

We are the Darts take top spot for the 2nd time this season, the last time was 10 weeks ago. Geoff has opened up a 22 point advantage over Gooner win league with previous leader Paris Eagles 3rd.

Guinness & eggs drop to 4th, Boys on tour 5th, Ollympic Games 6th, To Elland Back 7th and The Magnificent Eleven steal a march on their rivals and are up to 8th. 24 points spearates 8th from 2nd.

Just out of the frame are Bingo, out of the top 8 for the first time this season. RVP's Red Army are up to 10th and Loads of Roubles are 11th.

Hannoi Utd slip a place to 14th and Brighton Blues climb to 20th.

The bottom 12 are unchanged.

League Cup 3rd Round Results

These are the results from Week 12's Div 1 and 2 League Cup 3rd round.
Div 1 League Cup 3rd Rd Draw
John Terry Loves a choc ice 23-25 Too Big to Fail
The Billion and a Half Dollar Man 22-39 RVP's Red Army
Boys on tour 27- 27 2Infinity beyond
To be replayed in week 14
Guinness & eggs 21-22 Bingo FC
Ollympic Games 47-28 Back in the Big time
We are the Darts 47-23 I hate Mark Hughes
Brox Banditos 25-22 Paris Eagles
Blue Euro Champs 16-18 The Jager Squad

Simon Ward pulled off a great win at Steve Black to progress to the next round. He will be joined by Alastair who squeezed by Rich Richards, Godders who won away at Dewbs, Sav who brushed aside colleague Neil and Geoff who confidently beat Steve M.

Chris Wright had a big win over Barry Paull and in low scoring game the 2nd Ward, Graham, made it through overcoming Brett.

The tie between Plums and Greg will be replayed in week 14.
Div 2 League Cup 3rd Draw
Kiwislop 31-16 Chillers Champions
The Archdukes of Hazard 18-35 Moral Hazard
Stiffsters 16-24 Dan's Dribblers
Monster Smash 36-18 Preston Pie Muncher
Jager Bombers 20-28 Bardzo lubię nie musieć nic
Mobotinho 15-14 Back in Business
Leave Myarsealona 29-26 Kings of Leon Osman
Addington Bears 50-30 Muddy Mavericks

As expected Aaron Barden saw off the threat of our resident Pie Muncher, Mark S' Polish troops won at Mitesh's, Razor beat Wenners in a low scoring tie and Muddy came up against an in form Neil Addington.

Also through to the 4th Round was Andi who beat Sarah in a close finish, Dan who beat James, our soon to be back in NZ man John, who comfortably beat Chillers and Ben who beat James Down in the 'Hazardous derby.'

4th Round draw soon.

N&R weekly predictions

Almost, but not quite. Both teams still in trouble with the bank manager, although in real life Nobby backed Man U instead of Arsenal and did win a few quid.

Nobby

Arsenal v Fulham HOME No

Everton v Sunderland HOME Yes
Stoke v QPR HOME Yes

Stake £2

Potential Winnings £8.25

Balance £-22

Ready
Aston V v Man U AWAY Yes

Newcastle v West Ham HOME No

Stoke v QPR HOME Yes

Stake £2

Potential Winnings £10.17

Balance £-5.12

Photograph of the week

England captain Steven Gerrard becomes only the sixth Englishman to win 100 caps for his country tonight after Billy Wright. Bobby Charlton. Bobby Moore. Peter Shilton. David Beckham.

To mark the occasion Gerrard went back to his primary school Huyton-with-Roby Church of England Primary School recreating the iconic image of Bobby Moore in 1973, surrounded by 99 children, each wearing one of his international caps. Moore went to the Westbury Primary School in Barking.

Oi Oi Saveloy!

N&R Division 1 - Week 11

Paris Eagles are still top of the perch but only 2 points ahead of We are the Darts. Guinness & eggs and Gooner win League make up the top 4, which is separated by just 6 points.

Boys on tour are 5th with To Elland Back, Bingo and Ollympic Games in 6th, 7th and 8th.

This is the first appearance this season in the top 8 for Sav, who was bottom in week 2. Hannoi Utd drop to 11th with Back in the Big Time and Loads of Roubles sandwiched between Sav and Ready.

The Magnificent Eleven moved nicely up the table as did OJ's Red & White Army as Soozie attempts to catch her in-form old man.

Too Big to Fail was a faller as was Blue Euro Champs, now in 20th, and topjust 9 weeks ago.

