Results March 23rd

From the bottom up.

Elmore lost at home to Brixham. The scoreline was 1-0 but conceding and not scoring results in defeat.

Exmouth beat Sticker 3-1. The first two goals were penalties and as I went to watch this one I can tell you that the referee almost lost control. Several Exmouth players were booked for complaining about the Sticker players sticking it to them. My favourite Sticker player was No.7 ("Boots") who looked very like a beer barrel on legs and spent a lot of time talking to the crowd. I heard him say at one point "Relax! We're doing alright!" which they were at the time. My favourite moments of the game, though, came early on when I was joined by a mother and child. She started shouting "DAD DEE DAD DEE DAD DEE". I have no idea who she was supporting but I hope her Daddy is proud of her.

Buckland Athletic lost their yellow and green page by losing 4-2 to Cribbs earning themselves a red stripe. For them it is Cadbury Heath at home on Tuesday next up.

Barnstaple's red page got a green stripe last week but we are back to normal this week with a 5-0 thrashing away to AFC Totton.

Tiverton travelled to Farnborough and came home with a narrow 3-2 defeat but it is still a red stripe.

Weston earned their red stripe with a 1-0 home defeat to Welling United.

Eastleigh were scheduled to take on Leyton Orient but they were too busy winning their F.A.Trophy semi-final to bother turning up for a league match.

Exeter travelled to Notts County and left it late to score but the 1-0 win earns them a green stripe.

Southend made it another red stripe by going down away at Peterborough United.

I think I will watch a little Rugby Union with Exeter Chiefs tomorrow.

March 23rd

Predictions for the coming day.

England beat the Czech Republic 5-0 last night so Arsenal have no match today.

I think the Championship also has a sabbatical when England play these days so no Brentford either.

Southend United are travelling up the M11 to Peterborough where I expect them to lose.

Exeter are travelling to Notts County where I am going to call a stalemate draw.

Eastleigh are away to high flying Leyton Orient. I predict an upset and an away win.

Weston are at home to Welling United and although it would be a shock I call a home win.

Tiverton are travelling to Farnborough although not by air as far as I know. Home win for me.

Barnstaple are travelling to AFC Totton who beat them 4-0 at home. Another home win for me.

Buckland are at home to Cribbs and I think this one will be a good home win for Buckland.

Exmouth are at home to Sticker and I can see nothing but a home win. I might even go and watch it.

Elmore are at home to Brixham and I have them down to continue last week's excellent form. A win.

That covers levels one to eleven and you don't need to know about twelve to twenty.

March 16th/17th

Before I look forward I said I would look back.

How good were my predictions?

Three out of four in the F.A.Cup. You might give me 3.5.

I predicted a draw between Wolves and United but I was delighted to watch a Wolves win and I am so glad for Wolves that my Arsenal team had softened up Manchester United by beating them the week before.

City and Watford won although City were lucky that VAR was not available. The question does have to be asked "Why no VAR?" as Swansea were in the Premier League so recently and should have been able to service VAR. The F.A. do have a reputation for infinite stupidity and this is just another example of the illogical decisions made by the F.A. "If you are a Championship side you are clearly unable to service the needs of VAR". Dear F.A., you are WRONG YET AGAIN.

The most exciting game of the weekend, though. was Millwall versus Brighton. Millwall had the game won until that goalkeeping mistake at the very end of injury time in normal time. Penalties are always a lottery but do favour the team higher up the pyramid because in general they have better players. Chris Houghton must be delighted that he got out of jail and equally delighted that this has earned him a match against Manchester City.

I will score the league separately as the results should be more predictable.

I called a draw for Brentford but they lost at home to West Brom. No Points.

I called a home defeat for Southend and that is exactly what happened. 3 Points.

I predicted a comfortable home win for Exeter and would say 3-0 matches that. 3 Points.

I called a home win for Eastleigh but there was an upset here as Barrow won. 0 Points.

I called a defeat at Chelmsford for Weston but they managed to get an away draw. 0 Points.

I called an away win for Salisbury at Tiverton but the home side won 2-0. No Points here.

Barnstaple have lost all season but I called a home win against Fleet. It ended 4-1. 3 points to me.

I called an away win for Buckland as they headed to Bradford. The match ended 2-2. No Points.

Exmouth are heading for promotion at the top of the league and they won away. An easy 3 Points.

