Invicta will take a one-point lead into the men’s Championship 1 finale weekend at Gloucester on 17/18 March after winning both their matches at Newport (24/25 February).

A 9-8 victory over Caledonia on day one was followed up by a 13-7 defeat of Team Northumbria, including five goals from 2012 Olympian Jack Waller. Second-placed Sheffield beat Sutton & Cream 9-3 while City of Bristol moved up to third by defeating Exeter 14-12. A six-goal burst in the second period put Bristol firmly in charge.

Caledonia Storm were impressive winners of men’s Championship 4, completing their matches at Walsall with an unbeaten record. Coventry and Tyldesley were the other teams earning promotion to Division 3 next season. Coventry beat Leeds 7-5 while Tyldesley edged York City 13-10 in a winner-takes-all battle for third.

​Picture: Caledonia's players after clinching the Championship 4 title. Back row (L-R): Jamie Heywood, John Faben, Sam Muir, Callum MacGregor, Andrew Woodall, Euan Broatch, Craig Stewart. Front: Nico Fenu, Angus Cameron, Ben Parsons, David Stewart, Ross Stewart, Finlay Nesbitt.

Portobello had little difficulty taking the points in their top-of-the-table men's Championship 2 clash with Penguin at Grantham, easing into a 6-1 lead towards the end of the second period before winning 10-4.

Goal scorers include Neilson Rutherford (3), Mario Alvarez (2), Clayton Woods (2) and Fraser Rutherford (2).

​With one weekend of competition remaining - at Hinckley, 17/18 March - Welsh Wanderers joined Portobello and Penguin on eight points thanks to a 9-6 victory over Croydon Amphibians. The game was close all the way through - 6-5 at the end of the third period, then 7-6 - before goals by Steffan Williams and Dan Laxton took Wanderers clear.

​Castleford were 3-0 down early on against Worthing but eventually late goals by Declan Thompson and Tom Hough earned a 9-7 win.

​Photo (Trevor Hyde): Portobello's Clayton Woods.

Manchester Hawks relied heavily on the sharp shooting of left-hander Lewis Daly as they stretched their winning run in men's Championship 3 at Lancaster to five games with a 6-4 defeat of promotion contenders Birmingham.

​Hawks were never more than a goal ahead until the late stages when Daly took his match tally to four with two vital strikes. A move up to Division 2 is already guaranteed for next season, but with Hawks and second-placed Cheltenham Spartans scheduled to meet on the finale weekend - at Marlborough College, 10/11 March - the title is still up for grabs.

​Otter were too strong for Hucknall, winning 19-9, including four goals each for Dan Shunn and Ivan Martinelli. Steve Joyce carried the Hucknall attack almost single-handedly - he scored six.

West London Penguin made a shaky start against Cambridge in men's Championship 2 at Grantham today but eventually made it four wins from four games - 14-6.

Cambridge led 3-0 at the end of the first period and the sides were level at 5-5 after two. It was one-way traffic in the third as Penguin claimed five goals without reply - from Alex Waller (3), Richard Waller and Andras Kovacs.

Andy McAllister scored four in Croydon Amphibians' 12-6 defeat of Castleford.

Manchester Hawks maintained their winning run in men's Championship 3 at Lancaster today, hammering Rotherham Metro 15-4. Cameron Richards and 17-year-old Jos Winstanley both scored five.

The day could hardly have progressed more satisfactorily after that for the Hawks.

Cheltenham Spartans, the only other team with a 100 per cent record, were then beaten 8-5 by Otter. The London club led 3-1 early on but trailed 4-3 until the game transformed towards the end of the third period when Ivan Martinelli equalised. Then, in 90 dramatic seconds at the start of the last, goals by Pier Spagna, Omiros Pantazis and Jakob Burkhart set up victory.

Hawks rounded off in emphatic style with a runaway 28-6 win against bottom team Hucknall, including seven goals from Jack Wilczyski-Wilkins.

Birmingham collected their third win in four games - 13-11 against Ealing. Drazen Videc (4) and Matt Foulds (3) led the Birmingham scoring.

A reminder that the AGM of the British League takes place at the Holiday Inn, Birmingham Airport, on Sunday, 13 May, 12 noon. Coffee will be available from 11.30.

​Please note that the deadline both for new rule proposals and for nomination of officers is 1 April.

