Firstly, Aspatria for finally notching up an away victory in the derby match against Carlisle. Secondly, Wigton for another impressive home performance to see off high flying Northwich. So to show no bias I tossed a coin and heads it was Aspatria.

Wigton’s surprise defeat of Northwich had implications for both ends of the table. It has thrown a life line to LSH in their battle for the play off spot. With National League status now at stake LSH now go to Widnes on 14th April knowing that nothing less than victory is required to earn them the honour of competing at home against? Well it is nye impossible to say as the race for second in the East is even tighter than our own league. The 4 contenders are

Percy Park 78
Middlesbrough 78
Wheatley Hills 77
Malton and Norton 76

Of course Widnes and Northwich remain ready to pounce on any LSH slip. As predicted in this column many weeks ago the battle will now certainly go to the last Saturday of the season. It should also be noted that Northwich appear to have more prospects of picking up bonus point wins from their remaining fixtures and also improving their point’s differential. So LSH not only have to win at Widnes but win well to close the points advantage held by Northwich. This factor may well come into play around 4.30 pm on Saturday 21st April.

The battle for the two remaining relegation places remains tense. Anselmians lost their win or die battle at Broughton Park and are now favourites to join Aspatria in the drop. Two good wins in their remaining fixtures is now a must to give them any prospect of recovery. Even then they must hope results elsewhere go in their favour.

The contest to avoid the 3rd place remains extremely tight. The remaining fixtures are set out below and given recent form you can make an argument for any and all outcomes. As we all know fixtures at the tail end of the season can provide some surprises especially when one of the teams has little to play for. Again it will go to the last day of the season.

I am holding on to my forecast although the points collected have changed slightly.

Wilmslow 52 points and safe
Wirral 49 points and safe
Anselmians 49 points and safe
Broughton Park 48 points and relegated
Wigton 48 points and relegated
Aspatria 33 points and relegated

Fixture remaining

Wirral.....Anselmians....Broughton Pk...Wigton........Wilmslow
Leigh A....Rochdale H....Northwich A....Wilmslow A....Wigton H
Widnes A...Northwich H...Wilmslow H.....Leigh H.......Broughton Pk A

Best wishes to all those involved.

At the top LSH are back in business and I am feeling pleased that I stuck with my original prediction that they would enter the play off, however it is incredibly tight. So once again I am sticking to my guns

Sandbach 113 points and champions
LSH 91 points and runners-up. Will win play-off game
Northwich 90 points
Widnes 84 points

All in all a wonderful season of rugby. Congratulations to all the teams who have kept us so well entertained.

All alternative views are welcome.

League Statistics

Current Winning Streak : Sandbach - 6 games
Season Winning Streak : Sandbach 9 games
Current Losing Streak : Anselmians – 4 games
Season Losing Streak : Broughton Park – 11 games
Away Records : LSH lost the last unbeaten away record in Round 10 when they were beaten at Northwich. Current best run is Sandbach – 7. Sandbach retain the best away record of 11 wins from 12
Home Records : Sandbach lost the last unbeaten home record in Round 18 when they were beaten by Northwich. Sandbach retain the best home record of 11 wins from 12.
Winless Away : All teams have won away. Worst record Wigton, Wilmslow and Aspatria all 1 from 12
Winless Home : All teams have won at home. Worst record :Aspatria 4 from 11

Top 5 Attacks - Last Season’s Top Team : Vale of Lune 31.53 points per game
1. Sandbach – 31.54 points scored per game
2. Vale of Lune – 29.70
3. LSH – 24.12
4. Widnes – 23.25
5. Northwich – 22.87

Top 5 Defences - Last Season’s Top Team : Burnage 11.73 points per game
1. Sandbach – 12.66 points per game conceded
2. Northwich – 14.79
3. LSH – 16.95
4. Widnes – 18.29
5. Rochdale – 19.25

Lowest Points Average Per Game : 27.42 in Round 6 – 8th October
Highest Points Average Per Game : 57.14 in Round 2 – 10th September
Overall Average Points Scored Per Game : 42.14 [last season 43.83]
Highest Score : Wirral 70 – Wirral 70:29 Aspatria
Highest Aggregate : Wirral v Aspatria – 99 points scored
Lowest Aggregate : Broughton Park v Rochdale – 3 points scored
Highest Margin of Defeat : 52 - Sandbach 60:8 Anselmians / LSH 52:0 Carlisle
Teams Nilled This Season – Carlisle, Broughton Park, Aspatria - 2 – Rochdale, Wilmslow - 1

Draws - Last season there were 8 drawn games in N1W [4.39% of all games played]. This season 168 games have been played with 2 tied [1.19% of all games played].
For no obvious reason the number of drawn games throughout the league system appears to be falling.

Bonus Point Kings
Most Bonus Points –Sandbach - 16
Most 4 Try Bonus Points – Sandbach - 14
Most Losing Bonus Points – Rochdale – 8