Elmore were top of the league earlier in the season but not now. A home win I called. The match ended 8-0 to Elmore so I guess whatever went wrong in the middle of the season is now fixed. I will take the 3 points for a correct prediction.

Total: 15 Points out of a possible 30. I guess that is statistically average.

Now I can look forward to the matches taking place today.

Looking ahead to tomorrow

The F.A. Cup Quarter Finals take place this weekend:

1) Swansea City v. Manchester City (I predict an away win)

2) Watford v. Crystal Palace (I predict a home win)

3) Wolverhampton Wanderers v. Manchester United (I predict a draw)

4) Millwall v. Brighton & Hove Albion (I predict an away win)


PREMIER LEAGUE
With Wolverhampton qualifying for their match against United our scheduled fixture against them has been postponed so Arsenal have no match this weekend and do not play again until April 1st.

CHAMPIONSHIP
Brentford are at home to West Bromwich Albion. I predict a tough contest and a share of the points.

LEAGUE ONE
Southend United are at home to AFC Wimbledon. I predict another struggle and a home defeat.

LEAGUE TWO
Exeter City are at home to Colchester United. I predict a comfortable win for the home side.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Eastleigh are at home to Barrow. I predict a home win in a continuation of the recent purple patch.

NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH
Weston-super-Mare are away to Chelmsford City. I see no points coming back to Somerset.

SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER SOUTH
Tiverton Town are at home to Salisbury. I predict an away win as Salisbury continue their push.

SOUTHERN LEAGUE ONE SOUTH
Barnstaple Town are at home to Fleet Town. I predict a home win in this six point match.

WESTERN LEAGUE PREMIER
Buckland Athletic are away to Bradford Town. I predict an away win over the team one place below.

SOUTH WEST PENINSULA LEAGUE PREMIER
Exmouth Town are away to Launceston. I predict an away win to continue Exmouth's promotion push.

SOUTH WEST PENINSULA LEAGUE EAST
Elmore are at home to Budleigh Salterton. I predict a home win and a late push for promotion.

I must check back to see how many I got right.

Barnstaple Town 0 Melksham Town 1

Melksham Town's Jon Davies fired his team to a 1-0 win at Barnstaple Town.

In the first minute the hosts' George Nancekivell headed over while keeper Steve Oliver was alert, saving from Davies prior to the goal and also when the Melksham man was clean through on goal.

Davies did break the deadlock, however, with Neikell Plummer twice going close to extending the visitor's lead.

N.B. I just checked and it is Neikell and not Neil apparently.

Gosport Borough 0 Tiverton Town 1

LEVI PENALTY ENOUGH FOR TOWN

Tiverton Town narrowly beat Gosport Borough. It turned out to be a very tight contest indeed.

The only goal deciding the tie was a Levi Landricombe first half spot kick.

The best chance created, besides the penalty, came through Landricombe whose strike from just outside the area rattled the crossbar. This early dominance led to the referee's biggest decision of the game, a penalty that came from a cross that was deflected by the hand of Gosport player Joe Lea.

The penalty was despatched by Landricombe putting the ball right of Patrick O'Flaherty and put his Tiverton side into the lead right on the stroke of half time.

The importance of the game grew even greater for the Boro as they needed the points.

The second half started and it was a massively uneventful half in truth. Gosport threw the jugular at Tiverton, however, the defensive wall held firm to seal an important win heading into their run in.

For the Hampshire side it was a valuable three points dropped and they fall to only goal difference keeping them above the relegation zone heading into their home game against Walton Casuals.

Weston-super-Mare 0 Hungerford Town 0

Sam Frost writes in the Non League Paper

PURNELL SHUTS OUT TOWN AT THE DEATH

Weston and Hungerford wasted the chance to boost their survival hopes at the Optima Stadium as the six pointer between the division's bottom two sides ended in stalemate.

A game almost devoid of chances (glad I wasn't there then) did little to ease the home supporters' frustrations, with relegation to the Southern League looking increasingly likely.

Weston huffed and puffed but lacked guile and created very little in front of goal while Hungerford were content to hold their shape and feed off scraps.

Howling winds and a poor pitch only made the game less entertaining and it culminated in a joyless afternoon for all involved.

The Seagulls started brightly and almost took the lead through Alex Bray in the fourth minute, his inventive flick going just wide.

