Interesting divison this season and certainly one of the most competitive although I can see some big wins this week.

I'll go with:

Portico by 28
Hindpool by 34
Culcheth by 24
Bamber Bridge by 16
Pilks by 16

Eccleston Vs Portico is showing as off on the website, anyone know why?

I do yes. We (Eccleston Lions) Have withdrawn from the Division for this season. From last season we have lost 15 1st team players and have been playing with a very young side this year and have found it difficult in most games. The Club thinks it best, If we withdraw from the league and re-enter at a Lower Level whilst we are in the re-building phase. Division 2 has some very strong teams and it's not an ideal place to blood Youngsters.

Good luck in the future pal, hope it all comes good for you.

wigan st pats 26 -30 bamber bridge what a really good game thought the worse when we went 16 nil down after 8min but then we found our feet was camped in there half most of the 1st half held up over the line 3 times but managed to score before ht/16-6 2nd half we played excellent scored some great trys and scored with the last kick of the ball, pats where tough and had dropped a few 1st teamers in ,but these are the games you need to win, result was more pleasing as we had 3 lads cry of ill in the morning, this week we have woolston where there 1st team has no game so who knows, the league is tight now teams all battling its a good league,sorry to hear about eccleston wish them all the best

Woolston determined to seek revenge, at their own admission played 7 1st teamers, we had a mare of a game nearly as bad as the refs, scrappy stop start game frustrated players, Woolston rose to the challenge

Cadishead have withdrawn from the league and will now play in the merit league for the rest of this year

Good luck to both teams espically Eccleston who we have had some great games with over the past few years.

As for the Boars we have hit some rough form and lost a few close games, firstly up at a Hindpool which is always difficult place to visit, thought we might have had the game in the bag not long after half time but fair play to Hindpool they found another gear with around 30 mins to go and played some great rugby, always enjoy the trip at their place, credit to them.

Then we had our derby with Portico, even though we lost both games they have both been a pleasure to be part of, massive crowds, tough rugby and both have been great games. would of thought they would of sent a stronger ref for the game, he was bad, really bad (for both sides) and couldnt really get a grip of the game. I think the ref thought the crowd was there to see him at one point.

The main downside to teams dropping out for is is that now our next game is now the 27th July, will any teams be joining the league to replace these teams, or is it to late for that??

Hindpool Vs Pilks is off. They told us Tuesday they were struggling and unfortunately we couldn't rearrange as all the spare weeks we have our lads have stag dos, a wedding, holidays etc.
Not the way we want to get 2 points but we did think at the start of the season that it could be the case that the 2 A teams might struggle to travel here. Still got Woolston to play at home but I would be surprised if they come. Unless their 1st team aren't playing of course.

Cheers fellas, hopefully all will come good for us and this will prove to have been a good move. Good luck to you all for the rest of the season, hopefully it will see one of you come away with the title.

bamber bridge 42 -woolston 16 probably the worse 1st half we played looked tired lazy and not interested went in10-10 at half time 2nd half for 1st 15 or so min was average and then we just came into life and just blew them away scored some great trys,no idea if any of there 1st team was in our not few different faces but we got the points,wish them all the best for rest of season good bunch of lads and had a laugh back at the pub

That should be some game next week between you and Portico. I reckon you will beat them at home though.
Anyone know anything about Accrington? Never player them before.

Accrington dnt know much about them got a good prop and like to move the ball well from what I rem very mobile side and from what I heard there pitch is small shawy

The prop used to play for us until he moved to Burnley. Played on the wing for GB u18s while at Hindpool then when he moved away a few years ago he put some size on but can still shift apparently. According to his dad he can only manage about 15 meters these days which is a relief as he used to score full lengthers for fun

Accrington 16-19 Hindpool

Good win for us with the numbers we had. 7 players missing meant we only had 2 on the bench which in the heat was tough but we should have won by more. Credit to Accy as they really got at us in the 2nd half and will no doubt be disappointed to have come away with nothing.
We started like a house on fire and were 12-0 up after 20 mins although this should have been double but we fluffed two 2 on 1s.
Lost our skipper just before half time and with him went all rational thinking. After half time Accrington got a lets say dubious try and really got their tails up.
Real decent set of lads, hope they get a few more wins before the season finishes

bamber bridge 30 -portico vine 12 1 st half was a really dog fight and we played into there hands and went into a forward battle we went in 8-6 down at half time , portico went down to 12 men in the 20 min after what I can say was 1 of the worse high tackles iv seen at any level, 2nd half and went tore them to bits we played rugby and they had no answer to us ,they kept coming all day but we stood upto everything the threw at us, but iv have heard teams moan before but nothing like yesterday thank god we had a good ref who also binned a couple of our lads ,getting very tight at the top now , massive crowd watching yesterday you cnt beat summer rugby

