Division one continues it's sedate progress, with Newcastle retaining their three point advantage at the top of the table and Alsager breaking their duck at the other end of the table. The next three weeks see a change of pace, with all the teams seeing action at least twice, though whether that will be enough to shake any of the top four out of the title race remains to be seen.

It took Crewe Rooks a week longer than first division Alsager A to break their duck in division two to become the last team in the league to register points. Their victims, Cheddleton C may rue the dent that this put in their previous small advantage over their clubmates. Another defeat for Newcastle B put an end to any thoughts they may have had of being involved in the final showdown.

Meir A stay as front runners in the third for at least another month, with my suggestion last month that Cheddleton F are now slight favourites looking less than brilliant in the light of two defeats in three games for them. Fenton A, the other team most clearly menacing Meir's lead, also dropped significant points. For most of the rest though it remains a competition as to exactly which position of mid-table anonymity they will fill.

The fourth seems to have reduced to a two horse race between Crewe Pawns and Fenton B. The two meet on 22nd April in their last match, and it looks increasingly likely that this will play the role of title decider.

Cheddleton K and Meir D won their February fixtures to stay at the head of division five. A challenge from elsewhere is most likely to come from Newcastle F, though this would require the winning of games in hand. I suspect that points already on the board will prove more important.

All the cup semi-finals were completed. the eight resulting finalists are drawn from seven clubs, with only Stafford now able to tilt for two cup titles.

The player count has now reached 176. Peter Windows still leads the activity charts with 25, with Martin Gill slipping into second place on 23, just ahead of Paul Clapham and Karl Lockett on 22. Dave Buxton leads the performance charts on 205, ahead of Mike Hancock (203) and Gerald Acey (197).