In the relegation srap The Jager Squad drop back into the mire, but Brighton Blues leave it. The No Hopers remain bottom with quite a gap to Keep the faith in 33rd.

Kennett stwikes it big in week 11

N&R Division 2 - Week 11

Aniseed Twists lead by 16 points from Moral Hazard, who swap places with Monster Smash. Mobotinho is a big jumper and is 4th. Anfield Second XI stay 5th with Jager Bombers up to 6th.

The Sloan Rangers are 7th and Mark Hughes is @@@@ 8th. Addington Bears, Hammer Nation and Kings of Leon Osman make up the promotion places alongside stwike him centuwion vewy woughly, who bounded into 11th up 5 places.

Nobby's From SE6 to SB04 climb to 14th - whoppee  - and Dan's Dribblers are another who is on the up, they are 18th.

The Archdukes of Hazard fall to 17th and Socceroos were another dropper. Muddy's Mavericks are up to 24th but Fulham Roadsters and Leave Myarsealona are both in reverse.

Preston Pie Muncher is still doing his very best Scottish impression in last place.

Photograph of the week

Carlos Tevez salutes the Hammers' fans before Man City's game at Upton Park this weekend.

League Cup 3rd Round Draw

Fresh out of the hat. Here you go with all games being played over this weekend, week 12:

Div 1 League Cup 3rd Rd Draw
John Terry Loves a choc ice v Too Big to Fail
The Billion and a Half Dollar Man v RVP's Red Army
Boys on tour v 2Infinity beyond
Guinness & eggs v Bingo FC
Ollympic Games v Back in the Big time
We are the Darts v I hate Mark Hughes
Brox Banditos v Paris Eagles
Blue Euro Champs v The Jager Squad

The tie between Steve and Simon looks the best on paper but Sav at home to Neil in a Bluefin derby isn't too shabby either. Ryan beat Daniel Weeks in the last round.

Div 2 League Cup 3rd Rd Draw
Kiwislop v Chillers Champions
The Archdukes of Hazard v Moral Hazard
Stiffsters v Dan's Dribblers
Monster Smash v Preston Pie Muncher
Jager Bombers v Bardzo lubię nie musieć nic
Mobotinho v Back in Business
Leave Myarsealona v Kings of Leon Osman
Addington Bears v Muddy Mavericks

We almost have a top v bottom clash in Aaron entertaining Martin, and the clash between Mitesh and Mark Simmons has all the makings.

Week 11 overview

Everyone knows that the referees like to be centre of attention but Mark Clattenberg took it to new levels at Stamford Bridge. But did he really just say: "I don't give a monkey's." No doubt we will all find out every inch of what really happened in about a years time.

Everton bored their way to a draw at home to Stevie Gerrard's Dutch 1970's lookie-likey's Liverpool and Reading and Fulham gave us the week's most entertaining game.

Here was week 11:

Sunday 28th October 2012
Chelsea 2-3 Man Utd
Newcastle 2-1 West Brom
Southampton 1-2 Tottenham
Everton 2-2 Liverpool

Saturday 27th October 2012
Man City 1-0 Swansea
Arsenal 1-0 QPR
Reading 3-3 Fulham
Stoke 0-0 Sunderland
Wigan 2-1 West Ham
Aston Villa 1-1 Norwich

Tales from front - Warsaw

Our Polish correspondent Mark Simmons was in Warsaw for the recent Poland v England game.... both nights in fact and here is his diary and some photographs including one of England's top hoolie!

Monday night - flew to Warsaw

Tuesday - The day of the match, started fine but then started to drizzle just after lunch. By early evening when I met friends in the Hard Rock Cafe it was heavy drizzle. On the way to the Stadium it was chucking it down and we all assumed the roof would be closed. On arrival at the stadium saw that the retractable roof had indeed retracted. At 21.00 an announcement was made that a decesion regarding kick off would be made at 21.45. By 21.20 with no sign of it stopping and, realising that the game would definately not be on we left and went to a bar in the city centre. There we met 5 Brits from Bristol whose flight back to UK was 14.00 on Wednesday from Krakow, and having spent £4k in total on the trip were not going to see any football. When the bar closed ar Midnight, we went to the Polonia Hotel that has an all night bar. Whilst there we met Jerzy Dudek the ex Liverpool goalkeeper who was covering the match for one of the Polish TV stations and had a couple of beers with him. At 04.00 we rolled out of the hotel and got taxis home.

