ASPATRIA RUGBY

Anselmians in coming back from a shattering defeat at Sandbach would not have provided any expectations amongst their supporters of getting anything from Broughton Park. The 25:17 win would be a welcome boost for moral as well as keeping them in with a real shout of staving off relegation.

The gap at the top is increasingly pronounced as Sandbach and LSH distance themselves from the 3rd and 4th placed clubs. The chasers, Widnes and Northwich are doggedly hanging on but neither appears to possess the resources to close the gap.

At the bottom of the table a chasm has now opened to isolate Wigton and Aspatria. Both teams remain competitive but now trail the other relegation contenders by some distance. If two relegation places are occupied eyes turn to the third where a close battle is developing. It could be argued that 4 clubs are in the mix – Rochdale, Wilmslow, Carlisle and Anselmians. Games between the 4 clubs will now have heightened significance.

We have a rest weekend coming up. The remarkable November weather has seen no games postponed so everyone can put their feet up until 3rd December. This will then be a cracking Saturday for rugby at the bottom of the table as Anselmians go to Rochdale [and then Carlisle the following week] and Wigton entertain Wilmslow. An awful lot might be decided before the Christmas break as I note that Anselmians finish the year with a home game v Wilmslow. These 3 games cannot relegate Anselmians but 3 wins would catapult them out of danger.

At the top the coming games seem less attractive. We will have to wait until Round 14 when LSH have a chance to avenge their early season defeat by Sandbach. LSH cannot afford to lose this and retain hope of ending the campaign as champions.

What do you think?

League Statistics

Current Winning Streak : Sandbach 4 games
Season Winning Streak : Sandbach and LSH – 7 games

Current Losing Streak : Wigton – 9 games
Season Losing Streak : Wigton – 9 games

Away Records : LSH lost the last unbeaten away record in Round 10 when they were beaten at Northwich. LSH’s streak of 5 remains the best this season as does their 6 from 7 record.

Home Records : Two sides retain an unbeaten record - Sandbach [7] and Broughton Park [5]

Winless Away : Rochdale, Wilmslow, Anselmians and Aspatria
Winless Home : Wigton

Top 5 Attacks
Last Season’s Top Team : LSH 30.42 points per game

1. Vale of Lune – 31.58 points scored per game
2. Sandbach – 30.66
3. LSH – 26.58
4. Widnes – 26.25
5. Northwich – 23.75

Top 5 Defences
Last Season’s Top Team : Burnage 11.73 points per game

1. LSH – 13.00 points per game conceded
2. Sandbach – 13.83
3. Northwich – 16.41
4. Widnes – 19.00
5. Broughton Park – 19.41

Lowest Points Average Per Game : 27.42 in Round 6 – 8th October
Highest Points Average Per Game : 57.14 in Round 2 – 10th September
Overall Average Points Scored Per Game : 44.36
Highest Score : Wirral 70 – Wirral 70:29 Aspatria
Highest Aggregate : Wirral v Aspatria – 99 points scored
Highest Margin of Defeat : 52 - Sandbach 60:8 Anselmians and LSH 52:0 Carlisle

Teams Nilled This Season
Carlisle [2] - Rochdale [1] – Wilmslow [1]

Draws

Last season there were 8 drawn games in N1W [4.39% of all games played]. Put another way - a draw for approximately every 22 games played. This season 84 games have been played with 1 tie [1.19% of all games played]. So more tied games are well overdue. For reasons not readily obvious the number of drawn games throughout the league system appears to be falling.

Bonus Point Kings

Most Bonus Points - Rochdale - 10
Most 4 Try Bonus Points – Leigh, Sandbach, LSH and Widnes - 6
Most Losing Bonus Points – Rochdale - 5