Champion elect Mike Dufficy brings up his 250th point on his way to a 13-point lead over the chasing pack, which is led by Dave Taylor (237 points) and Matthew White (236 points), the first predictor this season to reach the 200 correct results milestone.

Much further down the table, Tom Palmer (28th) and Michael Whitty (39th) rack up nine points, a score matched by Jill Taylor, who returns to the top 10, and Trevor Morris, who reaches a new seasonal high, 31st, after a turbulent season that has included four weeks at the foot of the table and 10 weeks in the bottom five.

Michael is the only predictor this week to record three correct scores: Bolton 0 Manchester City 0, Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1 and the ‘Prediction of the Week’-winning Blackburn 3 Wigan 1, a scoreline also selected by Sally Moon and Marion Waller, who was the only forecaster to plump for a Sunderland win at the Villa.

Gary, the other Q.P.R.-supporting Waller, has an absolute ‘mare, recording only the third zero of the season (for the record, the other two came courtesy of 0-0 specialist Norma No Mates in weeks 18 and 26). Despite highly respectable predictions like Aston Villa 2 Sunderland 1, Bolton 1 Manchester City 0 and Everton 1 West Ham 0, Gary fired a miserable blank. Better luck next week …

Premier League Results (Week 34): Aston Villa 0-1 Sunderland (0); Blackburn 3-1 Wigan (3); Bolton 0-0 Manchester City (7); Everton 1-1 West Ham (3); Middlesbrough 1-0 Derby (8); Newcastle 2-0 Fulham (5); Reading 2-1 Birmingham (7); Tottenham 2-0 Portsmouth (3); Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal (7); Manchester United 3-0 Liverpool (0).

* Figures in brackets show the number of correct predictions for each game.

Highest Score (Week 34): 9 – Trevor Morris, Tom Palmer, Jill Taylor and Michael Whitty.
Average Score (Week 34): 5.89.
Prediction of the Week (Week 34): Sally Moon, Marion Waller and Michael Whitty (Blackburn 3-1 Wigan).

Top of the Table (Week 34):

1. Jersey United (Mike Dufficy) – 250 pts
2. Chelsea (Dave Taylor) – 237 pts
3. Nottingham Forest (Matthew White) – 236 pts
4. Manchester City (Christine Butters) – 231 pts
5. Charlton Athletic (Nigel Birrell) – 228 pts
6. Clapton F.C. (Cathryn Harker) – 228 pts
7. Liverpool Reserves (Saleel Sathe) – 227 pts
8. Blackburn Rovers (Sally Moon) – 224 pts
9. West Ham United (Wendy Nathan) – 224 pts
10. Dartmoor Rovers (Jill Taylor) – 224 pts

Did You Know? …

David Beckham – finally set for his 100th England cap against France on Wednesday – has a new tattoo stretching down the left side of his well-chiselled body. The Chinese proverb reads: “Death and life have determined appointments. Riches and honour depend upon heaven.” I couldn’t have put it better myself.

Don’t let my feeble, headline-grabbing attempt to illustrate the slurred speech of an inebriated predictor hide the bare facts: Steven Dunlop deserves a medal for hitting the top score this week, 11, while coming to terms with a booze-induced hangover in Lisbon. Miraculoush!

A bleary-eyed Steven, evidently, understandably and forgivably drowning his sorrows after Benfica’s sorry demise in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup, found the strength to drag himself out of bed on Saturday morning to stump up eight correct results and three correct scores, hitting the jackpot with the match-ups at Manchester City, Wigan and Birmingham. The resulting 11 points elevates Steven to 15th position in the table, just three places off his seasonal high.

Hot on Steven’s proverbial heels (although you never know what the menfolk of Lisbon get up to during an evening on the “razz”) is David Roberts, who collects 10 points, including four correct scores for the encounters at Liverpool, Portsmouth, Manchester City and Wigan. David, denied 16th position in the table only on surname difference from fellow British Hit Singles & Albums cohort Dave McAleer, has risen as high as 7th this term and, like Steven, is now eyeing up a top 10 finish after a profitable week.

