It may be tempting fate but the League’s fixtures are ahead of last season but in one respect, they need to be.
Comparing last season, the number of postponements is only 17 compared to last year when the total at this stage was 50.
But that only shows one half of the equation because some divisions now have 14 teams, while last year all divisions had the standard 12 which adds up to four extra fixtures for each team in those divisions.
In Division I last week, Shelley were drawing a League fixture for the fifth time in 13 games and with that match completed, they have only nine League games to play.
This is completely different to one of the teams in Division IV – Salendine Nook. They have played 12 matches but as four were in three different cup competitions, their League fixtures total only eight and with 14 teams in their division, they have 18 League fixtures to play – exactly double that Shelley have to play.
Back to Division One fixtures last week and the Holmbridge – Netherton fixture was the most unusual result for a Division I fixture for many a season.
The teams changed in the Holmbridge cricket pavilion and nearly recorded a cricket score with the home side winning 10-6. This was in stark contrast to when the sides met earlier in the season when the result was 1-0 in a dour game.
Holmbridge took an early three goal lead and from then on, Netherton were never nearer than two behind. Thomas Short scored four for Holmbridge with Joseph McConnell also scoring hat trick but the sympathies must lie with Joel Harrison as he scored four but finished on the losing side.
Another fixture in Division I saw top meet bottom and there was no surprise as leaders Newsome beat Scholes by 2-0. With second placed Diggle’s match falling to the weather, Newsome extend their lead at the top to nine points.
Near the bottom, Heywood Irish picked up their second League win of the season as they beat Berry Brow by 4-1. Aaron Murray scored a hat trick with Nathan Eastwood netting the other but the significance of the three points gained is that they are no longer in a relegation place.
Four fixtures went ahead in Division II and three of them ended with the sides sharing the spoils.
Leaders Skelmanthorpe were held to a 2-2 draw by Kirkheaton Rovers. This point increases their lead at the top to five points over Heyside who have played two games fewer. The only winner was Aimbry who beat Linthwaite Athletic by 3-2 and move up two positions to third.
If the score at Holmbridge was unusually high then a little closer to the Town centre at Honley there was a game that saw a match at the other end of the scoring spectrum – a goalless draw as KKS Spartans gained their third point of the season with their third draw.
This point leaves them seven points away from relegation safety but all is not lost for the Spartans. They have suffered defeat eight times but five of those losses were by the odd goal – a win cannot be far away.
The match in Division III at Marsden saw the top two go into the match with exactly the same points tally from the same number of games – 25 points from ten games, but it was the home side that move on to 28 points with a 5-2 win over AFC Lindley.
Buddy Cox and Michael Dolan both scored twice and Lee Wood scored the other as Marsden recorded their sixth successive League win.
The day improved for Marsden with the news that third placed Flockton had lost to Wooldale Wanderers, while In another game, the bottom two played each other and Grange Moor picked up their first point of the season in a 1-1 draw with Paddock Rangers
Division IV looks destined to be one of the closest fought divisions with at least six clubs still believing they have a chance of the title or at least promotion.
It is so close that when Almondbury Woolpack lost last week they dropped down two positions from the top to third. The side to beat them were Salendine Nook who despite still being in sixth position are probably the favourite to win this title. Courtney Allert scored two for the Woolpack and Tony Wales added another but it was not enough as Daniel Ryan bagged all his sides four goals to give the nook a 4-3 win.
To make matters worse for the Woolpack was that they were the only club in the top seven to drop any points last week.
Moorside take Woolpack’s position at the top with Junction now in second.
The Greenhead based Junction started the season by picking up ten points from their first six games but their second set of six games has yielded them the full eighteen points.
Most of their opposition in the last six games have been against sides near the bottom and the winning margins have quite narrow as last week’s match – a 3-2 win at Cartworth Moor.
But this has been a division where teams near the bottom are capable of giving those at the top a fright. The best example of that is Black Horse. They have a record of just two wins from eleven games but their goal difference is only -9.
In Reserve Division I, the leaders Newsome Reserves did not play as their ground was waterlogged which enabled Netherton Reserves to play their game in hand.
They duly won that to move within five points of the leaders but the two sides records are vastly different. Newsome have won seven of their 10 matches, while Netherton have won only four but with Netherton having drawn all their other games they still have an unbeaten League record.
The team that are third bottom could actually go top. Hepworth Reserves have only played five League games so should they win their five matches in hand, they could go top, but that’s not going to be easy.
