Welcome to another regular(ish) update from around the Harrogate League. This is a long one, including this week's league action and last week's Five Man Cup, so strap yourselves in!

Division One 

Harlow 1 have burst from the blocks quickest in the top tier and lead last year’s runners-up Chapel Allerton 1.

The leaders have played a game more than the chasing pack but at the time of writing , slackers Chapel Allerton 3 hadn’t filled in this week’s score against the table-toppers, so the lead at the summit is very probably more than the single point on the current league table. 

Second-placed Chapel A 1 were tonked by their stablemates Chapel A 2 this week, with the slick Paul Allen, Richard Hinds and England-ranked nipper Ben Merchant all victorious. 

Reigning champions Harrogate 1 have played just five games and if this week’s 12-1 tonking of Adel 1 is anything to go by they will be jostling for the trophy once again. Top string Joe Williams extended his unbeaten streak to five with his dismantling of John Plowman. 

Division Two 

Aireborough 1 were banished from the top table without a single victory last season but they’re finding a few tasty morsels to chew on following relegation to Division Two. They currently lead, although this week saw a slghtly weakened line-up fall to mid-table Dunnington 2 to the tune of 11-6. 

Second-placed Harrogate 2 have played a game less and their 10-3 victory over bottom side Otley 2 kept them ticking over nicely. Henry Worrall and Peter Hotchkiss both win tidily in three. 

There’s a tightly-bunched pack behind them though, with only 10 points separating the next seven sides (although James Steingold’s 6ths will probably break out of that bunch when the lazy swine decides to enter their win over Adel on the website). 

Two other sides in that congested mid-table peleton are Chapel A 4ths and 5ths, who clashed on Monday. It was the full-strength 5ths who prevailed against Mark Taylor’s weakened outfit, with Julian Gorton out for the foreseeable with an injury. No.1 Sam Smith’s performance in beating Bobby Pearson oozed class. 

Division Three 

Even with this week’s result against Collingham 5 not yet entered, Collingham 3 top the table after five wins out of six. Last year’s champions Ilkley 1 are right behind them, with Jeremy Ince and Stewart Bannister’s triumphs giving them 9-7 win at Harlow 2 on Monday. 

Chapel Allerton 7 remain third despite crashing to their stablemates the 8ths this week. Paula Arrowsmith’s mammoth five-setter against Ronnie Dahele was the crux of the matter. She took it 15-13 in the decider. 

Harrogate 3 are fourth after raiding the good ship Adel 5ths and plundering all the bullion (12-1). Skipton 2 had a ‘rest week’ in this division of 11 teams and will probably be glad for some serious reflection time – they have lost all their six games so far. 

Division Four 

Alas, I’m writing this on Wednesday night, Division Four’s games finished nearly 24 hours ago and not one result has yet been entered. Chapel Allerton 9 are the current table-toppers with six wins out of six and on Tuesday played winless Harlow 3, so let’s make a rash assumption they won and extended their advantage. Otley 4 and Airebrough 3 are their chief pursuers, as things stand. 

FIVE-MAN CUP UPDATE 

Division One 

Chapel Allerton 1 and Harrogate 1 meet in the semis on November 5 in a match-up that’s set to provide plenty of fireworks. The north Leeds boys waltzed through their first-round tete-a-tete with Dunnington 1, dropping only two games. Harrogate received a bye. 

Chapel Allerton 2 also received a free ticket to the semis where they will face Harlow 1. Their first-round meeting with Collingham 1 was a much tighter affair. The overall game scores actually finished 9-9 but wins for top order John Simpson, Tom Wake and Richard Leonard sealed their passage. 

Division Two 

Chapel Allerton 3 will play Chapel Allerton 4 in a derby semi-final that has prompted a landgrab for players between the two captains. The 3rds saw off a weakened Dunnington to get to the last four while the 4ths got a bye. 

All five Harrogate 2 representatives were winners against Otley 2, although Neal Molyneaux and Peter Hotchkiss were forced to dig very deep. They next face Aireborough 1, who had Richard Mallinson, Sam Lindley, Rhys Boven and Tom Nicholls to thank for an 18-7 success against Adel 2. 

Division Three 

Collingham 3 and Harrogate 3 both received byes and I haven’t got a bloody clue what happened on the other side of the draw because neither Chapel Allerton 5 or Collingham 2 have entered their results against Harlow 2 and Adel 3 respectively. 

Division Four 

Chapel Allerton 6 had a fairly painless journey into the semis with wins for Owen Burke, Steve Ingleson, Tom Beeson and top string Charlotte Davies. Ian Cooksley got Harrogate 4’s only ‘W’ of the night. 

They face David Lloyd, who received a bye, while in the other semi-final Aireborough 3 meet Ilkley 2. The boys from Guiseley dismissed Otley 4 by 20-3, while the boys from the Moor got a bye, the lucky swines.