BWPL's programme reaches the halfway point this weekend as we make our first visit to the Jason Kenny Leisure Centre, Bolton, for women's Division 1, and men's Division 1 plays at Grantham for the first time.  

The matches will confirm the line-up for women's and men's Super 5s as well as Championship 1 in phase 2 - with a detailed schedule released next week. Fixtures for women's Championship 2 and men's Championship 2, 3 and 4 are now published. 

Stephen Bayles' six goals steered impressive men's Division 2 leaders Sutton & Cheam to a 12-9 victory over London rivals Penguin at Haberdashers - a result of great relief to Caledonia!

The Scots had earlier lost 13-11 to Exeter, which meant they had to rely on Sutton either winning or drawing to put them in Championship 1 in the second phase of the season.

A Penguin win would have put them level on points with Caledonia. And as Penguin and Caledonia drew earlier in the season, the positions of the two teams would been separated by goal difference - favouring Penguin!

Earlier, Scotland's other representatives, Portobello, finished their programme with a 12-8 defeat of Welsh Wanderers, including hat-tricks for Luca Pollock and Angelos Mongolias. Exeter's victory over Caledonia featured three goals each for Sam Alberici, Kameron Powell and Tom Hutchens. Matsim Makarov scored five for Caledonia.

Sutton, Exeter, Portobello, Welsh Wanderers and Caledonia move to Championship 1; Watford, Penguin and City of Bristol head for Championship 2.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Stephen Bayles in action for Sutton & Cheam.

The final afternoon of matches in women's Division 2 at Walsall produced lots of excitement - as well as plenty of shredded nerves!

Mid Sussex Marlins, for example, knew that a top five place - and promotion to Championship 1 - was likely to depend on them beating Tyldesley. They managed it - by 12-11 - but only when a goal by Jessica Street put them ahead for the very first time FOUR seconds from the end.

So then it was the turn of City of Birmingham, who needed victory over City of Bristol to secure their Championship 1 place. Thanks to a Sancha Tonks hat-trick, they led 6-3 early in the final quarter. Bristol then applied real pressure, responding with goals by Emily Watkins and Anna Robbins. However,  Birmingham just managed to hold on for a 6-5 win.

Earlier, English Roses blew their chances of a top five slot, drawing 6-6 with Penguin Emperors. So it will be Liverpool Liver Birds, Birmingham, Tyldesley, Bristol and Mid Sussex Marlins who progress to Championship 1, leaving the Roses, Otter Lutra and Penguin in Championship 2.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Birmingham's hat-trick girl, Sancha Tonks.

Caledonia condemned City of Bristol men to Championship 2 in the second half of the season after snatching a thrilling 13-12 win at Haberdashers today.

The Scots, who at the same time improved their prospects of a place in Championship 1, were 4-1 adrift but recovered to trail 6-5 towards the end of the second quarter. Remarkably, the game then followed a precise pattern - an equaliser by Caledonia, followed by a Bristol goal - until the game reached 10-10 early in the last.

At that point, Caledonia took charge, scoring three quick goals through Dominique Zahra, Chris Campbell and a fourth of the match from Logan Shepherd. Bristol replied through Nathan Brown and Tom Whiting, but too late to prevent a Scottish victory.

Exeter ensured Championship 1 status by beating Portobello 10-8. They hit back back from 7-5 down to lead 9-7 in the third period thanks to two goals each from Oriol Matas and Kameron Powell. 

In the meeting of the division's two top sides, Sutton & Cheam defeated Welsh Wanderers 10-7, with ex-international Chris Evans netting six. Later, Portobello clinched a Championship 1 slot by beating Watford 12-8.

Liverpool Liver Birds retained their unbeaten record in women's Division 2 at Walsall today when a goal from Gina Lay just 16 seconds from the end secured a 9-8 victory over Tyldesley.

Tyldesley had led 8-6 at the start of the last quarter but two goals from Charlotte Hopwood, taking her match tally to six, levelled things; then Lay claimed the winner.

Liverpool's undefeated record didn't last long! In their second game, they went down 6-2 to City of Bristol, Heather Tomlinson scoring a late hat-trick to decide the match. Bristol also won 8-5 against Penguin Emperors, guaranteeing a slot in Championship 1 in the second half of the season alongside the Liver Birds and City of Birmingham. Birmingham secured their place by beating Mid Sussex Marlins 12-8, including goals from Lauren Keight (4), Pia Tonks (3) and Jenny Quirk (3). 

