Division 1 leaders lose at Milnsbridge

Veterans League

Review of the Veterans 6-Man League results from Monday 14 July fixtures

Only one of the bottom five teams in Division 1 won their fixture on Monday but that still left Brockholes A in the relegation places. A 6-1 home win over fellow strugglers Netherton Con A raised hopes of a second half of the season recovery which will need more momentum if it is to be translated into a march up the table. It is a start that all the other bottom four teams will envy. That includes Thongsbridge A who went down at home to Slaithwaite 2-5 to make it a fourth consecutive defeat. New Mill A are seriously adrift at the foot of the table after 1-6 home defeat by Skel Windmill A left them with a lot of daylight between themselves and their nearest rivals.

The leaders, Clayton West, suffered a third defeat of the season going down 2-5 at Milnsbridge A which reduced their 11-points lead to 7, raising the hopes of the chasing pack which is headed by Marsh United A. They had a good 6-1 home win and top aggregate score of the day of 103 over fellow challengers Waterloo.

It is getting very tight at the top of the Division 2 table as teams complete the first half of the fixture programme. Four points separate the top four teams with Holmfirth A holding a one-point lead over Broad Oak. The leaders were without a match this week but hang on to top spot after Broad Oak could only take 5 points from their home match against Brockholes B.

Lindley Lib A and Marsh Lib A both won to retain their interest in the promotion race. The bottom two teams both won with Thongsbridge B having a great 5-2 away win at Golcar Lib. Paddock I&C also won 5-2 at home to Crosland Moor to close in on Longwood (2-5 home losers to Lindley Lib A) and Lockwood Con A (1-6 losers at Marsh Lib A).

Almondbury Lib continue their relentless march to the Division 3 title with a 10th successive win put them a massive 16-points ahead of the rest of the teams. A very good 6-1 away win for Milnsbridge B over Elland C&BC pushed them right into the promotion mix with Denby Dale just one point ahead of them now in the race for the second promotion place.

A 5-2 away win for Primrose Hill Lib over bottom of the table Hemplow A kept them in the promotion picture but Greenhead Park stumbled to a 3-4 loss at relegation-threatened Holmfrth B which was a setback to their own promotion aspirations. A fourth successive home win for Lindley Lib B, this time over Marsh Lib, eased their plight of being too near to the bottom of the table.

You would normally expect that a team winning 9 of their 10 fixtures to date would have a comfortable lead at the top of the Division 4 table but that is not the case for Skel Windmill B. Despite their latest 5-2 home win over lowly Shepley B they only have a 3 points lead over Hemplow B who have actually played one game less than their rivals for the title. It increasingly looks as if the Hemplow B team will be swapping places with their Divison 3 A team clubmates. Netherton Con B kept their own promotion hopes very much alive after a 5-2 home win over New Mill A gave them a third successive win.

Meltham were the only bottom-five team to win their Monday fixture this week with a narrow 4-3 home win over Brockholes C which was an important victory for them. Greenhead Park B had a good 6-1 home win over Thongsbridge C to ovetake Clayton West B who were without a match.