Tracey's on the ball in fantasy game

An Albion fan from Dudley has proved she is on the ball by scooping the £2,000 top prize in the Express & Star's fantasy football competition.

Tracey Cartwright, 40, of Redstone Way, Lower Gornal, collected the first prize cheque, courtesy of prize sponsor Banks's.

Her team Gornal Allstars amassed 573 points over the course of the season, putting her top by three points ahead of 5,668 competitors.

Mother of one Tracey, who works as a sales assistant at Marks and Spencer's Merry Hill store, made 23 out of a possible 25 transfers on her way to victory.

Her winning line-up was: Brad Friedel (Villa), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Stephen Carr (Birmingham), Carlos Cuellar (Villa), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Nani (Manchester United), Tim Cahill (Everton), Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Fernando Torres (Liverpool).

Tracey, who picked her team with son Liam, 17, was amazed to come first.

She said: "I have never won a prize before. It's a bit of a shock.

"My son is football mad and he helped me put my original team together. We decided to give it a go, as we read the Express & Star and it was free to enter.

"Liam did the entry on the computer and he would then go through it with me every week, so we could decide if we needed any changes.

"It became a nice thing for us to do as a family, working out the points and transfers after each round of games."

Tracey enjoyed being able to share the interest in football with her son.

She said: "We are quite close and he is always on his computer, so every Sunday afternoon we would update the line-up."

The pair had a nailbiting final weekend as they frantically tried to work out if Tracey had held on to first place.

She said: "I had been near the top all along, but we knew that if I dropped six points in the final weekend I would lose first place.

"We looked at all the final scores and thought we might have dropped to second or third, but it was lovely to get top spot."

Tracey was presented with her cheque at the Banks's shop at the Park Brewery and has already earmarked the money for a family investment.

She said: "Liam is in the second year of a gas safety course at Stourbridge College and he is driving me mad for a car, so this will be a massive help."

West Brom fan Tracey is also tipping her team Albion to remain in the Premier League next season.

She said: "It is about time they stayed up. I think they can do it.

"My dad was actually a Wolves fan, but I liked to do the opposite so I followed Albion."

Two other competitors won runner-up prizes courtesy of Banks's.

Second placed Trinas Super 11 manager Trina Francis, aged 38, of Rudge Avenue, Eastfields, won £300 after she finished on 570 points.

John Beardsmore, 64, of Devereux Road, West Bromwich, who was manager of the month for October, got £200 for finishing third.5,668