If you scored nine points you also deserve a mention, so here goes: “him off the telly” Mark Lawrenson, Predictorship Cup semi-finalist Alex Iskandar “I’m targeting a top 10 finish” Liew, Dave Taylor, who moves back into the runner-up spot at the expense of a highly frustrated four-point me, and Joe Zalewski, who bisects the Wallers down in the nether regions of the table following another quick-fire prediction process that consisted of nine 1-0 home wins and a 0-2 success for Chelsea at Sunderland.

Having let the cat out of the proverbial bag (let’s hope there are no caged lions in Lisbon) in the previous paragraph, I sense you’re expecting me to fill you in with the remaining Predictorship Cup quarter-final replay details. Never one to disappoint, I can now reveal that Alex Iskandar Liew’s Tricky Trees downed Christine Butters’ Manchester City 6-9 and Sally Moon’s Blackburn Rovers were left feeling over the, er, moon (pun shamefully intended) following an 8-6 win at home to Cathryn Harker’s Clapton F.C..

This all means that the county of Suffolk is well and truly on the map in the Predictorship Cup semi-finals: Kedington-based Sally’s Blackburn join Bury St. Edmunds-dwelling Matthew White’s Nottingham Forest in the last four, along with Alex’s Tricky Trees (well would you adam ‘n’ eve it – TWO Forest fans in the semi-finals!) and Hope Arnold’s can’t-think-of-a-suitable-link-right-now Everton. The semi-finals take place on 5th-6th April.

It would be highly inappropriate of me to sign off without a mention of our runaway leader, the East Fife-esque Mike Dufficy, who now enjoys an eye-popping 14-point lead over Dave Taylor. Mike has been at the top for 21 straight weeks (he took over from Dave in week 13) and Predictorshipland bookies have now stopped taking bets on a second league title in three seasons in May.

With a perfect 33 weeks residing in the top five this season and two ‘Prediction of the Week’ accolades to his name, Mike’s achievement is all the more remarkable given that his name does not appear anywhere on the high-score table for scores of 11 points or more. Such scores have been recorded 25 times so far this season, with Rob Dimery and Nick Watson still leading the way with 13 points in weeks 14 and 20 respectively.

Premier League Results (Week 33): Derby 0-1 Manchester United (2); Liverpool 2-1 Reading (7); Portsmouth 2-0 Aston Villa (2); Sunderland 0-1 Chelsea (8); West Ham 2-1 Blackburn (6); Arsenal 1-1 Middlesbrough (0); Fulham 1-0 Everton (4); Wigan 1-0 Bolton (16); Manchester City 2-1 Tottenham (6); Birmingham 1-1 Newcastle (9).

* Figures in brackets show the number of correct predictions for each game.

Highest Score (Week 33): 11 – Steven Dunlop.
Average Score (Week 33): 6.47.
Prediction of the Week (Week 33): Defying all logic, the four predictors who plumped for Fulham 1-0 Everton: Cathryn Harker, Alex Iskandar Liew, Ben Wallis and Joe Zalewski.

Top of the Table (Week 33):

1. Jersey United (Mike Dufficy) – 243 pts
2. Chelsea (Dave Taylor) – 229 pts
3. Nottingham Forest (Matthew White) – 228 pts
4. Manchester City (Christine Butters) – 224 pts
5. Charlton Athletic (Nigel Birrell) – 221 pts
6. Clapton F.C. (Cathryn Harker) – 220 pts
7. Liverpool Reserves (Saleel Sathe) – 219 pts
8. Blackburn Rovers (Sally Moon) – 218 pts
9. West Ham United (Wendy Nathan) – 218 pts
10. FC Squan 1980 (Patrick Bevilacqua) – 216 pts

Congratulations to everyone who totalled more than one point for last weekend’s highly unpredictable FA Cup quarter-finals. Now let me put it another way. Congratulations to Rob Molloy and Marion Waller, the ONLY two predictors who totalled more than one point for last weekend’s highly unpredictable FA Cup quarter-finals.

Rob’s scarcely believable Middlesbrough 0 Cardiff 2 prediction (he missed out on a third Cup point with Bristol Rovers 1 West Brom 1) and Marion’s wildly optimistic Manchester United 2 Portsmouth 3 (the only Portsmouth win predicted) and the spookily close-to-the-mark (apart from the ‘2’ and the ‘4’ bit) Bristol Rovers 2 West Brom 4 rewarded each with two points when most collected a solitary point for a West Brom win, if they were lucky. Like big guns Chelsea and Manchester United, several unnamed souls fired FA Cup blanks.

