After 20 games and a possible 60 points Lindsey McKenzie from Imperial continues to set the pace on 25 points after another batch of difficult to predict games, taking her correct score total to 6.
Debbie Regan at Limagrain has also hit 6 correct scores to take her overall score to 24 points whilst John Harris from England Athletics only has 5 correct scores but also shares 24 points.
Overall it is still a very close contest with everyone still in with a good chance and 28 games to go. An awful amount of work still to get through but I will do my utmost to keep you posted. Nowhere in the world could you get this amount of entertainment for this price.
There is a great battle developing in the Smith household with Philip on 22 and John breathing down his neck on 20 points.Just behind them is M Foster Smith on 18 points closely followed by Sam, who we wish a speedy recovery, on 16 points.Again things can take a dramatic turn but at the moment they lead their clan and keep in the mix amongst the overall leaders. Madeline holds a respectable 10 points.
Chris Maurier on 18 points has opened a 5 point gap over Brother Frank on 13 after being on level pegging at the last count which proves how quick the tide can turn.
In the 8 Hair salon Chris and Diane are keeping themselves up amongst it and have permed their way to 16 points a piece so honours even at the moment with Vicki not quite making the cut on 11 points. Come on Vicki sharpen those scissors!
A good section score for Heidi doubles her score to an impressive 18 points and could well give John Harris on 24 points a good run for his money.
The Imperial battle sees Competition leader Lindsey McKenzie consistently performing but closest rival Jim Masterton has narrowed the gap and sits on 17 points, closely followed by Steve Skinner and Abbie Curtis on 16, Steve Parish on 14, and percussionist Skip Scultz drumming up his 13 points and hoping to up the beat as we enter the second third of the contest.
Meanwhile, Debbie Regan continues to sort the wheat from the chaff at Limagrain with a second placed overall top score of 24 points. A productive Alan Paterson has bagged 18 points and Dave Bass is not just milling around on 15 points. Jenny Mussell shares the 15 point mark with her analysis and not far behind are Tracey Burns on 13 points and Rachael Plaskitt on 12. Again another close battle which can go a number of ways..........or will it be Au Revoir.
Richard Jones is making steady progress with his consistent 18 points, two points ahead of Alfie Washington and 7 points ahead of Jacob Spencer.
Ollie Swallow still leads Sister Leanne by 1 point with 16 points and 15 respectively.
MD Brian Harper falls further behind Wife Carol who looks like going " Solo" with her mighty 20 point haul, leaving Brian some catching up to do on 15 points so he won't be blowing his trumpet for at least another week. Come on Brian the whole nation is behind you! Thanks for bringing in the brass Brian but barges are better! { Sounds like a quote by Eric Cantona}
I can see Chairman Rob West booking another holiday quite soon because since he went away his scoring has dramatically increased and after a slow start he now sits on 15 points.
Don Souter has had his lead cut by Wife Helen, on 11, but following Rangers he is used to that and can hopefully build on his 16 points.
Rob Gallant is still searching for the melody and sits on 12 points but can up the beat within a heartbeat.
Gina Boakes continues to make steady progress on 13 points and is a point behind friend Iaan Wilson.
Jenny, come back soon we all love you , Cobley has hit a dry patch on 10 points as has Riichard Nunn on 9 points, 2 points behind Malisa Brewill on 11 points
Chris and Jimmy lead the Lefler Towers on 11 points, closely followed by Ali on 10 points, whilst Tim continues to lead them all into a false sense of security on 6 points before he makes his move to outgun them.
