Amateur Focus - Part 2

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.

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