The points are in, the tallies have been totalled and the winner of the JOE.ie Fantasy Football J-League for 2011/12 is… Brian Duffy.
Gameweek 38 Review
While we would be loathe to ever downgrade the importance of Fantasy Football, it absolutely took a back seat to the drama that unfolded across various Premier League grounds on the most exciting final day ever seen in the competition’s history.
Somewhat fittingly then, only one player involved in the title race or the relegation scrap made their way onto the dream team this week and that was Bolton’s Mark Davies (10 points), who was the scorer of the most fortunate goal of the weekend as the ball ricocheted off his shin into the net for a goal that ultimately proved worthless in the Trotters’ battle to avoid the drop.
Two goals in the same game earned our own Jonathan Walters 14 points, although how his first goal for shouldering Bogdan out of the way was awarded we’ll never know.
Away from the Britannia, Johnny Heitinga (17) and Emerson Boyce (16) were the highest scorers for the week, while two Chelsea players that won’t be featuring in the Champions League Final at the weekend, John Terry and Raul Meireles, both featured in the Dream Team with ten points apiece alongside Laurent Koscielny (10), Angel Rangel (9), Danny Graham (9) and Simeon Jackson (9).
Season Review
As for the season overall, five teams are represented in the highest scoring XI, with the untouchable Robin van Persie leading the way on 269 points, 39 better than his nearest challenger, Wayne Rooney.
Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, David Silva and Sergio Aguero make up the Champions’ contingent, while Kyle Walker, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott ensure a heavy presence from North London.
Patrice Evra joins Wayne Rooney from the runners-up and Clint Dempsey is well worth the final spot after a 209 point haul that was bettered only by the front three of Van Persie, Rooney and Aguero.
J-League
The final day of the J-League offered up nowhere near the drama of its Premier League counterpart, but that will matter little to overall winner Brian Duffy, who cruised to a 12 point victory after his outfit, Fergie’s Fledglings, posted the same 47-point total as his nearest challengers, Conor Sheehy’s A Great Bunch’a Lads.
None of the top five, in fact, managed to exceed 50 points, but Conell Cashell, Eoin Groarke and Matt Light all deserve to shamelessly gloat over their friends (as they have no doubt done in the past few days) after finishing in the final top five.
Harsh and all as it might sound, however, nobody remembers who finished in second and beyond and this day is all about Brian Duffy, whose 2,292 points was enough to finish in the top 350 out of nearly three million players overall. No mean feat, I think you’ll agree.
Asked to reveal what led him to success, Brian told us: “Well I couldn’t be sharing my secrets now!
“I suppose you have to be careful in your transfer decision making but you don’t have to be over conservative and never get attached to your own club’s players. Apart from that, I suppose I was helped by a little bit of luck along the way and, of course, the wonderful tips provided by JOE on a weekly basis, which were a must read to gain those extra points.”
Aw shucks, those words – which were in no way at all put in Brian’s mouth beforehand – are a nice way to sign off the last Fantasy Football contribution of the season, but we’ll be back again in August to do it all over again.
On a final note, an approving nod must be cast in the direction of my colleague Emmet Purcell, who was the clear winner of the in-house JOE League, beating your humble author by an all too easy 87 points.
Fortunately, Emmet was stupid enough not to insist that any money be handed over for his victory – something that will be remedied next year, when his incredibly lucky success will surely not be repeated.
Talk to you again in August!
Champion J-League Top 5:
- Fergie’s Fledglings – Brian Duffy: 2,292 points
- A Great Bunch’a Lads – Conor Sheehy: 2,280 points
- Cashmachines – Conell Cashell : 2,272 points
- Sure Now – Eoin Groarke: 2,261 points
- Mamelodi Sundowns – Matt Light: 2,260 points
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