TABLE READS:
| Lindsey McKenzie | 25 |
| John Harris | 24 |
| Debbie Regan | 24 |
| Philip Smith | 22 |
| John Smith | 20 |
| Carol Harper | 20 |
| M Foster Smith | 18 |
| Heidi Bradley | 18 |
| Alan Paterson | 18 |
| Richard Jones | 18 |
| Chris Maurier | 18 |
| Paul Smith | 17 |
| Jim Masterton | 17 |
| Ollie Swallow | 16 |
| Sam Smith | 16 |
| Alfie Washington | 16 |
| Don Souter | 16 |
| Abbie Curtis | 16 |
| Steve Skinner | 16 |
| Diane Dicotteo | 16 |
| Chris Dicotteo | 16 |
| Leanne Swallow | 15 |
| Brian Harper | 15 |
| Jenny Mussell | 15 |
| Dave Bass | 15 |
| Rob West | 15 |
| Steve Parish | 15 |
| Iaan Wilson | 14 |
| Roxanna Britton | 14 |
| Callie Nolan | 14 |
| Andrew Blades | 14 |
| Bonnie Wilson | 14 |
| Emma Hurst | 13 |
| Gina Boakes | 13 |
| Daniel Smith | 13 |
| P Dolby | 13 |
| Frank Maurier | 13 |
| Tracey Burns | 13 |
| Chris Mallender | 13 |
| John Nolan | 13 |
| Skip Schultz | 13 |
| Gareth Bland | 12 |
| Rob Gallant | 12 |
| Theresa Philips | 12 |
| Malisa Brewill | 11 |
| Chris Lefler | 11 |
| Jimmy Browne | 11 |
| Jacob Spender | 11 |
| Kala | 11 |
| Helen Souter | 1 |
| Vicki 8Hair | 11 |
| Jenny Cobley | 10 |
| Ali Lefler | 10 |
| Chris Lefler | 10 |
| Madeline | 10 |
| Richard Nunn | 9 |
| Angie Coddington | 9 |
| Keiron | 9 |
| D Dolby | 7 |
| Tim Lefler | 6 |
14 games through and a possible 42 points up for grabs it's Lindsey McKenzie still leading the pack with 20 points.
Sunday proved to be the toughest test so far and 2 "Shock" results saw bookies favourites Brasil held to a draw by the Swiss which was actually predicted by 3 people whilst another 3 predicted a draw.
Possibly the biggest shock of the tournament so far saw the Mexicans hassle the Germans for 90 minutes and come away with a 1-0 win and was by no means a fluke on their overall performance.
As usual England left it very late to snatch victory but could hit a massive stumbling block when they meet the impressive Belgians ,who thrashed Panama 3-0 with one of the goals of the tournament so far from Dries Mertens. Hopefully England will also thrash Panama and go into their final Group game on level pegging with the Belgians.
VAR love it or hate it, England hate it after some shocking decisions ignored during their game, but Sweden can thank it for their penalty decision which would have been missed and gave them a 1-0 victory over Korea.
Back to the in Competition battles Lindsey McKenzie continues to set the pace at Imperial with 20 points and leads the overall Competition.Her closest rival there is Steve Skinner on 13 points closely followed by Steve Parish on 12 points and Bonnie Wilson on 11.
Second overall in the Comp is Debbie Regan on 18 points and she leads the way at Limagrain with Alan Paterson not too far behind on 13 and as I said before Dave Bass can move when he wants to and 8 points from those last 6 games now brings him right up there on 10. Jenny Mussell on 10 points too closely followed by Tracey Burns and Rachael Plaskitt on 9 points.
Third overall saw John Harris from England Athletics had a great day on Monday to bring his score to 17 points whilst his counterparts all share 9 points each.
Fourth overall sees Carol Harper on 16 points, 4 points ahead of hubby Brian who won't be blowing bubbles as he will be more "Spitting feathers". Come on Brian we are rooting for you!
Equal Fourth sees Philip Smith lead the household with John Smith close on 14 points.
Sixth placed Chris Maurier on 15 points leads brother Frank by 5 points
Despite Leanne Swallow being one of the very few to predict the Brazil result Brother Ollie leapfrogs her overall score by a single point on 12.
In the 8 Hair Salon battle Diane leads on 11 in a very close battle with Chris on 10 and Vicki on 6.
Ali and Chris Lefler both lead their household on 7 points with Dad Jimmy on 6.
Still a long way to go and things can change so quickly but good luck to everyone and again Thanks for your support for a great cause.
