American outfits star in cup

There will be two American contenders in the semi-finals of the Grappa Cup. Cant Get Right and Beat Scotty both made it through with thrilling victories.

They are joined by the fast rising Titus Bramble and the last remaining Serie A outfit the Lockerbie Legends.

Full results were

Beat Scotty 4 Doonhamers 2
Cant Get Right 1 Bairnfica 1 (Cant Get Right win 5-3 on penalties)
Titus Bramble 5 Sicilia 4
Gianfranco Gorgonzola 1 Lockerbie Legends 3

The semi-final draw for this weekend's game is as follows.

Titus Bramble v Beat Scotty
Lockerbie Legends v Cant Get Right

Meanwhile, the Serie A race has hotted up yet further as Team Ramrod rose to the top in the defence of their title. No fewer than nine teams are within seven points.

In Serie B, Beat Scotty are making a serious bid for the top spot and have closed the gap on Fitz_Hattrick and FC Copenhacking to make the battle very interesting.

Cup quarter finals decided

A few more Serie A sides took a tumble in the Grappa Cup last 16. Most notably, the high-flying G31 Galacticos who were narrowly defeated by Titus Bramble in a thriller at the Galactico Dome.

The full results

G31 Galacticos 2 Titus Bramble 3 (after extra time)
Beat Scotty 3 FC Copenhacking 1
Oisin's Eleven 0 Cant Get Right 1
Fitz_Hattrick 0 Bairnfica 1
Willie's Warriors 1 Lockerbie Legends 2
Gianfranco Gorgonzola 2 We Ate All The Pies 0
Sicilia 2 The Bootiful Game 1
Wynn Some Lose Some 1 Doonhamers 2

The draw for the quarter finals, to be played this week, is as follows

Beat Scotty v Doonhamers
Cant Get Right v Bairnfica
Titus Bramble v Sicilia
Gianfranco Gorgonzola v Lockerbie Legends

In the leagues, Steve Fitzpatrick has seen his Serie B advantage sliced as Kieran Westbrook and the inimitable Dr Khrem make a surge up the table. It now looks like a real three-way fight at the top. Graeme Nicol will hope to hang on to that last promotion slot.

A word of praise, briefly, for Aidan Bain. He gave everyone two weeks' start and now sits in an impressive 9th place and is hot on the heels of Stef Todd.

The top division also remains a close fight. The G31 Galacticos have a narrow advantage but Team Ramrod remain serious contenders along with the Doonhamers, Galliano Hotshots and Cape Crusaders.

With the Lockerbie Legends on a surge and The Bootiful Game and Willie's Warriors also in top form, only a fool could rule them out of a title bid too.

In the relegation zone, the plight of Villaunreal FC gets worse and worse. A team run by, I believe, the only Scotland-capped manager in the league now sits in second bottom with only the lowly Biancoverdi behind them. Salvation sits five points away with the last four in the league facing the prospect of life in Serie B.

Serie A sides take a tumble

It was a rough cup weekend for some famous names in the Grappa Kings League top division.

No fewer than seven Serie A sides were eliminated by their lower league rivals.

Colin Colthart, Steve Wilson, Alex Robertson, Stefano Rinaldi, Pat Cook, Kenny Eggo and Joseph O'Brien - your boys took a HELL of a beating!

The full results were as follows

Villaunreal 0 v Wynn Some Lose Some 1 (after extra time)
Rockstars Fragmented 1 v Doonhamers 3
Juggernaut 1 v Sicilia 3
Cape Crusaders 1 v The Bootiful Game 4
Fitz_Hattrick 4 v FC Pietro Nato 3
Biancoverdi 0 v FC Copenhacking 2
Abercromby's Medal 1 v We Ate All the Pies 3
Titus Bramble 3 v AC Putanesca 1
G31 Galacticos 2 v Atletico Madboy 1 (after extra time)
Mope Utd 3 v Beat Scotty 3 (Beat Scotty win 5-4 on penalties)
Old Yellow Dawgs 0 v Gianfranco Gorgonzola 1
Team Ramrod 3 v Willie's Warriors 4
Lockerbie Legends 3 v The Damned United 0
Galliano Hotshots 2 v Cant Get Right 3
Joe Bhoy FC 1 v Bairnfica 2
Cantenaccio 2 v Oisin's Eleven 3

The draw for the last 16 to be played this week is as follows. Serie B sides in bold.

G31 Galacticos v Titus Bramble
Beat Scotty v FC Copenhacking
Oisin's Eleven v Cant Get Right
Fitz_Hattrick v Bairnfica
Willie's Warriors v Lockerbie Legends
Gianfranco Gorgonzola v We Ate All The Pies
Sicilia v The Bootiful Game
Wynn Some Lose Some v Doonhamers

All ties to be played in Week 26 (9 February to 17 February)

Kev collapses out of cup!

Dynamo Kev were the first big name casualty in the Grappa Cup as they suffered defeat in a preliminary round fixture.

There were no such problems for the only other Serie A side involved, Carlo Rinaldi's Doonhamers, who coasted past Siofra Eggo's Inter Meringue. Elsewhere, FC Pietro Nato were convincing winners in an all Serie B clash with the All Stars.

PRELIMINARY ROUND RESULTS

Doonhamers 5 v Inter Meringue 1
All Stars 0 v FC Pietro Nato 3
Dynamo Kev 2 v Cant Get Right 3 (after extra time)

FIRST ROUND (WEEK 25)

Villaunreal (Serie A) v Wynn Some Lose Some (Serie B)
Rockstars Fragmented (Serie A) v Doonhamers (Serie A)
Juggernaut (Serie B) v Sicilia (Serie A)
Cape Crusaders (Serie A) v The Bootiful Game (Serie A)
Fitz_Hattrick (Serie B) v FC Pietro Nato (Serie B)
Biancoverdi (Serie A) v FC Copenhacking (Serie B)
Abercromby's Medal (Serie A) v We Ate All the Pies (Serie B)
Titus Bramble (Serie B) v AC Putanesca (Serie A)
G31 Galacticos (Serie A) v Atletico Madboy (Serie A)
Mope Utd (Serie B) v Beat Scotty (Serie B)
Old Yellow Dawgs (Serie B) v Gianfranco Gorgonzola (Serie A)
Team Ramrod (Serie A) v Willie's Warriors (Serie A)
Lockerbie Legends (Serie A) v The Damned United (Serie B)
Galliano Hotshots (Serie A) v Cant Get Right (Serie B)
Joe Bhoy FC (Serie A) v Bairnfica (Serie B)
Cantenaccio (Serie A) v Oisin's Eleven (Serie A)

Both leagues remain wide open with the top 11 teams in Serie A covered by less than 10 points.

The relegation zone for the bottom four sides is also looking like a tense fight.

In Serie B at least the top half dozen sides can hope to win the title and with the top four gaining promotion to Serie A there is still plenty to fight for.