"It's never all over until the fat lady sings," which roughly translated means "Don't count your chickens before they are hatched," although the translation according to the Ayatollah with his awesome command of language works out something like "Don't count the fat ladies until the chickens start singing."

Anyway the gist of it is that no sporting contest is ever over until the final whistle has been blown or the last shot has been played.

Take the World Snooker final, for example. Peter Ebdon had to pot a straight black, which even I could have potted, to win the title. What was that about chickens? He missed it. Stephen Hendry got to the table three times in the final frame and each time it looked all over, but he too missed a fairly easy shot and Ebdon eventually won an epic contest.

Jose-Maria Olazabal began the final round of the French Open Golf tournament one shot behind a complete no-hoper called Malcolm Mackenzie, who had played 509 tournaments without winning. My money was safe. Another winning tip. All over bar the shouting. What was that about chickens? Olazabal played his worst round of the four days; Mackenzie gave away three shots over the closing holes, but still managed to win his first tournament after 21 years of trying.

Celtic were odds on favourites to win the Scottish Cup Final. All that they had to do was to turn up, and they would beat Rangers eventually. Well into the second-half and Celtic were a comfortable 2-1 in front. What was that about chickens? Rangers equalised and then scored a last minute winner to deny Celtic the Scottish double.

Portland Red Triangle played their first match of the new Cricket season at Dorchester on Saturday and battled their way to 213 at the end of 50 overs.

Dorchester reached 154-0 and it was only a matter of time before they secured their victory. What was that about chickens? The later batsmen somehow contrived to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory much to the delight of the jubilant Portlanders.

Cricket always involves a degree of post match socialising in the local hostelry and such was the case on Saturday. The pub in Dorchester had entertainment provided for its locals on Saturday. It was a fat lady, singing.

I'm off to Cardiff on Saturday for my second visit to the Millennium Stadium. My mate Phil, the Brentford supporter has got tickets for the play-off final with Stoke, so it's off to Wales again. I hope the weather is better than the last time I went.

I don't think any of last week's tips were particularly successful, which roughly translated means they all lost.

This week the European golf tour visits England for the first time this season with the B&H Masters at the Belfry. I will stick with Jose- Maria Olazabal and rate Padraig Harrington as the main danger. There is a strong field assembled for the Byron Nelson Classic in Texas and I think David Toms and Chris DiMarco both have chances.

The racing this weekend is not too inspiring, but Nemo Fugat could win at Lingfield, while Laurel Dawn has a chance at Beverley.

The final fixtures in the Premiership could result in home wins for Chelsea, Leeds and West Ham.