Veterans League
Two promoted/relegated regulars return to the Division 1 scene for the 2025 season. Since COVID Meltham A and Lindley Lib A have finished in the bottom half of Division 1 or the top half of the Division 2 table with at least one of them going up or down each season. So the expectation is for more of the same this season with both striving to avoid another drop this year.
So what are the chances of promoted Meltham A or Lindley Lib A making an immediate return to Division 2? Well Meltham had an excellent season last year finishing with an impressive 21 points cushion over the 2nd placed Lindley Lib A team and only two defeats all season and they were away fixtures at the 2nd and 3rd placed teams. I think we may find some stronger claims for the drop than Meltham this year and I understand that Lindley Lib A have made some good signings as well so both will expect to survive another term at the top table.
It seems to me that Rastrick and Lockwood Con A have stronger claims to end in the relegation trapdoor places. Rastrick ended last season by losing 8 of their last 10 fixtures and the end of the season couldn't come soon enough for them. If that form continues then they are nailed on to be even worse than 4 points from safety. Lockwood Con A have been a wonderful team over the past decade but the team is growing old together and I fear that things could be coming to an untimely end for this team that dominated the title race right through the twenty-teens.
Turning to the top of the table and Lowerhouses only lost four matches all last season but all were to bottom half of the table teams. That means they scored League doubles over every team in the top half of the table which is an impressive achievement. They need to overcome these blips against relegation-threatened opponents and will then increase the 20-points gap to their title rivals that they still enjoyed last season.
Cowcliffe seem to be an improving team judging by their Winter League performances over the past two winters and I expect that improvement to shine through this summer. Marsh United have a bad habit of going off form in short winless runs and that needs addressing if they are ever to make that further step up to the title-winning level.
A case could be made for all five teams that finished behind the top two last year as they were all within 5 points of each other but the gap to the top two still looks too wide for most of the challengers. That being the case I am opting for a rerun of last season in tipping Lowerhouses and Longwood to complete an action replay this time around.
TOP TIPS: Lowerhouses and Longwood DROP TIPS: Rastrick and Lockwood Con A
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