GW 13 Review

Ally: This was certainly one of our higher scoring weekends of the season so far, as two teams in particular went on a goalscoring spree and both happened to be among the more popular selections. On Saturday afternoon, Glasgow giants Celtic showed further signs of getting their season back on track (after what has been a very sluggish start by their own high standards) by dismantling current league leaders Hearts 5-0 at Celtic Park. This was followed up on Sunday afternoon by English Premier League favourites Manchester City brushing aside a struggling Southampton side 6-0, and in the process securing some very big scores for a large number of players.

Of the 29 players registering a ‘ton’, all had one or both of Celtic and Man City in their selections. A further 31 players scored between 80 and 99 points and again Man City in particular featured heavily in the vast majority of these selections. There were other notable and popular scorers over the weekend too, as Chelsea continued their good form to ease past Crystal Palace 3-1, while Everton and Stirling also hit 3 goals each.

However, there were some disappointing returns from much fancied teams too. Most of the culprits were up in Scotland; notably Peterhead, who raced into an early 2-0 lead against bottom side Albion and eventually limped home 2-1, while Raith Rovers also scored two when hopes and expectations were greater, while Championship and League One leaders Ayr & Arbroath respectively managed just a solitary goal each against unfancied opposition.

In true Ultimate Goals style, there were also a few teams that somewhat unexpectedly failed to trouble the scorers and contributed to the 13 minus 20s and 40s. Chief among these were Scottish Premier League side Hibernian, who lost 1-0 at home to St Johnstone, while National League side Barnet slumped to a surprise 2-0 reverse at home to struggling Maidstone. Elsewhere Nottingham Forest’s notoriously frail defence held out at home to then league leaders Sheffield United as the Reds ran out 1-0 winners.

This coming weekend sees the First Round proper of the FA Cup, at which point the League One, League Two and National League sides come to the table and meet the non league teams who have battled through qualification rounds to earn their shot at the big time. Remember that all teams (irrespective of the league they play in) are eligible for selection in the FA Cup.

Good luck for the coming weekend!