The men's competition in the British League will be expanding next season following acceptance of applications from five teams - ensuring a full complement of eight in Division 5.

The newcomers are Caledonia Storm (Caledonia's second string), Rotherham Metro, who return to BWPL after a short break, Spalding, Warwick and Watford Saxons (Watford's second team).

South Derby and University of Bristol men's teams have both withdrawn. So Grantham and Bedford, who finished fourth and fifth in Championship 4 this season, move up to fill vacancies in Division 4. Competing alongside the newcomers in Division 5 will be Leeds, Sheffield Dolphins and Tyldesley.

The women's Division 3 line-up was confirmed following last weekend's qualification tournament as: Birmingham, English Roses, Leeds Hammerheads, Liverpool Water Beatles, Polytechnic, Sheffield Stingrays, Southampton and Sunderland.

City of Cambridge today claimed the victory they needed to clinch the men's Championship 3 title at Gloucester.

Sunderland will join Liverpool Water Beatles and Sheffield Stingrays in women's Division 3 next season following the qualification tournament at Northampton. Croydon Amphibians, Penguin Rockhoppers and Iceni miss out.

Key win for Sunderland was on day one against Croydon. It gave them the advantage when the sides finished the weekend level on points. See results page for all the details.

City of Cambridge retained a precious one-point lead in men's Championship 3 at Gloucester today after drawing 14-14 in a thriller with nearest rivals Castleford. Chris Scotney claimed the final equaliser for Cambridge with just 10 seconds remaining.

The women's play-offs began at Northampton today, six teams battling for three places in Division 3 at the start of next season.

Sheffield Stingrays made a winning start, Elizabeth Bullivant leading the way with six goals in a 10-4 defeat of Penguin Rockhoppers. Hat-tricks from Emily Pyper and Molly Boniface-Ashton set up Liverpool Water Beatles' 9-3 win against Sunderland. 

Water Beatles went on to become the only team to survive day one with three wins from three games - they beat Penguin Rockhoppers 10-4 and Sheffield Stingrays 7-4. Sunderland's hopes of retaining league status were boosted with a 20-2 demolition of Iceni, followed by a 7-4 victory over Croydon Amphibians.

The schedule for the men's Championship 3 programme at Gloucester this Saturday has been changed to introduce much later start times.

It transpires that the move will save the League - and Championship 3 clubs - several hundred pounds in pool hire charges. Our apologies if the late alteration causes inconvenience. The Sunday programme is unchanged. Revised Saturday line-up:

16.00  University of Bristol v Cheltenham Spartans
17.10  City of Cambridge v Castleford
18.20  Ealing v Bridgefield
19.30  Otter v York City

The challenge was clear for both sides at the start. Cheltenham needed a point to finish in top spot; Manchester, two points adrift, would have triumphed had they won, having beaten their rivals when they met earlier in the campaign.

It all ended in a nervy 5-5 draw, Cheltenham missing more chances than their opponents, but edging it at the death. It was tight from start to finish - 1-1 after the first period, 2-2 after two and 4-3 to Cheltenham after three.

Manchester equalised halfway through the final period with a man-up goal from Joe O'Regan. And it wasn't until 43 seconds from the end that Jake Vincent reclaimed a crucial lead for Cheltenham. Manchester's final goal came with only 14 seconds left - from Aaron Winstanley.

To mark his retirement, Cheltenham's David Taylor received the trophy from BWPL President Pippa Jones. Cheltenham coach James Ross said: "I think perhaps we missed four or five chances in the first quarter and the nerves set in a bit after that. We've attacked more effectively than we have defended for much of this season but fortunately on this occasion we shut Manchester out really well in the final period."

Earlier, Invicta ended their season with a thrilling 12-11 victory over Lancaster, featuring six goals by Jack Waller - including two stunning back-handers under heavy pressure in the pit.

Picture (by Trevor Hyde): Cheltenham players with their trophy and medals at Ponds Forge. Interestingly, every player with the exception of Max Gerasimov and Julian Bewley represented the club as juniors. Back row, L-R: Will Rayson, Rudi Polster, Jake Vincent, James Ross (coach), Nick Armitage-Bond, Rob Parker, Sam Legge, Mark Banwell. Front: Jerry Birmingham (assistant coach), Jules Bewley, Adam Legge, Max Gerasimov, David Taylor (captain), Mike Thomas, Joel Thomas.

BWPL President Pippa Jones today presented trophies and medals to women's champions Liverpool Lizards (Super 5s) and Leeds Sharks (Championship 1).

Coventry rounded off their women's Super 5s campaign in style at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, today, beating runners-up Otter 9-5. The Midlanders' dominant second period performance - they went from 1-1 to lead 5-2 with goals by Vicki Hawkins (3) and Claire Walmsley - put them in charge.

In women's Championship 1, champions Leeds Sharks made it seven wins out of seven with a 14-1 defeat of Welsh Wanderers. Leading scorers were Miriam Ridha (4), Emma Little (3) and Zoe Respondek (3).

Hucknall beat Penguin Emperors 5-4 to win promotion to Division 1 for the first time next season.

The men's Super 5s is heading for a spectacular final day after Lancaster stunned title-chasing City of Manchester with a 10-8 victory at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, this evening.

The result did a big favour to Cheltenham, who now know they need only a point from tomorrow's final game against Manchester to retain the title.

But what if Manchester beat Cheltenham tomorrow and Lancaster win their last fixture against Invicta? That would leave Cheltenham, Lancaster and Manchester level on 12 points. Positions would then be decided by creating a three-team mini league, which in this case would again leave all teams level on points.

It would then come down to goal difference between the three. This counts out Lancaster, but the situation here is so close that Manchester would need to beat Cheltenham by two goals to steal the trophy!

Lancaster made a storming start against Manchester, racing into a 6-2 lead. The balance then changed after Lancaster's Tom Curwen, who had already scored two great goals, and rival Rob Rae were both excluded for the rest of the game for misconduct. Manchester edged up to 8-5 by the end of the third and looked favourites to grab the points after levelling at 8-8 in the last. But Lancaster rallied again, late goals by Stefano Cossuti and Graham Harrington settling a terrific battle.