“It should be a high-scoring week,” enthused mid-tabler Ted Warland. “I hope I join in!” His infamous “guest forecaster” must have left some cruelly optimistic voices in his head. The average score this week is a paltry 3.82 and there are just 19 correct scores, facts and figures that are country music to the ears of Predictorship “Statto” Matthew White. (Oh, and by the way, two-point Ted certainly did NOT join in.)

Forest and Sheffield United fan Matthew strengthens his strangehold on the runner-up spot in the table with a top score of seven. The tasty total, bolstered by correct scores for the Liverpool and Sunderland games, leaves him “just” 11 points shy of Mike Dufficy, who marches on towards the 2007-08 title with another five points.

Matthew’s Nottingham Forest and Hope Arnold’s Everton are now just one step away from Wem-ber-ley after reaching the semi-finals of The Predictorship Cup (unlike the FA Cup, the semi-finals will not be held at Wembley). Forest and Everton dumped Nigel Birrell’s Charlton Athletic and Tom Palmer’s Southampton out of the competition respectively in the quarter-finals. The other two ties finished all square, so Christine Butters’ Manchester City, Cathryn Harker’s Clapton F.C., Alex Iskandar Liew’s Tricky Trees and Sally Moon’s Blackburn Rovers will have to do it all over again this coming weekend. Here are the results of the quarter-final jury:

The Predictorship Cup - Quarter-Finals

1. TRICKY TREES (Alex Iskandar Liew) (14) 5-5 MANCHESTER CITY (Christine Butters) (4)
2. EVERTON (Hope Arnold) (22) 5-2 SOUTHAMPTON (Tom Palmer) (29)
3. CHARLTON ATHLETIC (Nigel Birrell) (6) 5-7 NOTTINGHAM FOREST (Matthew White) (2)
4. CLAPTON F.C. (Cathryn Harker) (5) 3-3 BLACKBURN ROVERS (Sally Moon) (8)

* Figures in brackets show current league position.

Quarter-Final Replays (15th-16th March)

1. MANCHESTER CITY (Christine Butters) (4) v TRICKY TREES (Alex Iskandar Liew) (14)
2. BLACKBURN ROVERS (Sally Moon) (8) v CLAPTON F.C. (Cathryn Harker) (5)

* Figures in brackets show league position on 15th March.

FA Cup Quarter-Final Results (Week 32): Manchester United 0-1 Portsmouth (0); Barnsley 1-0 Chelsea (1); Middlesbrough 0-2 Cardiff (1); Bristol Rovers 1-5 West Brom (0); Premier League Results (Week 32): Blackburn 1-1 Fulham (2); Liverpool 3-0 Newcastle (3); Reading 2-0 Manchester City (1); Sunderland 0-1 Everton (10); Tottenham 4-0 West Ham (0); Wigan 0-0 Arsenal (1).

* Figures in brackets show the number of correct predictions for each game.

Highest Score (Week 32): 7 – Matthew White.
Average Score (Week 32): 3.82.
Predictions of the Week (Week 32): Rob Molloy (Middlesbrough 0-2 Cardiff) and Joe Zalewski (Barnsley 1-0 Chelsea), although Joe’s prediction was more by luck than judgement, requesting 10 1-0 home wins rather than predicting all 10 games individually - a practice that might have to be outlawed before the start of next season.

Top of the Table (Week 32):

1. Jersey United (Mike Dufficy) – 235 pts
2. Nottingham Forest (Matthew White) – 224 pts
3. Chelsea (Dave Taylor) – 220 pts
4. Manchester City (Christine Butters) – 218 pts
5. Clapton F.C. (Cathryn Harker) – 214 pts
6. Charlton Athletic (Nigel Birrell) – 213 pts
7. West Ham United (Wendy Nathan) – 212 pts
8. Liverpool Reserves (Saleel Sathe) – 211 pts
9. Blackburn Rovers (Sally Moon) – 210 pts
10. FC Squan 1980 (Patrick Bevilacqua) – 209 pts

Did you know? …

There have been more away wins (167) than home victories (149) in League 2 this season? If the trend continues for the remainder of the season, it will be the first time in the football league’s 120-year history that away successes will have outnumbered home wins in any division.

