Veterans League
Kirkheaton Con 'A' were beaten for the first time this season at Elland on Tuesday but stay top (just) of the Division 1 table. The Elland team hit top form to overwhelm their visitors by 8-1. The impact of that result for Kirkheaton was compounded by their nearest rivals, Marsh United 'A', winning their match this week by the same 8-1 scoreline at Lindley Lib 'A' to move level on points with Kirkheaton.
That defeat for Lindley Lib 'A' means that they are now one-point off bottom place having played one more match than the two teams currently sitting below them.
That win for the Elland team left them in a familiar position - just behind Lockwood Con 'A' in the updated league table. With the reigning Champions winning 6-3 away at Clayton West to stay 6th as the leaders were the only top 6 team to lose this week.
Rastrick and Cowcliffe had good but narrow 5-4 away wins at Waterloo and Longwood respectively to retain 4th and 5th positions. In each case the aggregate was key in determining the share out of points with Rastrick edging it 133-130 at Waterloo and an even closer margin saw Cowcliffe just get the extra points with a 124-123 score.
Golcar Lib 'A' stay third after a 6-3 home win over an improving Meltham team who only lost the aggregate by one at 128-129. In that match the Chapman brothers faced each other in one of the pairs games with Mick's home form contributing to a win over Allen by 21-19.
Lindley BC 'A' didn't have a match this week and have dropped into bottom place but with none of the four teams directly above them winning this week it could have been a much worse outcome.
It was a good day for Division 2 leaders Milnsbridge 'A' with a really good 7-2 win away at Hemplow 'A' to extend their lead to 4 points but it is Almondbury BC 'A' who move into contention and 2nd place after a big 6-3 away win at Shepley. That setback for Shepley sees them drop from 4th to 7th and Bradley & Colne drop from 2nd to 5th after losing for the first time this season away from home going down 3-6 at Broad Oak 'A'. That enabled the Broad Oak team to move into 4th place.
The five teams behind the Division 2 leaders are separated by 3 points in what is becoming a tight affair and even Thongsbridge 'A' in 11th place are only 8 points off a promotion spot. New Mill 'A' feature in that pack after a 9-0 dry rub of Thorpe Green and they become the first team in any division to win and lose 9-0 this season. New Mill's home form is strong with 3 wins from their 3 matches but it is exactly the opposite away from home and that needs addressing if they are to enter the promotion battle at some point in the coming weeks.
Very much in the promotion mix are Lowerhouses who had a 7-2 home win over Thongsbridge 'A' to slide them into third place in the table and clocking up their 5th win in 6 matches. The surprising thing being that their one defeat was at bottom of the table Brockholes 'A' to give the Badgers their solitary win to date. A 3-6 loss at Lockwood Con 'B' gave the home team a first win of the season. Netherton Con 'A' won 7-2 away at Slaithwaite to overtake their opponents and move into the top half of a congested league table.
There were no matches in Divisions 3 and 5 this week but there was one rearranged fixture in Division 4 when Almondbury BC 'B' could only field 9 men and suffered a 3-6 home defeat to Elland C&BC 'B' which did allow them to move off the foot of the table whilst Elland accelerated into 2nd place just two points behind leaders Ravensknowle Park in what was a very good day for both Elland teams.