Wrexham 8-1 Swansea City, 11 Oct: Nobody saw eight coming
Wrexham won 8-1 at Swansea City on Sunday. Sixty-one of you predicted it, fifty-nine of you backed the win, and not one of you went anywhere near the scoreline.
The crowd went big. Not big enough.
There is confidence, and then there is what Wrexham did in Swansea. The league went into Sunday's Adran Premier trip in a bullish mood: 59 of the 61 fan predictions had Wrexham winning, two went for a draw, and nobody at all backed Swansea. More than a third of you had Wrexham scoring four or more.
None of it was enough. The most common prediction gave Wrexham three goals. The boldest call in the whole league, G Ball's 6-3, still came up two short. Wrexham scored eight.
Perhaps the crowd should have known. This was the second time in three away league games this season that Wrexham have put eight past somebody, after the 8-1 at Briton Ferry Llansawel on 27 September. The league had been warned.
Where the points went
With nobody close on Wrexham's tally, the points were settled at the other end of the pitch. Swansea's single goal was the detail that mattered. 31 of you had it right, and every one of the 31 took 3 points. Another 28 had the win with a different number for Swansea and took 2. Only two predictions scored nothing.
That leaves 59 of the 61 off the mark after one game, which is about as generous as an opening result gets. 17 of you made or changed your pick in the last 24 hours before kick-off, so plenty of you were still thinking about it on Saturday afternoon.
Prediction of the Week goes to AlisonWWSG, who had Wrexham 3-1 on the board before The New Saints game had even kicked off and left it alone for more than a week. Of the 31 who took 3 points from Swansea, nobody had their pick in earlier.
The Full Time Crew
All three of the Full Time Crew made a call, with Del now on the board alongside Matt and Welshtechie. Matt went 2-1, Del 4-2 and Welshtechie 3-2. All three had the win, and only Matt had Swansea scoring once, which makes him the one member of the Crew on 3 points and level at the top of the league with 31 of you. Del's four goals were the boldest of the three and still half of what Wrexham managed.
On points per pick, you are narrowly ahead: 2.44 a prediction across the league against the Crew's 2.33. It is one game, and it is a lead worth defending.
The table, and a lot of new faces
The league table is about as crowded as a table can be. Thirty-two players share first place on 3 points, 31 fans and Matt, with another 28 on 2. One game in, there is no title race yet, only a very long queue at the front, and 59 of you are on a run of one right result.
Most of that queue is new. The league grew from 4 players to 61 this week, 57 of them joining in the seven days before Swansea, with 18 arriving on Saturday alone. Welcome, all of you.
The new arrivals did well out of the badge cabinet. Calling the win at Swansea earned three badges at once, Called It, Away Day Instinct and the Swansea City badge, and 59 of each went out. Everybody who predicted picked up Marked Your Card, and every one of the 61 of you now holds Founding Member, which stays open to anyone who joins before the end of October. The full badge list has the ones still to win, starting with Honour Roll for three right results in a row.
Next up: Cardiff Met
Cardiff Met come to Wrexham on Sunday 18 October at 2pm. 42 of you have already predicted it, 41 of you backing a home win, and the early favourite is 5-1 on seven picks, with 5-0 and 6-0 on six each. After Sunday, nobody could blame you for aiming higher.
Squads are open too, if you fancy a private table for you and your mates inside the league. Predictions close at kick-off, so get your Cardiff Met pick in while there is still time.