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 in each division.

Men's Premier:

The early joint leaders are Westoe 1 and Northumberland 1, who are tied at the top on 4 straight wins and 76 points each. Reigning champions Northern 1 are third, having already suffered two narrow 2-3 defeats, to Westoe (7-16) and to the only other unbeaten team Newcastle University 1A (9-16). Sunderland 1 have also made an impressive start to the season with 3 wins out of 4.

At the other end, Benwell Hill and Primrose 1 are finding their first outings in the Premier very tough with no wins betwen them yet, and the other promoted team Northumberland 2 are also in the bottom three.

Pick of next Thursday’s matches are Northern 1 v Westoe 1 and Northumberland 1 v Newcastle University 1A , whilst Benwell Hill host Primrose 1 to see who will get their first win.

Division 1:

This is shaping up to be a very competitive division, although difficult to read at this stage due to the disparity in matches played. Sunderland 2 lead the table with 3 wins from 5 matches on 73 points, followed by Eldon 1 (3 wins from 4, 60 points) and Northern 2 who have been slow starters (2 wins from 4, 48 points). Tynemouth 2 (2 wins from 3, 42 points) and Chester-le-Street 1 (2 wins from 2, 35 points) could become strong contenders.

Down at the bottom, Hexham 1 (22 points from 3) already look to be struggling, with Newbiggin 1 (31 from 3) and Primrose 2 (35 from 4) also in the bottom three.

Big matches coming up this week are Eldon 1 v Chester-le-Street 1 and 'local derby' Westoe 2 v Sunderland 2.

Division 2:

This division already looks to be a two-horse race between seasoned campaigners Northumberland 3, boasting North East legend Bryan Beeson at number 2, and Boldon 1. Northumberland 3 are so far sweeping all before them with 5 straight wins and 92 points, but lead Boldon 1 by only 5 points courtesy of their recent 3-2 (14-9) victory over their main rivals. It is difficult to see any other team challenging these two, although Tynemouth 3 and Concordia seem to be getting a little stronger.

Sunderland 3 and Primrose 3, who meet each other this week, are in trouble at the bottom but it's still early days.

Also this week, Boldon 1 v Eldon 2 and Tynemouth 3 v Northumberland 3 will give a good indication of whether anyone can challenge the top two.

Division 3:

With 4 straight wins each, Northern 4 and Boldon 2 lead the table on 76 and 73 points respectively. Northumberland 4 could well emerge as the strongest of the chasing pack followed by Northumberland Ladies.

At the other end, Tynemouth 4 and Chester-le-Street 2 are still looking for their first wins of the season.

The most intriguing match this week will be Northumberland Ladies v Boldon 2.

Division 4:

Newly-promoted Newcastle University 3 and Northern Juniors 1 have both shot to the top of the table with maximum points from their first three matches. The teams meet at Northern next Sunday so something has to give. Sunderland 4 and Eldon 3, who meet this week, are some distance behind at this stage, as are Northern 5.

Four teams have only one win each, Tynemouth 5 being in the most trouble at the bottom.

Division 5:

Hexham 3 lead the way on 76 points from 4 straight wins, with Tynemouth Social second having 57 points from 3 straight wins.

At the other end, Consett Development host Ashington on 10th November, both teams still looking for their first wins of the season.

Ladies Division 1:

This is a single division of all 9 teams in the first half, splitting into two divisions of 5 and 4 teams respectively after the break.

Newcastle University Ladies 1 and Tynemouth Ladies 1 both remain unbeaten after 4 matches, on 74 and 71 points respectively. Both teams have already defeated defending champions Northern Ladies 1, who still lead the table on 77 points from 5 matches.

Newcastle University 2 host Tynemouth Ladies 2 this week, both teams being yet to win this season.