The Winter Leagues have now reached the halfway stage, and here is an update on the latest position in each division.

Men’s Premier Division - At the top, Northumberland 1's lead over Westoe 1 has been cut to 7 points after Westoe's 3-2 (16-11) win over Northumberland in the final fixture of the half. Newcastle University 1A and current champions Northern 1 occupy the third and fourth Northumbria Cup places. Newcastle University 1B, Tynemouth 1 and Sunderland 1 are in mid table, with the bottom three places filled by Premier debutants Benwell Hill and Primrose 1 together with the other recently-promoted team Northumberland 2.

Ladies’ Division 1 - Newcastle University Ladies 1 top the table by 7 points from Tynemouth Ladies 1 having beaten them 3-2 (14-7) in the final match of the half, with current champions Northern Ladies 1 a further point behind and still very much in contention. Northumberland Ladies and Northern Ladies 2 have also made the cut to continue playing in Divison 1, with the other four teams forming Division 2 in the 2nd half.

Men’s Division 1 - Chester-le-Street 1 lead by 11 points from both Eldon 1 and Tynemouth 2, with Northern 2 only a further 2 points behind. Newbiggin, Hexham 1 and Westoe 2 are adrift at the bottom so the two automatic relegation places and 3rd-bottom playoff place are between these three teams.

Men’s Division 2 - Northumberland 3 remain unbeaten and lead Boldon 1 by 4 points with a huge 43-point gap to Northern 3 and Tynemouth 3 who look most likely to be contenders for the 3rd play-off place. Consett 1 and Sunderland 3 are most likely to go down with Eldon 2 and Concordia trying to avoid the playoffs and Primrose 3 not completely safe.

Men’s Division 3 - Northern 4 lead by 8 points from Boldon 2, with Hexham 2 a further 12 points behind, just ahead of Northumberland Ladies and Northumberland 4. Tynemouth 4 are bottom and winless, and the other automatic relegation place looks to be between Chester-le-Street 2 and Boldon 3.

Men’s Division 4 - Unbeaten Newcastle University 3 lead the way by 9 points from Northern Juniors 1. Northern 4 are a distant 47 points behind, followed closely by Consett 2. Tynemouth 5 are adrift at the bottom, but the four teams above them (Sunderland 4, Northumberland 5, Eldon 3 and Chester-le-Street 3) are separated by only 5 points so anything could happen.

Men’s Division 5 - Hexham 3 remain unbeaten, 14 points ahead of Boldon 4, with Tynemouth Social in contention a further 8 points behind. At the other end, Consett Development are still looking for their first win.

End-of-season playoffs - This season sees the introduction of end-of-season playoffs between the 3rd-top team in each division and the 3rd-bottom team in the division above. Hopefully this will extend interest during the season run-in, as a number of teams will remain in contention for a 3rd-top or 3rd-bottom position right up to their final fixture. The playoffs will take place at a neutral venue (still to be decided) as follows:

Tue 25th April: Divisions 4 and 3

Wed 26th April: Divisions 2 and 1

Thu 27th April: Premier Division

More details will be provided nearer to the end of the season.