WEEKLY UPDATE 17 OCTOBER 2025

With one week left to go in the 6 man team competition for the Knock Out Shield, three of the four teams could still lift the trophy.

Princeville A are in pole position, as they lead the table with 8 points, and any sort of win will guarantee them top spot. A loss, but by less than 121, will secure them the aggregate point against Pudsey and probably a place in a play off final against either Bradford Deaf Centre or Princeville B, depending on the result of their game at the Deaf Centre. A loss by more than 121 could however open up a range of other possibilities. Good luck to all for this final round of fixtures, which are - Bradford Deaf Centre v Princeville B and Princeville A v Pudsey

In this week's matches, Princeville A's ever changing line up was more or less at full strength and fine performances at the top and bottom of the order led to a 121 point win. Chris Jarvis seems to have been in top form scoring 174, against John Allan, who must have wished he'd extended the holiday which has kept him out of the Pudsey team for the past two weeks. At the other end of the order, Peter Turner more or less kept pace with Peter Allan, and with a 55 point handicap advantage contributed significantly to the teams overall success.

At Princeville, the B team were off to a bad start, when Graham Bentley failed to leave the balls safe from the break off, and never really got going until he found himself nearly 100 points adrift of a rampant Ian Ford. Despite a better period late in the game, which got him up to 87, he still finished 80 points adrift (90 with handicaps added ) at the bell. Deaf Centre's dominance on the same table continued, as reserve Gerry Garland left Princeville newcomer David Walker floundering in his wake and winning by 85, which was far more than the 20 point handicap difference between the pair. Deaf Centre then dominated on the other table in the last game, as Peter O'Connell finished 40 in  front of the usually high scoring Edward Lawson. A 161 aggregate victory leaves the defending champions, Bradford Deaf Centre, still in with a chance of retaining the trophy if Princeville A slip up this week.

The following week (28 October) the 3 man team league competition will start, but with several new names across the league who will be in which team. The fixtures are Deaf Centre A v Princeville B, Deaf Centre B v Princeville D, Princeville A v Pudsey A and Princeville C v Pudsey B

Stephen Kershaw

Secretary