DangerousSausage

Southend are on 66 points, a full 40 points behind us. Some seasons that's the gap between the champions and the first team to be relegated! Madness. But like everyone is saying, it doesn't count for a lot apart from the convenience of a home semi-final. The semi-final is just one leg. That's definitely an advantage for us this season. Bromley in particular is a horrible place to visit.

It'll be interesting to see where their journey goes in the years to come. They're not the first club to have benefitted from a bit of showbiz stardust - Watford were in the fourth division when Elton John took over and appointed Graham Taylor as manager. He took them almost to the very top, finishing as runners-up to Liverpool. He's long gone now, but he changed that club's fortunes for good - they've remained in the top two divisions virtually ever since. I wonder if Wrexham have something similar to look forward to. Either way, they're not our problem any more. For this season at least

I'm most bothered about Chesterfield to be honest. I know we got four points off them, but we never really had either game under control and they could have easily gone the other way. We'll be playing the winners of the eliminator between Barnet and either Bromley or Boreham Wood. I reckon it'll be Barnet as they'll have home advantage.

Thanks for sharing - it is all a bit bizarre isn't it? It can end two ways now. After another 270 minutes of football we can make it a glorious, unique or unforgettable promotion season, or - and this is the one I'm dreading - become the best runners-up of all time with nothing to show for it.

The results: Hull City 1-0 Watford Norwich City 0-3 Swansea City Peterborough United 0-3 Ipswich Town Port Vale 2-0 Bristol Rovers Hartlepool United 0-2 Crawley Town Mansfield Town 1-0 Stevenage Eastleigh 0-0 Solihull Moors York City 2-2 Aldershot --- Congrats to @Megan_Elizax, who is top of the tree this week! @Megan_Elizax - 7 @liampie - 5 @nottsnutter - 4 @Dripsey3, @DangerousSausage, @4everapie, @super_ram, @Dan, @jimbob - 3 @ARLukomski, @gtownjohnno - 2 @magpiejue, @Chris - 1 @GrannyPie - 0 --- This is how things are looking with just two rounds to go... ARLukomski - 229 Dripsey3 - 224 magpiejue -204 DangerousSausage - 199 gtownjohnno - 199 4everapie - 195 super_ram - 190 Dan - 185 Megan_Elizax - 184 jimbob - 165 nottsnutter - 162 DonnyNotts - 160 GrannyPie - 158 barnet1uk - 156 Chris - 109 liampie - 50 KB1862 - 21 steve61 - 7 --- The next and penultimate round is this coming Saturday, so the fixtures will appear during the week as usual. Positions are still up for grabs! Have a great week and take care

It's happened then, we're in the play-offs yet again. It still blows my mind that we haven't gone up automatically with these numbers, but it is what it is. This season's team is definitely made of tougher stuff than the ones that came before it, but the semi-final and (hopefully) the final will be one-off games and anything could happen. While it's encouraging that we haven't lost a single one of our 14 games against the other teams in the lay-off picture, it won't count for a lot at kick-off time. So these are the other teams in the picture. Boreham Wood need to draw one of their last two games to confirm their spot, and then the only question will be whether Chesterfield or Woking take third place and a spot in the other semi-final. What do you think - who would you fancy our chances against, and who should we avoid? And do you think we'll see it through to the end?

We did what we needed to do to keep it alive as long as possible. From the radio it sounded almost too comfortable up to our second-half wobble, but I never really doubted we'd put it to bed. Interesting to see the Notts fans in the little tin terrace behind the goal, I thought that was for the home fans. I'm a sucker for a good terrace.

It kind of sticks in the craw to say it because I wish it could have been us, but I'd like to congratulate any Wrexham lurkers on winning promotion yesterday. Yes, they've spent a lot of money, but money alone doesn't buy you the kind of sheer determination, guts and consistency you need to get 110 points in a season. They've done a lot right. They've also been out of the Football League for far too long. Shame they didn't win the play-offs last season, but that's life. Here's hoping we can join them next season and settle a few scores!

Tricky question! I suppose it's the sense of a link with the club's long history, of continuity, but also all the experiences, triumphs and failures we've shared as supporters and all those years of (mostly dashed) hopes. They make us totally unique. And in a way, that also makes us the same as all the rest It's a personal thing as well, seeing the floodlights on as I walk down London Road, the first sight of the pitch, the smell of the greasy burger van and the way the hairs on my neck stand up when I hear the wheelbarrow song, just as they did when I was a teenager. We've played at the same ground since 1910 and, while the original stands are long gone, I'm so glad we weren't one of the many clubs to move. knowing that so many special moments in the club's history over the last century played out right there on the same pitch makes it feel that bit more special to me.

