Veterans League
Review of Tuesday's match results in the 10-Man League

A heavy downpour in the last half-hour before Tuesday's start time saw many greens flooded and three of them failed to recover quickly enough to stave off a postponement. But 27 matches did go ahead and here we cover all the important results and the resultant impact on the promotion and relegation issues.
Things remain very tight at the top of Division 1 with the gap between 1st and 2nd halved this week to one point as Kirkheaton Cons 'A' beat Rastrick 8-1 and leaders Golcar Lib 'A' collected a 7-2 home win over Elland C&BC 'A'. Lockwood Con 'A' stay 3rd, 9 points off the top, following a 6-3 home win over relegation-threatened Lindley BC 'A'.
Meltham suffered a third successive home defeat when losing to Longwood 4-5 with a 119-121 aggregate difference being key in

that outcome. Then Meltham turned things
around on Thursday by winning on the
road for the first time in ten this season when collecting a 7-2 victory at Lindley Lib 'A'. That gives them a 21-point safety cushion from the relegation places and makes things look pretty grim for the two Lindley teams.
Milnsbridge may be made to wait a little longer to celebrate promotion and eventually no doubt the Division 2 title as well but their good form continued this week with an 8-1 home win over bottom-of-the-table Brockholes 'A'. Almondbury BC 'A' hang on to the second promotion place for now after a 6-3 away win at Hemplow 'A'.
However, it is Lowerhouses that now have the best hand still to be played being one point off second place and a game in hand over all their opponents after a 7-2 away win at Broad Oak 'A' which may well have ended the home team's own aspirations of promotion. Netherton Con 'A' remain in contention after a great 8-1 away win at Thongsbridge 'A' but have a difficult three game run in to the end of the season including an away fixture at Milnsbridge.
Time is running out for the bottom two with Lockwood Con 'B' and Brockholes 'B' both losing 1-8 away from home this week whilst Thorpe Green stretched the target to 11 points which is now the gap to safety mark after a good 7-2 home win over Shepley.
Linthwaite Hall stretched their lead at the top of Division 3 to 16 points from the 11 points it was before the start of play after winning 8-1 at home over Almondbury Lib. Holmfirth 'A' hang on to second place despite going down 3-6 away at Skel Windmill who stay in contention for the second promotion place.
The shock result of the day was the totally unexpected 9-0 away win served up by Kirkheaton C&BC 'A' at Denby Dale who have been very much involved in the promotion fight all season. That may have to be revisited after this week's loss which may leave them with a hangover that proves too big to recover from in the time now available.
Whitewash 9-0 wins are very rare, whitewash away wins are even rarer, whitewash away wins at teams above you in the table are almost unheard of. Well done to the Cricket Club, where have you been all season up until now?
The bottom four teams in this division all lost this week but four points in defeat by promotion seeking Golcar Lib 'B' for Springwood saw them move out of the second relegation place by leapfrogging Marsh United 'B'. Nine points separate those bottom four with Marsh United 'B' having played one less game than their rivals.
In Division 4 Ravensknowle Park lost 2-7 away at Almondbury BC 'B' to make it three away defeats on the bounce which has seriously undermined their promotion bid which looked nailed on a month ago. Now languishing in fourth place and 10-points adrift of a promotion place they are relying on some major mishap for two of the top three teams to open a door or two for them. To compound their misery the top three teams all won and retain the same running order of Meltham 'B (top and 8-1 winners over Milnsbridge 'B'), Outlane (2nd and 7-2 away winners at Lindley BC 'B') and Primrose Hill Lib (3rd and 7-2 away winners at Elland C&BC 'B'.
The bottom two teams met at Brockholes where the club's 'B' team went down 4-5 to New Mill 'B' a result which didn't help either team as Thongsbridge 'B' had a good 5-4 away win at the Rugby Club to keep their survival bid very much alive.
Kirkheaton Con 'B' made it 13 consecutive Division 5 wins when clocking up a 7-2 result at Netherton Con 'B' to include the handicap bonus points despite losing individual games 0-21 and 3-21. Marsh Lib remain the favourites to go up with the leaders and a 6-3 away win at foot-of-the-table Holmfirth 'B' retained their 4-point lead over David Brown Sports (who have played 2 games more) and 7-point advantage over Dalton on the same number of games played. Dalton's match at Kirkheaton C&BC succumbed to the weather and has been rearranged for next Tuesday when Kirkheaton C&BC 'B' will play 2 matches on the same day, one at home in the morning and the other at Marsh Lib in the afternoon. Greenhead Park ended a run of 5 consecutive defeats with a 6-3 home win over Hemplow 'B' which in turn extended Hemplow's losing run to 8 matches.
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