Veterans League
Review of the 10-Man League fixtures played on Tuesday 26 September in Divisions 1, 2 & 3
A great last day of the season for Longwood resulted in them preserving their Division 1 status for another year with a little help from Cowcliffe. Starting the day in one of the two nailed-on relegation places to record a 6-3 home win over Lowerhouses. That took them above Meltham 'A' who had already completed their season before the day's matches started.
That left Longwood in the third from bottom position which is the one extra place expected to become the third relegation position should the League go ahead with their promised rebalancing of the five divisions. However, in step Cowcliffe who have had a woeful second half of the season to fall from 3rd place to the drop zone. That all changed as they clocked up their only 9-0 win of the season when seeing off Elland C&BC who drop into that 3rd relegation place as a result just one point behind Longwood. It did Cowcliffe no harm either as they finished in 5th position after a final 4-match winning sequence and jumping 4 places on the last day.
That outcome ended a 16-year stay in the top division for Elland C&BC after winning the Division 2 Championship in 2006 and being present at the top level ever since. In contrast the team relegated along with them are Milnsbridge 'A' who only came up to Division 1 last season after winning the Division 2 title in 2022. Looking back a year to 2022 when Elland finished the season in 5th place in the table whilst Longwood were 8th and Meltham were 3rd from the bottom.
LAST DAY RESULTS IN DIVISIONS 1, 2 & 3
With all the relegation issues in Division 1 now sorted time to look at the top end of the table where a 6-3 home win for Marsh United over Clayton West confirmed them as runners-up. They finished one point ahead of Waterloo who also recorded a final day 6-3 home win this time over Rastrick.
In Division 2 Lindley BC 'A' claimed the second promotion place by beating Linthwaite Hall 8-1 as Shepley conceded the race for promotion with a disappointing 1-8 reversal at Almondbury BC 'A'. Netherton Con 'A' almost made sure of the title by winning 7-2 away at Holmfirth 'A'. There is one match still to be played in Division 2 and that is between the top two teams on Friday (12.30pm) where Lindley BC 'A' will need a 9-0 away win to take the decision to the better Aggregate For total.
Golcar Lib 'B' were already confirmed as the Division 3 Champions so a 3-6 home defeat to Slaithwaite did no harm to their success even if it was the first home defeat of the season.
Huddersfield Recreation Club needed a 7-2 scoreline in their final match at home against Lockwood Con 'B' to leapfrog their opponents and move out of the two automatic relegation places. They duly did that but it only lifted them into the two other slots reserved for teams that may be relegated anyhow should the rebalancing exercise take place. That cannot be decided until the number of teams playing in the League in 2024 is known.
Final Fixture of the 10-Man League Season Friday 29 September 12.30pm start time
Division 2
Netherton Con 'A' v Lindley BC 'A'
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