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.

Sorry the News is late but, like those players not involved in the international break, I thought I’d give myself some time off too! Admittedly the attraction of time spent in the city’s hottest night clubs was tempered by the reality of ‘Let’s Dance’ at the Dome, and Pinocchio’s wasn’t exactly Michelin star cuisine, but it was a break, nevertheless!

There were only eight matches in Week 31 because of the League Cup Final, which meant managers were scrambling around for the best possible transfers to replace those engaged in the final or sidelined because their match was postponed.

Inevitably, some managers scrambled better than others. Opting for Bruno Fernandes proved to be the best bet (as Mick and Jon discovered), although the four managers who re-introduced the previously discarded Haaland were at least rewarded with a goal. Two of those were Karen and Brian who have very quickly settled into a more relaxed way of Welsh life which, I am sure, will allow them more time to devote to their team's management! The fact that they were the week's two highest scorers is surely a sign of things to come!

The table itself reflected three individual tussles. Mick gained the better of Sandra to go second behind Joe. Karen overtook Ken to move into fifth, while Chris moved above Michelle in eighth. 

FA CUP UPDATE

There are no PL games again next week as the FA Cup Quarter Finals take place on the weekend of 29/30 March. The transfer window, which is now open, will close at 10:30 next Saturday ahead of the Fulham v Crystal Palace tie.

What a blissfully normal week! Just ten matches to get one's head around, untrammelled by the distraction of FA Cup ties, additional midweek games or postponements because of the League Cup Final. Make the most of it, it won't last! 

And, everything else is normal. Joe (it's hard not to refer to him as champion-elect!) stretched his lead AGAIN with the week's top score AGAIN. How does he do that? Sandra (the current champion, let's not forget) remains in second with Mick continuing to breathe down her neck. Kevin, Ken, Karen and Jon follow behind in close order, although Jon lost a place in 7th. And, apart from Michelle overtaking Chris to go 8th, there were no other positional changes.

Perfectly normal!

Apologies for the delay in producing the week's table. Less of a glitch - more of a senior moment! Mea culpa.

It's less than half an hour away from the first of today's kick offs and undoubtedly eyes and ears will be focused on what needs to be done to fine tune teams for week 30's fixtures rather than reflect on last week's games. But, just for the record, Joe (it's getting boring writing this!) extended his lead, pulling even further away from Sandra in second and Mick in third. Kevin (4th) and Ken (5th) both moved up while Karen dropped to share 6th with Jon. The only other movement saw Brian (10th) and Jenni (11th) change places.

Now back to today's planning ....

So, with four more PL teams exiting the competition at the Fifth Round stage, tension mounts and excitement grows looking ahead to the Quarter Finals at the end of the month.

And, looking at the latest table, the nerves and anticipation will be no less palpable amongst fantasy managers. Michelle continues to lead with an increased advantage over Karen, but behind them the pack is bunching up. Joe has moved up to third, while Ken (up five), Jenni (up three) and Jon (didn't move) all share fourth. Kevin is only two points behind, but he has lost four places in 7th, with Sandra (8th) and Mick (9th) both going down two. Simon and Brian didn't move.

N.B. Apologies. There will be a slight delay in the preparation of Week 29's league table and commentary.

It was a relatively quiet week at the top of the table with the first three places remaining unchanged. But there is one intriguing personal battle lower down. Karen and Jon obviously have a thing because, for the third PL gameweek running, they have traded places. As the week's top scorer, Karen has moved back into 4th, knocking Jon down the two places he'd won back from her last week. Kevin sits mesmerised and surge-less in fifth, as the action takes place all around him. It's definitely a case of Ange here we go again as Ange himself, and Michelle get back to winning ways; Spurs move up as did Michelle who overtook Jenni to slip into 9th. Simon didn't do any better - making it a poor weekend all round for the Welsh contingent (and they lost the rugby!) - as he dropped to 14th, and Dan clambered to 13th.

FA CUP FIFTH ROUND UPDATE

This coming weekend sees 11 PL teams involved in seven of the Fifth Round Ties. Aston Villa kick off the round against Cardiff City at 20:00 hours on Friday 28th. The transfer window is now open, and managers have until 18:30 on Friday to complete their changes.

The excitement of the football this week isn't exactly mirrored by the look of the SITF league table. A resurgent Everton held Liverpool at bay and then picked up all the points at Crystal Palace. Brighton beat Chelsea for the second time in a week. Aston Villa had to come from behind to salvage a draw against struggling Ipswich. High-flying Nottingham Forest lost at Fulham while inconsistent Spurs took all three points against a similarly unpredictable Man U.

With results like these, fantasy points can be hard to come by, and so it would seem from the table in which eleven teams didn't move. Joe had his lead pegged back by top-scoring Sandra who moved above Mick to go back into second. Jon and Karen swapped places again, the former taking two steps back up to 4th place which he had lost in the last PL gameweek. Kevin remains sandwiched between them in 5th.