At the half way point in the League competition, Pudsey Congs have extended their lead to a full 7 points. They had a season defining win against second placed St Andrews B this week... and incredibly, it was their eighth 4-1 win this season. They were actually on the wrong end of a 4-1 though, right at the start of the season, when going down to the Deaf Centre. Bradford Deaf Centre have had a bit of an in and out season so far, but took full advantage of St Andrews A's Graham Pearson's absence, with a convincing 5-0 away win. That win puts them now in a firm third place, lying just half a point adrift of St Andrews B. It also extended their lead over their fourth placed opponents. At Littlemoor, the home team had a rare, but somewhat convincing, 4-1 win over Princeville. Both now sit joint bottom and are two adrift of St Andrews A.

Congs winners this week were Richard Bowes, and brothers Mick and John Hirst. Richard looks to have been very free scoring as his opponent, Dave Smith only reached 111. Breaks of 68 & 30 were Richard's highlights. Mick's win over Steve Boocock also looks to have been comfortable (200-159) but John's win was a much closer 193-183 over Norman Procter. St Andrews B's best performer was Steve Clark with a 200-177 win over Phil Hirst.

The scorecard from St Andrews A suggests that Bradford Deaf may have had a bus to catch, as all four of them beat the clock. Jeremy Dixon had two 20 breaks and a 23 unfinished in his 34 point win over Neil Lee. Ijaz beat Nigel Brayshaw by 26, Brian Robinson beat Gary Rogers by 32 and Ian Ford beat John Oyston by 27. Very well done to them!

At Littlemoor, Princeville's newbie, Martyn Britton, kept up his 100% win record (2 from 2) with a 24 point win over Peter Allan, who was ably substituting for Graham Tudor. On the near table, the two players who sit right at the foot of the Players Table locked horns. Keith Tomlinson started the better of us, but once I had a little change of fortune and some good running (for a change!) I managed to re-locate at least some of my mojo and was also delighted to beat the clock, with a comfortable 33 point win. I was reminded afterwards though (thanks Ralph and Pete) that the chap I beat had a cataract operation only 2 weeks previously! Next up were Ralph Allan against John Bedford and John Allan against James Butcher. Ralph confirmed why he is still unbeaten this season with a good 184-171 over John. In the top board game, and with both John Allan and James Butcher on equal (30) handicaps, a close game was expected. It took John a while to get into his stride, but gradually his lead became more and more comfortable, especially when James had very little in the way of "leaves". The 50 minute bell put an end to James misery with the scores at 189-127. The 4-1 win to Littlemoor leaves both teams equal bottom on 18 points. 

The Players Table is also now fully up to date.

This coming week, and for the rest of this month, the league competition is now paused. On Thursday the Team Knockout competition kicks in, and in fact there is a repeat of two of this week's matches. In Group 1, Bradford Deaf Centre will host St Andrews A and in Group 2, Littlemoor will be at home once again to Princeville. Congs and St Andrews B both have free weeks. (This might give you an opportunity to practice, or even to play any rearranged Individuals / Pairs when you have a free week. There's no harm in playing the Individuals and Pairs matches BEFORE the arranged date if all parties agree - please just make me aware of the results if you are arranging to play your matches early).

Please also remember that the Team Knockout rules were changed at the last AGM, in that the decision on who plays whom, will now be drawn from a hat (or whatever else you have available!). So there is now some better potential for playing an opponent who you will not have played that often. The hope is that this change will make the competition more interesting.

Dave Howarth

League Secretary