| August 2018 - A Friday night start to the new season saw Man United record a two-one win at home to Leicester City. The opening Sunday of the season saw champions Man City win two-nil at Arsenal. Liverpool also laid down a marker with a four-nil win at home to West Ham. In fact, Liverpool were one of three teams to end the month with three wins from three. They were joined at the top by Chelsea and Watford. Man City weren't too far behind - they drew one-all at Wolves to lurk two points behind the leaders. Defeats at Brighton and at home to Tottenham had the punters who backed Jose Mourinho for the sack race already anticipating an early fifteen point bonus. Gerry Moore was our first winner of 2018-2019. His score of 150 points held off Paul Prendergast's challenge. Victoria Reid's debut month saw her finish in third spot. You can see all the details from August 2018 by clicking here.... |
Harry the Hornet 2 Roy Hodgson 1.... |
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| September 2018 - The month finished with Man City leading the table on goal difference from Liverpool. Both sides had won six and drawn one of their opening seven games. Liverpool's first dropped points of the season came at Chelsea where a late Daniel Sturridge equaliser was needed to maintain their unbeaten record. Man United's poor season continued - their three-one defeat at West Ham meant they were already nine points behind the leaders. The top four was completed by Arsenal and Tottenham who were four points back. It was a family affair at the top of the September leaderboard with Eamon and Jonathan Fox sharing first place on 194 points - an ominous sign for the rest of the season. Damien Martin, Liam Keohan and John Brophy made up the rest of the top five for the month.... |
 Last gasp Daniel maintains Liverpool's unbeaten record - should have had money on it.... |
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| October 2018 - Riyad Mahrez missed a late penalty at Anfield to ensure only goal difference separated the champions from the challengers. This position stayed the same throughout October. Newcastle and Fulham ended the month as the only teams still to record a win and occupied the bottom two spots in the table. Newcastle were two up at Old Trafford early in the month but three second half goals from United completed a comeback which was to be one of the few highlights in a tricky season down Mancunian Way. A strong month from Chelsea saw them move into the top four, just two points behind the joint leaders at month-end. Chris Keohan bagged top spot for October with a score of 119 points. He had just two points to spare over Anastas Popov and the aforementioned Eamon Fox. The top five for October was completed by Aidan Scanlon and Victoria Reid.... |
 Jose gets one over on his old enemy Rafa.... |
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| November 2018 - November saw Man City win three league games from three scoring thirteen goals in the process. A three-one win over Man United was the cherry on the cake of an excellent month for the defending champions. They finished the month two points clear of Liverpool whose only dropped points in the month came in a one-all draw at Arsenal. Newcastle were another team that picked up three wins in a row to move from the relegation zone to mid table. Chelsea lost their unbeaten record following defeat at Tottenham. Both teams still occupied the Champions League spots by month end though. Caroline Carroll topped the leaderboard for November, easing to a nine point victory over Anastas Popov in second place. My annual short-lived appearance on the leaderboard saw me finish in third place with Richard Johnston and Brian Mullen also recording top five finishes.... |
 A first win for the beleaguered Toon Army.... |
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| December 2018 - A busy month saw Liverpool win seven games from seven to lead the table on New Year's Eve by, er, seven points. Among the wins was a three-one win over Man United at Anfield after which Jose Mourinho collected his P45. Divock Origi's injury-time winner against Everton was a portent of things to come for the Belgian striker. Man City lost three times in the month - against Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Leicester to give the rest of the league hope (spoiler - they would only lose one more league game all season). Tottenham and Chelsea were five points clear of Arsenal in fifth place. Huddersfield and Fulham occupied two of the bottom three places at the year end too. Jonathan Fox was the winner of this season's endurance race, winning in December. He had three points to spare over Andy Dunne with Ciaran O'Hart, Paul Prendergast and Dave McGinley also appearing on Santa's nice list.... |
The peasants were revolting at Old Trafford.... |
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| January 2019 - Man City's two-one win over Liverpool early in the new year would ultimately prove decisive in the title race. Leroy Sane's late goal would result in Liverpool's only league defeat of the season. The gap at the end of the month was still five points but City wouldn't lose again after their defeat to Newcastle on January 29th. Man United were enjoying an initial new manager boost under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with wins over Newcastle, Spurs and Brighton. The bottom three places were occupied by Cardiff, Fulham and Huddersfield - the three teams eventually relegated. Block 102 veteran Con McSweeney was the winner in our latest monthly competition. He scored 167 points and had twelve points to spare over Brendan Maguire in second place. January's top five was completed by Niall Carroll, Craig Calvert and Matthew Lynch. |