8 games into what's proving to be a very tough and close fought contest we have already seen a couple of "Shock " results and also witnessed why, at 33 years old, Ronaldo is still the best player in the world by a mile, whilst the second best player missed a penalty and is now known as Lionel Missi.The best game so far has to be the thrilling 3-3 draw of Portugal and Spain which was a refreshing change to see two teams actually going for it instead of defending and trying not to lose. The most popular correct result saw France beat Australia 2-1, and 12 people correctly predicted, and Pogba did't even need a Russian Linesman to claim his goal.(For those not familiar Jeff Hurst England 66) Biggest shock was the opening game of the 2 worst teams in the competition. However , how long now before we will be seeing a few Saudi defenders sporting brand new Russian yachts! It is early days yet and with just 8 games played, only another 40 to go, from a possible 24 points to be had we have 4 joint leaders all on 10 points and after 3 blank scores Debbie Regan is the only person with 3 correct scores! She holds top spot with Carol Harper, who is currently 3 points ahead of hubby and MD Brian, and John Harris from England Athletics along with Lindsey McKenzie from Imperial Ford. Come on boys what's going on! Truth is that these females really like the footy more than us but don't like to admit it.
Close second is Paul Smith and Chris Maurier, both on 9 points, closely followed by our own Jenny Cobley who we all wish very well and hope for a speedy recovery. We all love and miss you Jenny so hurry back. I knew that would put a smile on her face.
Lots of mini battles within the Comp so will try to keep you all informed.
The biggest battle is within Imperial Ford where Lindsey McKenzie leads the way on 10 points with her closest rival Steve Skinner sitting on 6 points with Skip,Andrew Blades and Angie Compton all on 5 but things can change quick in this competition so keep your eyes peeled.
In the 8 Hair salon Vicki is the only one with a correct score but Diane and Chris both have 5 correct results so all three are on level pegging with 5 points a piece.Should be a good battle this one with the footy mad female element!
John Nolan leads his household on 7 points. Good lad! Whilst Kala notches 4, Callie 3 and Keiron 1.
In the battle at Limagrain again it's the feisty females dominating the scoring. debbie Regan leads the way on 10 points whilst closest rival Tracey Burns hits 7 points with Wifey Jenny Mussell and Rachael Plaskitt on 6 points closely followed by Alan Patterson on 5 points and usual slow starter Dave Bass on 2 points. You wait till he gets going Bassy can really shift!
Don Souter just outpointing Wife Helen by 2 points with 7 and 5 respectively but should see a good contest.
Richard Jones and Alfie Washington share 7 points each just ahead of Jacob Spencer on 4 points.
Chris Maurier leads Frank Maurier with 9 points to 6 points but again early days.Philip Smith and M Foster Smith both share 7 points to lead their household but Madeline on 3 points will be keeping a close eye on them in the coming matches.
Both Gina Boaks and friend IaanWilson share a respectable 5 points so the study looks like it paying off Gina so good luck and remember it can all change at the drop of a hat so I suspect you may be up their quite soon.
Leanne Swallow leading Brother Ollie by 5 points to 4 at the moment and flying the flag for the Bass section I hope he pulls his socks up!
Of the other band members Malisa Brewill sits on 3 points, Richard Nunn on 5,Rob Gallant on 5, past prize winner Rob West on 3 but not for long I suspect, and Heidi's correct score last night brings here up to 5 points.
In the Lefler household Ali and Chris hold the bragging rights on 4 points with Dad Jimmy on 3 and Tim holding up the rear on 1 point.
Sorry if I have missed anyone out but I hope you appreciate the amount of work going into this competition collating and recording all the results and checking sheets etc but a massive THANKS to all those that bothered to enter (All 60 of you) and here's hoping for a great contest.
Remember .............it's a marathon not a sprint! Here's to the next 40 games.
The last chance to enter Ade's World Cup competition is Thursday 14th June. It's all fun, in a good cause and worth the £5 just to read Ade's commentary that will appear in News. You don't need football knowledge, Rob won last time so proves that!
There's no rehearsal on Sunday 1st April (really!!)