August 12th & 13th - Welcome to the new season on Block 102. I'm delighted to report that we've managed to recruit an excellent 131 people to take part this season - easily a record for the website.

The season kicked off at the Stadium of Light where Sunderland picked up three points thanks to Michael Chopra's injury time winner against Tottenham. Bolton were beaten three-one at home by Sam Allardyce's Newcastle with Obafemi Martins scoring twice.

Sven Goran Eriksson's Man City had a great win, two-nil away to West Ham. New boys Rolando Bianchi and Geovanni scored the goals at Upton Park. Saturday afternoon also saw wins for Everton (two-one against Wigan) and Blackburn (two-one at Middlesbrough).

In the Saturday evening game Steven Gerrard's cracking free kick earned Liverpool the points at Villa Park just when it looked like Gareth Barry's penalty (from Jamie Carragher's hand ball) had earned a point for the hosts.

Sunday saw three of the top four begin their seasons. Arsenal left it very late to beat Fulham - Robin Van Persie and Alexander Hleb scored in the last five minutes at The Emirates. Chelsea beat Birmingham three-two at Stamford Bridge. New boys Pizarro and Malouda were on the scoresheet. The last match of the weekend saw Reading frustrate champions Man United at Old Trafford as they came away with a nil all draw. The prawn sandwiches were great by all accounts though......

Our first league table of the season sees Wicklow town resident Richard Johnston take an early lead on 63 points. The returning Johnny Plunkett scored 58 points to be in second place. Celine Rooney flies the flag for the ladies with an excellent score of 51 points to lie in joint third place with Dermot Horan. The early top five is completed by the legendary Frank Blum (48 points).

August 14th and 15th - Spurs' problems deepened on Tuesday night when Everton came away from White Hart Lane with a three-one win thanks to goals from Joleon Lescott, Leon Osman and Alan Stubbs.

Wednesday night saw Chelsea go four points clear of champions Man United. The Blues came from a goal down to beat Reading with strikes from Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba. Man United were held to a one-all draw by Portsmouth - Paul Scholes gave them the lead but Benjani equalised for Pompey. The drama didn't end there though - Cristiano Ronaldo received a red card for headbutting Richard Hughes and will now miss United's next three games.

Elsewhere, Wigan beat Middlesbrough one-nil with Antoine Sibierski scoring his second goal of the season. Fulham beat Bolton two-one - it's looking good for all of you who backed Sammy Lee in the sack race. Newly promoted Birmingham and Sunderland shared four goals at St Andrews. Sven made it two wins in a row for Man City against Derby ahead of the Manchester Derby on Sunday.

Fantasy mirrors reality in our competition as Evertonian Gerry Draper now leads the competition on 95 points. We've two people in joint second place on 87 points - newcomer Ashkan Aryan and Damian Maher. The top five is completed by two fellow Kopites - Willie Brazil on 84 points and Pam Martin on 83 points.

The full standings after the latest round of games can be seen below - you can download an Excel file with all your individual scores by right clicking here and selecting "save target as"

August 18th and 19th - It was performances by some referees that dominated the headlines after the latest round of games. Rob Styles had an absolute mare at Anfield - he awarded Chelsea one of the softest penalties ever seen (outside of Old Trafford that is...) as Chelsea drew one all with Liverpool. Fernando Torres opened the scoring but thanks to Styles' intervention, the points were shared.

Fulham were another victim of a dodgy ref. David Healy's shot was clearly over the line but Andy D'Urso failed to award the goal which would have meant a two-all draw instead of a two-one victory for Middlesbrough.

A team from Manchester heads the table after the second weekend. Unusually though, it's the Blue half of the city celebrating after a one-nil victory over local rivals United. Geovanni scored his second goal of the season to win the points but City owe a debt of gratitude to fantastic defensive performances from Micah Richards and Kasper Schmeichel (no relation to the dog in Coronation Street....). United fans can take consolation from the fact that they won the league in 1992-1993 - the last time they started so badly.....

Elsewhere, Spurs kickstarted their season with a four-nil win over Derby County. Wigan went someway to bursting the Sunderland bubble with a three-nil win at the JJB Stadium. Everton lost one-nil at Reading - Stephen Hunt scored the only goal. Arsenal were held one-all at Blackburn as Jens Lehmann let in a howler from David Dunn. Finally, Michael Owen made his long awaited comeback as a substitute in Newcastle's scoreless draw with Aston Villa.

Gerry Draper heads the table after the weekend. His score of 135 points for the month sees him seven points clear of Damian Maher in second place. Daragh Garry is in third place on 124 points. With one week to go to decide our first monthly winner of the season the top five is completed by Willie Brazil and Ashkan Aryan

August 25th and 26th - The weekend opened with the visit of Liverpool to the Stadium of Light to play Sunderland. Goals from Momo Sissoko and Andrei Voronin (their first Premeirship goals) saw Liverpool climb to fourth place in the early table.

Chelsea lead the league after beating Portsmouth one-nil thanks to Frank Lampard's goal. Man City lost their 100% record after Cesc Fabregas scored a late winner for Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Shaun Maloney scored an injury time goal for Aston Villa at home to Fulham to give them their first win of the season. The battle of the newly promoted sides saw Cameron Jerome score twice at Pride Park where Birmingham beat Derby County two-one.

Elsewhere, Everton and Blackburn played out a one-all draw - James McFadden equalised Roque Santa Cruz's early strike. West Ham and Wigan also drew one-all - Lee Bowyer was on the mark for the Hammers to cancel out Paul Scharner's opener. Bolton beat Reading three-nil for their first win of the campaign.

Sunday saw an entertaining north east derby end in a two-all draw between Middlesbrough and Newcastle. Mark Viduka's first goal for the Magpies looked to have secured the points but a late equaliser came from Julio Arca. Champions Man United finally got their first win of the season. Nani scored the winner at home to unlucky Tottenham.

The last weekend of August saw Damian Maher move to first place in the monthly competition. With a few days to go in August, he can still be caught if a manager leaves his job over the next few days. Robert New is in second place - he'll be hoping Lawrie Sanchez gets the push to earn another 25 points. We have three players in joint third place - Gerry Draper, John Cullen and John Reid - a further point back.

The full standings after the latest round of games can be seen below - you can download an Excel file with all your individual scores by right clicking here and selecting "save target as"