The derby at Pudsey Congs this week had to be postponed at short notice, due to two players being ill. Two of the four games have been played already, but I'll keep you in suspense until the other two games are played... we are hoping that those who are/were ill, will be able to play soon and get the match completed. Get well soon guys...

At St Andrews, the B team were coming into this latest derby match, top of the league, but were on the back of a first defeat since October. The A team have had an up and down season - they were undefeated until the end of October and, in fact, led the table for three weeks... but since then, the wheels appear to have come loose at least. How this match would go, was therefore not an easy prediction. However, the result sheet shows an absolute domination by the B team, with a thumping 5-0 victory, and all their four players scoring 200. I'm unaware of the playing order but I do know that Dave Smith and Graham Pearson will have been just about level (maybe on 185-183) to Graham. But it was Dave who put the game to bed with an unfinished 27. John Bedford was a 32 point winner over Neil Lee and Steve Clark just got the better of John Rider by 5. The biggest win of the evening though went to Steve Boocock with a 72 point win over Nigel Brayshaw. So, the fact that nearest rivals Congs B didn't get their match completed, the league table now shows St Andrews B a full twelve and a half points clear, with Congs B holding two matches in hand. Is the league title in the hands of St Andrews B already? Congs B might have something to say about that, but St Andrews B's grip is definitely tightening.

At Bradford Deaf Centre, the home team, having defeated the league leaders away from home last week, will have been full of confidence in facing bottom of the table Littlemoor. That confidence was well founded as Ihjaz Hussain played well to beat Ralph Allan 200-184 and Brian Robinson had no trouble at all seeing off the badly out of form league secretary 190-147. But, in what was clearly a game of two halves, the Valley Road outfit came storming back with good wins from John Allan with a 164-139 win over Jeremy Dixon and Littlemoor's most consistent player this season, Graham Tudor, beating Ian Ford 200-136 with a good 9-10 minutes to spare. That win for Littlemoor leaves them still 4 points adrift, but will hopefully inspire some confidence between now and the end of the season.

This coming week, Congs B will host Bradford Deaf. Littlemoor are at St Andrews A and St Andrews B are at Princeville. Congs A will sit out, but may be involved in getting the postponed match completed.

One of the Individual matches has been played already between Phil Hirst and John Allan. John was the winner of that one 200-184. I'm advised that John had a 36 break early on which caught him up. However, Phill battled well to keep the scores around level for most of the way and in fact he was in the lead by about 10 and on 184 when John ran out with a 26 unfinished. Well done John and hard luck Phil.

Can I also please remind you all to get your Individual and Pairs matches arranged and played? They need to be played by the 19th February. The next league meeting is on the 27th February 2026 at St Andrews. 

By Dave Howarth

League Secretary

Last week's postponed match was played over two nights this week... both Princeville and Pudsey Congs B took advantage of the fact that it was strictly Congs B's turn to sit this week out on the Thursday. That match resulted in a very handy 4-1 win for Congs B to help them draw a bit closer to leaders St Andrews B. League Chairman, James Butcher, was Princeville's only winner. Congs B's victors were sub Colin Nelthorpe, Sid Ash and Roy Denson. That win for Sid keeps him top of the Players Table, with 11 wins from 13 played. I'm grateful to Mick Hirst and James Butcher for arranging their players at short notice to get the match played so soon following its late postponement due to the poor weather forecast on the scheduled date.

In this week's fixtures, the big surprise was St Andrews B suffering their first defeat since the beginning of October... the loss was inflicted by Bradford Deaf Centre. The fact that it was an away win was also a bit of a surprise. Jeremy Dixon and Ihjaz Hussain beat Dave Smith and John Bedford respectively. The two Steve's for St Andrews B, namely Boocock and Clark, held sway with close wins against Brian Robinson and Ian Ford. The visitors claimed the crucial aggregate point by 61 to seal the 3-2 win. I believe that Bradford Deaf have now proven that St Andrews B are not invincible this season and the door may now be slightly ajar.

At Littlemoor, Congs A recruited "Travelling Wilbury" John Rider to make up their four... and he continued his good recent form with a 50 point win over the home team's reserve, Peter Allan (150-200). On the near table, John Allan was up against Congs A's Dave Hirst and it was the latter who got the better start, increasing his handicap advantage, taking him into almost a 50 point lead. John worked hard to eventually get into the same street a couple of times, but never actually caught up. Dave finished well to win 191-155 at the bell. Phil Hirst then continued Congs A's wins with a 200-178 win over Graham Tudor... a break of 23 from Phil made the difference late on, in what was previously a very tight affair. In my game against John Hirst, I made my usual sluggish start, allowing John to get a handy lead. However, although it was a scrappy game with any number of flukes from both of us, it was probably me who had the better fortune/running to carry me through to my first win since November. a 4-1 win to Congs A was a fair result, but it leaves Littlemoor now floundering a full 7 points adrift at the foot of the table.