The Crusaders went close after the break but Aaron Parsons anticipated well to clear after Danilo Orsi-Dadomo rounded Luke Purnell.

Weston's best chance came with 15 minutes left when Jennison Myrie-Williams cut the ball back for Marlon Jackson but he was superbly denied by Michael Layumbula's save.

Hungerford almost snatched the points in added time as Alfy Whittingham drove at goal but Luke Purnell saved well.

Chesterfield 2 Eastleigh 3

I return to the Non League Paper and an article by Graham Smyth.

SPITFIRES' SPIRIT KILLS OFF SORRY SPIREITES

N.B. I seem attracted to the Spireites v. Spitfires fixtures because of the names.

Eastleigh twice muscled their way back into an arm-wrestle against Chesterfield before eventually overpowering their hosts.

The Spitfires ran out 3-2 winners but found themselves behind in both halves. They were aided by what home boss John Sheridan called 'criminal' defending, but Eastleigh created enough pressure to force mistakes and then took full advantage.

Sheridan cut a frustrated figure after the game, saying "When we score the second goal, when you get that goal, what are you all thinking? You've got to get a grip, just see the game through. It's so frustrating to watch."

His opposition number, Ben Strevens, was over the moon by comparison. He said "It was a cracking game. The boys bounced back from last week's disappointment. We played some good stuff in the second half and deserved to win."

After a first minute let-off when Chris Zebrowski fired wide Chesterfield settled nicely. Robbie Weir snuffed out threats and got his side going, while Tom Denton dominated up top. The target man headed an Ellis Chapman free kick wide before the hosts were given a reminder of the Eastleigh threat.

Zebrowski got the wrong side of Haydn Hollis and went in on goal, Shwan Jalal rushing out and forcing the striker to poke wide.

When Chesterfield took a 33rd minute lead it was largely deserved. Denton won a free kick. Chapman clipped it into a dangerous area and Will Evans' header across goal was tapped in by Hollis.

The visitors had struggled in the final third for most of the first half, yet still levelled a minute before the break. Zebrowski pounced on a loose ball and sent in a lovely cross for Paul McCallum to rise above Josef Yarney and head home.

Parity did not last long.The second half was just four minutes old when Chapman picked a defender's pocket and played the ball across the area, Scott Boden arriving to side foot into the net as a home win looked likely.

Sheridan's side had their tails up and played some nice stuff, keeping the ball well, but once again they left the door ajar and the Spitfires roared through it. Sloppy play in possession put them under pressure as they conceded a pair of corners in succession, and when the second was sent in they lost Joey Jones who headed back across goal for Andrew Boyce to outjump everyone and nod in for 2-2.

Eastleigh enjoyed more and more possession as a marauding Jones strode through the middle and smacked a 25 yard winner past Jalal. Once in front Eastleigh showed no signs of losing control.

Is the term "Non-League" out of date?

I was reading an old copy of the Non League Paper and Ian Ridley posed the question:

"Is the term Non-League out of date?"

I could argue that the term Non-League has never been correct, but it was more correct in the days when the level below League Two (Football League Division Four) was the Football Conference. Clearly this was a conference and not a league so the term was applied correctly.

Back in the day most of the teams outside of the Football League were amateur organisations paying "expenses" only although it was often acknowledged that these expenses were more like a wage in some cases. These days many teams in the National League are fully professional outfits.

I read a case in the last couple of years suggesting that the Football League should absorb the National League and cut the rest of non league adrift. That might be good for the top clubs but the gulf would grow quickly if "League" benefits were paid to National League sides and the other clubs received nothing.

Clearly now the term "Non-League" is an obvious misnomer as the National League, National League South & North, Southern League, Isthmian League and Northern Premier League are all leagues in their own right. The phrase is merely used to describe leagues below the Football League.

If the term is now outdated then we need to come up with another term that accurately describes what we are trying to portray. The Premier League is above the Football League and all other leagues are below it. I like the increase in the use of the term English Football League as there are others and in my opinion some other countries have leagues that are more appealing to me than our own.

When Spain were doing well a colleague asked me why and I stated quite openly that it was because the Spanish League is better than ours. You can argue that only a few teams can win the Spanish League but look at the Premier League and only six teams have ever won it. With Blackburn being one and Leicester another I had to check which two top six teams have never won it. Sniggering ever so slightly I discovered that it is Spurs and Liverpool. I am an Arsenal fan so that was a little boost as although Manchester United are way ahead we have at least won it.

