WEEKLY UPDATE 7 FEBRUARY 2025

No change at the top of the table this week, as the top two - Pudsey B and Princeville C - both picked up 4  - 1 wins. Pudsey A and Deaf Centre B, in third and fourth spots, shared the points,  3 - 2 to Pudsey A, so they both slipped further behind. Pudsey B lead the table with 32 points, Princeville C have 31, Pudsey A have 26.5 and Deaf Centre B 25, so with only 3 rounds of fixtures remaining it will take outstanding run of results for either of them to catch the top two. Princeville C visit Littlemoor this week, but it's to play Pudsey A, the decisive battle could come the following week, when the top two meet at Princeville (this would have been the last match of the season, had it not been for the postponed matches on 7 January which will now be played on 25th February)

Princeville C were off to a great start this week against Princeville D, when in form Graham Bentley thrashed a luckless Mick Cockcroft by 78 points, but the D team took the next game, as Chris Jarvis included a 54 break (the highest of the season so far) in defeating Paul Devitt by 48. A steely performance from C team captain Keith Tomlinson then saw him defeat Steve Gatenby by 13, to secure the aggregate point on the night and the double aggregate by just 2 points, for a 4 - 1 win

Pudsey B's wins were much closer, and Dave Howarth's extensive report on Facebook shows that Sid Ash missed out by just 3 points against Peter O'Connell, in the Deaf A's only success. Graham Tudor got Pudsey's show on the road, with another sizeable win, by 40 against Brian Robinson, before Dave himself edged out Ihjaz Hussain by 2. Aggregate to Pudsey by 39, and an extra point having won the reverse fixture in November. Dave says 'hard luck Ihjaz' (who had lost to him by 2). I recall Chris Jarvis posting something similar last week after beating Ihjaz by 3. Ihjaz's hard luck story can't go on for ever - and next week he is likely be my next opponent!!

The other match at Pudsey saw the A team hold on to third place, with a 3 - 2 win against Deaf Centre B. Again I'm indebted to Dave Howarth for reporting that Ralph Allan made a 27 break close to the finish, to record a 24 point win against Ian Ford. Graham Lambert seems to have been much encouraged by his handicap review over Christmas, and held on to some of his 45 point handicap advantage to beat Peter Allan by 12. Deaf Centre's Jeremy Dixon has suffered only one defeat this season, and that was against John Allan in the reverse fixture, but this time he turned the tables, winning by 11 points - although Dave reports that John thought he had missed some good chances that could have won the game. In a tight finish Pudsey A won by 1 on the night and also took the extra point for a 3 - -2 success.

The other match at Princeville was more about domestic bragging rights than any significant impact on the league table. With the League Chairman away on holiday this week, he and I had played in advance, and aided by 33 break, I secured the first point for Princeville B, with a 10 point win. The game between Gareth Kershaw and John Bedford was close throughout, and with less than a minute remaining, John - 4 points behind - laid a double baulk, leaving both balls in the same area of the table and a very gettable in-off red provided the balls remained undisturbed. Gareth only really needed to hit one to secure the win but narrowly missed both, first coming back down the table and then after hitting the angles, across the table the other way. With 2 points for the miss, John just had time to execute the in off - with the bell sounding as the ball dropped into the pocket for a single point win. Phew. 2 - 0 to the B team. Don Hardcastle was making another appearance for the B team and started 45 in front of Edward Lawson. The early scoring was mostly by Don, but there were plenty of visits for both players and Edward always had a chance of catching up. A few late scores from Don however eventually got him home by 20. So all the points in this match to the B team but the A team's substantial win in the reverse fixture avoided a whitewash

This coming week Princeville C go to Pudsey, but to play the A team, while top of table Pudsey B play Princeville A, whose form has fallen off a cliff since Christmas. At Princeville, Deaf Centre B will hope to keep their title hopes alive against Princeville D, while Deaf Centre A meet bottom of the table Princeville B.

With the Individual and Pairs competitions due to start in a month's time, the draws to be made shortly. Arrangements will be finalised this week, on the League Chairman's return from holiday.

Stephen Kershaw

Secretary