Coventry remain in second place, courtesy of a 12-5 victory over bottom team Sheffield Sharks. Fran Clayton led the way for the winners with five goals.
Liverpool Lizards tightened their grip at the top of the women's Super 5s, defeating City of Coventry 8-2 and City of Manchester 7-3 at Luton.
Coventry remain in second place, courtesy of a 12-5 victory over bottom team Sheffield Sharks. Fran Clayton led the way for the winners with five goals. Seven-goal Grace Morley rescued a women's Championship 1 point for Tyldesley against Mid Sussex Marlins at Luton after her side had trailed 11-7 at the end of the third quarter.
With two and a half minutes remaining, it was still 13-11 to the Marlins. But Grace's two goals in the space of 15 seconds brought her side level - and Tyldesley held on as their opponents failed to cash in on Tyldesley exclusions near the end. Otter Lutra, who beat Caledonia and Mid Sussex Marlins - both by 7-4 - and Leeds Sharks were the only teams to win their two matches. Leeds defeated West London Penguin 8-7 and Liverpool Liver Birds 7-3. Caledonia celebrated St Andrew's Day in style by trouncing fellow Celts Welsh Wanderers 12-1. York City retain their 100 per cent record at the top of men's Championship 3 but they had to battle hard for two wins at Matlock (29/30 September).
Chris Burns' five goals ensured an 11-9 victory over Bridgefield but they could easily have slipped up against South Derbyshire, who led all the way until a Dean Toomey goal edged York into the lead for the first time at 10-9 in the final quarter. Davide Bernardi equalised from a penalty and it required another Burns goal - his sixth of the game - to clinch the points for York at 11-10. Altogether, it was a disappointing weekend for South Derby. They also lost by a single goal - 14-13 - to Bridgefield, who were 14-12 up until less than two minutes from the end when Neil Swansea scored. South Derby hit the bar and missed the target as further chances presented themselves in the final minute. Ealing, City of Cambridge, Castleford and Bedford will be the four clubs contesting the men's Championship 4 title when the campaign reaches a finale at Marlborough College on 13-14 December.
At the splendid Matlock pool, a new venue for BWPL, Ealing outplayed Sheffield Dolphins 23-7 but had to work hard for a 16-14 victory over Cambridge. The Ealing scoring was led by Linas Liudzius (6) and Ionut Dumbrava (5). Cambridge secured their place with a 12-5 defeat of Invicta Marlins. In the other group, Castleford cruised through, beating Dover 26-8 and 2nd City Birmingham 22-12. The 2015 Annual General Meeting of the British League will be held on Sunday, 19 April, in the Lancaster 3 Suite, Holiday Inn Birmingham Airport, Coventry Road, Birmingham B26 3QW, starting at noon.
Lancaster's brilliant run of ten wins - seven in Division One, then three in the Super 5s - ended at Guildford when they were beaten 14-9 by Cheltenham.
The game came to life after a goalless first quarter in which Cheltenham lost key player Rob Parker to three exclusion fouls. They soon recovered, racing into a 5-1 lead in the second with goals by Mark Banwell, Joel and Michael Thomas, David Taylor and Guive Shafie. Lancaster tried hard to get back into the match and pulled up to 11-9 with three minutes remaining. But that prompted a renewed Cheltenham effort and they rounded off with goals by Jake Vincent, Mike Thomas and Taylor. A goal with four seconds remaining by Matt Thresher earned Bristol a 12-12 draw with Portobello. Cheltenham take over the lead from Lancaster by virtue of winning the match between the two sides, but there's still much to play for when the Super 5s continue at Lancaster on 6/7 December. Polytechnic maintained their challenge for a top three place in Championship 1 with an 8-7 victory over Welsh Wanderers at Guildford (23 November).
The game was effectively settled in the third period when four goals from Chris Icely took the London side from 4-2 down into a 6-4 lead. Wanderers fought back in the last quarter but, at 8-7, missed out on a draw when they failed to convert a man-up chance. Sean King (5) and Callum Bailey (4) led the scoring for Invicta in their 15-6 defeat of Caledonia. Sheffield hammered Sutton & Cheam 24-8. English Roses failed to win for the first time since entering the British League when they were held to a 9-9 draw by Manchester Comets in women's Championship 2 at Basingstoke (22/23 November).
The first phase of this division is being staged in two groups each of six teams. Hucknall, City of Birmingham and Southampton won their opening games in Group A. Roses and Manchester Comets share the lead in Group B. Seven-goal Marcus Hook led City of Birmingham to a surprise 15-13 victory over Solihull in the men's Championship 2 derby at Gloucester (23 November).
At the halfway point, Birmingham were 6-5 up but Solihull hit back to lead 11-10 at the end of the third period. The last quarter saw a determined Birmingham revival as goals by Hook (2), David Lane, Gary Tony and Jack Donelan set up the win and put pressure on Solihull and their bid for a top three spot. Carlisle lead the division, Sam Routledge bagging six in a 17-10 defeat of Exeter. Second-placed Worthing trailed for a long period against Hucknall but eventually won through 11-10 thanks a winner two and half minutes from the end by Alastair Hardinge. Zach White's nine goals - all in the first two quarters! - fired Team Northumbria to a 20-7 men's Championship 1 victory over Croydon Amphibians at Guildford today (23 November).
There were more close matches in Championship 2 at Gloucester, where Worthing beat Hucknall 11-10 and West London Penguin claimed their second win of the weekend - 11-9 against Manchester Hawks. |
Archives
March 2024
|