The National League has received a great boost since BT Sport started its coverage of the matches and I have enjoyed many of the matches I have watched.

It used to be said that sometimes the standard of matches was better than Football League games as players who wanted to work other jobs but were good footballers played at this level. The result was that many players produced intelligent football rather than the big hard thug like game so prevalent in the lower reaches of the Football League.

The term Football Pyramid has become more prevalent in recent years and I would like to promote that, partly because I have a facebook page with football from all levels covered and partly because I like the idea that I could in theory take St Simeon's School fifth team from the seventeenth division of the local league all the way to the top of the Premier Division.

That dream is nowhere near reality of course because the resources that have to be poured into a club as it rises up the ladder rise exponentially. Ground grading prevents many clubs from progressing. Wage bills have to go up and one relegation can make a club no longer financially viable. Players usually find their own level and it is rare (although it does happen) that a player can rise up several levels as the club develop.

Going back to what we should call the "Non-League" leagues I do like the idea of "The Pyramid" which includes the top four levels as well as what is now known as Non-League. Amateur is out as professionalism has crept into the non-league game but I remember the days when that phrase was an emotive argument and many league still retain the word "Amateur" as part of their title.

"Pyramid Base" is a good phrase as it describes the solid structure underlying the tall tower at the pinnacle of the game. I still want to see more teams kicked out of the Football League to strengthen the "Non-League" game and I would limit all leagues to 20 teams as a standard. If that were to happen the top five leagues would contain the top 100 clubs and those are nice round numbers to keep the F.A. who are focussed on their 2-4-8-16 design for the pyramid.

My preference would be 1-3-9-27 design which matches the shape of Great Britain and it allows for the always required shuffling of teams between leagues to even things up when a particular part of the country has too many teams either promoted or relegated. It will never be perfect until we start cutting the country into nicely shaped squares to satisfy the F.A.

I am pleased to hear the news that the Northern League are going to adapt to help shape the new pyramid as they have in the past wanted to keep their game to themselves and I can understand that when the cost of travelling is now so high that a team in the wrong league can become bankrupt in a single season.

So there you have it, my argument to replace "Non-League" with "Football Pyramid Base".

Northampton Town 2 Exeter City 1

The third of my reports from the Football League Paper appears here:

TAYLOR NOT HAPPY WITH LACKLUSTRE GRECIANS

Exeter boss Matt Taylor was left deeply unimpressed by his side's "weak" performance during their defeat to Northampton. The Grecians succumbed to back-to-back losses after Aaron Pierre's first half opener was added to by Andy Williams just shy of the hour mark, with Aaron Martin's header nothing more than a consolation.

Exeter now drop out of the playoff places and Taylor said "We didn't compete well enough and we didn't play the conditions well enough. We've got good ball players but they get taken out of the picture when they don't get the ball and get control of possession. We didn't match them anywhere on the pitch. We really struggled at both ends and they really imposed their physicality on the game and full credit to them for that."

NOTE: Sounds like the thugs won. All part of the game.

"If you want to give yourselves a chance of winning you have to do the basics and we didn't do that today."

The game took a while to get going, but Exeter should have been in front midway through the first half when Matt Jay was unable to force the ball home against some desperate last ditch defending.

It was Northampton who hit the front after 31 minutes when Marvin Sordell's header came back off the crossbar and dropped to Pierre who bundled the ball over the line.

City keeper Christy Pym stood up bravely to deny Daniel Powell in first half stoppage time, but Town doubled their lead just shy of the hour mark when Williams turned in Powell's low cross.

The visitors responded within three minutes, levelling through Martin's header after Jonathan Forte saw his effort saved.

Cobblers manager Keith Curle was delighted with his side's third straight win. He said "We were playing against a very good team who have operated in the playoffs for the majority of the year but, on the balance of play, they probably had only 12 or 15 minutes when they played how they wanted to."

"The credit for that goes to us because we stopped them from playing and nullified their threats. I thought we managed the game very well. A home win was the only thing that has been missing because our away form has been good."

Blackpool 2 Southend United 2

Unfair Unfair Unfair. an equaliser in the 96th minute. Unfair. Unfair. ... it is what it is.

