Veterans League
Review of the 10-Man League fixtures played on Tuesday 4 October
Congratulations to Golcar Lib 'A' for clinching the Division 1 title after defeating their sole remaining challengers for topspot, Kirkheaton Con 'A', by 5-4. Despite falling short of the 9-0 win required to win the title themselves the Kirkheaton Con team were still celebrating winning the runners-up slot after returning to the top division for the first time since 2015. A closely fought final day encounter saw the home side come out on top with a 122-122 aggregate draw showing how close things were.
This was the Golcar club's first Division 1 title since 2005 and the final league table never lies and shows the best team over the full extent of the season. Well done to the new Champions. It is also proper that the achievements of Lockwood Con should be recognised at this time as well. Having won the title 7 years on the bounce (2014-2019 and 2021) is a unique record and passes the previous best recorded by Milnsbridge BC of 5 consecutive titles (2009-2013). It is not just the record that deserves recognition but also the manner of that achievement as they remain a very loyal band of bowlers having played together at a number of different sports over many years. The League recognised the Milnsbridge 5-season success with a Special Achievement Award in 2014, It is hoped that the same level of recognition is awarded to Lockwood Con now that their dominance has finally been broken.
But today is Golcar Lib's day and deservedly so and I am sure that they appreciate that they are now the prime target of all the other Division 1 teams for next season. The race for the title went to the very last day of the 6-month season and they will not expect it to get any easier next year and hopefully we can look forward to a number of years with a number of teams in close competition for the top prize.
Lockwood Con 'A' and Rastrick 'A' failed to launch their final day bid for the runners-up position as both lost their last matches. Lockwood surprisingly going down at home to Marsh United 'A' by 3-6 which meant that the Marsh United team beat the 2nd and 3rd place finishers on their home green in their final two matches of the campaign. That strong finish took them up to 6th position in the table.
The Division 1 title wasn't the only outcome finalised on the last day of the season as the Golcar Lib 'B' team could have made it a double celebration if they had scored 6 points from their trip to play bottom-of-the-table Marsh United 'B' as that would have secured 2nd place and promotion from Division 3. The Marsh United 'B' team had a different agenda as they needed a 9-0 home win to avoid relegation and whilst the 7-2 scoreline was very good it was insufficient to save them from the drop or provide promotion for Golcar Lib 'B'.
Outlane fell well short of their 9-0 win target that would have wrestled the Division 4 title away from Meltham B going down 3-6 at the Rugby Club but was more than enough to fulfill their prime aim of securing promotion to Division 3 for next year. Big last day wins for Milnsbridge 'B' and Elland C&BC 'B' enabled them to secure another season in Division 4 and ensure that Brockholes 'B' completed a disappointing season for the club with both their Veterans League teams being relegated.
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