Veterans League
Preview of the Veterans 10-Man League Divisions 1 & 2 fixtures for Tuesday 8 August
Division 1 leaders Golcar Lib 'A' have lost their last two away matches and are away again this Tuesday when they play at Kirkheaton Con 'A' who lost their first home match of the season when Rastrick visited recently. However with their main rivals faltering as well, the leaders hold a comfortable 21 points lead and seem destined to retain their title.
Second-placed Rastrick have home advantage over Clayton West and both teams remain in contention for the runners-up position as do Lowerhouses who are away at Elland C&BC this week. Elland C&BC and Meltham are the two teams in the bottom half of the table who have played a match more than any of their bottom-half rivals and that could be crucial. With the likelihood of three teams being relegated, if you ignore Milnsbridge's plight, then only 12 points separate the other six teams and two of those six are likely to be dropping down a level.
There is still a long way to go but you certainly don't want to be dropping points to any of your rivals and the Longwood v Meltham 'A' meeting presents such an opportunity this week. Longwood are 11 points from safety despite having beaten the top two teams in their last two fixtures and if they bring that form to the front this week then there can only be one result. But prior to that they had lost six on the bounce and they cannot afford a repeat of that sequence.
Marsh United 'A' have won their last four matches and are only going one way at present. With an away match at Milnsbridge 'A' they have the perfect opportunity to extend that winning run. Currently level on points with Lockwood Con who will be looking to end a sequence of five away defeats when going to play Waterloo. Meltham haven't failed to pick up less than three points from any of their last six matches and that may be the best they can expect again this week.
In Division 2 Broad Oak 'A' have won all nine of their home matches this season and they have the ultimate test of that proud record when table toppers Netherton Con 'A' come to visit this Tuesday. This is the start of an exacting run of four matches for the leaders against their main rivals, three of them being away from home. They will do well to still be top at the end of the month and the first in that run could prove to be the most challenging of them all.
Lindley Lib 'A' have also won all their nine home matches but they are on the road this week when visiting bottom-of-the-table Bradley & Colne. They will be looking to end a record of not having won away from home since the first two matches of the season and will be disappointed not to against a team with only one win in their last 10 matches. Second-placed Shepley will hope to continue the form they showed in that last match when winning 9-0 away from home when they host New Mill 'A' this week.
With the possibility of the division rebalancing exercise the League has promised for this end of season that would mean four teams being relegated from this division. Therefore the match between Linthwaite Hall and Thorpe Green has special significance. One point separates the teams with the Hall currently occupying that fourth 'relegation place' but having played the top six teams in their last six matches, winning two of them, they will welcome a visit from a bottom-half team.
Holmfirth 'A' and Hemplow 'A' currently sit in that bottom four and both have difficult away matches this week. Visiting Almondbury BC 'A' and Thongsbridge 'A' respectively who will both be looking to end any talk of being in a relegation fight by collecting the points from these fixtures.
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