The Football League Paper reported on this one too:

MOORE GOAL BRINGS THE HOUSE DOWN

"Seasiders' returning fans lap up equaliser" is the subheadline from Gary Bainbridge.

Blackpool manager Terry McPhillips sees a bright future for the club after thousands of supporters ended their boycott of Bloomfield Road for the draw against Southend.

There were over 15,000 Seasiders supporters, many of whom helped clean the stadium this week, packed inside the ground as they ended their long exile from the club following the removal of owner Owen Oyston from the board, and they were given even greater reason to cheer as Blackpool snatched an equaliser in the final minute of added time.

McPhillips was overwhelmed by the sensational atmosphere and believes there is nothing the club cannot achieve with the fans behind them. "I think there is reason for optimism. I've felt the pain and the suffering." McPhillips said.

"I've been speaking to these supporters this week who've come here to clean up and everybody has a different story on why they haven't come. Some are four years, some five, some six, but they are all back here today and it's brilliant."

"It was awesome, hairs on the back of the neck, goose pimples and all that. I sort of knew it would be like that because of all the build up to it. I can't thank the fans enough for their support and how they've gone about it. I've been here before when it's been rocking but not quite like today."

"It feels like I am managing a club now with big support in this league and with that support hopefully we can go places. I'm as proud as proud can be to be the manager of Blackpool for this homecoming."

Note: I think we get a good idea that there was a tremendous atmosphere in the ground.

Southend took a 20th minute lead through Robbie Kiernan's header on his return from an injury which has sidelined him since August 2017.

Armand Gnanduillet levelled things up seven minutes later. lashing into the roof of the net, but Southend restored their lead as Sam Mantom's corner was headed in by Michael Turner after the break.

Blackpool, though, snatched a last gasp equaliser as Taylor Moore deflected into his own net sparking crazy scenes which saw a large number of fans run on to the pitch.

McPhillips defended those supporters saying "When you score an equaliser in the last second it's just sheer enthusiasm and passion and four, five, six years of hurt for some of these people. So we are not condoning it but I don't think anyone got hurt."

"These lads we have in the dressing room never say die. I thought we murdered them second half and the least we deserved was that goal at the end."

It was a result which stretched Southend's winless run to eight matches. Manager Chris Powell was frustrated by conceding such a late equaliser but believes his side did well to cope with the events of the day.

"What I have to say is that the players withstood all that went on today. All the homecoming. I made sure the players participated and made sure that we were part of the game. We should have spoiled it totally for them. We should be going back to Essex with three points. It does hurt."

"It feels like a defeat but we have to make this point count because if we can back it up we could look on this as a really good point."

Middlesbrough 1 Brentford 2

I bought the Football League Paper this week, as I occasionally do, and found a report or two worth reading in there. I must spend more time in the press and away from the internet.

BENRAHMA PUTS STING IN THE TAIL is the headline.

"Bees joy at gutsy fightback" is the sub headline written by Joe Thomas.

Thomas Franks believes Brentford silenced the critics who have labelled his team weak by leaving Middlesbrough with a first win on Teesside since 1938. (Quick calculation ... over 80 years).

The Bees won away from Griffin Park for the second time this season by coming from behind to beat Boro at the Riverside Stadium. Brentford moved to within six points of the playoff zone with this victory after an own goal from Middlesbrough defender Ryan Shotton with 20 minutes remaining was followed by Said Benrahma's winner three minutes later.

Middlesbrough had led since the sixth minute, courtesy of Ashley Fletcher's second league goal of the campaign.

Franks said "Sometimes stats don't tell the whole story. We knew it was coming. It would be nice to get a win against one of the big teams and this was a big win. It was about time. Boro are a top team and one of the best in England. We knew it would be very difficult and we are very pleased with the way we did it. I am proud of the boys. They did very well."

"The experts say we are normally a weak team but we were definitely not weak today. We showed real character."

Middlesbrough manager Tony Pulis was disappointed (snigger from me) with the performance of referee Jeremy Simpson ... (did he book the players for being Pulis types?) ... for not giving any of three decent penalty shouts, while Fletcher could have headed in a second, too.

Pulis said "We are disappointed. They are a good side. Three or four players would be in any team in this division. We got a great start and we should have had a definite penalty."