Imogen Smith's fourth goal - and another with five seconds remaining from Emily Campbell-Lamerton - earned Otter Lutra a 9-7 victory over English Roses.

The League have received a number of inquiries from clubs interested in joining for the 2019/20 season - which means that men's and women's qualification tournaments are likely to be required at the end of the current campaign.

The tournaments give potential newcomers a chance to compete for entry against the lowest-placed teams in this season's first phase matches in women's Division 3 (Cheltenham, Sunderland and Manchester Comets) and men's Division 5 (Chelmsford and Bedford). Dates and venues:

Women, 30/31 March, Northampton School for Boys
Men, 30/31 March, Walsall Gala Baths

A reminder that the closing date for applications arrives soon - 31 December. For detailed information click on Rules, see 4.3.1.

York City have been the League's draw specialists this season. Three of their seven matches in men's Division 4 finished all square - the latest, a 10-10 thriller today with Coventry.

Coventry went ahead at 10-8 early in the final period at Liverpool when Matt Hannah scored his seventh goal. Chris Burns then reduced the deficit with a man-up; then another man-up chance enabled Ben Pacey to claim an equaliser with just over two minutes remaining.

Tyldesley's Neil Williams (Photo: Trevor Hyde), the division's top marksman, finished the Division 4 programme in spectacular style - a small matter of TEN goals in his team's 25-8 drubbing of Hucknall, who drop to Championship 4 along with Coventry and Caledonia Storm. 

Bridgefield took top spot after defeating Rotherham Metro 11-5 in their final game. They finished level on points with Tyldesley but took first place having won their clash with Tyldesley earlier in the campaign. 

Rotherham Metro beat Manchester Comets 12-7 at Walsall today to finish the women's Division 3 programme in first place and with an undefeated record. Southampton were runners-up, outplaying Liverpool Water Beatles 10-1 in their final game.

Despite finishing in the bottom three and missing out on the second half of the season, Cheltenham took three points from the weekend. In their second match, they defeated Sunderland 10-3, including three goals each for Priya Kennedy, Georgia McCool and Crystal Hulls.

Sunderland, Cheltenham and Manchester Comets will miss out on the second half of this season after today's results in women's Division 3 at Walsall confirmed the bottom three places.

However, Sunderland and Cheltenham at least had the satisfaction of picking up their first points. Sunderland, boosted by five goals from Annabeth Pycroft (Photo: Trevor Hyde), beat the Comets 12-4. And Cheltenham held undefeated Rotherham Metro to a 6-6 draw. The teams qualifying for Championship 2 are Rotherham, Southampton, Sheffield Stingrays, Welsh Wanderers and Liverpool Water Beatles.

In men's Division 4 at Liverpool, York City claimed the fifth place in Championship 3 with a crucial point from a 13-13 draw with Rotherham Metro. Rotherham led 6-1 and 9-5 at various times but York were only a goal adrift at the start of the final quarter at 13-12 - and then claimed the only score of the final period, a man-up effort from Nick Boaz. Already qualified are Bridgefield, Tyldesley, Rotherham and Birmingham. 

Ten games still to play in men's Division 1 (at Grantham, 1/2 December) - every one of some significance to qualification for the Super 5s!

So close has been this season's competition that the table after the latest weekend of fixtures at Lancaster shows four teams - City of Manchester, Lancaster, Invicta and Solihull - level at the top on six points.

Durham Palatinates kept their Super 5s hopes alive with a dramatic 10-9 victory over Polytechnic. The London side led 9-6 after three periods but were then hit by a terrific Durham rally in which goals by Josh Brown, Matt Calvert and John Pratt (Photo: Trevor Hyde) brought the scores level at 9-9 - followed by the winner 1.03 from the end by Akos Sahin-Toth.

Cheltenham have work to do if they are to avoid missing out on the top five for the first time. They lost 9-6 to fast-improving Invicta, who scored three times without reply in the final quarter through Sean King, Jack Waller and Paul Cheetham.

Solihull beat Sheffield 9-5. And Manchester left it very late to defeat Lancaster 7-6, Lewis Daly's winner two minutes from the end giving his side the lead for the only time in the game.

At Matlock, Otter's second win of the weekend in men's Division 3 - 13-9 against Southampton - earned a move up to Championship 2 together with Worthing, Southampton, Manchester Hawks and Croydon Amphibians. Cambridge would have taken fifth position from Otter had they beat Cheltenham Spartans in their final match - but Cheltenham achieved their first win of the campaign, 15-10.