New Mill inflicts first home loss on Division 5 leaders

Veterans League

Review of the Veterans 10-Man League results in Divisions 3, 4 & 5 from Tuesday 18 July

A first home defeat of the season for the Division 5 leaders, Milnsbridge 'B', was a surprise especially when seeing that it was lowly New Mill 'B' that inflicted the loss on them. The closest of aggregate scores (113-114) proving decisive in the points scoring and a complete turnaround of the early season meeting of the two teams at New Mill where the home team were thrashed 0-9. However things have changed and this was a fifth win on the bounce for the Millers and more to come based on this form. That loss knocked a couple of points off the leaders advantage at the top of the table but they still have a comfortable 8 points lead over Brockholes 'B' who moved into 2nd place after a 7-2 away win at Holmfirth 'B'.

A 6-3 home win for Greenhead Park over David Brown Sports ensured that they stay firmly in the promotion equation although dropping a place to third on the Aggregate For count. Kirkheaton C&BC 'B' had a cracking 7-2 home win over Netherton Con 'B' for a first win in 6 fixtures and the inconsistent Dalton side clocked up a first win in four when beating Broad Oak 'B' by 6-3.

The top four teams in Division 3 all won their matches this Tuesday to preserve the running order exactly as it was before the start of play. In fact the top 7 places remain unaltered. However with two of the top four winning by the narrowest of 5-4 scorelines it opens up way forward for some of the hopefuls. Second-placed Almondbury Lib and 4th-placed Brockholes 'A' were both pushed all the way by Huddersfield Recreation Club (122-120) and Outlane (115-108) respectively to claim the majority of points. No such problems for the leaders, Golcar Lib 'B' who won 6-3 away at Skel Windmill to inch further away from their main rivals.

A good 7-2 home win for Lockwood Con 'B' over Slaithwaite revived their hopes of moving out of the drop zone but with the possibility of four teams being relegated this year there is some way to go yet before they can consider themselves out of danger. The same is true for three teams on the edge of the four-team drop zone and they are only separated by one point. They are Slaithwaite, Outlane and Skel Windmill and they all lost this week.

A cracking 8-1 away win for the Division 4 leaders, Lindley Lib 'B' over one of their main rivals, Marsh United 'B', saw them extend their lead at the top to 5-points from Springwood who did little wrong in winning away at Thongsbridge 'B'. Lindley BC 'B' moved up two places to fourth after an 8-1 home win over Primrose Hill Lib who slip to bottom-of-the-table as a result. They were overtaken by Ravensknowle Park who had a rousing first away win of the season when beating Almondbury BC 'B' 7-2 to pull their opponents right into the relegation fight. A 6-3 home win for the Rugby Club over Kirkheaton Con 'B' enabled them to climb out of the drop zone and to within 3 points of 4th place.