Blow by Blow - The Title Run In

Ryan Saveall had led the Div 1 table since the week before Christmas, but unlike Santa he hung around to take his first ever N&R FL Championship Title to emulate his now wife Soozie, who lifted the title in 2005/6.

Ryan actually started out slowly, very slowly, and was bottom after week 1 and 2nd bottom week. He slowly by week 7 had pulled himself out of the relegation bear pit and started his upwardly mobile climb up the table. Week 11 saw him in 8th, and he was quickly 3rd in week 14.

By week 15 he was 4th, and then in a closely fought top 5 which then included Chris Wright, Neil Reynolds, Greg Foulger, Tim Harris and Ricky Wood, Save hit pole position and that was where he was to stay for the next 22 weeks.

Steve Black joined him in the race and was his closest competitor and Neil Reynolds also got in touching distance but Sav, with transfers in the bank, edged his way comfortably to the 17th N&R FL Title.

Sav finished 59 points ahead of Runner Up Steve Black and a big cheque and a sparkly trophy will be handed to Ryan on the Prize Giving Evening. He also brought home the Div 1 League Cup. Congratulations mate, well deserved. A++

Steve after finishing 3rd last season and 4th the year before, and 3rd the year before that now has a 2nd to his name! That run of finishes is incredible from probably the only American Barnsley supporter living in Atlanta!

Steve has shown himself to be a superb Fantasy Football manager, and if only because it would be fair, must be due the famous N&R FL title that has so far eluded him.

For the record Steve was in the promotion paint all but 6 of the 40 weeks, top in week 7, he used his transfers inspirationally but spent the last 18weeks of the season tracking Ryan. He had to fight of a challenge from Alastair Bigg and Neil Reynolds but it was another excellent season from the Tyke. There was also two MoW's and the joint top weekly scorer. A+

Alastair Bigg was a slow starter and flapped around midtable for the first 20 weeks of the campaign but he moved through the gears after New Year and was 2nd before you knew it. He then got into a 5-way title contest with Ryan, Steve, Brett Davey and Neil Reynolds but held his own well even leaving a transfer opp in his drawer. A

Alastair slipped to 4th in the closing weeks but a sparkling final week pushed him back into 3rd finishing just 2 points ahead of previous champion Brett Davey.

Brett won the title at the turn of the century but after winning promotion last season, not only was he the highest finisher, he also showed why he has a N&R Title trophy very dusty taking space on his desk.

Brett won a MoW was top at week 2 but suffered a loss of form up until around Easter when he made a surging run back into the pack. 6th in week 37, he grabbed 2nd in week 39 only to slip back to a very creditable 4th as the curtain came down on the season. A

In 5th was Neil Reynolds. Another previous N&R Champion, he won the title in 2008/9 and has been a contender every year since.

Neil was the only manager to spend the whole 40 weeks in the top 8. He hit every spot from 1 to 8, and was top in weeks 5 and 6. Mostly he was in 3rd - 15 weeks in all - but with Brett and Alastair improving towards the end Neil was clinging onto 3rd with his fingertips and then in the final week slumped to 5th - a £40 differential in the prize money.

Neil collected a MoW award and although we are sure he'll be disappointed to finish 5th, the lowest place he was in since January, it was still a good season and an improvement on 9th last time out. A

There's always a manager that arrives late on the scene and Tim Harris was fighting a relegation battle for 19 weeks up until January. Tim made some changes and in fact even stored some, and made an incredible run up the table from week 22 to hitting the top 8 in week 39!

Tim's charge helped knock a couple of managers out of the prize money and pushed Chris Wright down to 7th. Tim also rounded up 3 MoW's and his end of season form took him to the holy N&R Cup Final where in a close encounter he beat Luke Sloan to claim a glittering trophy for this desk. It was great campaign underscored by a stunning best in class second half of the season. A+

Chris Wright's se

ason will be defined by a lacklustre 2nd quarter of it. A good start, 3rd after week 3. Then a slump but back in the top 8 before Christmas. Then he played well, good changes, but mostly just keeping his head above the top 8 tidal mark before giving it a right go in the last 8 weeks.

He hit 4th in week 36 and I had him down as a good bet to give Sav a run for his title, but then despite having a couple of transfers left, he slipped up as others rallied and ended clutching to 7th.

It was a sterling campaign after juggling with relegation last season which saw him survive on 'goal difference.' He reached the Div 1 League Cup semi's and won 3 MoW's along the way. B+

The last prized place went to the well deserving John McGowan. Another who suffered a slow and then uninspiring first half of the season, but by week 23 when he won the MoW he was up into 5th. 3rd was his highest but John struggled to keep up with the pacemakers and found himself competed for a smaller prize.

He battled Soozie, Ricky Wood and Geoff McCormack and looked like he was out of it in the final 5 weeks, but a combination of good consistency with help from Geoff imploding meant he just had to contend with Soozie as Ricky also left himself a lot to do.

In the final week John made his final 2 transfers, whilst Geoff and Soozie sat on theirs and it was as simple as that as Johnny Mc hurdled 3 places to grab that final cash prize of £50. B+

Soozie Sav to be fair had an excuse as to why she took her eye of the N&R ball a few times this season. Olly Saveall - the first ever N&R FL baby - was born during pre-season and that might explain Soozie's slow start, but by the time she had Olly out doing a paper round she found time to work on her renowned N&R FL skills and moved herself

into contention.

She was always competing for a lesser prize but Sooz will be annoyed to know that she missed out on the prizes and even more annoyed to see her husband collect the title. Maybe little Olly might be better off following the Spurs and not the Gunners..... #justsaying B

Ricky Wood was the defending champion and only the Godders & Rose dream team of the mid-90's were able to win back to back titles, so it was always going to be difficult but Woody did a good job only missing out on the top 8 by 6 points.

It was a close finish with 5 or 6 teams fighting it out for the last couple of prizes but Woody was spent in the transfer market and had to rely on good fortune and he didn't get enough of it even though he sat in the top 8 for 3 of the last 5 weeks. Good effort though and he was also the first recipient of the MoW fiver. B-

The final prize challenger in that final week was Geoff McCormack and he should be the most pissed off of them all. Geoff was

in the top 8 from week 1 to week 38 but slipped back in the home straight dash and ended potless in 11th.    We must not forget that he was promoted last season in 10th, so it was a very creditable effort for the Darts boy but he will be horribly disappointed after being top for the most times other than the eventual champion and 4th as close to the end of the season as April. B