It’s Christmas time, and at FFUK, we are all for contributing to your festive cheer. So, as a bit of a Christmas bonus for you, both of the FFUK CUP and CHALLENGE CUP tabs have now been updated, midway through the current rounds.
There are two more gameweeks in both of the current cup rounds, Gameweek 18 and Gameweek 19. The points accrued in this period all up up for your December score. To find out your December score simply go to the FFUK league within FPL and in the drop-down list above the league change from ‘Overall’ to ‘December’.
However, if you are still in either of the cups, your current score for December has been updated on the FFUK CUP or CHALLENGE CUP tabs above.
I’ve had a look at how things stand in these fixtures, and here are some of the fruity bits for you:
The FFUK Cup
The FFUK Cup is really hotting up now, and these final two gameweeks of the month could swing many of the fixtures. Of the 32 ties, well over half of them are currently scored with leads of 20 points or under, with plenty left to play for. A few fixtures however, look pretty done already. Well I say that, but some part of me still thinks a 60 point (yes, 60 point) deficit can still be surpassed? Isn’t Christmas the time for magic? Isn’t Christmas the time for dreams to come true? Last season I was undone by Matt Packham (currently 23 points behind Richard Green in his fixture) and rued not using a triple captain or bench boost to get me through to the next round. I think it unlikely that a chip will be enough this time though, as Andrew Coombs is in excellent form, sitting in 18th place for the month of December, while I languish in 157th. I need stellar scores. I need magic. I need my Christmas dream to come true.
It’s a similar December tale for Haroon Rashid, who despite accruing 219 points, happens to be playing Dean Collins who is top for the month of December with 280 points so far. Dean has just hit the Top 50 and was ranked around 1.6 million in the game overall in GW13. I expect he was somewhere around the bottom of Page 3 or even on Page 4 back then? He now sits on a rank of 364k, the 101 points he earned in GW14 particularly impressive.
My brother in law Sam Clegg was having a good run, but his December drop in form has coincided with a display of solidarity from League 3rd place Nick Johns, leaving a gap of 46 points to make up in their cup fixture. Could be worse Sam.
The Stuart derby is shaping up to a be a good match, especially considering Stuart Newton sits top of the FFUK league. He does have a lead (223 v 201) in his cup fixture against Stuart Raine, but only by 22 points, and with a Costa ban for both teams to navigate, that fixture still remains pretty open. (Ouch, Raine had Negredo on the bench last week too…)
Elsewhere, Challoner’s old boys Mark Turnbull and Richard Harrison are gritting their teeth in a feisty yet low scoring battle (179 v 186). With just 7 points between them, this fixture looks like it will go to the last.
Finally a word on Sean Colohan v Jim Wheat, a juicy high-scoring tie with a lead of 17 points for Jim (221 v 244). Now while Sean tells us he is ‘having a bad month’ he still sits 2nd in the league and seeing as he’s scored 40 odd points more than me for December, I’m not sure it constitutes a bad month. I wish I was having as bad a month as Coolers anyway!
The Challenge Cup
It’s good to see that there is a marked difference in the scores achieved in the two cups, as while the high flyers, both for the month and overall, battle it out in the FFUK Cup, the Challenge Cup fixtures see some teams lower down in the league going for the prizes.
There are some high scoring fixtures though, Mark Ford is having a bit of a resurgence, back in the Top 10 and leading Daron Russell in the CC by 252 to 224. Daz has already used a bench boost but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Daz using some of his dark matter to get through this heat.
How about this for a lead? Kieran Webb is beating Mike Kebby by 91 points. You’re the first name on the next round sheet Kieran.
Joe Traynor is beating Sam Calton by 6 points, and these two are currently 8th and 11th for December respectively. What a whopper! These two are averaging 249 points for December, and they happened to get each other in the cup. Is that lucky or unlucky? Either way, fair play guys, great scores!
How about this for a lead? Tom Wollin is beating Lee Macnamara by 121 points. Asides of a miracle you’re through to the next round Tom. Maybe Lee should try and be more like James Macnamara? James is beating Conor Andrews by 98 points. Steady.
And that’s it for now. I’m going to try and squeeze in the next Cupdate as close to New Years Day as I can, bearing in mind there is only a one day break between Gameweeks 19 and 20. The plan is to carry out the draw for the FFUK Cup that day, although the next round of the Challenge Cup fixtures may take a day or so to complete.
Anyway, have a great Christmas, and good luck for the rest of the December matches!
Pete
FFUK 