Just 2 weeks ago, Princeville were bottom of the league table and were four and a half points adrift of the team next to bottom. However, having strung two hard fought 4-1 wins together, they have lifted themselves off the bottom. This week's 4-1 home win was against early leaders Bradford Deaf. Skipper and League Chairman, James Butcher registered his welcome first win of the season 160-121 over Jeremy Dixon. Their other two winners were Graham Bentley and a special mention for "The Don" Hardcastle, who at 93 years young, also claimed his first win of the season (by just one point!). Well done Don! Bradford Deaf Centre's only winner was Brian Robinson. To quote Princeville's Gareth Kershaw this week on Facebook... "The march is on!"

At Pudsey Congs, the B team welcomed leaders St Andrews A; who arguably faced their toughest challenge so far. I'm unaware of the playing order, but Neil Lee led the way for St Andrews A with a big 70 point win over the previously unbeaten Mick Hirst. Graham Pearson also did well at top board to overcome Trevor Smith by 38 points. But, hitting back for Congs B, Colin Nelthorpe beat Gary Rogers by 19 and and Sid Ash had his second successive big win by 200-148 over (another previously unbeaten) Nigel Brayshaw. That win for Sid puts him top of the Players Table. St Andrews A, though, are still unbeaten as a team and looking at the Players Table, three of St Andrews A's four regular players are in the top 6 (Neil, Graham and Nigel). So, a deserved 3-2 win this week, places them 3 points clear at the top, above Bradford Deaf, who will be sitting this coming week out.

At St Andrews, the B team did a bit of a 4-1 demolition job on last season's runners-up, Pudsey Congs A. Dave Smith recorded his first win of the season over Richard Bowes and this was despite a seasonal highest 59 break, so far, from the latter. John Bedford and Steve Clark were St Andrews B's other winners. John Hirst was Congs A's only winner... and added his name to the list of first time winners this season, in doing so. That 4-1 defeat now leaves Congs A at the foot of the table... who would have predicted that, pre-season? 

This coming week, will see the end of the first round of fixtures, with table-topping St Andrews A against current basement dwellers, Pudsey Congs A. Littlemoor will be at home to the resurgent Princeville and the B teams of Congs and St Andrews will face-off at School Street. 

By Dave Howarth

League Secretary 

St Andrews A's early march towards the title continued this week. They were at last week's table toppers Bradford Deaf Centre, who had Ihjaz Hussain missing and as they were unable to field a reserve of their own, it was agreed that St Andrews A's reserve John Rider, could make one in. As it turned out, John was the only winner for the Deaf Centre. It was a close one, but he managed to overcome Gary Rogers 186-182. The winners for St Andrews A were Graham Pearson, Neil Lee and Nigel Brayshaw. That 4-1 win propelled them to the top of the table... and they are still unbeaten.

At Pudsey Congs, the A team took on lowly Princeville. A home win therefore looked like an odds-on bet, given this season's form so far. However, James Butcher was able to bring a strong side. And as a result, the Great Horton Road outfit didn't disappoint. Brian Haigh, playing in his second game of the season, had a big 76 point win, Graham Bentley had a 36 point win and seasonal debutant, Gareth Kershaw was also victorious by 10. All three winners beat the 50 minutes. The shocked home team's only winner was Richard Bowes against League Chairman, James. I'm sure if Princeville were able to field this team, week in week out, they would not be at the foot of the table for long. Richard Bowes Facebook comments on this match read:- 

"Playing order was 2, 1, 3, 4. Our marginal lead at the half way point looked relatively secure when Graham and Dave were level but Graham’s solid play left us 23 adrift going into the fourth game. This looked to be going our way with John in the early 180s after a nicely made 18 and Gareth about 15 behind with us having an eye on 3 points but Gareth put together a well fashioned 15/18 of his own and then showed good scoreboard awareness to first secure the aggregate and then run out with a 15(?) at his next visit to quash our hopes of a consolation point from a victory for John."

At Littlemoor, Pudsey Congs B were back to full strength, with the return from holiday of skipper Mick Hirst. An 18 point win for him got them off to a good start, despite a 24 break from opponent Ralph Allan. On the other table, Graham Tudor played his game of the season, so far, for Littlemoor knocking in a 21 break and when just 2 behind Roy Denson, he followed up with an unfinished 28 to give Littlemoor a slight advantage. Also returning from holiday, John Allan then had a close 16 point win over Trevor Smith (whose late, but backdated, registration was agreed at the committee meeting on Friday). However, Sid Ash also played his game of the season, so far, with a convincing 50 point win over yours truly, to secure the win and aggregate point for Congs B. 

So, after 5 weeks, and with Princeville now registering their first win, the table is looking more compact and competitive. Having 7 teams, though has caused some player shortages in certain areas, and combining that problem with holidays and other absences, has meant we have had to be more flexible by allowing some reserves to play for other institutes. This matter was discussed at the committee meeting on Friday this week, and although it's not an ideal situation, it was agreed that we should allow this arrangement to continue. We will review it again at the next meeting, when there could be some restrictions imposed at that stage. 

