Dear All,

The results of the quarter finals of the DITB FFA Cup are as follows;

The Blue Monkeys (P19)                    14      vs            31            Gunning for Glory (C3)

A really terrible season for Brother Shields is compounded by this humiliating defeat at the hands of the Conference League’s Brother Jones.  Evidence perhaps that the CL is now where the Blue Monkeys will find their level?

 

Cherry United (C4)                               16      vs            16            KFC Academical (P16)

Another PL failure against CL opposition but at least The Colonel will have another chance against Brother Cherry Snr (both teams being as bad as each other).  The replay will take place this weekend but if there’s another tie, then Cherry United will progress by virtue of the ‘home draw’ rule.

Harpic Amsterdam (P2)                     40       vs            10            Vuvuzola FC (P4)

Brother Risley didn’t show up for this match but even if he had, he would have found it hard to beat double-chasing Molloy.  A proper thumping!!!

 

Bleedin’ Red (P14)                               29      vs            30            Probably the Best (P6)

Having beaten The Chairman by a single point in the last round, the tables have cruelly turned on Brother Crudden this week as he is on the wrong end of a one point victory for Brother Stevenson.

 

So there you have it my friends.  Congratulations to our winners and commiserations to our losers.

The crucial draw for the semi-finals will be made next week when we find out the winner of the quarter final replay between Cherry Utd and KFC Academical.

League update to follow in due course.

 

 

Michael R.

Diving in the Box FF League Chairman

http://divinginthebox.blogspot.com/ 

 

 

Dear All,

The quarter finals of the DITB FFA Cup will take place this weekend, with six Premier League teams and two Conference going into the last eight draw.

Brother Johnston, can you empty your ball bag into the container provided and start the quarter final draw please.   

Okay, now we're ready.

Drum roll please........ 

The Blue Monkeys (P19)                    vs            Gunning for Glory (C3)

Cherry United (C4)                               vs            KFC Academical (P16)

Harpic Amsterdam (P2)                     vs            Vuvuzola FC (P4)

Bleedin’ Red (P14)                               vs            Probably the Best (P6)

So there you have it my friends, the two Conference teams will fancy their chances having both been drawn against potential PL relegation candidates.

 

And a top of the table clash between Brothers Molloy and Risley should also make for an exciting contest.

 

The other all Premiership clash sees Brothers Crudden and Stevenson do battle in what is, to be honest, the least exciting tie of the round (sorry lads!).

So that concludes the draw for this year's quarter finals.

Good luck to all involved (as if the rest of us care!). ;-)

Michael R.

Diving in the Box FF League Chairman

http://divinginthebox.blogspot.com/

Dear All,

 

As the season moves into its final quarter (what’s known to many as the ‘business end’), it looks like there’s no stopping The Professor from lifting a record 4^th Premier League title.

 

Brother Festraerts continues to set a pace with which the others are struggling to keep up, with a 30 point gap now to Harpic Amsterdam in second place and a further 30 points to Diaby Does Dallas   in third.

 

Defending champions The Grapes of Raff have long ago lowered their sights to a more realistic target of European qualification, and occupy fifth position, just behind Vuvuzola FC who is enjoying his debut season in the elite league.

 

Others with European ambitions include Probably the Best, the Prince of Darkness,  Gazza’s Piping Hots and Flexysmidniterunners but it’s hard to see anyone outside of that group making a late run.

 

In the Premiership relegation scrap, it’s by no means a done deal as to who will be kissing PL football goodbye in May and joining the infidels in the Conference League next season, and who knows maybe for eternity (just ask Paddy Sulls).

 

Yer Ma’s Athletic are currently bottom, joined by the Blue Monkeys (shock horror) and Gulladuff FF (par for the course) but with The Busted Sofas hovering not far above, all three teams will be hopeful that they can leapfrog Brother Donnelly back into the promised land.

 

KFC Academical is also unsurprisingly still in the mix to offer hope to the relegation threatened sides, while Guru Walls needs to tread carefully if he doesn’t want to be dragged into a bottom of the table dogfight for survival.

 

That leaves about five PL teams to wallow in mid table mediocrity until the end of the season.

 

Turning our attention (with disdain) to the Conference League, league leaders The Rio Chargers look home and dry, as does Kirbs Crawlers, hoping to show the countless other relegated teams before him how to make a successful quick return to the Premiership.

 

The battle for the final promotion spot looks like it will be fought out between quite a number of teams but Gunning for Glory are in the hot seat now with Cherry United in hot pursuit.

 

At the bottom of the Conference, where the lowest of the low hang out, Brother McAvoy is already relegated.

 

Who else will go down though and pay the forfeit remains to be seen.  Hoof Hearted and Dirty Dubs might be in the bottom three right now but that situation could easily change, especially with a trio of O’Sullivans just ahead of them.  That’s almost enough to give even McAvoy hope of avoiding the drop!!!