Having almost negotiated Cardiff's exit from the Premier League, Neil Warnock then turned his attention to Brexit.... |
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| February 2019 - February saw Liverpool encounter a series of drawn games that would ultimately cost them in the title race. Dropped points against West Ham and Man United would allow Man City to close the gap at the top of the table to just one point by month end. For their part, City recorded convincing wins against Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton and West Ham. Man United's good run under their new manager had them right back in the Champions League mix. Just three points separated Arsenal, Man United and Chelsea in the race for fourth spot. Southampton's victory over Fulham on February 27th saw them swap places with Cardiff down near the bottom. Eamon Fox was back in the winners enclosure, winning another monthly competition with 188 points. Anastas Popov was second, just eight points behind. Karl Boland, Kris Stainton and Wayne Donovan finished in the top five for the month too. |
 Guess who's back, back again.... |
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| March 2019 - Man City regained the title initiative after Liverpool were held goalless by Everton in the Mersey Derby on March 3rd. That was the last time in the season that either of the top two dropped points. I don't remember piece of trivia like that before... A poor run of defeats meant Tottenham's place in the top four was suddenly in doubt - they lost to Southampton and Liverpool in March. Just one point separated Spurs, Man United, Arsenal and Chelsea in the battle for third and fourth places. Huddersfield's relegation was confirmed on March 30th following defeat at Crystal Palace. It wouldn't take Stephen Hawking to figure out that they'd soon be joined by Cardiff and Fulham in the Championship next season. Graham Goodwin was the winner in March. He had the bare minimum to spare, just one point, over Liam Keohan and Roisin Joyce who shared second place. Andy Dunne and Joe Behan finished in the leading positions in March too, completing the top five. |
 Goalless in Goodison with the result cheered from Moss Side to Rhyl.... |
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| April 2019 - Despite losing out to Tottenham in the Champions League, Man City won five league games in April to move to within two victories of retaining their title. Liverpool hopes rested on Man United taking points from City at Old Trafford but an April collapse by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side put paid to that. A one-all draw at home to Chelsea on April 28th ensured United wouldn't be in next season's Champions League. Tottenham celebrated their first game in their new stadium by ensuring their top four finish too. Fulham joined Huddersfield in relegation before the month was out too. Con McSweeney recorded his second monthly victory of the season. He had three points to spare over Ciaran O'Hart. Champion-elect in the main competition, Eamon Fox, finished third with Joe Behan and Niall Carroll completing the top five. |
 Six points from the title.... |
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| May 2019 - The title race went to the last day with Man City retaining their title with a four-one win at Brighton. Liverpool's hopes were raised briefly when Shane Duffy headed the hosts into the lead but City's response was emphatic as they won a third title in five years. For Jurgen Klopp's side, consolation would come in the form of a sixth European Cup in Madrid a few weeks later. Cardiff, Fulham and Huddersfield bid farewell to the top division to be replaced by Norwich City, Sheffield United and Aston Villa. Wolves first season back in the top division ended with a European place. With just two matches in the month, a sprint finish to the season saw Damien Martin and Phil Doyle sharing top spot on 77 points. Brian Mullen, Anastas Popov and Philip Jordan finished in the top five for May. |
 Worthy winners after a fine title race... |
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| Overall Competition - Looking back over the weekly updates, Eamon Fox, our eventual winner was in contention throughout the season. Uncannily similar to Man City, he went ahead in February and topped the table until season end, collecting the €200 first prize. Jonathan Fox had to be content with second place and €100 for a second consecutive season. Can he go one better in 2019-20? Con McSweeney finished in third place and collected a €50 prize.
2018-2019 also saw top ten finishes for Anastas Popov, Craig Calvert, Kris Stainton, Dave McGinley, Karl Boland, Pat Jordan and Aidan White. We go again in August for the new season.... Being a generous type of webmaster, I also threw in a couple of cup competitions for free during the season. Eamon Fox won a second trophy, winning our League Cup competition, after beating Paul Moore in the final. That followed victories over Simon Scanlon, Pat Jordan, Eoghan Farrelly, Joe Behan and Dave McGinley. Our FA Cup competition went the way of Graham Goodwin beating Aidan Scanlon in the final. Graham's victory came after beating Joe Behan, Simon Scanlon, Liam Geraghty, Roisin Joyce and Pat Jordan on the road to virtual Wembley!! |
 Foxes in the box seat... |
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