Quotes of the Week …

“Sorry for the tardiness. I went out big for my birthday last night and just woke up. I swear I know nothing of the scores.” – FC Squan 1980’s Patrick Bevilacqua submits his predictions at 5.10pm on Saturday afternoon. He was right: he knew nothing of the scores. Just three points for the Squan.

“I feel nothing for him (Avram Grant) but I feel everything for the club (Chelsea). I still feel the club is part of me and I want them to succeed. But I hope to play them next season in the Champions League and I want to go there and kill them.” – the straight-talking Jose Mourinho.

Reading Reserves’ Rob Molloy is on a roll, and we’re not talking cheese and pickle.

Blessed with an impressive knowledge of the beautiful game, and probably the only Predictorshipper who could reel off 11 Reading players from history, let alone the current back four, GWR’s Director of Television had high hopes of a top 10 finish this season to stem the tide of perennial underachievement.

Sadly it was not to be. Despite a haul of 10 points last week and this week’s top score of nine, Rob languishes in 33rd place in the table and faces an uphill struggle to climb much higher given the eight point chasm that has opened up between himself and the predictor in 31st, his fellow Rob, Mr Dimery.

Rob Molloy and “Baggies Boy” Mark Young are the only players to collect three correct scores this week, Rob for Arsenal, Fulham and Bolton and Mark for Arsenal, Fulham and Everton. Bolton 1-3 Liverpool and Everton 3-1 Portsmouth have been declared joint ‘Prediction of the Week’ winners.

The quarter-finals of The Predictorship Cup come to a fixtures e-mail near you this weekend (8th-9th March). Birthday boy Nick Watson’s Randomizer 8 plucked the balls from the bag in the following order:

1. TRICKY TREES (Alex Iskandar Liew) (14) v MANCHESTER CITY (Christine Butters) (4)
2. EVERTON (Hope Arnold) (22) v SOUTHAMPTON (Tom Palmer) (29)
3. CHARLTON ATHLETIC (Nigel Birrell) (6) v NOTTINGHAM FOREST (Matthew White) (2)
4. CLAPTON F.C. (Cathryn Harker) (5) v BLACKBURN ROVERS (Sally Moon) (8)

* Figures in brackets show current league position.

With five of the league’s top 10 still standing, it should be a weekend of high drama. However, the most eye-catching tie of the round is Hope Arnold’s Everton at home to Tom Palmer’s Southampton, with one of the rank outsiders guaranteed a place in the semi-finals on the weekend of 5th-6th April.

The best of luck to all eight contenders, particularly the bloke faced with the arduous task of ending the Cup dream of Nigel Birrell’s Charlton Athletic.

Premier League Results (Week 31): Arsenal 1-1 Aston Villa (5); Birmingham 4-1 Tottenham (0); Derby 0-0 Sunderland (3); Fulham 0-3 Manchester United (11); Manchester City 0-0 Wigan (1); Middlesbrough 0-1 Reading (0); Newcastle 0-1 Blackburn (5); West Ham 0-4 Chelsea (0); Bolton 1-3 Liverpool (1); Everton 3-1 Portsmouth (1).

* Figures in brackets show the number of correct predictions for each game.

Highest Score (Week 31): 9 – Rob Molloy.
Average Score (Week 31): 4.94.
Predictions of the Week (Week 31): Rob Molloy (Bolton 1-3 Liverpool) and Mark Young (Everton 3-1 Portsmouth).

Top of the Table (Week 31):

1. Jersey United (Mike Dufficy) – 230 pts
2. Nottingham Forest (Matthew White) – 217 pts
3. Chelsea (Dave Taylor) – 214 pts
4. Manchester City (Christine Butters) – 213 pts
5. Clapton F.C. (Cathryn Harker) – 211 pts
6. Charlton Athletic (Nigel Birrell) – 208 pts
7. West Ham United (Wendy Nathan) – 208 pts
8. Blackburn Rovers (Sally Moon) – 207 pts
9. FC Squan 1980 (Patrick Bevilacqua) – 206 pts
10. Liverpool Reserves (Saleel Sathe) – 205 pts