We have now played a full three-quarters of the season, and for the first time since the beginning of November, St Andrews B have been toppled from top spot. Pudsey Congs B are the new leaders, by half a point, as a result of their big 5-0 home win over the aforementioned St Andrews B. Congs B's Mick Hirst led the way with a massive 200-116 over Dave Smith with breaks of 28 and 21 along the way. Trevor Smith also had a good win also registering 2 good breaks of 38 and 21. That 38 gets him onto the handicaps table. Roy Denson (also with a 20) and Sid Ash's wins were a bit closer (by 9 and just 2). That defeat for St Andrews B was their third in succession... the momentum is surely now with this season's new team from School Street.

At the other end of the table, lowly Littlemoor took on Princeville. The home side were without regulars, Ralph Allan and the reliable Graham Tudor, and so played reserves Peter Allan, and making his first appearance for a long time, Alan Mazurke. They were both up first... Peter set off reasonably well against Steve Gatenby, but once Steve got the hang of the table, he caught up and progressively went away finishing on 199 at the bell, and leaving Pete stranded on 151. As I was refereeing Pete's game I didn't really see what was happening on the other table. However, I am advised that despite making very few appearances, Alan played well against Peter Turner and took full advantage of good running and some good fortune to record a much needed win 200-162. John Allan then had a narrow win over Princeville's James Butcher and Graham Bentley had a comfortable win to beat me 200-156 to secure the aggregate point for Princeville, making it 3-2 to them.

In the other match, Congs A had a really close encounter with St Andrews A, winning the aggregate point by just two. Richard Bowes had 4 recorded breaks of 48 and 34 plus two in the 20's on his way to a 26 point win. Congs A's other winner was John Hirst by 35 and for St Andrews A, Graham Pearson and John Rider won by 19 and 40 respectively.

This coming week, Congs B will be at Princeville; St Andrews B will be looking for a big win to get back on track against Littlemoor and Congs A will entertain Bradford Deaf. From this coming week, please remember we are also playing for the bonus point. 

Please note that the next league meeting will also take place at St Andrews this coming Friday the 27th February with a 7:30pm start. We will be drawing the next rounds of the knockout competitions.

Dave Howarth

League Secretary

Pudsey Congs B can thank their stablemates Congs A this week for enabling them to gain some ground on league leaders St Andrews B. Congs A were away at table topping St Andrews B, who were crucially without their skipper and players table leader, Steve Boocock... this proved to be quite significant and arguably affects their whole dynamic. The three regular Hirsts for Congs A, Dave, Phil and John were all winners over John Bedford, Steve Clark and John Oyston respectively; although Phil's win was a close one, by just 7. St Andrews B's only winner was Dave Smith, playing top board against Richard Bowes. Breaks of 31 and 33 weren't enough to stop Dave from claiming the win 145-113.

At Pudsey Congs, the B team were made to work for a hard fought 3-2 win over St Andrews A. The scorecard shows that St Andrews A's winners were Graham Pearson over Mick Hirst and Nigel Brayshaw over Sid Ash (who had already played in his pairs match at Littlemoor earlier). Congs B's winners were the other two Rochdale contingents, Paul Holt and Roy Denson, who has always been thereabouts in the players table and as a result, now moves up to third. Congs B claimed the aggregate point by just 13.

At Princeville, Bradford Deaf confirmed their respective standings in the league table with a comfortable looking 4-1 win. Jeremy Dixon, Ihjaz Hussain and Ian Ford were their winners. Gareth Kershaw recorded his second win (from 6 played) of the season over Brian Robinson to get a valuable point for Princeville to keep them 5 points clear of Littlemoor.

The aforementioned Littlemoor took advantage of a "sit out" from the league competition, by playing their pairs matches. On Monday Peter Allan and myself played our match against Neil Lee and Nigel Brayshaw. Pete played very well to overcome Neil to give me a decent start on Nigel. Despite this, my poor form this season was a bit of a worry going into it and so I played quite tactically, to maintain a handy lead. The tactic paid off and with some good running and good fortune, it saw us through to an 87 point win. On Thursday, it was Ralph Allan and Sid Ash against winners of this competition for the last 2 years, John Allan and Graham Tudor. In the first game, Graham just about overwhelmed a luckless Sid, who commented that it was the best he had seen Graham play in the last couple of years. A 29 break from him ensured a big win that gave his partner John a big advantage over his brother, Ralph. And just to confirm his "top dog" status at Littlemoor, John knocked in a 30 break to eclipse Graham's earlier effort; to enable a comfortable 74 point win. 

This coming week sees a table topping clash as Pudsey Congs B take on St Andrews B (We all wonder if Steve Boocock will be available this week?). Congs A will be at St Andrews A and Littlemoor will host Princeville in what could be a battle to fend off the dreaded wooden spoon. 

The next league meeting will be at St Andrews on Friday the 27th February 2026 with a 7:30pm start. We will be drawing the Individual Merit and Pairs semi-finals. We will also possibly be drawing the Team Knockout contest which will commence on the 23rd April.

By Dave Howarth

League Secretary

We are now right up to date after a couple of hiatuses with two illnesses, and then a last minute emergency, that couldn't be avoided. Thanks to all the players involved for fully cooperating with each other, to get the incomplete matches played as quickly as they did.

