It was a very HNY for Adrian Lewis who, on the way to bagging his second PDC Darts World Championship, threw a 122 checkout, his highest, and the highest of the final's first set. And so he provided us with the answer to last week's question. The winner of a £200 Total Goals bet was one Mr TH, drawn at random from several guesses within one point of being correct.
Prepare to hear numerous utterances of words such as "romantic", "minnows", and "giant-killing" from the mouths of clichéd sports presenters this weekend as the top-flight teams enter the FA Cup. Fancy winning a £200 Total Goals bet? Just tell us how many goals will be scored by Premier League sides in the romantic FA Cup third round - this weekend and Monday only, not including replays. Email themole@sportingindex.com by 12.30pm Saturday.
Yours in clues: you'll know how many Liverpool have contributed by then. They play Oldham on Friday night.
"1-0, to the Ars-e-nal!" It was like being transported back to the George Graham days when the Gooners visited Craven Cottage last Monday. After they took the lead through Laurent Koscielny on 21 minutes, Arsenal became a bit less like the Barcelona of the Premier League and a bit more like the Gunners of the Old Division One. In struggling to soak up everything an attacking Fulham side could throw at them, Johann Djourou forgot he was Swiss and waged a one-man war on Martin Jol's men, getting away with a couple of rash challenges before his second booking on 78 minutes. Fulham's Win Index was available to buy at 3 at that point with one shrewd punter going long for £150. Late strikes from Arsenal reject Steve Sidwell and former Spurs striker Bobby Zamora rocked the Johnny Haynes stand and the world of our punter, to the tune of £3,300.
How does a darts player perceived as arrogant win over a baying Ally Pally crowd? By staging the comeback of all-time, that's how. Unfortunately, you can't please everyone and several Sporting Index punters were left seriously short-changed when Adrian 'Jackpot' Lewis came back from 5-1 down to defeat James 'the Machine' Wade in the PDC World Championship semis. An error, then, to buy Wade's Set Supremacy at 20.5 for £50, as one client did. Rather than using a screwdriver and delicately taking the Machine apart bit by bit, Lewis opted for the sledgehammer and smashed it to smithereens. With Wade's confidence shot to pieces, Lewis won 10 straight legs on his way to victory, sealing it with a magnificent 161 checkout. The final Set Supremacy had completely swung the other way by the end, to 13 in Lewis' favour, costing this punter £1675.
Premier League Relegation Index
After a shocking home defeat to Wigan and the sacking of Steve Bruce, Sunderland found themselves in a real relegation dogfight. They were being quoted at 9-11 on the Premier League Relegation Index and their total points were quoted as low as 38.5-40. However, when Martin O'Neill took over the Black Cats' fortunes started to turn. They have picked up 10 points from the 5 games in which he has been in charge – including an impressive 1-0 win against high flying Man City. They are now 1-3 on the Relegation Index and can turn their attentions to climbing into the top half, possibly catching rivals Newcastle in the process!
Description:"They don't teach that at training camp." Cincinnati Bengals' Jerome Simpson is head-over-heels with this touchdown. And this one, from a month earlier.
Extra: Gizza snog, Ji! Ooh, I love it when you play hard to get.
The winter games have come on a bit since the 1920s.
*Mole
Competition Terms & Conditions: Unless otherwise stated,
the one winning Mole competition entry will be randomly picked from
all correct entries received by the stipulated deadline (or in the
case of no correct entries, the entries nearest to the correct answer).
