Veterans League
Review of the 6-Man League matches played on Monday 7 August
Golcar C&BC extended their Division 1 100% home win record to eight matches when beating the table leaders Marsh United 'A' 5-2 on Monday. That enabled Skel Windmill to go top after a 6-1 home win over Netherton Con although they have played one more match than their title rivals. This is a rerun on the 2022 Division 2 title race when the Marsh team beat their Skelmanthorpe counterparts as both teams were promoted to feature so highly in the table again this season. With Golcar C&BC very much in the running for honours and with a home match against the Skel team still to come there is clearly a lot of bowling to be played before this race runs it's course.
Shepley stay 4th after a 5-2 home win over a Longwood 5-man team but their fight to protect their title challenge is fading and they are now 13 points off the top two but with Golcar C&BC as their next visitors and probably a final shout in the outcome of the 2023 Championship outcome. Brockholes 'A' will not be featuring in the later stages of this race for honours after losing 2-5 at home to Milnsbridge 'A' as they are now 20 points off the pace and with four teams above them their race is clearly run.
Elland C&BC finally collected that first win of the season when seeing off visitors Crosland Moor by a 5-2 scoreline and are only 5 points off safety so a surprising turnaround is not an impossible task although their last three home matches are all against top four teams so that may be a big ask of the Division 1 newcomers. Crosland Moor appear to have the most difficult ongoing fixture programme which includes matches against 3 of the top 4 teams as they are in a current four-match losing run things look ominous.
Lockwood Con still feature in that relegation battle after their latest defeat, 1-6 at Thongsbridge 'A', made it four matches without a win but with their last 3 fixtures against the three teams below them in the table their fate is in their own hands.
Slaithwaite continue to inch away from their rivals for the Division 2 title with another point gained on the chasing pack this week. A 6-1 away win at Clayton West was the best result of the day and that sees the leaders now holding a 12 points lead over their nearest rivals, Lindley Lib 'A'. The Lindley side did nothing wrong when winning 5-2 at Holmfirth 'A' but the fact remains that the gap keeps getting wider whilst they cannot shake off the main challengers for the second promotion place as Paddock I&C matched that scoreline with a good 5-2 home win over Golcar Lib.
Lindley Lib 'B' continue to feature in the promotion equation after struggling to win 4-3 at home to Skel Windmill who remain in the relegation places. The Lindley Lib 'B' side have only lost to the top two teams in the table in their last 10 matches and continue to remain in contention for a promotion place.
With Denby Dale losing 2-5 at Milnsbridge 'B' and Linthwaite Hall going down by the same scoreline at home to Almondbury Lib means that a 13 points gap has opened up between the two winning teams and the bottom three places. That surely means that it will be 2 from the bottom 3 who do eventually go down but with only 3 points between them it remains to be seen which two. Denby Dale have both of their nearest rivals in the remaining fixture programme which increasingly look like must win matches. The first of those comes up next week when they have home advantage over Linthwaite Hall.
New Mill's 5-2 home win over Thongsbridge 'B' was sufficient to take them to the top of the Division 3 table with a better Aggregate For total than Marsh Lib who don't play until the Friday game at Thongsbridge 'C' this week. Third-placed Marsh United swamped Shepley 'B' 7-0 to go two points behind the leading pair but having played two matches more than Marsh Lib. Hemplow had a very good 5-2 away win at Meltham whilst Primrose Hill Lib and Greenhead Park both clocked up 6-1 home wins over Brockholes 'B' and Holmfirth 'B' respectively
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