Wednesday - I was a lucky ones and got up at 09.00. One of those I was with last night had a business meeting at 08.30. At 14.30 we met up again in the Hard Rock Cafe and after a couple of beers, to return the body to its previous condition, we left at 16.00 and got the tram to the Stadium. One Polish fan outside hasd a large flag with Poland / England 16-17/10/12 on it. About 1 in 10 of the Polish seats were empty but in the England end it was less than 1/3rd full. With the roof in place, the sound in the stadium was awesome, except on the 31st minute when Rooney scored but then exploded on 70 when Glik equalised. After the match we all slowly made our way down the Polish equivalent of Wembley Way only to find out there were no trams so had to walk the 2km back to town. As everyone was far to shattered by then we had a sober evening and went our own ways.

Thursday - Up at 02.00 to catch the train to airport for 06.00 flight. I have no recollection of the flight. I was asleep.

Magnificent

Week 10 - MoW

Ken Cobbett was top of the pops in week 11 with 48 points, with Paul Long in at number 2. Next in the hit parade was Ian Kennett surprising everyone with 44. At 4 was Div 2 leader Jason Syrett with 43, one more than Geoff McCormack and Ryan Saveall.

Next was pop-picker Nobby with a nose-bleed inducing 40, then spinning in with 39 was Mitesh. Next in the charts was Greg Foulger who rounded out the top 10 with 38, identical sales to Johnny Mc, Dan Duboux and Bingo!

The last artist in the top 60 was the loveable Ginger Rabbitt.

N&R Weekly Predictions

We really aren't very good at this. A complete blank in week 10:

Nobby
Man U v Arsenal AWAY No
Tottenham v Wigan HOME No
Liverpool v Newcastle HOME No

Stake £2

Potential Winnings £21.49

Balance £-20

Ready

Swansea v Chelsea v AWAY No

Tottenham v Wigan HOME No

West Ham v Man C AWAY No

Stake £2

Potential Winnings £8.84

Balance £-3.12

Road to Wembley - Met Robbed!

Metropolitan Police's FA Cup dream came to an end as they were beaten by League One Crawley Town in the 1st Round proper and thus the Creepy Crawley's become our latest Road to Wembley team.

Crawley are 104 places above the Met but the boys in blue gave it their all, without their top scorer Jonte Smith, who wasn't allowed to play by his parent club - Crawley.

Josh Simpson put Crawley ahead with a low shot from outside the area and then Billy Clarke doubled their lead from close range before ALAN TAIT diverted home against his old side to give our boys hope and Howard Newton hit the bar as they almost forced a replay.

It was a sterling fightback from the Met but Crawley held on and progressed to the 2nd Round. For the Met it was a standing ovation as they left the field and a performance that deserved more.

The Met average a home crowd of 145 but more than 10 times that were at Imber Court on Saturday.

Met Police: Jamie Butler, Jay Lovett, Billy Crook, Joe Dolan, Steve Sutherland, Matt Smart, Craig Brown, Tyron Smith, Alan Tait, Chris Bourne, Howard Newton.

Subs: Jordan Bird, Elliot Taylor, Oliver Lockyear, James Tyrell, Tim McNeil, Steffane Palmer, Billy Bennett.

Attendance: 1,485

We now support Crawley Town in the 2nd Round, who were drawn against giant killlers Chelmsford City at home.

League Cup 2nd Rd 2nd Replay

In a first for the N&R FL, we had a cup tie go to a 2nd replay and in amazingly only one point separated Luke and Dan in week 11 but it was Dan who made it through to the 3rd Rd.

Div 2 League Cup 2nd Rd, 2nd Replay Result
Dan's Dribblers 38-37 The Sloan Rangers

League Cup Replay Results

In two replayed games we had one winner and a unprecedented need for another replay! Here were the results from week 10:

Div 1 League Cup 2nd Rd Replay
John Terry loves a choc ice 35-26 Dalton Worblers

Div 2 League Cup 2nd Rd Replay
The Sloan Rangers 27-27 Dan's Dribblers

Luke and Dan will replay for the 2nd time in week 11.

In the media

Palace journo Chris Waters on why an earth Dougie Freedman would leave Selhurst for the Reebok.

"But this one feels like an unusually low blow. We expect plot twists at Palace: administration, last-day escapes from relegation, flamboyant owners and the rest. In the last couple of months, though, it actually began to feel as if things were settling down...."

Read full article here.

