League News
Veterans 10-Man League Bistro KO Semi-Finals
The 39th holding of the Final of the Veterans 10-Man League Bistro KO will be staged on Thursday 23 September. This week the two finalists for that competition will become known as the four Semi-Finalists compete for that honour on Thursday 26 August. This competition's title came about as when it was first introduced in 1982 the prize for the winning team was a celebratory meal at the Bistro in Johnny's Nite Spot. Things have changed from them but it is still one of the prestigious trophies in the Veterans League season.
Cowcliffe (scratch) v. Kirkheaton Con. A (+8) On Holmfirth
Neither of these two teams has won this competition before, in fact neither has won either of the two main KO competitions before. Section 1 team Cowcliffe will give Kirkheaton Con 'A' an 8-point handicap start in this competition which is determined on aggregate scores. Only if they are identical does the game's total come into play. The format is 5-Pairs which is very different to what teams are used to playing, hence the number of shock results that appear annually. Cowcliffe currently sit 6th in Section A and have only won 2 of their last 5 matches and they were against the bottom two teams, Netherton Con 'A' and Thongsbridge 'A'. Ironically they have also beaten these two teams on their way to the Semi-Finals and also knocked out the 'A' and 'B' teams from Almondbury BC. Kirkheaton Con are the only non-Section 1 team survivors in the Bistro but they ride high at the top of Section 2 having won 18 of their 20 league games to date as well as another 7 KO matches. They have managed to avoid Section 1 opposition on their road to this stage of the competition. It seems inevitable that the meeting of these two teams will be a Section 1 fixture next year.
Marsh United A (scratch) v. Waterloo (+4) On Milnsbridge
Marsh United 'A' have won this trophy three times, the last time being in 2018 when they beat Milnsbridge 'A' 92-61 on the Brockholes green after eliminating Cowcliffe at the Quarter-Final stage 102-79. Waterloo have won this competition twice, in 2005 and 2007, and they are in the middle of their best season for many years and currently sit third in the Section 1 table. They are also the form team as last Tuesday the fixture programme threw up the Marsh United v Waterloo match two days before the Bistro game between the sides and despite having home advantage Marsh succumbed to their Waterloo visitors 2-7. That made it 3 defeats on the bounce for the Marsh outfit but their KO form is much stronger having beaten Lockwood Con 'A' (93-88) and Golcar Lib 'A' (105-57), both top 4 teams in Section 1, on their way to this stage of the competition. In contrast, Waterloo have had an easier passage so far having not met a fellow Section 1 opponent until this penultimate round.
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