The first full round of matches are now complete and St Andrews A and B sit first and second (in that order). I just wonder how long ago it is since we could say that? 

St Andrews A's winning run is still intact after this week's latest win, which was a 3-2 at home against (currently bottom) Pudsey Congs A. The current Congs A team have been together for a good number of years and have seen plenty of success in that time, but clearly, they are now in a battle. I'm unaware of the order of play, but the scoresheet shows that although Neil Lee beat Congs Richard Bowes, Richard upped the season's highest break yet again this week to 62. Another break of 30 wasn't quite enough to prevent a 176-151 defeat. St Andrews's A's other winner was Graham Pearson (his 5th of 6 his season). Phil Hirst had his first win of the season, by just 2 points over Nigel Brayshaw. Phil's Dad, John Hirst had a 20 point win over Gary Rogers. Those hard fought 2 points for Congs A against the league leaders is a good effort and could prove to be crucial as the season progresses.

At Pudsey Congs, their new B team welcomed St Andrews B. The scoresheet shows the home team's only winner was Mick Hirst (166-147 over Dave Smith). John Bedford had a 22 point win over Roy Denson and Steve Clark sneaked past Sid Ash by just the one point. A special mention then goes to Congs B's John Oyston (with, I believe,  his first ever league win) 199-188 over Colin Nelthorpe, to complete a 4-1 win for the visitors. It just goes to show that John's perseverance and practice has finally paid off. Very well done John!  

At Littlemoor, the home team's Graham Tudor and Ralph Allan were up first against Graham Bentley and James Butcher respectively. James fought hard to make up the handicap difference and this eventually brought him a close 168-162 win with a nice 31 break along the way. Graham Tudor is currently at the top of his game (see the Players Table) and was always in front to get home comfortably by 44 points. Next up were John Allan against (seasonal league debutant) Stephen Kershaw and myself against (the now 94 years young!) Don Hardcastle. A close and (at times) jittery game on the other table ended with a very close 2 point win for John. In my game it seemed to take me an age to catch Don, who battled very hard early on. However, once in front, some good fortune and handy running helped me to a 200-174 win with about 4 minutes to spare. That 4-1 win got Littlemoor up to third equal.

So, after the first round of league matches, there are just ten and a half points separating top from bottom. I think this shows that our handicapping processes are generally good. At this stage, a quarter of the way through the season, it is still quite possible for any team to string a series of good wins together that could carry them to the top, even before we reach the half way point. 

This coming week, St Andrews A will be sitting out. St Andrews B are at home to Littlemoor, Congs A will host Bradford Deaf and Congs B are away at Princeville. Please remember that this coming week we begin playing for the additional bonus point. You should refer to the Fixtures and Results page, which show what the points differences were in the first round of corresponding matches. 

There were also two Individual Merit matches played this week. At St Andrews, Sid Ash beat John Oyston 200-183. John's Facebook report reads "A game of two halves. I scored steadily at first and reached 165 with out Sid making any impact on the handicap. After that, he slowly eroded my lead and won relatively comfortably". Thanks for that John, and well done to Sid. Ralph Allan persuaded me to play our Individual game following our match on Thursday. I think he was out to quickly put things right after him losing and me winning earlier, as he set off very well with some very good shots combined with good fortune. At one stage he was 50 in front and it felt like all I was battling for was a bit of self-pride! Having little to go for, at most visits, didn't help me either (confirmed by referee John Allan). Overall, a 200-165 win for Ralph was well deserved.

By Dave Howarth

League Secretary