Crunch time at the top of Division 1

Veterans League

Preview of the 6-Man League fixtures for Monday 4 August

We have a top two clash in the 6-Man League Division 1 programme this Monday as leaders Clayton West A welcome Waterloo to their green for a key match in the title race. Second-placed Waterloo have won more matches this season than their title rivals. Having won 10 of their 13 matches to date whereas the Clayton team have only won nine of their matches despite holding a 4 points lead at present. With home advantage this week one would expect the leaders to be favourites to win this fixture.

Waterloo did win the reverse fixture back in April but by the slenderest of margins 4-3 with an 81-80 aggregate score being crucial. Going on to recent form and Waterloo have won 8 of their last 9 Division 1 fixtures where as Clayton West A have lost 2 of their last 3 matches but do have a 100% home win record. It is obviously going to be tight but no forecast from me but a lot of interest in the outcome.

A lot more interest from third-placed Marsh United A who sit two points behind Waterloo and are keen to push on to challenge the leaders. This Monday they have a home match against lowly Golcar C&BC who have won 4 of their last 5 matches. It is all building up to a nice climax to the run in to the end of season when Marsh United's last two fixtures are against the two teams above them in the table at present. That could all change this Monday.

If things go wrong for the Golcar C&BC team at Marsh United then they could find themselves in real danger as the two teams below them in the table both have home matches against teams they really must pick up a good points haul from if they are to have any hope of escaping the drop. New Mill A host 5th placed Shepley A and Brockholes A play a Milnsbridge A team who are nearer the bottom than the top points-wise.

The three teams leading at the top of Division 2 all have the same Won-9 Lost-3 records and are only separated by 3 points. Two of those three meet up this week when the leaders, Broad Oak, have home advantage over third-placed Lindley Lib A. The teams have the identical current form statistics with both winning their last three fixtures and winning 7 of their last 8. Broad Oak having the momentum of the Julie Fuller Trophy win behind them as well as home advantage but records count for little at such times.

Second-placed Holmfirth A could be the major beneficiary of any close outcome of that match but they will need to have a big win at home to Crosland Moor to support such a challenge. Currently in their worst run of the season - 2 wins in their last 5 matches - they will need to improve on that if they are to become serious challengers for the promotion places.

We have a bottom two confrontation as Paddock I&C host bottom of the table Thongsbridge B at their green. With Thongsbridge B 9 points behind their Monday rivals and 13 points off safety it is beginning to look like last-chance-saloon-time for them. Things are not quite as black as that for their opponents but Paddock I&C really could benefit from a big win if they are to mount a serious escape from their increasingly perilous position.

Almondbury Lib lost a Division 3 league match last week for the first time this season which ended a 13-match winning start to the campaign. The fact that it was at their fortress home green to a team in the bottom half of the table who they had beaten 7-0 on their own green earlier in the season means they are really smarting from that outcome. An away trip to play bottom of the table Hemplow B must surely be within their capabilities unless the nerves kick-in and then anything is possible.

A 14-points cushion will comfort them as well, especially with the teams in 2nd and 3rd positions playing each other, with Milnsbridge B hosting Primrose Hill Lib. With home advantage and a 7-match winning run behind them, they will be favourites to increase the pressure on the top two.

With bottom team Hemplow A engaged at Almondbury Lib it presents an opportunity for the two teams above them to unveil their cases for survival at this level. Those teams, Elland C&BC and Holmfirth B, face each other on Monday and the Holmfirth team really cannot allow the two points between the teams to grow any longer.

Lindley Lib B on the back of their tremendous away win at Almondbury Lib last week will expect to use home advantage to build on that against a Greenhead Park side that has lost their last two matches which were against the bottom two teams in the Division.

Hemplow B remain on course to replace their A team clubmates in Division 3 next season with a 10-points lead at the top of Division 4 and an away match this Monday against third-placed Netherton Con B. Their hosts, one of three teams fighting for the 2nd promotion place, are all locked together on the same 51-points marker.

The other two contenders are Marsh United B who have to go to play Greenhead Park B side that have only been beaten once in their last six fixtures and that was to the leaders, whilst Skel Windmill B have the day off and will drop behind their two rivals in the race for that coveted 2nd place.