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.