What is there not to like about a week in which there are sixteen matches, two of which were local derbies, plenty of goals, clean sheets and popular players picking up fantasy points in abundance? Don't ask Karen, who probably doesn't share my enthusiasm, as her Western Road Wanderers did exactly what their name suggests, rather than focusing on the task in hand, and losing a place in the process.  She was overtaken by high-scoring Jenni who leapfrogged two places to share 10th with Jon.

It is difficult to know which manager might have been most enlivened by their team's performance. Certainly Chris, with his recently, and very aptly re-named What a lovely surge! would have enjoyed his continuing upward journey into 6th with the week's highest score, albeit it meant both Michelle and Nick were both knocked back a place. 

But I suspect, the biggest smile of all was at the home of Orchard Rovers, where there are few bad apples these days, as Simon's relentless pursuit of Kevin has finally paid off, and he moved into second place. But, with three weeks of the season left, I don't think that battle is yet over. It also remains to be seen whether either of them can make any inroads into Sandra's commanding lead at the top. 

Two very different Semi Finals were effectively decided by (a) poor finishing (notably by Nicolas Jackson) and (b) a toenail that deprived Coventry of victory in an edge-of-the-seat classic. Which means the two Manchester teams meet at Wembley for the second successive season on Saturday 25th May. Another City win perhaps? 

It might yet be back-to-back wins on the pitch but, off it, and at the risk of writing him off too quickly, Mick, who currently sits mid-table, has got a lot to do to replicate his win in last year's competition. The advantage remains with Ken who further extended his lead over Jenni in second and Michelle in third.  

*** NB The latest FA Cup table following the semi finals is now correct.

The league programme saw a depleted number of games because of the cup ties and, arguably, some of those games didn't look obvious contenders for delivering fantasy points. But they were there - if you were prepared to take a gamble. Luck or astuteness? Call it what you like, but it worked for Chris who top scored with his selection of Mateta (Palace) and Bailey (Villa) and moved up a place for the third week running into 8th. Kevin opted for Palace's Eze (as did Michelle) and Bournemouth's Solanke and he was rewarded with the second-highest score that allowed him to make a slight dent into Sandra's lead. Dan shared the same score but achieved that with an unchanged team that fielded three Arsenal and two Villa players. If it ain't broke, why change it!?

With five weeks to go before the final whistle of the season is blown, a Premier League manager whose team is competing for top spot will tell you there is still all to play for. Given that there are only three points separating the top three and results aren't guaranteed to go according to plan, you can see why no-one is taking anything for granted.

Ask the current SITF leader, and she will tell you exactly the same thing - and this, despite the fact that Sandra has now carved out an even greater lead over Kevin, who may yet have his work cut out to repel the advances of Simon in third. The only positional changes occurred in the bottom half of the table where top-scoring Chris moved up again, this time into 9th, pushing Jon down to 10th. Karen also went up, back into 11th, recovering some of the ground she lost the previous week and knocking Jenni down into 12th.

This coming weekend sees a reduced number of league matches to accommodate the FA Cup Semi Finals. The transfer window for that competition is now open and will close at 16:00 on Saturday 20 April, ahead of the first tie between Man City and Chelsea. 

Wow, that was a pretty full and exciting week of fixtures. Lots of goals, some terrific games and, more importantly for fantasy managers, plenty of points from the twenty matches. Sandra's plan to stay ahead of the field worked wonders as she top-scored and again extended her lead over Kevin, who garnered the same number of points as Simon in third. Brian remains 5th, with high-scoring Michelle leapfrogging Nick to take over 6th. Chris (10th) and Jenni (11th) both moved up, whereas Karen took two steps back. The remaining teams didn't move, but special mention must go to Dan, who posted the second-highest score of the week. He didn't move from 14th, but he is now within touching distance of Mick in 13th. 

So, the last international break is now behind us and it's an uninterrupted race to the season's end on Sunday 19 May. With the exception of Chelsea who have ten, teams have either eight or nine matches left to play.  The Easter break has given extra time for injuries to heal, allowing some long-term absentees to make a welcome re-appearance. Not that you'd know it if you listen to certain PL managers, who are still complaining at the size of their injury list!

Is your team in the best of shape for these final weeks of the season?  Are the fixtures going to pan out in a way that you are able to use your transfers to best effect? While the competition at the top of the Premier League continues to grab the headlines as the three main contenders are separated by just a few points, life in fantasy land now has a strong contender for top spot.

With the week's top score, Sandra has stretched her lead over Kevin while Simon is picking up the pace in third. Ken and Brian both gained a place at Nick's expense, and Michelle moved up two places into 7th overtaking Lily and Jon en route. None of the other teams moved.