 

Highest scorers this week were Brother Brogan with a remarkable 83 points, well ahead of The Grapes (61) and Sofa King Watt (60).

 

At the other end of the scale, the Dirty Dubs managed a total of just 17 points with Stickshifter United and Fullofthepipe both scoring 28.

 

Coming up next is the draw for the quarter finals of the FFA Cup which take place this weekend, so stay tuned.

 

Until then though........

 

........... READ ‘EM AND WEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Michael R.

Diving in the Box FF League Chairman

http://divinginthebox.blogspot.com/ 

 

DITB PREMIER LEAGUE

POS	Manager	Team name	Total points	Week pts	Starting XI pts	Starting XI pos	Goals	Goal Pos	Overall Position
1	Kurt Festraerts	Golden Generation	1252	58	975	23429	78	2204	1743
2	Mark Molloy	Harpic Amsterdam	1222	45	921	51874	64	40457	4775
3	Paul Brogan	Diaby Does Dallas	1192	83	872	88324	70	15029	10948
4	Philip Risley	VUVUZOLA FC	1180	35	924	49955	65	35201	14502
5	Michael Rafferty	The Grapes of Raff	1175	61	876	85194	66	30301	16221
6	Mark Stevenson	Probably the Best	1152	51	922	51224	55	104822	25906
6	Gavin Sheehy	prince of darkness	1152	32	989	18320	67	25904	25906
8	Gary McDonald	Gazza's Piping Hots	1131	56	904	63805	58	81255	37441
9	Brendan Kelly	FlexysMidniteRunners	1113	36	831	122087	55	104822	49280
10	Jules Eilledge	True Blue Strikers	1089	48	947	36443	60	66343	67244
11	Owen McNally	Maclacticos	1083	34	846	109684	55	104822	72104
12	Geoff Johnston	Minus Three FC	1079	41	752	177415	52	128445	75372
13	John McDermott	Sofa King Watt	1075	60	771	166142	58	81255	78556
14	Declan Crudden	Bleedin Red	1053	37	784	157661	56	96774	96583
15	Conor Walls	Wallsy's Warriors	1037	41	934	43734	54	112695	109437
16	Kevin McCauley	KFC Academical	1012	46	793	151300	54	112695	128899
17	Conor Donnelly	The Busted Sofas	999	38	795	149840	52	128445	138479
18	Brendan Henry	Gulladuff FF	986	39	809	139460	49	150635	147321
19	Brian Shields	The Blue Monkeys	980	29	894	71155	55	104822	151325
20	Francis Jones	Yer Ma's Athletic	978	46	935	43143	49	150635	152569

 

DITB CONFERENCE LEAGUE

POS	Manager	Team name	Total points	Week pts	Starting XI pts	Starting XI pos	Goals	Goal Pos	Overall Position
1	Andrew Jenkins	The Rio Chargers	1217	45	936	42547	70	15029	5550
2	Andy Kirby	Kirbs Crawlers	1187	35	956	31771	74	6382	12336
3	Barry Jones	Gunning for Glory	1135	53	816	134083	67	25904	35085
4	William Cherry	Cherry United	1121	33	900	66776	62	52603	43703
5	Gavin Curran	Mattrua	1094	37	631	215489	65	35201	63357
6	Barry Corr	bazkinginglory	1078	36	957	31271	56	96774	76143
7	Simon Jenkins	Stickshifter United	1069	28	1074	2619	54	112695	83326
8	Arnold Thom	Inshallah	1064	30	808	140258	59	73673	87416
9	Andrew McCabe	Joeys Monsters	1058	36	1003	14036	60	66343	92485
10	Austin McGinley	Boys of Summer	1053	41	785	156969	56	96774	96583
11	Claire McCabe	MiniBabyBelleFC	1047	53	939	40835	43	187778	101390
12	Christopher Cherry	Jittery Dynamos	1042	46	870	89910	72	10019	105446
13	Conor Nugent	the well hungarians	1027	43	848	108040	57	88994	117129
14	Brendan Henry	Fullofthepipe	1024	28	887	76555	55	104822	119503
15	Joseph O'Sullivan	TORRES and co	1005	42	766	169271	56	96774	134187
16	Simon O'sullivan	HaHa Barca wankasFAF	1002	56	825	126984	49	150635	136308
17	Joseph O'Sullivan	COOL DUDE ZOO	1001	42	671	208425	55	104822	137008
18	Alan McCabe	Dirty Dubs XI	996	17	711	196428	38	209019	140530
19	Gareth Bradley	Hoof Hearted UTD	977	41	717	194171	45	176552	153157
20	Conor Mcavoy	Real Goldfish	777	36	777	162426	47	164360	220062