Team of the Week - Aspatria. Not many pundits outside the Aspatria club [and some in it] gave the Black Reds any hope of overturning Wirral; they did so with something to spare – about 2 seconds? [see match report for all the thrills and spills].

Congratulations to Sandbach who not only overcame their closest rivals but also collected a bonus point whilst denying LSH any consolation. Sandbach have now opened up what is effectively a 13 point gap with 12 games remaining. These games may provide a few surprises but it is hard to find a convincing argument against them picking up the league title come April.

The battle for the play-off place now has 3 serious candidates and another on the fringe. LSH, Widnes and Northwich should contest the honour with Leigh an outside bet. I anticipate a great battle. The fact is, that each of them is more than capable of losing games against opponents further down the league.

Looking at Saturday’s fixtures they might all struggle to get a win. Widnes go to BP who have only lost one at home. LSH entertain Rochdale who will fancy their first win on the road. And Northwich, who are a model of inconsistency, have to see off Leigh. Yes, the same Leigh who if they won would catapult themselves into play-off contention. Fascinating or what?

At the bottom the situation is changing rapidly. Both Carlisle and Wilmslow have hit some form and are starting to pull away from the bottom 3 of Anselmians, Wigton and Aspatria.

Carlisle did themselves a power of good in beating Anselmians at the weekend but now face a series of difficult fixtures before a crunch meeting with Wigton on 28th January. Anselmians host Wilmslow this week and the home side will not under estimate the importance of a win to keep the visitors close to the battle. If the home side lose they face a bleak winter campaign with one of the toughest match schedules facing any club. A win for Wilmslow and they will consider the job done as they clock up a 7th win of the campaign. If they fail then they can look forward to fireworks on 28th January when they have to travel to Bower Park to meet the Black Reds.

However, before we get to 28th January there is the little matter of Wigton v Aspatria. A derby match and rivalry that goes back generations. The clubs are little more than 7 miles apart and there is sure to be a big Christmas following for both clubs at Lowmoor Road. The loser will not avoid relegation. This said, whatever the result, both clubs remain deep in danger.

What do you think?

League Statistics

Current Winning Streak : Sandbach 6 games
Season Winning Streak : Sandbach and LSH – 7 games

Current Losing Streak : Wirral – 3 games
Season Losing Streak : Wigton – 9 games

Away Records : LSH lost the last unbeaten away record in Round 10 when they were beaten at Northwich. LSH’s winning streak of 5 remains the best run so far this season. Current best record is Sandbach with 5 wins from 6.

Home Records : Only 1 side remains unbeaten - Sandbach [8]

Winless Away : Rochdale, Wilmslow, Anselmians and Aspatria
Winless Home : All teams have won at home. The worst record is Wigton’s 1 from 6

Top 5 Attacks
Last Season’s Top Team : LSH 30.42 points per game

1. Vale of Lune – 32.07 points scored per game
2. Sandbach – 31.35
3. Widnes - 26.84
4. LSH - 25.35
5. Leigh - 24.23

Top 5 Defences
Last Season’s Top Team : Burnage 11.73 points per game

1. Sandbach – 14.00 points per game conceded
2. LSH – 16.64
3. Northwich – 18.07
4. Widnes – 18.84
5. Rochdale – 19.57

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 : 44.57
Highest Score : Wirral 70 – Wirral 70:29 Aspatria
Highest Aggregate : Wirral v Aspatria – 99 points scored
Highest Margin of Defeat : 52 - Sandbach 60:8 Anselmians and LSH 52:0 Carlisle

Teams Nilled This Season
Carlisle [2] - Rochdale [1] – Wilmslow [1]

Draws

Last season there were 8 drawn games in N1W [4.39% of all games played]. Put another way - a draw for approximately every 22 games played. This season 96 games have been played with 2 tied [2.08% of all games played]. So more tied games are overdue. For reasons not readily obvious the number of drawn games throughout the league system appears to be falling.

Bonus Point Kings

Most Bonus Points - Rochdale - 11
Most 4 Try Bonus Points – Sandbach, Leigh and Widnes - 7
Most Losing Bonus Points – Rochdale - 5