Hull City 1-1 Watford Norwich City 2-2 Swansea City Peterborough United 1-2 Ipswich Town (joker) Port Vale 0-2 Bristol Rovers Hartlepool United 0-0 Crawley Town Mansfield Town 1-3 Stevenage Eastleigh 1-1 Solihull Moors York City 2-1 Aldershot

The results: Sunderland 1-1 Huddersfield Town Burton Albion 1-1 Bolton Wanderers Exeter City 1-2 Derby County Carlisle United 2-2 Stockport County Crawley Town 0-0 Colchester United Grimsby Town 1-0 Barrow Altrincham 2-2 Dagenham & Redbridge Halifax Town 1-1 Bromley --- I won this round with an astonishingly magnificent 11 points. An honourable mention goes to @jimbob, who got an okayish nine points. @DangerousSausage - 11 @jimbob - 9 @gtownjohnno, @nottsnutter - 8 @magpiejue - 7 @super_ram - 5 @ARLukomski, @Megan_Elizax - 4 @4everapie - 3 @Dripsey3, @Dan - 2 @Chris - 0 --- @ARLukomski opens up the gap at the top to six points - with three rounds remaining, can @Dripsey3 close it? Elsewhere, @jimbob has jumped three places! ARLukomski - 227 Dripsey3 - 221 magpiejue -203 gtownjohnno - 197 DangerousSausage - 196 4everapie - 192 super_ram - 187 Dan - 182 Megan_Elizax - 177 jimbob - 162 DonnyNotts - 160 nottsnutter - 158 GrannyPie - 158 barnet1uk - 156 Chris - 108 liampie - 45 KB1862 - 21 steve61 - 7 --- If you can't wait for the next round, the good news is that you don't have to - it's online already. See you over there for the next exciting installment!

Your crystal balls must be worn out by now, but here we are again. Send in your predictions by 3pm on Saturday, and remember those jokers. Hull City v Watford Norwich City v Swansea City Peterborough United v Ipswich Town Port Vale v Bristol Rovers Hartlepool United v Crawley Town Mansfield Town v Stevenage Eastleigh v Solihull Moors York City v Aldershot

It would be foolish to experiment too much until everything is finally decided, but I can't see Wrexham fluffing their lines in both their remaining games. I had pinned my hopes on Torquay, but they might be down by the final day anyway. I think LW has gone about it correctly, we've got a few players returning who'll need minutes to get them sharp again, but too much upheaval would be counterproductive.

Don't tell me they forgot to tell you about the initiation ceremony @Dry Nelson Ray? First, you fold a sheet of A4 paper in half eight times. Should you master this task, there will be a ceremonial wheelbarrow wheel-removing ceremony, followed by hymns written by a member of the forum.

This round is on Tuesday night - get your predictions in! @super_ram, @DonnyNotts, @cheeky~k8, @barnet11uk, @Chris, @liampie, @KB1862, @steve61

Sunderland 2-0 Huddersfield Town (joker) Burton Albion 1-1 Bolton Wanderers Exeter City 1-2 Derby County Carlisle United 1-1 Stockport County Crawley Town 1-0 Colchester United Grimsby Town 2-1 Barrow Altrincham 2-1 Dagenham & Redbridge Halifax Town 1-1 Bromley

It's not really the same thing though. The number of promotion spots to L2 will be decided by League clubs, the NL will take what it can get. Relegation to the NLN/NLS is a National League issue and doesn't have to change. Only having two promotion places when more than one divisions feed into one isn't unusual in non-league and is justifiable, as otherwise you'd have five or six teams going down from the NL, which is too many.

