B&D League
Silver King
Two teams are emerging as potential champions, both scoring better than 75%: the team to beat & last years' winners Fisherwick and new boys Lindores. Fisherwick have a substantial points margin on everyone else but Lindores have a game in hand; yet the missing match is against Belfast South and the crucial difference between the two top teams - Lindores have a single loss and have yet to play Fisherwick. There is a long way to go but the more points accumulated in this open part of the league, the easier it is to maintain position in the divisional competition.
A cluster of 4 teams are propping up the bottom of the league: Fruithill, Bangor, NICS and Ballynafeigh 3. These guys are almost certs for a Division 2 fight-out. Despite some meagre points tallies, they regularly provide the odd scare often stealing points in unlikely match-ups. On the right day, one of them could well create an upset and take a match from a Division 1 challenger.
The rest of the teams: Ballynafeigh 1 & 2, Muldoons, Belfast South and Lagan are performing at similar levels with only a couple of points separating them. Positions are shuffling about week by week so it will be a tough call for the League Controller when trying to decide the divisional break in January and who will drop into Division 2.
Surprisingly it looks like Lagan who might be setting themselves up to miss the cut. Lagan have been a stalwart of Division 1 in the past few years certainly since their change of name. It is perhaps indicative of the general level of competition in the league this year that they are struggling to maintain form compared to previous seasons. Although Fisherwick have kept a clean sheet so far, a couple of matches have come very close; not surprisingly, top board Michael Waters has made more appearances than usual in this part of the competition; most especially when Belfast South introduced a surprise pair of Dutch players into the competition.
Two more weeks of fixtures before Christmas. This might be enough to settle the top runners or make Fisherwick a safe bet. But it will be unlikely to clarify the cut between Division 1 & 2, we will need the other 2 weeks of fixtures in the New Year & the few postponed matches to resolve the division. That story will likely go all the way...
Current standings and Fixtures Played are in the results section
