Co-Ord Round-up Part Three - 5th-8th

5th The Cow-Faced Juniors (up two places on last season)
Chris finished like a runaway juggernaut going downhill with seven straight wins. In horse racing parlance he was 'never nearer' but the way the top four were faltering he’d have wanted the season to last a month longer. His fortunes improved dramatically after the departures of big names Nicolas Anelka and Chris Samba in January. Summer signings Grant Holt and Danny Graham were effective and Luis Suarez chipped in after his suspension. Gareth Bale and Clint Dempsey had big seasons and if Chris can hang on to these two he must fancy a first elusive pot next term.
Star Player: Gareth Bale (nine goals, 11 cleans)

6th Aardvark Abacus (down one)
Ady must be kicking himself after a ‘so near but yet so far’ kind of season. This wasn’t a vintage Aardvarks line-up by any stretch of the imagination and yet they came close to an unlikely title. Just one win in the last eight matches did for Ady’s challenge. Vincent Kompany and Emanuel Adebayor had good seasons and bargain signing Anthony Pilkington was one bright spot in midfield but Ady got little out of expensive defenders Sebastian Coates and Stefan Savic. The Aardvarks purse strings may need to be loosened again if a stronger challenge is to happen next year.
Star Player: Vincent Kompany (three goals, 11 cleans)

7th San Dimas High School (up two)
San Dimas find themselves back in the top half after three years in the bottom eight. To be fair it was probably a slight over achievement. I will pat myself on the back for picking a squad where most players got a game but my success seems to have been built on defence with Neil Taylor and Kyle Walker standout performers. I still have trouble with spending on strikers with Romelu Lukaku, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Jon Walters costing £30m between them but none finding the net. Goals from Pavel Pogrebnyak and Peter Odemwingie become a priority if this isn't to be one-off.
Star Player: Kyle Walker (two goals, 11 cleans)

8th Fred West Landscape Gardening XI (down seven)
Like last year's runners-up the 2011/12 champions dropped seven places. Fred's title defence had been going along nicely with only the Artisans ahead after 14 weeks. Then it all came off the rails with one win in 11. Nemanja Vidic's injury left a huge hole in the defence while Didier Drogba and Dimitar Berbatov managed just four goals between them. WSFFL record-signing Fernando Torres only got six so is not the ready-made replacement Fred would have hoped. Fred still has one of the league's best midfields but will look for younger players to replace the departing Drogba and Berbatov.
Star Player: Patrice Evra (16 cleans)