*** Round 43 is on Tuesday, click here to make your prediction! *** The results for round 42: Blackpool 1-0 Wigan Athletic Watford 2-0 Bristol City Lincoln City 3-2 Port Vale Shrewsbury Town 1-1 Portsmouth Carlisle United 0-0 Northampton Town Swindon Town 0-0 Barrow Chesterfield 3-2 Eastleigh Torquay United 3-2 York City --- This week's best score came from @cheeky~k8 in memory of @GrannyPie! Congratulations @GrannyPie - 9 @DonnyNotts - 8 @magpiejue, @super_ram - 7 @ARLukomski, @Dripsey3, @4everapie - 6 @gtownjohnno, @Dan, @Megan_Elizax, @jimbob, @liampie - 4 @DangerousSausage, @nottsnutter, @Chris - 3 --- With just four rounds left, @ARLukomski holds a four-point lead over @Dripsey3. Elsewhere, it is now no longer possible for @Chris to win the prediction league, but it's up for grabs for the rest of us! ARLukomski - 223 Dripsey3 - 219 magpiejue -196 4everapie - 189 gtownjohnno - 189 DangerousSausage - 185 super_ram - 182 Dan - 180 Megan_Elizax - 173 DonnyNotts - 160 GrannyPie - 158 barnet1uk - 156 jimbob - 153 nottsnutter - 150 Chris - 108 liampie - 45 KB1862 - 21 steve61 - 7 --- The next round is on Tuesday and is already online - don't miss out! Thanks for playing and see you there.

Hello and welcome to our last midweek round of the season! These all kick off at 7.45pm, give it your best shot and remember your jokers! Sunderland v Huddersfield Town Burton Albion v Bolton Wanderers Exeter City v Derby County Carlisle United v Stockport County Crawley Town v Colchester United Grimsby Town v Barrow Altrincham v Dagenham & Redbridge Halifax Town v Bromley

It's worth pointing out that in 2006, Wrexham and Notts (both Football League members at the time) voted against 3-up-3-down between League Two and the NL. Six years later, Wrexham finished second on about 98 points and weren't promoted. Hopefully it isn't our turn this season. It's really just about getting the FL members to agree to it. Before about 2000, dropping into the Conference meant entering a wasteland of semi-professional clubs playing to crowds of 500. You either came back up straight away or vanished forever, so clubs perceived it as their self-interest to reduce the risk of relegation by resisting attempts to increase the number of promotion/relegation spots. But now, about 17 of the 24 League Two clubs and 12 of those in League One have played in non-League - some of them smaller clubs that rose through he pyramid, others traditional League clubs that dropped down for a few seasons. Today, many more clubs are aware that they are never far away from having a "disaster season" and going on a NL tour themselves. And in that case, having a reasonable chance of going back up is in their own best interests. There is no sporting reason for there to be fewer promotion spots in the NL than in League Two, it's simply a hangover from the past. And if that increases our chances of going down again if we ever find ourselves at the bottom of League Two, that's simply part of the game.

I listened on the radio, but it sounds like we shifted up at least a gear in the second half. It's encouraging to get a win against the team in third place, and with Wrexham only drawing you just never know. They need six points from their last three games, which I think they'll get but Torquay and Boreham Wood may well be tricky. If they get less than six we could even nick it, so it's important to keep the wins coming.

Yes, and that's precisely why it took so long for justice to be done. Many things have changed since then, but the attitude of the authorities towards football fans has not - just look at how UEFA and the French authorities instantly blamed the Liverpool fans at the Champions League final a couple of years back. That came to light quicker than the failings at Hillsborough because football is a huge business now and has more of a lobby in the media, but that didn't help the fans on the day. Terraces are only dangerous if they're overfilled. At Hillsborough, Liverpool's end was divided into several "pens" (which had high fences on all sides and were more akin to cages), and, because of the crush outside the ground, the gate was opened in a panic and fans guided into one pen. These pens and the high fences that surrounded them are thankfully a thing of the past, but they were only put there in the first place because a climate developed in which the terms "football fan" and "hooligan" were synonymous, and football fans were treated as a problem to be dealt with. It might not be much of a hardship, but even today you can't drink a beer in sight of a football pitch... For us particularly, the thought of going to a match and never coming home is a horrific one because it's so close to home. I recommend that everyone goes to Liverpool at least once and visits the memorial - to remember the victims and to remind ourselves how important it is to stand together.

Blackpool 1-1 Wigan Athletic Watford 1-1 Bristol City Lincoln City 2-0 Port Vale Shrewsbury Town 1-2 Portsmouth Carlisle United 2-1 Northampton Town Swindon Town 0-3 Barrow Chesterfield 2-0 Eastleigh (joker) Torquay United 2-2 York City

If I don't get any points in the prediction league, can I just give myself the points from the universe in which I got them all right?

Squeaky bum time has most definitely arrived, so don't miss this chance to collect a few points! Send in your predictions by 3pm on Saturday, and don't forget your jokers! Blackpool v Wigan Athletic Watford v Bristol City Lincoln City v Port Vale Shrewsbury Town v Portsmouth Carlisle United v Northampton Town Swindon Town v Barrow Chesterfield v Eastleigh Torquay United v York City