The run-in to the winning post continues tonight, the first of two sets of fixtures in Week 35. You can't take your eye off the ball at this stage of the season!  

Let's start with the FA Cup. On the pitch Coventry pulled off an upset against Wolves; Man City and Chelsea did what was expected of them, and Man United went through at the expense of Liverpool in an exhilarating contest. Lots of goals and one clean sheet means that there were a fair few fantasy points available. Top scorers were Ken, who retains the lead, Simon, who remains in fourth, together with Mick (6th) and Chris (8th), both of whom gained a place. Jenni and Michelle gained only three points fewer and stayed in second and third respectively. Brian waved goodbye to the foot of the table, moving up two places to 9th, while Sandra, Karen, Tom and Jon all went in the wrong direction.

With most of the big guns involved in the cup, fantasy managers were tested by the five league matches that took place. Transfers involving Luton and Nottingham Forest aren't generally the norm, but sometimes needs must.  Brian and Mick top-scored and, to the latter's credit, he managed to do so with eight players picking up points while others were stressing over the low number of players at their disposal. Kevin took the opportunity to get some points back on Sandra, but there was no movement in the table apart from Dan, the second-highest scorer in 14th, who again changed places with Joe for the third week in a row.

See you after the international break.

It was a week of somewhat unsurprising results on the pitch, but a mixed bag of points off it. Quite a number of the fancied players scored only their appearance points and that is reflected in the relatively low totals achieved by some teams this week. Sandra's performance bucked that trend, and her top-scoring total has seen her stretch her lead and more than double her advantage over Kevin in second place. Simon remains in third with Nick in fourth.

There were no changes to the top six, but Lily moved up another place into 7th as Jon dropped to 8th. Jenni lost the place she'd gained the previous week and returns to 12th. Joe gained the upper hand over Dan and took over 14th. The remaining teams didn't move.

Including tonight's match at Bournemouth, there are only five league games in Week 32 in view of the FA Cup Quarter Finals on Saturday and Sunday, all of which involve Premier League sides. The transfer window for cup transfers is now open and will close at 11:00 on Saturday 16 March ahead of the Wolves v Coventry tie.

A top-scoring week for Kevin helped him reduce some of the ground he had lost to Sandra last week, but the latter still retains her lead at the top. In fact, none of the top seven teams changed places. Lily overtook Michelle to move into 8th; Karen didn't move in 10th, but Jenni moved up another place to share 11th with Chris, who stayed put, as did Mick in 13th. Dan lifted himself up another place to 14th, relegating a tumbling Joe to just one rung above bottom-placed Tom.

If you're looking for the week's top scorer, it wasn't Sandra, who nevertheless managed to extend her lead over Kevin and Simon at the sharp end of the table. No, you'll need to look a lot lower before you find Dan in 15th who just edged out the leader by one point. This most unlikely of scores leaves Tom looking rather forlorn in 16th. 

Ken moved up to 5th at Brian's expense; Jon rocketed up three places to 7th and knocked both Lily (9th) and Karen (10th) backwards; a good week for Jenni saw her leapfrog Mick into 12th. The remaining teams didn't move. 

FA Cup Fifth Round

What a difference one player can make! You only have to check the table to know which managers were fortunate (or shrewd enough) to have Haarland in their cup team. Both Chris and Sandra had installed him in their teams at the start and had kept the faith despite his injury. Jenni was the only manager to add him to her teamsheet for this round and all three of them benefited from his five goals at Luton, netting 27 points in the process.

Ken still leads but with a reduced advantage from Jenni, who moved up to second, Michelle who remains in third, and Sandra who gained three places to share 4th with Simon who lost ground.

In what would appear to be a contradiction in terms, Arctic Donkeys have benefited from the slightly warmer (if still considerably damp) weather of late and spiced up Brian's season by top-scoring and promoting him three places into fifth. He jumped above Ken, who stays sixth, but knocked Lily down one to 7th and Michelle backwards by three to 8th. Also up one place apiece were Karen (9th) and Jon (10th), resulting in a drop of two places to 11th for Chris. At the bottom, the struggle for survival goes on; this week Dan has lifted himself above Tom, whose team just did not perform.

There was no other movement, which means Sandra continues to lead with a slightly extended advantage over Kevin in second followed by Simon and Nick.

FA CUP REMINDER - FA CUP REMINDER

The Fifth Round of the FA Cup takes place next week, with all but one of the ties featuring at least one Premier League side. Ten teams from the top-flight are looking to progress through to the quarter finals but three will definitely be leaving the competition at this stage.

Is your fantasy team still intact? Are you looking to transfer in one or two players who might make all the difference?  If so, remember, you have until 18:15 on Tuesday 27 February when the transfer window for this round will close.