Amateur Focus - Part 2
We’re now six weeks into the new National Conference League season and already the four divisions are starting to take shape with some interesting results coming through.
Of the
three divisions that kicked off the first weekend of March - Premier Division,
Division Two and Division Three, all three have new leaders. And as for Division One, starting a week
later may have been the right decision as that’s the only division to have a
full list of fixtures to be completed each week following postponements and
abandonments elsewhere.
PREMIER DIVISION
Unsurprisingly,
this division is turning out to be the most unpredictable of the lot with some
big names sitting at the wrong end of the table at this early stage.
The
pace-setters so far are Thatto Heath Crusaders, who are top of the tree thanks
to six consecutive victories. They’ve
notched up impressive victories at home to both Leigh Miners Rangers and Wath
Brow Hornets already and have comfortably beaten previous league-leaders Kells
and Egremont Rangers. An impressive
start from a side that was promoted from Division One last year!
Current
champions Siddal are hot on their heels with four wins from four games so
far. After their opening weekend
abandonment they began their campaign with an emphatic home victory over
Skirlaugh before another postponement meant they had to wait another two weeks
before kick-starting their season with three consecutive victories, one of
which was an emphatic 32-point triumph over Leigh Miners.
Just below
those two in the remaining play-off places are Wath Brow, Myton Warriors
(another side who started well after earning promotion last term), Rochdale
Mayfield and Kells, both of whom missed out on the play-offs last season. All but Myton have played just five times
this season.
However,
it’s the bottom end of the Premier Division that makes for interesting viewing. Two heavyweights from recent years are
languishing in the relegation zone after awful starts. Both Wigan St Patricks and Leigh Miners have
collected just a solitary victory each from their six games. And propping up the table is Egremont
Rangers, who looked like they were in for a good season earlier this year
having reached the third round of the Challenge Cup but are yet to win a game
in the league.
DIVISION ONE
Having started
a week later that the rest of the NCL all 12 teams are level on five games each
and there’s a nice symmetry to how the teams are split. The top eight teams all have points totals of
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 and 4 which for me means this could become a very open
league.
Currently
topping the pile are Underbank Rangers.
This is a team I remember from my first Challenge Cup game last season
when they surprisingly knocked out treble winners Leigh Miners in the opening
round and they are currently unbeaten with five wins from five. Having narrowly overcome Shaw Cross Sharks
24-22 in Round 1 they haven’t looked back and recently recorded huge 66-0 and
62-10 victories over Blackbrook and Hull Dockers respectively.
The other
unbeaten side is Normanton Knights.
After a 24-24 draw with Blackbrook on the opening day they’ve gone from
strength to strength with victories over Lock Lane, Featherstone Lions, Hunslet
Club Parkside and Shaw Cross.
That defeat
to Normanton Knights was the only one of the campaign so far for Hunslet CP who
have won all of their other four matches and sit in third place. Behind them in fourth is Milford Marlins with
three victories and a draw, in fifth are Hunslet Warriors on three wins and the
final team occupying a play-off spot is Lock Lane with two wins and a draw from
five games.
At the
wrong end of the table, Featherstone are the only side without a win to their
name and Shaw Cross and Ince Rose Bridge join them in the play-off places with
two points each.
DIVISION TWO
Askam
were the early season table-toppers after Round 1 but have been unable to keep
up that good start which has meant Crosfields, last season’s Division Three
champions, are sitting a point clear at the top of the pile. Five victories from their six games has seen
them record a 74-0 trouncing over Salford City Roosters and narrow victories
since. Their only defeat has come away
to Bradford Dudley Hill by 26-24.
And it’s Dudley
Hill that are hot on their heels in second places just a point behind with four
wins and a draw from six matches. Their
best result coming in Round 2 when they overcame Millom 42-6. Their latest game saw them play out a 24-all
draw with Oulton Raiders.
Thornhill
Trojans sit in third place with eight points thanks to four victories in
six. Just behind them in fourth are East
Leeds who also have eight points but have a slightly smaller points
difference. The final two play-off teams
are Oulton Raiders and previous leaders Askam who are in six all because of an
impressive 62-20 victory over Salford City Roosters in the last round.
Down at
the bottom, Salford look like they’re in for a long hard season having lost all
six games, scoring just 56 points and conceding 268. If they carry on at this rate they could easily
leak over 1000 points. Just above them
in the final relegation spot is Drighlington who have a solitary win but a game
in hand on some of the clubs above them.
DIVISION THREE
Dewsbury Moor
Maroons, who led the table after the first round of fixtures, have been
overtaken at the top by Rylands Sharks.
The Sharks opening fixture against Gateshead Storm was postponed but
they’ve since surged to the top thanks to four wins and a draw from the
following five rounds. Their only
dropped point coming away to West Bowling in a 34-all draw.
One of
those victories came at home to Dewsbury Moor and, coupled with an earlier
defeat to West Bowling, have seen the West Yorkshire side slip to second one
point behind the leaders with four victories from their six games.
Level on
points with the Maroons are West Bowling and Stanningley who are third and
forth respectively thanks to points difference.
Then there is a group of four teams all on four points with Eastmoor
Dragons and Gateshead Storm in the final two play-off places. They will have to fight to stay there though
as Barrow Island and Stanley Rangers are breathing down their necks.
At the
wrong end of the ladder is Elland, who dropped down from Division One at the
end of last season and look to be another team staring at a long, hard year
ahead with just one point from six games.
If you like what you read you can follow all my blogs on Twitter through @TheRLBlogger.
If you like what you read you can follow all my blogs on Twitter through @TheRLBlogger.
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