Letters

Preston Pie Munching IT guru Martin Singleton has blamed his time spent in Scotland as the reason for his N&R FL rubbish-ness. Anyone agree with him....

Dear Nobby and Ready


As my league position shows I have been paying scant attention to the FL this year, mainly due to the fact that I am spending half my life in Scotland, locked away with a load of IT geeks, and haven’t the time for useful things like this.

The question I wanted to put to you is that I have begun to wonder if simply being in Scotland for much of the time means that my team has somehow acquired a certain Scottishness about it i.e. losing all the time, being bottom of the group and with no chance of further progression? Perhaps Alex Salmon’s ridiculous spoutings on independence have something to do with it too? Or, it’s perhaps something more trivial like all those sessions down the Lamb have made me cr@p at picking FL teams!

At the end of the day I am sure it’s the taking part that counts and this will be of immense comfort to the Scottish football team as they fail to qualify for yet another world cup.

Best wishes to all.

Martin

N&R Weekly Predictions

Ready hit the jackpot, well £6.47 actually in week 9. Nobby, er, well the less said about him the better....

Nobby

Aston V v Norwich AWAY No

Wigan v West Ham AWAY No

Southampton v Tottenham AWAY Yes

Stake £2
Potential Winnings £44.40
Balance £-18

Ready
Arsenal v QPR HOME Yes
Man C v Swansea HOME Yes
Southampton v Tottenham AWAY Yes

Stake £2
Potential Winnings £6.47
Balance £-1.12

N&R Weekly Predictions

Week 8 saw us both get 2/3. Close but no cigar.

Nobby

Fulham v Aston V HOME Yes
Liverpool v Reading HOME Yes
Swansea v Wigan DRAW No

Stake £2
Potential Winnings £15.49
Balance £-16

Ready
Man Utd v Stoke HOME Yes

Norwich v Arsenal AWAY No
Fulham v Aston V HOME Yes

Stake £2
Potential Winnings £7.30
Balance £-7.59

Photograph of the week

Oh dear. Chelsea have formally complained to the Football Association over alleged "inappropriate language" aimed at John Mikel Obi by referee Mark Clattenburg. The Blues allege the referee used an offensive racial term in their 3-2 defeat by Manchester United on Sunday.

Week 10 overview

Back from the World Cup Qualifiers then and Chelsea and Spurs gave us the most entertaining game. Mark Hughes got another vote of confidence and Norwich upset the odds by beating Arsenal.

Sunday 21st October 2012
QPR 1-1 Everton
Sunderland 1-1 Newcastle

Saturday 20th October 2012 Norwich 1-0 Arsenal
Fulham 1-0 Aston Villa
Liverpool 1-0 Reading
Man Utd 4-2 Stoke
Swansea 2-1 Wigan
West Brom 1-2 Man City
West Ham 4-1 Southampton
Tottenham 2-4 Chelsea

Razor sharp

Week 10 - MoW
Razor Nathan powered to his first MoW of the season. The hitman scored 52 in week 10 one more than Greg Foulger. Johnny Mc had a good week as did Woody with Dewbs, Soozie, Kirsty and Tony Murray all impressing.

The week's lowest total was 16 by Rutts.

Four tops unmoved

N&R Division 1 - Week 10

Paris Eagles still fly high at the top of Div 1 after the International break with Guiness & eggs, Gooner win league and We are the Darts also unmoved in the top 4. Boys on tour surged back into 5th. To Elland Back are 6th with a three-way tie for 7th between Bingo, Hannoi Utd and Back in the Big Time.

Loads of Roubles were a good climber as was Ollympic Games. Blue Euro Champs stood out as a bit of a faller.

Glasgow kiss leave the relegation zone for the first time since week 3. 2Infinity & beyond drop into it for the first time this season and The No Hopers remain bottom.

Better news for Tony

N&R Division 2 - Week 10

Another week on top for Aniseed Twists, who are 6 ahead of Monster Smash. Moral Hazard stay 3rd and Mark Hughes is @@@@ are into 4th.

MoW Mobotinho moves into 6th and New Jersey resident Tony Murray's Hammer Nation hurdles into 10th. The Archdukes of Hazard are another big climber whilst Arsene Knows drops out of the promotion places.

"Stwike him centuwion vewy woughly" and Fulham Roadsters continue to move in the wrong direction but Back in Business and DTF FC are upwardly mobile.

Preston Pie Muncher remain bottom but Cobra gains a place with Forest Green Gingers dropping to 34th.