Two new teams will be competing in the League next season - Rotherham Metro women and the British Army men.

​Applications from both have been approved by the BWPL Committee. It means that composition of the eight-team lowest divisions will look like this at the start of the 2018/19 season:

​Women's Division 3: Five lowest-placed teams from Championship 2 this season, plus Rotherham and two sides that dropped out after the first phase of the current campaign, Liverpool Water Beatles and Sunderland. Leeds Hammerheads have withdrawn.

​Men's Division 5: Five lowest-placed teams from Championship 4 this season, plus the Army and two returning teams, Bedford and Chelmsford. Warwick have withdrawn.

​It means that play-offs are not required at the end of the current season.

England's storming start - they were 5-0 up in the second period - set up a 9-4 victory over Scotland in the BWPL-hosted international at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, today.

Despite Scotland's shaky start, the match proved a highly entertaining occasion for a crowd approaching 1,000. It was competitive, too - as Scotland demonstrated with a final quarter revival that featured excellent goals from distance by Invicta's Callum Bailey and the very promising junior Finlay Nesbitt.

England set the tone early on, goalkeeper Peter Pickford's smart save sparking a counter-attack which led to the first of three goals by Jordan Elliot.

At 3-0, Chris Campbell struck the England crossbar with a penalty, but it was Campbell who eventually claimed his team's first goal just before the end of the second period from a man-up chance.

The England lead moved from 5-1 to 8-2 in the third period and there was a great goal from England captain and 2012 Olympian Rob Parker at the start of the last before the Scots had the final say.

England: Peter Pickford, Dan Paddon (1 goal), Chris Armstrong, Matt Madden, Joel Leighton, Jordan Elliot (3), Lewis Daly, Tom Curwen (1), Rob Parker (2), Jake Vincent (1), Ryan Padbury (1), Joel Abbott, Tom Manley. Scotland: Bojan Donevski, Callum Bailey (1), Josh Brown (1), Chris Campbell (1), Neilson Rutherford, Ben Scott, Mario Alvarez, Lorcan Morgan, Matt Crighton, Finlay Nesbitt (1), Ali Campbell, Fraser Rutherford. Referees: Damien Taylor, Max Gerasimov. Delegate: Steve O'Brien (Ireland).

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Scotland under pressure at Ponds Forge.

Liverpool Lizards improved their prospects of retaining the women's Super 5s title with a 4-3 win over City of Manchester at Ponds Forge today.

Both teams rattled shots against the goal posts as the game reached the half-way stage at 1-1. Isobel Howe converted a penalty to edge Manchester ahead in the third period but Liverpool quickly countered through Sophie Gilbert, who scored from a length-of-the-pitch solo breakaway, and Grace Rowland.

Liverpool went to 4-2 in the final period with a goal from Kathryn Fowler; Manchester replied through Stephanie Whittaker but were unable to take advantage of two Liverpool exclusions in the final stages.

In women's Championship 1, Cara Saunders scored five in Hucknall's 18-4 victory over Penguin Emperors. Caledonia hammered Tyldesley 15-6, including four goals from Sue Johnstone.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Manchester's Emma Bartlett gets a shot away in the face of strong defence from Liverpool.

Solihull increased their lead at the top of the men's Super 5s table with an 8-6 victory over Polytechnic at Ponds Forge today.

The Midlanders' fourth win - maintaining a 100 per cent record - was never really in doubt once they built a 7-2 lead midway through the third period.

Poly, to their credit, came storming back, in the later stages. But they were always just short of mounting a serious challenge. At the start of the match, they had also lost a chance to score first and build momentum by failing to convert a penalty chance. Solihull scorers were Peter Farkas (3), Ryan Padbury (2), Jake Vincent, Matt Madden and Matt Kelly. Poly: Federico Carucci (2), Chris Icely (2), Lydon Cranley and Jorge Herrando-Garijo.

Lancaster picked up their first point in an 8-8 draw with Cheltenham. The sides were level at 6-6 at the start of the final period, but Lancaster then took an 8-6 lead with superb individual goals from Glen Robinson and Tom Curwen.

Jo Berry brought Cheltenham back into it with a man-up goal. And Rob Parker fired an equaliser with two minutes remaining.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Glen Robinson's brilliant back shot puts Lancaster briefly into the lead.