In the Pudsey Congs derby from a couple of weeks ago, in the first half of that match, Congs B went 2 up with wins from Mick Hirst and Colin Nelthorpe. But once the missing players were fit and ready to play the remaining two games, it was Congs A who fought back and made it two apiece with wins from Phil Hirst and his Uncle David. The aggregate point went to Congs B, by just 6 points. In the one outstanding game from the Princeville v St Andrews B match, it was League Chairman, James Butcher, who managed to beat Players Table leader, Steve Boocock, by 36. James clearly had an excellent game, recording breaks of 24, 23 and 21. That brought St Andrews B's winning run to an end, which extended all the way back to the beginning of October.

In this week's scheduled matches the score-lines had a more familiar look to them... although possibly the most unexpected one was a 3-2 away win for St Andrews A at Bradford Deaf Centre where there were wins for the visitors players, Graham Pearson and Nigel Brayshaw. The Deaf's winners were Ihjaz Hussain and Ian Ford. St Andrews A secured the aggregate by just 10 points.

At Pudsey Congs, their A team had a good 4-1 win against Princeville. with three of the four games looking convincing. Richard Bowes registered three breaks of 31,31 and 37 n his 183-117 win over Princeville's James Butcher. John Hirst had the close one with Princeville's Peter Turner 200-194. Phil Hirst looks to have done really well to beat the visitors Graham Bentley 200-116; but Brian Haigh hit back well for Princeville with a 200-138 win over Dave Hirst.

At Littlemoor, title contenders Pudsey Congs B were firmly back to form with Trevor Smith comfortably beating Graham Tudor and Roy Denson doing a similar job on myself. On the other table, Littlemoor's super sub, Peter Allan, got the better of Sid Ash; but Peter's Dad, John, lost out to Congs B's skipper, Mick Hirst.

So, now we are fully up to date, St Andrews B still hold onto top spot, but their lead is now down to six and a half points to Congs B. Bradford Deaf are a further 6 and a half points further back in third, but have played one more match than the top two. This week, Bradford Deaf will visit Princeville and the two Pudsey matches are Congs A at St Andrews B and Congs B take on St Andrews A. Littlemoor will sit this week out. 

All the Individual Merit matches have now been played and the 4 semi-finalists going into the hat are James Butcher, John Hirst, and brothers John and Ralph Allan, who I would imagine will be wanting to avoid one another. In the Pairs, there are 3 matches still left to play, but I am aware that at least two of them are arranged to be played this coming week.

By Dave Howarth

League Secretary

Just the two full matches to report on this week, as the Princeville v St Andrews B match wasn't fully completed... Steve Boocock had a last minute family emergency to deal with on Thursday and so had to pull out, leaving no possibility of getting a replacement. However, I am advised that Steve and James Butcher will likely be playing each other next Friday. In the 3 games that were played in that fixture, Princeville came out on top against the league leaders with wins from Steve Gatenby and Graham Bentley. Steve Clark was the only winner for St Andrews B on the night. I haven't added the scores from that incomplete match yet to the league table, or the players table, and will do so when it has concluded next week. I'm grateful to Gareth Kershaw for reporting on the games that were played, on our Facebook page.

The other incomplete match between Pudsey Congs A and their stablemates, Congs B currently stands at 2-0 to Congs B with wins from Mick Hirst and Colin Nelthorpe. Dave Hirst advises me that the other two games will be played this coming Monday evening. Again, as that match is incomplete, I have not added the points scored so far to the league table or the players table, but will do that next week. 

In one of the the two completed matches this week, there was a big shock at Pudsey Congs where the visitors were Bradford Deaf. Those of you who haven't seen the scorecard from the Facebook page will be surprised to learn that the match finished 5-0... to the visitors! Bradford Deaf were at full strength, and although there looks to have been a couple of close ones, it was Jeremy Dixon, Ihjaz Hussain, Brian Robinson and Ian Ford who took all five points from second in the table Congs B.

At St Andrews, their A team took on foot of the table dwellers Littlemoor, whose form improved slightly last week with a 3-2 win at Bradford Deaf Centre. The visitors got off to a good start with John Allan defeating Neil Lee 200-165. An early 32 break by John was followed up soon after with a 28 to take him clear with a fair bit of the game remaining. He held onto the lead and reached the 200 with a couple of minutes to spare. Next up was yours truly against John Rider. John quite simply confirmed our placings in the Players Table with a comfortable 200-156 win. Graham Pearson and Ralph Allan were next up and although this was the closest game of the evening, it was Ralph who took advantage of some good running close to home to claim another point for Littlemoor. Graham Tudor then continued his good form with another win for Littlemoor over a luckless Nigel Brayshaw. Could Littlemoor now be on the brink of turning their season around? 

The League and Players Tables don't quite present a completely true picture of exactly where we stand, but I do believe that the league is still very competitive, with this weeks results showing that on any particular day, "anyone can beat anyone". By this time next week, I should be able to bring us fully up to date in terms of the league and players tables, when we should have caught up with the 3 un-played games.

I am also aware that a good few of the Individual Merit and Pairs matches have been arranged for the next couple of weeks, which should keep us up to date before the next league meeting at the end of this month.

Dave Howarth

League Secretary