Match Secretary's report - October 1998
New club
Welcome to Bath University who have joined the League this season.
Most of their players will be familiar to League members as they
have previously played for Keynsham or Bath. They have joined
the League in Division Two in order (they hope) to 'earn' their
place in Division One next season.
League standings
68 matches have been played so far and the League tables are beginning
to take shape. Horfield have produced the biggest surprise, fielding
two new top boards in Division One, and clearly looking for this
year's Championship. They currently stand on -1, with a chasing
pack of three teams on -2 (this is the way it is calculated at
the top of Division One!) However Clifton A, currently on -3,
are unlikely to take it lying down, so we could see a big fight
towards the end of the season. Clifton D (div 4) and Yate B (div
5) are the only teams with 100% but there are plenty of teams
yet to get off the mark.
Fast starters
Not many players have managed five games yet - the threshold at
which statistics start to be calculated - but already David Evans
(Thornbury, 4½/5), Alan Palmer (Downend, 4/5), Alan Warne
(Clifton, 4½/5) and Keith Walsh (Horfield, 4/5) have produced
performances more than 30 points ahead of their published ratings.
Defaults
Are down on last year, but Bristol University have yet to start
in earnest. The current level is 11 defaults from 68 matches (excluding
KO) - 0.13 per match compared with 0.30 last season. I believe
it should be possible to keep the figure below 0.1. Worst offenders
are Grendel, with 6 defaults, while the rest of the League has
5, plus another 2 in the KO.
Strength of divisions
Division One is about the same strength as last year but all other
divisions are about 8 - 10 points down on average. The promotion
of University has undoubtedly reduced the average for Division
Two, while the merger of Divisions Five and Six will have affected
the bottom of the League. The figures should look better as the
University teams start to produce results.
Number of players
306 players have so far competed in at least one match, compared
to 498 by the end of last season. At the normal rate of influx
of new players I would expect about another 100 by the end of
the season which means we will be substantially down in numbers.
Clubs are urged to do all they can to recruit new members and
I will be happy to organise new events to cater for those new
players who find themselves without the opportunity to play in
League matches.
League Tables
The next set of tables and individual performances will be sent
to clubs on 31st October.
Jerry Humphreys
17 October 1998