At the meeting, we drew the Individuals and Pairs. They are now published on the appropriate page.

This coming week, the two Bradford teams meet for the first time this season, at Princeville. In Pudsey, Congs A are at St Andrews B and Congs B will host St Andrews A. Littlemoor will sit out.

By Dave Howarth

League Secretary

St Andrews A's bid for the title took a turn for the better this week. Their unbeaten run continued with an excellent 4-1 win over last week's second placed Littlemoor. Skipper Neil Lee got them off to a good start, with some good fortune that propelled him forward into a strong lead. However, eventually it ended up being a close 5 point win for him, over myself. An unfinished break of 21 came just too late to enable me to turn the game around. The home side's other winners were Graham Pearson and Nigel Brayshaw, over Ralph Allan and Peter Allan respectively. Graham Tudor's 54 point win over Gary Rogers reduced the deficit quite considerably for Littlemoor, so St Andrews A's overall win was by just 8 points.

At Pudsey Congs, the B team were up against the early league leaders, Bradford Deaf Centre. A break of 43 by Jeremy Dixon was enough to ensure a 167-138 win over the (officially still unregistered) Trevor Smith. Peter O'Connell and Ian Ford also notched up one each on the scoreboard for the visitors with wins against Sid Ash and Colin Nelthorpe. Roy Denson, though, made his trip all the way over from Blackpool (!!) worthwhile, in defeating Brian Robinson 180-173. (4-1 to BDC).

At Princeville, the home team's woes continued, as they went down 4-1 to a full strength St Andrews B. John Bedford had a 31 point win over Don Hardcastle. Steve Boocock's win over Steve Gatenby  was by 25 and Steve Clark beat James Butcher 185-166. Graham Bentley was Princeville's only winner, by 40 points over Dave Smith. 

So, Bradford Deaf still lead the way but with, the still unbeaten, St Andrews A now up to second and St Andrews B now up to third; it was just about all change below them. The only exception being Princeville who continue to languish at the foot. This coming week could be a real humdinger, with Bradford Deaf Centre facing St Andrews A and Pudsey Congs A at home to Princeville and Littlemoor at home to Congs B. St Andrews B will sit this week out.

The next league meeting will be at St Andrews on Friday the 17th October with a 7:30pm start. We will need everyone's Individual and Pairs entries at the meeting. It is still £1.50 to enter the Individual Merit and the same for each player in the Pairs. The Team KO contest will not begin until April next year. So, there's plenty of water to travel under the bridge until then.

By Dave Howarth

League Secretary

An eventful week to report... At Pudsey Congs, the first derby match took place... well, for a good few years anyway. And, the points were shared as although the A team had only one winner (Dave Hirst) and the B team had 2 winners, (Sid Ash and reserve John Rider). It was Paul Holt, who was making his debut for Congs B that lost to Dave Hirst by 200-135. The other game was tied - between Richard Bowes and a Mr T Smith. At the time of writing, I am still trying to fully establish the identity of Mr Smith. I am led to believe though that he is one of our welcome new recruits to the league from Rochdale. Unfortunately, his name doesn't appear on the Players Handicaps page, and I believe this may have been an oversight or a misunderstanding when we assessed all handicaps at the pre-season meeting. Anyhow, what I have decided to do (for now) is to leave the scores as recorded on the scoresheet, but the matter will be discussed at the next league meeting on the 17th October 2025 (St Andrews 7:30pm) and a decision will be made about the score-line. I have left the game between Richard and his opponent off the Players Table for now, until a formal committee decision is made.

At the Deaf Centre, last season's champions, Littlemoor, were 2-0 down at the half-way stage with wins by Ihjaz Hussain over myself (by a useful 30 points) and Ian Ford with a huge 61 point win over Peter Allan, standing in for his Dad (John). Graham Tudor and Ralph Allan therefore had a lot of work to do if the bonus point was to be won. But win it they did! ... Was it Brian Clough who coined the phrase "A game of two halves"?... Anyhow, Graham beat Brian Robinson by a handy 189-166 and Ralph had a massive 193-89 win over a shell-shocked Jeremy Dixon. Ralph played really well and scored teens breaks at almost every visit; but I have to sympathise with Jeremy, who most of the time had nothing to go at, poor lad!

At St Andrews, in the other derby, the scoresheet shows 2 close ones and two not so. Nigel Brayshaw was the best winner of the night with a 36 point win for the A team, but Steve Boocock wasn't too far behind that with his 17 point win for B. John Bedford and Neil Lee battled out a 169-164 win for John (B team) and Gary Rogers (A team) scraped home by 2 against Steve Clark.  (3-2 to the A team)

The league table is taking shape now with only St Andrews A still undefeated, but they have a game in hand. Although losing this week, Bradford Deaf are still on top by a point with Littlemoor close behind. This coming week, Bradford Deaf will be at Congs B, Littlemoor will visit St Andrews A and Princeville will host St Andrews B.

Please note the next league meeting will be at St Andrews at 7:30pm on Friday the 17th October 2025.

By Dave Howarth

League Secretary