St Andrews A's visit to Princeville was often described a few years ago as "El Clasico" ... suggesting some feistiness. However, Gareth Kershaw's comments on Facebook suggest this was anything other than that... for those who don't do social media - here it is :- 

Playing order was, me v Nigel on far table and Graham v Neil on near table to the door. I guess Graham played well against Neil but didn't see much with playing, the smile on grahams face to tell me at least I can win would suggest he played well  I struggled to make any in roads into the 25 handicap difference until right at the end. I was on 191 whilst Nigel was on 194, I was on a break of 7 and could've left him a double baulk but went for a pot red as I thought it was a bit of a bad trick to try win a game that way as it turned out I missed the pot and Nigel ran out with 6, with me begging the question should I have just played the double baulk to win  I marked for James but my guess is Steve played pretty well to beat Gary by 63! James made great in roads early on against graham and got I think to about 10 behind without graham scoring. Graham got his head down though and started to string some nice 10-15 breaks in with only leaving scraps for James and got back to 40 in front, James started to catch some back but was all a bit too late in the end. Very pleasant evening with some chaps I've not seen for a long time so good to catch up with them. I will get another win in the Pudsey league this season I hope, 5 more attempts for me to go 

So, a nice 3-2 win for Princeville, gave them a fifth win this season and takes them 7 points clear of Littlemoor whose favouritism for the wooden spoon has just gone odds-on with Betfred. This coming week, there's derbies all round at Congs and St Andrews, whereas Littlemoor will be at Bradford Deaf Centre and Princeville have the opportunity to get some practice in. 

Please also remember that the Individuals and Pairs have now been drawn and so you can make arrangements to get them played between now and the 19th February. 

By Dave Howarth

League Secretary

The second half of the league season started this week, but only two of the three games were played... We took the weather forecasters seriously and as their predictions of heavy snow were so bad for late on Thursday, we took some drastic measures... As Pudsey Congs B is made up of mostly players from the Rochdale area, the decision was taken to cancel their home match against Princeville. Having just the one table would have meant travel problems later on. We also decided to start the other two matches an hour early, to avoid any potential difficulties later on in the evening. As it turned out, the predicted bad weather simply didn't arrive here, or just over the Pennines either... Ah well, all agreed though that it was better to be safe than sorry. Thanks to all involved for making the two matches happen an hour early... A big thank you also goes out to Dave Smith, who made sure John Bedford got home safely, by taking him all the way back to Normanton! Arrangements are already underway between James Butcher and Mick Hirst to get the cancelled match played in the near future... so well done to them also.

At Bradford Deaf Centre, the home team beat Congs A comfortably, with only regular reserve, John Rider, bringing a single point back to Pudsey. The Deaf Centre's winners were Ihjaz Hussain, Jeremy Dixon and Brian Robinson who recorded breaks of 24 and 20. 

At Littlemoor, it was bottom against top; and the end result certainly reflected that. There were wins for Dave Smith, John Bedford and Steve Clark. Only Graham Tudor troubled the scorer for the home team, inflicting a rare defeat on St Andrews B's Steve Boocock by a surprising margin of 68 and with nearly 15 minutes to spare. Those results meant that Steve Boocock was replaced at the top of the Players Table by his own team mate, John Bedford!

St Andrews B have started the new year very well and are now a significant 9 and a half points clear of Congs B, who have a match in hand. Littlemoor are now four points adrift of 6th placed Princeville... Amazing how last season's double winners are now struggling to avoid the wooden spoon!

This coming week, St Andrews A are on the road to Princeville, whereas St Andrews B are at home to Bradford Deaf and Littlemoor will host Pudsey Congs A.

By Dave Howarth

League Secretary

A very Happy New Year to all readers of our website.

Just a very brief update... the previously postponed match between Bradford Deaf Centre and Princeville was completed on Friday this week. Thanks to both teams for ensuring the match was fully completed before we begin the second half of the league season. The scorecard from it is now showing on the appropriate page in Week 13. The match finished 4-2 to Princeville, who have now moved a full 5 points away from last season's double winners, Littlemoor... Yes,... last season's league and cup winning champions will start 2026 trailing St Andrews B by a massive 26 points... a real mountain to climb for them, even just to save face!

The Players Table has also been updated to reflect the match completed this week.

This coming week, Bradford Deaf will host Pudsey Congs A, Resurgent Princeville will travel to Congs B and at Littlemoor, it's bottom against bottom against top. Good luck to all involved.

By Dave Howarth

League Secretary.