And I thought it was just us they that brought out their moaning side...... not good for Portico two losses on the bounce, big game at Shaw St next weekend, then another big week after that for Eagles away at Hindpool

cultech 24 - bamber bridge 32 cracking day for rugby ,very tough game very physical the home team went down to 12 after 1 of there lads started throwing punches ,cultech kept going all day but ran out of steam and had a few injuries 7 is a very good player for them,but in the end our fitness told ,we got sloppy at the end and gifted them 2 trys with 4 min to go as we switched not happy about mad game look closer,good luck for the rest of the season and your cup final

Wigan St Pats 12 - 46 Hindpool

On an absolutely baking day in Wigan we managed to come away with a very convincing win and probably the best performance away from home I have seen from a Hindpool team. In the first half we got of to a flyer, going in for two try's in the first 10 minutes to take a lead that we would never surrender. After this St Pats came into the game off the back of a few errors and a lot of debatable decisions from the referee, at one point we defended 8 sets on our line off the back of penalties before eventually conceding. Given good field position those lads can really play rugby and their movement is very good. We traded try's going in at the break 12-18.
The 2nd Half performance from us was outstanding. Very few errors, great organistation and controlled the game both in attack and defence. With us having the majority of posession Pats really started to fatigue in the heat. We crossed the line 8 times in the second half, with 3 being ruled out (2 wrongly in our opinion) but luckily this had no bearing on the game, winning the 2nd half 28-0. Credit to them though as they never threw in the towel and pressed us all game. 3, 6 & 7 for them were outstanding throughout!
Good luck to Pats for the rest of the season, great bunch of lads and I hope they can get a few of their problems with lads not training sorted as they could be a real force with the right commitment.

Next up is another tough fixture at home vs Culcheth. First time the two teams will have met and no doubt will be a cracking game looking at their results this season.

Yet another game runined by a referee just not up to the job........ there are 34 players out there each week putting their bodies on the line, they deserve a man in the middle who can control a game, keep it flowing and not contsantly frustrate the players with poor descision making, which then sees their testosterone fuelled frustrations take over.

eagle 1 you cnt blame a ref every time you get beat your team push the limits you are a good team but when your team throws punches and so many high shots you get punished, iv no idea what happened at hindpool but I wouldn't like to be a ref

haydock 36-18 bamber bridge was a very tough and hard game of rugby played in the right way a couple of slack moments cost us very happy with how the team played esp with the amount of players missing,we got a lot of praise after the game ,was so hot and played at high pace but really enjoyed it

Not blaming the ref for our lose, just saying the standard of the refs this season is well below par...... all players in this division deserve bettter, as you say you don't know what went on at Hindpool, but I believe Portico had a similar experience with the same ref on their visit up north.

The ref was very poor for both sides and Hindpool were far from happy with him. The try that you had disallowed I'm told should have been awarded but we also had a try disallowed straight after which should have stood it was a farcical few minutes, its swings and roundabouts. It was your poor discipline that cost you in the end.
Your coach spent more time time on the pitch than most the players and at 1 point he was taking you off the pitch it was embarrassing to watch.
The Portico game was totally different they were threatening the ref from the start of the game, every other tackle was high and how they lasted an hour before getting someone sent off is anyone's guess. They play a very physical game and its no wonder that from time to time the line is crossed but i would say their approach to games wins them more than ut loses them so why change. It's easy to blame the ref when you get beat but teams including us should look closer to home for the real reason.

At no stage am I blaming the ref for our lose, the point that I'm making is that a strong referee would lead to the sort of game all teams deserve, he WAS poor for both sides.
I totally agree our discipline let us down, it has been a frustrating season and our lads need to learn to just get on with the game, but alot of these frustrations have been brought about by below standard refereeing.
This season we have seen a player sent off for stamping, when the 'victim' of the said stamp told the ref that it hadn't happened,the ref of this game admitted it was one of the worse games he'd had, a game abandoned then reinstated, an opposition player sent off and then brought back from the changing rooms and told he could play again, a discipine report submitted saying a player was sent off in 2nd minute when he was actually on the field and scored in the 14t, a ref who told us he didn't mind a few high tackles, after all this isnt football and is what the spectators want to see
The best ref we had this season was away against Portico, who as you say play a very physical game and can be verbally intimidating, but this ref controlled the game and we played a very disciplined game.
We need the man in the middle, without him there is'nt a game, all players have to respect this man, but he also has to have respect for the 26 men on the field and the efforts that they are putting into the game.

Agree with you there the ref had a poor game and I'm sure he knows this. Our lads really weren't happy and when the winning team is complaining then that says a lot to me.
The games between Bridge, Hindpool, Portico, Eagles and Wildboars are all going to be pretty close there is little to chose between the sides and games between those deserve to have decent refs. The guy on Saturday would have been helped a lot if he had touch judges and I cant see why they couldn't be appointed as there weren't many games on in Barrow.