Starting with the top flight – Division 1 – our B team wrapped up the title earlier this month after the convincing 4-0 win at Holmes Chapel. The “A” team have completed their campaign and have secured 2nd place for the second season in a row. Meanwhile the C team have three matches to go.
The 2nd division appears to be out of reach for our two teams. The D team sit 2nd in table with 9pts from 9 games and just one game left, while leaders Macclesfield have 10 pts from 6 games. The E team have every chance to finish above the Ds, with 7 pts from 6 games, and may push the leaders if they can somehow steal a victory when they go head to head despite facing a likely deficit of approx 1000 rating pts.
The 3rd division sees our F team in pole position under the competitive captaincy of Nigel Gardner. The squad all being closely rated allows for rotation of players and despite many teams have highly rated players on top board, we are able to gain points at all levels. The major obstacle in front of the F team is they have to play contenders 3 times in the last 4 matches including two matches against Chris Hankey’s Gables “A” team, and 2nd placed Newcastle “A”. For me one of the surprises of the season has been our G team. Having gained promotion from div4 last season, it was anticipated it might be too difficult to secure 3rd division status. With a settled engine room of Jamie Roberts, Pawel Stanny and Neville Layhe they sit 3rd in the table and should finish comfortably mid-table.
The best news is that G team captain Steve Ballantyne is expecting to return to the club next week following his recent operations after a heart attack in November.
The 4th division sees the biggest surprise (in my mind) with our H team on the verge of clinching the title after a run of 13 unbeaten games since their 1st match. With two matches to play, they face the two nearest rivals – Fenton B on 11th March and Kidsgrove on the 20th . Only Fenton B can catch the H team but they also play a higher rated Kidsgrove. The I team gave the H team a huge helping hand by pulling off an unexpected win against Fenton B last week, despite the absence of captain and board 1 Mario, and being outrated by the previously unbeaten Fenton team.
Our U team heads the new U1300 division and is close to securing that trophy with one game to play.
February has seen the club play 21 league and cup matches in our busiest ever month.