"I will go and see him (the referee). I don't normally. He has booked Jonny Howson for diving and the lad has caught him. I don't know how they get it so wrong sometimes. We should have had three definite penalties. At home you think you might get them, or at least one."

Fletcher rewarded Pulis's recent faith in him by scoring for a second home game in a row. The £6.5m former West Ham striker reacted first in the area to force the ball over the line after goalkeeper Daniel Bentley had spilled Mo Besic's low drive from 20 yards.

Brentford then had the better of the chances. They had the ball in the net twice and on each occasion referee Jeremy Simpson ruled them out. The first was deemed to be offside when Maupay headed in from eight yards and then the striker was adjudged to have fouled George Saville moments before Sergi Canos powered low into the net.

Middlesbrough responded and came within inches of a second when Fletcher headed Shotton's deep cross just wide.

Shotton turned the ball into his own net at the other end when Henrik Dalsgaard was given the chance to shoot after Saville headed weakly away with 20 minutes to go.

Then Brentford took the lead. This time Dalsgaard, making the most of freedom down the right, teed up Benrahma in the box to strike it inside the bottom corner.

Predictions

Maybe I should try this for all my teams but I have been doing what many fans do at this time of the season and that is working out how many points all the teams around us will get.

For Arsenal:

78 Arsenal
78 Chelsea
78 Manchester United
77 Tottenham Hotspur

Apart from sniggering about Spurs it would make for an exciting finish to the season and Goal Difference would be extremely important. So where are we now?

25 Tottenham Hotspur
24 Arsenal
19 Chelsea
18 Manchester United

On that basis we would finish in third place and I would be very happy.

Then again, if we could predict accurately we would all be very rich.

Torquay United 1 Weston-super-Mare 2

I finally got around to reading last week's Non League Paper and thought I should find out what happened when the National League South bottom club beat the National League South top club, and Torquay were at home.

Here is the report:

Weston-super-Mare manager Marc McGregor hailed the character of his side as they inflicted the first home defeat of Gary Johnson's Torquay United reign.

Alex Bray, on loan from Championship side Rotherham United, proved to be a supersub for the Seagulls as he came off the bench to score a superb individual effort on 84 minutes that helps keep the Seagulls' chances of beating the drop alive. (That goal is on my Football Pyramid Facebook page).

"Today was all about digging in and showing character," McGregor told the NLP. "We've come to a team who I think are the best in this division and we've now taken four points from a possible six against them. It was a lovely finish by Alex for the goal. He has had a difficult season with different spells out on loan at different clubs but I hope he can kick on from here and get back into the Football League.

Johnson, whose Gulls side remain top of the league despite their defeat because Woking could only draw at Hungerford, said "It's my first league defeat at home so I'm disappointed, the players are disappointed, everyone is disappointed." ... So, disappointment is the collective attitude here ...

"We tried to get things going in the second half without the real quality that we needed. We kept getting corners but we couldn't get anyone on the end of them and that disappointed me."

The first chance of the game fell to Weston three minutes in when Jarrad Welch dispossessed United left back Liam Davis before firing a tame shot at goal that Gulls' goalkeeper Shaun MacDonald collected comfortably. Two minutes later MacDonald was called on again to prevent the Seagulls' Jennison Myrie-Williams from scoring against his former club.

United threatened for the first time when Kalvin Kalala blasted a long range effort straight at Weston's goalkeeper Luke Purnell.

A minute later Weston were in front when Gethyn Hill capitalised on a mistake by United defender Jean-Yves Koue Niate and ghosted in behind the Gulls' back line to open the scoring.

United later had an appeal for a penalty turned down on 31 minutes for a challenge by Alex Byrne on Connor Lemonheigh-Evans.

In the second half the Gulls made a strong start forcing a succession of corners without finding the target. In the 61st minute Reid was denied by the reflexes of Purnell after he had been excellently teed up by Saikou Janneh.

The Gulls eventually levelled from the penalty spot on 70 minutes through Reid who sent Purnell the wrong way to score his 25th of the campaign, after Weston's Tom Harrison felled Janneh.

With six minutes to go Bray made a run from inside his own half as Weston hit the Gulls on the counter attack to score the game's decisive goal. (See Football Pyramid Facebook page).

Despite their win Weston are eight points from safety at the bottom of the National League South table.

Ten to One

10) Exmouth Town

My tenth level pick have got 10 out of 10 for February.

