That's it! The final whistle has blown and the corpulent female's vocalisation of You'll Never Walk Alone has reached its final beat. There could only be one SITF Champion this year. From the moment he took over the lead in Week 10, he resisted all the challenges that came his way. Faced with the obstacles of living in an upside-down world and in a completely opposite time zone, Joe fully deserves our congratulations. Ken came second to match his FAC performance and Kevin third.

Top scorer of the week was Brian, but he didn't move in 9th. And, surprise, surprise, Tom's appropriately named  Dunk in Donuts finished in 15th, the position he has held resolutely for most of the season.

So, it's goodbye from me. Enjoy your Summer break. No Euros or World Cup this year, just the World Club Cup to keep FIFA's coffers overflowing. 

Now there is just the small matter of the Presentation Evening to sort out ....

Still flushed with her success in the FA Cup competition, Michelle capped a fine weekend with her league team, Ange here we go again .. (which may soon be changed to Ange you're getting sacked on Monday!), top-scoring and moving up two places to 6th. Her improvement saw Sandra and Karen both lose ground, and it puts her only one place behind Jon, who himself fell back two as a result of a resurgent Kevin, who moved up to third. Joe, who clearly felt able to rest on his laurels and had a quiet weekend, has the title sown up, while Ken has a few more points to his advantage in second.

Brian and Chris changed places, so they are back to the same positions they held last week, while Dan moved above Nick for the first time since Week 2.

So, it all comes down to the next twelve games, starting this evening. We started in August; have battled through what seems like an infinite number of international breaks, have suffered (or perhaps gained) at the hands of VAR, and - as far as I am aware - we have come through it unscathed without serious injury. Fantasy football requires commitment, focus, thinking time, decision-making and a lot of luck. It's emotionally draining so, whatever the result, let us congratulate ourselves on getting through this, our 30th season of SITF. Enjoy the last week of football - but don't take your foot off the pedal until the final whistle.

If you turn up on the day, who knows what can happen. Crystal Palace did - and they won. Michelle did - and she won. Despite losing points for Marmoush's saved penalty, Eze's goal and Munoz's assist and clean sheet saw Michelle take the prize ahead of Ken in the runners up spot. Jon and Joe didn't move. Kevin shared the top points with the winner and although it was too late to save his season, it was enough to lift him above Karen's nameless team. It wasn't a good competition for ourWelsh contingent: Jenni stayed in 7th while Simon just scraped in ahead of Brian in 11th. Just above them Sandra overtook Mick who just didn't turn up.

While all eyes might be on the top of the table, the surprise top score of the week came from Chris who moved up to 9th above Brian. Theirs was the only positional change apart from those within the top five where the fight for the minor places continues. Having been warned of the threat behind him, Kevin was unable to resist the momentum posed by Jon who moved into third. But, even worse, was the fact that Mick also moved above him in 4th, forcing Kevin down, not just one, but two places to fifth. This testosterone-fuelled wrestling match looks set to continue right to the wire which is now only two weeks away. Has Ken done enough to pull himself clear in second place? He's not counting his chickens yet!

FA CUP FINAL Saturday 17th May

I don't know about you, but I'm having real trouble getting my head around the fact that this year's showpiece final is happening before the end of the league season. But happening it is - this coming weekend!

At present, with only eleven points separating the top four teams, it would only take a Haaland hattrick to completely upset the apple cart. If two, or more, teams are level on points at the final whistle, the Super-Five Tie-Break will come into play to decide an outright winner. So, I would encourage Michelle, Jon and Joe (together with Ken) to familiarise themselves with the rules (see Rules page) and to submit their list of five additional players, in order, before kick-off. Instructions for your submissions will shortly be messaged via WhatsApp.

Well, we are into May now, which leaves us just three more weeks after this one. But an exciting three weeks at that!

Champion elect, Joe, is coasting out front but the battle for second place continues. It is presently held by the week's top scorer, Ken, with Kevin in third. But the latter may just have a crick in his neck, looking over his shoulder at Jon who is now only two points behind in fourth, having moved above Mick who has been knocked back to fifth. Apart from that one change, everyone else remained where they were.

FA CUP UPDATE

Before we reach the end of the PL season, there is the small matter of the Cup Final which takes place on Saturday 17 May between Crystal Palace and Man City. The transfer window is now open for that match and will close at kick off at 16:30. Both clubs are well represented in the four teams at the top of the leaderboard so it should be really competitive. To ensure we get an outright winner, the Super-Five Tie-Break will be in play and will involve the top four teams.

