The Winter Leagues are now taking shape, with most teams having played around half of their first half fixtures. Here is a quick update on the latest position at the top of each division, and important fixtures coming up.

Men's Premier: Tynemouth 1 are the runaway leaders with 5 wins out of 5, all the other contenders having already lost twice. Nearest rivals Northern 1 host Tynemouth on Thu 7th Nov and need to win to close the gap.

Division 1: Northern 3 are unbeaten after 5 matches but nearest rivals Westoe 2 could overtake them if they can win at Northern on Mon 4th Nov.

Division 2: Benwell Hill lead the way with 4 straight wins, followed by Northern 4 and Sunderland 2. Northern 4 host Benwell on Tue 5th Nov so expect fireworks.

Division 3: Tynemouth 4 lead the table by a point from Northumberland 4 but Boldon 1 are unbeaten with a match in hand over the leaders and travel to Tynemouth on Wed 13th Nov.

Division 4: Primrose 3 lead with 5 wins out of 5 having already beaten second-placed Dunston 1. Northumberland Ladies will hope to improve their position when they host Dunston on Thu 14th Nov.

Division 5: Scotezzi and Chester-le-Street 3 are the early leaders but Sunderland 4 and Alnwick have matches in hand in a very competitive division. Important fixtures coming up are: Scotezzi v Alnwick (Mon 4th Nov), Sunderland 4 v CLS 3 (Tue 5th Nov) and CLS 3 v Scotezzi (Wed 13th Nov).

Division 6: Consett 3 have made a great start winning their opening 5 matches. Second-placed Eldon 3 travel to Consett on Wed 21st Nov and to third-placed Boldon 4 on Wed 4th Dec.

Ladies Premier: Northern Ladies 1B are the early leaders having played a match more than Newcastle University Ladies, Tynemouth Ladies 1 and Northumbria University Ladies who are unbeaten after two matches each. Important fixtures coming up are: Newcastle Uni v Northern 1B (Wed 6th Nov), Tynemouth v Northumbria Uni (Mon 11th Nov) and Tynemouth v Newcastle Uni (Thu 14th Nov).

Ladies Division 2: Northern Ladies 3 are unbeaten after the first round of fixtures but Tynemouth Ladies 2 are expected to push them hard for the one halfway promotion place in the re-match at Tynemouth on Tue 26th Nov.