Finishing January with a 4-0 win over Launceston they started February with a 5-2 away win over Millbrook. All the reports suggest that the 4-0 win over Plymouth Argyle Reserves was the best result of the month and this was followed by a 3-0 win over Callington Town.

Two away fixtures on the trot looked to be a challenge but Exmouth Town managed to beat Falmouth Town 2-1 and Sticker 3-1.

I have been going through the process of arranging a house move so my attention has been diverted but as I added each result to my spreadsheet I am pleased to see a sheet of green. Long may this continue.


9) Buckland Athletic

The start of February was a washout as it was for many clubs and Buckland returned to action with a 3-0 defeat away to Bitton. This was followed by a 3-1 win over Westbury United, then a 0-0 draw with Brislington. March has started well with an away win 3-1 at Chipping Sodbury Town.


8) Barnstaple Town

This is mostly a red page with defeat after defeat but as January ended with a 2-2 draw at Slimbridge two more draws against Mangotsfield United 2-2 and Larkhall Atheltic 0-0 meant a refreshing yellow patch after all the red and guess what this was followed by a green line with a 3-1 win over Paulton Rovers.

Sadly we are back to normal now with a 7-0 hammering by Winchester City and a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Cirencester Town.


7) Tiverton Town

Tiverton experienced the washout at the start of February. Two 3-0 defeats at the hands of Poole Town and Wimborne Town followed the break.

Hartley Wintney beat Tiverton 1-0 on 23rd but two wins the week before and week after have left February as a mixed month. Staines Town were beaten 4-2 away and the Metropolitan Police were beaten 2-1 at home making up for that defeat in the cup.


6) Weston-super-Mare

Washout for Weston was the start of the month but then a nice series of L-W-L-W-L demonstated a clear example of consistent inconsistency. Woking United beat us 2-1. We beat Chard Town 4-2 and Chippenham Town beat us 1-0.

The result of the season was then produced as League Leaders Torquay United were soundly thrashed 2-1 by the seagulls. This was away from home as well. That clearly took a lot out of the team as the last result was a 5-0 defeat at home at the hands of Wealdstone.


5) Eastleigh

The match at home to Barnet was washed out but a nice patch of green shows wins against Aldershot Town 3-1, Braintree Town 2-1 and Salford City 2-0.

March has started differently with a 1-0 home defeat to Halifax Town but I am pleased to see the good feelings coming through the club via social media.


4) Exeter City

Exeter are trying to make my spreadsheet look good by following a W-D-L-W-D-L pattern. Milton Keynes Dons were defeated 3-1, Carlisle United earned a 1-1 draw then Bury beat us 1-0 at home.

Crewe Alexandra were beaten 2-1 then Lincoln City earned a 1-1 draw before March started with defeat 1-0 to Tranmere Rovers.


3) Southend United

My spreadsheet is all bright red and yellow but I am disappointed by the lack of green. Bristol Rovers beat us 2-1, then Charlton Athletic drew 1-1. Doncaster Rovers beat us 3-0 then Portsmouth drew 3-3 but I watched that one on TV and we were 3-0 down so I take that result as a brilliant comeback. The next match was a 1-1 draw with Accrington Stanley.

March started with a 3-0 defeat to Barnsley at home. Improvement is much needed.


2) Brentford

A reasonable mid table red green red green look to this sheet.

Blackburn Rovers beaten 5-2. Nottingham Forest beating us 2-1. Aston Villa beaten 1-0. Swansea City beating us 4-1 although that was a good watch on TV. Hull City easily beaten 5-1. Sheffield Wednesday beat us 2-0 but March started with a 3-0 win over Queens Park Rangers.


1) Arsenal

The month started with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester City. This was followed by a 2-1 win over Huddersfield Town.

In the Europa Cup we lost 1-0 to Bate Borisov but put that right with a 3-0 win in the return leg.

Southampton were beaten 2-0 and Bournemouth 5-1 so we have established our superiority over the South Coast.

The North London derby finished 1-1 and much has been written about the offside Tottenham goal as well as the soft penalty at the end of the match that was missed by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Try spelling that after a beer or two.

We lost 3-1 to Rennes last night in the first leg of the Europa Cup which sets things up nicely for the second leg. We will need to turn up for that match if we are to progress any further.


Now watching the unmanned American module returning to earth from the Space Station.