Well, that was a busy week! Premier League matches throughout the week and the two FA Cup semis at the weekend. 

For no reason whatsover, let's start with the FA Cup. I suppose you could say Palace's win over Aston Villa was unexpected rather than a shock, whereas City's defeat of Forest might have been a different result had the latter not suffered stage fright. The winners off the pitch were the joint top-scorers. Ken moved up three places to edge ahead of Michelle and lead by a solitary point, while Joe moved up one place to 4th. Jon dropped to third, but Karen was the heaviest casualty, down three to 5th. With just the final to go, only eleven points separate the top four places, and I think I can safely predict the Super-Five Tie-Break will be in operation on the 17th of May.

On the pitch, the Premier League title has been decided in Liverpool's favour and the three relegated teams have been confirmed. Off it, Joe shows no sign of capitulating with Ken in second and Kevin who has overtaken Mick to go third. The only other change saw Dan re-take 13th causing Simon to drop back to 14th. Below them Tom's season has a look of hapless Southampton about it! 

It's difficult to find new words to describe Joe's domination of this season's league table. Yet again, his team has performed for him, top-scoring and further extending his lead. One can only admire and hate the way he does it!!

It's all change behind him, though, as the race for second place has become more stretched. Both Ken (2nd) and Kevin (4th) have improved two places with the result that Mick has dropped a place to third, Jon has gone down two to 5th and Sandra went down one to 6th. Karen remains just one more point behind in 7th while Michelle stays in 8th despite being the week's second-highest scorer. The only other movement saw Simon overtake Dan to go 13th.

FA CUP REMINDER

FA Cup transfers ahead of this coming weekend's semi finals need to be completed by 15:30 on Saturday.

It was a normal day at the office for Joe as he further extended his inexorable lead at the top of the table. Mick remains in second, but both Jon and joint top-scorer Ken have pushed Sandra down into 5th place. Kevin regained part of the previous week's loss and has moved into 6th while Karen fell back two places to 7th. But, given that the gap between 2nd and 7th is now down to only nine points, it's going to be a terrific race for the runners up spot.

Michelle's Ange here we go again, which may yet prove to be prophetic (albeit at the end of the season), holds on to 8th, a position Ange himself can only dream of, while Brian has got the better of Chris who drops to 10th. Tom's Dunk in donuts (somewhat appropriate given his performance on Saturday!) actually emerged from its season-so-far-hibernation and shared the week's top score. It might not be quite enough to move him up the table, but he should at least be in four figures by next week.

FA CUP UPDATE

The FA Cup Semi Finals take place on the weekend of 26/27 April. The transfer window is now open and will close at 15:30 on Saturday 26th ahead of the Crystal Palace v Aston Villa game.

After two weeks of absence because of the international break and the FA Cup, the Premier League was back. And back with a bang - 20 matches and 47 goals, so plenty of fantasy points available. Although you might have lost some for the three red cards at Selhurst Park!

There's no doubting the stand-out points scorer - Michelle with 101, which took her back above Chris into 8th. The top mover, though, was Jon, up three places to 4th, knocking back surge-less Kevin by the same number to 7th.

They were the only teams to move. Joe's lead remains a very comfortable one, Mick and Sandra continue to battle it out for second place although Jon is now a significant danger only a few points behind.

So, in case you missed them, here is a quick run-down of the weekend's cup ties. Crystal Palace advanced to the semis on the back of a cracking game at Fulham; Preston kept a clean sheet for the first half before Villa proved too strong for them; Bournemouth gave City a scare but were subsequently undone by a couple of the visitor's subs, and the non-excitement of the other game ended (eventually!) in a penalty shoot-out favouring Forest. Aston Villa's game produced the highest points scorer in Digne (13) with Rashford only one point fewer. In case it helps for team selection in the semi-finals, goalkeepers occupied four places in the round's top ten scorers!

In fantasy land, Michelle continues to lead but her advantage is slightly reduced. Jon enjoyed the most success from the four ties, top-scoring and moving up two places to share second place with Karen. Ken is only just behind in 4th.

Kevin (6th) and Brian (10th) both improved a place; Joe (5th), Jenni (7th) and Simon (11th) went backwards; Sandra (8th) and Mick (9th) didn't move.