Ladies Works League
Review of results for matches played 21-25 June Preview of matches to be played 28 June - 3 July
Atkinson Butchers continue on their seemingly relentless journey to a second consecutive Championship title with Bolster Moor Farm Shop the latest outfit to feel the force of their intent with a whitewash demolition job this week. A 168-103 scoreline tells its own story and the Butchers sit second in the table with a game in hand over leaders Alicia Dawn Photography and just 19 aggregate points behind them.
Meanwhile somewhat under the Division 1 radar Brook Hansen 'A' have been building their reputation by mounting a serious challenge to the dominance of the long time pair of leaders and sit in third place with a run of wins over the other five contenders and now await the ultimate challenge. The latest win was a comprehensive 153-106 victory over PEG Perego who are still looking for their first win of the season with two of their team clocking up the biggest individual 21-3 scorelines recorded this week.
Alicia Dawn Photography are trying to rebuild their challenge for the title after successive defeats earlier in the season halted any thoughts of resuming their previous dominance of the silverware destination. Seven individual winners and a 160-95 scoreline over Strait Kutz Hairdressers keeps them in the picture but they are going to need a couple of big wins, which they are most capable of providing, to gatecrash the title battle.
It is clearly becoming a three-way stand-off at the top of Division 2 with good cases to be made for all three to win the title and for any two to claim the promotion places. All three have played 5 matches to date but only one of those, Holmes Dresser, has a 100% win record. However the League's scoring system means that it is Aggregate For totals that determine league positions and whilst that often goes hand-in-hand with games won, that isn't always the case as currently prevails here.
Colne Valley Garden Centre are the only Division 2 team still looking for a first win of the season with the latest attempt being against unbeaten Holmes Dresser with the inevitable 153-114 outcome. Despite having the only unbeaten record in the division Holmes Dresser are still 47 aggregate points behind the leaders D Haigh & Co. who will rue their narrow home defeat by Paul's Kitchens the sole blot on their season to date. This week the leaders posted the first 160+ aggregate winning total of the Division 2 season when seeing off Pearce Displays by 162-115 to extend their lead at the top. Paul's Kitchens have had too many close scorelines to really push on and dominate proceedings but remain a constant threat to the other two front-runners. This week they saw off bottom team Brook Hansen 'B' by 153-101 but they remain 15 points behind second-placed Holmes Dresser.
It really is looking like a pivotal week in the fortunes of the title-chasing contenders in both divisions as this next round of fixtures will complete the first half of the season. The two unbeaten teams in Division 1 meet up with Champions Atkinson Butchers entertaining Brook Hansen 'A' at their New Mill home green. Alicia Dawn Photography, on a bye this week, will expect to relinquish the top of the table position afforded courtesy of playing one more match than the others, with Atkinson Butchers poised to cut the 19 aggregate point difference. They could even lose this match and still go top but that will not be in their thoughts as the potential for an unbeaten season becomes more viable every week. Brook Hansen 'A' need 99 points from this fixture to overtake Alicia Dawn Photography and go second but will presumable set their sights much higher than a 99 aggregate total with the incentive of emulating Alicia Dawn's double over the title winners last season as a minimum if they are to harbour any title-winning aspirations of their own.
The remaining four teams in the top division continue to have almost a separate competition where they need to score points off each other to finalise the relegation places and with all four in confrontation on Monday it feels like a very important week in finalising such matters. The bottom two, PEG Perego and Strait Kutz Hairdressers, meet at Marsh Lib with the latter holding a 78-point advantage with more of an eye on the two teams above them well within their sights. Those two are a maximum 28-points away from a relegation spot and as they go head-to-head on Monday the loser can expect to be seriously challenged as to their continuing existence at the top table.
Friday this coming week is the day that everything will be happening for as well as the Division 1 clash between Atkinson Butchers and Brook Hansen 'A' it will also see the top two in Division 2 meet up to determine the half-way positioning of the title-chasers. Current leaders D Haigh & Co have to travel to play their nearest challengers, Holmes Dresser, and the outcome could really determine whether the home team are serious title contenders or not. The in-form D Haigh and Co will be a real test for the Holmes Dresser team that has come on leaps and bounds from last season's (2019) sixth-place finish and will be keen to test out their potential by reducing the gap to the top. If they can't do it at home then it probably opens the door for D Haigh & Co to free-wheel to the title over the rest of the season but a good win throws everything up in the air.
Paul's Kitchens will know where their loyalties lay in the top two meeting as they are just 15 points behind Holmes Dresser who hold the second promotion place at present so it would be good for them to switch places should the leaders come away with the majority of the points from that top encounter. With just one defeat so far Paul's Kitchens will see themselves as prime contenders to bounce straight back to the top division and will be looking to maximise home advantage when newcomers personaliseHR come to visit this week.
The Pearce Displays v Brook Hansen 'B' postponed fixture from 14 June has still to be rearranged leaving the two teams off the pace and confusing issues at the foot of the table. Regardless of that, the bottom three teams all have a Won-1 Lost-3 record to date with the team with the division's worse win record, Colne Valley Garden Centre, sitting above them all although having played a game more. This week they travel to play Brook Hansen 'B' who need to start picking up some points before being too far adrift of the other teams to make up the ground before the end of the season. It seems like a pivotal week is looming and maybe that will lead to some refreshing of the running order, or maybe it won't.
HuddWeb is now providing weekly postings covering the Matchday Preview and Results Round-Up for 5 local bowling leagues - the Mirfield League, Ladies Works League, Veterans 10-Man League, Veterans 6-Man League and the Huddersfield Winter League. Trying to fill the gap left by The Examiner.
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