Champions v Leaders clash is drawn

Winter League

Review of the Division 8&9 fixtures played on Tuesday 16 December

Golcar C&BC incurred a 20-point penalty for declining promotion after winning the Division 8 title last season

The much anticipated meeting of the Division 8 Champions against the current leaders left honours even after a 4-4 draw left Hemplow 10 points clear of their nearest rival. That result probably ended any lingering hopes that Golcar C&BC could harbour of a second successive title success. On the same day the two main rivals for the second promotion place came up against each other with Lockwood Con C hitting Broad Oak B for a massive 6-2 win with a 59-26 scoreline to go five points clear of their rivals.

The bottom two teams were locked together on 22 points and came up against each other with a 6-2 win for Meltham B settling the matter over Linthwaite Hall B. That left the Linfit team in bottom spot but on the same 24 point mark with Cowcliffe C who were beaten 2-6 by Mirfield B.

It was a good day for the three Kirkheaton teams in Division 9 as all three had good wins to improve their standings in the table. But it was Greenhead Park grabbing the headlines as they bounced back to winning ways with a 6-2 victory over bottom team Brockholes C but have their lead cut to two points over Kirkheaton C&BC C. That is because they hit third-placed Marsh Lib B hard with an 8-0 win that saw them overtaken by Kirkheaton Con C who go third after an 8-0 whitewash win over Almondbury BC C.

That left the bottom two teams well adrift with a minimum 14-point gap emerging. Mirfield C picked up two points from their defeat to Kirkheaton C&BC B which extends the gap between the two teams to 12 points but both look safe, for now.