I’VE touched on this Saturday’s climax to the regular season in the National Conference League Third Division elsewhere.
It’s a fascinating finale, with any of four teams (Keighley Albion, Saddleworth Rangers, Myton Warriors and Bentley) capable of closing in pole position, while at the same time any two of the quartet could miss out on automatic promotion as one of the leading duo.
The tension is entirely in keeping with a thrilling campaign in which no fewer than 14 games involving one (or often two) of those four were won, or at least sealed, late on.
Albion, after having been pipped by visitors Bentley on the opening day of the season, went on to win five tight encounters – twice against Saddleworth.
Rangers, meanwhile, have lost all four closely-fought matches, including at Bentley, and at the league’s eventual bottom side, Beverley.
Bentley have prevailed in three, and missed out in two, of the do-or-die clashes while Myton, who are currently the form side in the section with five victories on the hoof after having once been in the re-election frame, have won two and lost only one of the frantic-finish fixtures.
Here’s a resume of matches that could have a seminal impact on the final standings.
March 22: Keighley Albion 24 Bentley 26. Won by the visitors through a Scott Smith try, plus Kieran Lewis’ touchline conversion, three minutes from time.
April 5: Keighley Albion 26 Myton Warriors 21. Albion recovered from 19-6 down to take the points.
April 26. Leigh East 26 Keighley Albion 28. East recovered from 22-10 behind to lead 26-22, only for Albion to prevail through Ben Stead’s conversion of Callum Hudson’s last-gasp try.
May 10. Myton Warriors 26 Leigh East 22. The Warriors were 22-12 down at half-time but edged it with Nathan Slater’s late try and Jack Sanderson’s conversion.
May 17. Saddleworth Rangers 16 Keighley Albion 18. Rangers had nosed 16-12 in front on 73 minutes with Josh Bradbury’s conversion of Joe Howe’s try, only for Albion to snatch victory with an Adam Gaunt touchdown with two minutes left, with Stead booting the winning goal from midway between the posts and the touchline.
June 28. Keighley Albion 14 Saddleworth Rangers 12. Albion did it again to Rangers, this time through Jamie Stephenson’s unconverted try with three minutes left.
June 28. Leigh East 30 Myton Warriors 26. The Warriors looked certain winners at 16-0 ahead, only to return to Hull on the back of a narrow defeat.
July 5. Distington 17 Bentley 14. Bentley dropped two important points after having been in front until the 72nd minute. Scott George, with a field-goal and a late penalty-goal, ensured that the Cumbrians emerged triumphant.
July 19. Bentley 20 Saddleworth Rangers 18. Rangers missed out despite having led 18-0 early in the first half.
July 26. Milford 16 Keighley Albion 22. Milford (who are having to seek re-election) were 16-12 ahead on 70 minutes, but Albion took the verdict with tries by Jack Adams and Connor Meagan, the first of which Hudson improved.
August 2. Beverley 36 Saddleworth Rangers 34. A penalty-goal a full ten minutes into injury time by Alex Hardie meant Beverley completed an astonishing rally from 30-12 down.
August 2. Milford 16 Bentley 18. Milford scored a last-gasp try but what would have been the levelling conversion, attempted from the touchline by Josh Cawood, drifted wide of the posts.
August 9. Bentley 16 Leigh East 6. The sides were locked at 6-6 on 74 minutes, only for the Doncaster outfit to emerge triumphant through tries by Grant Hill and Charlie Harmer, plus a Lewis goal.
August 16. Bentley 14 Myton Warriors 16. A last-gasp Slater try shattered the hopes of the hosts, who had been 10-0 ahead at the break.
August 16. Keighley Albion 32 Leigh East 26. Albion completed a fightback from 26-12 behind with Jack Kennedy’s try two minutes from time.
Phew – expect more thrills and spills on Saturday!
It’s good, incidentally, to have been able to relate to readers the compelling action in the NCL throughout the 2025 campaign.
A big factor in that is that the clubs themselves send me reports on their matches each and every Saturday evening and I’ve been delighted to be able to collate that information for grassroots aficionados everywhere.
It’s not quite – or anything like – the same situation with other leagues, however, certainly those that fall under the auspices of the Rugby Football League.
Amateur Rugby League fan Phil Davidge has been in touch with us, rightly mystified as to why we didn’t preview the recent Yorkshire Men’s League finals, or carry reports or even results.
The reason is simple. GameDay (the heavily computerised agency which issues fixtures and results by email) sent me nothing at all on the YML’s big day, and neither did anyone else, leaving me in something of a vacuum.
It’s an issue I touched on at the beginning of the month, when I bemoaned a similar situation regarding the North West Men’s League finals, which I only learned about when one of the competing clubs got in touch.
Sadly, it’s all very poor – in marked contrast to such as the Barrow and Cumberland Leagues, which are still run by volunteers such as, respectively, Terry Barker and Pete Gilmour. Through their sterling efforts, I’m able to preview finals and provide at least results.
It’s similar with such as the Huddersfield District League. Sue Taylor (who is, I think, the league’s secretary) specifically asked me to preview last Friday’s Holliday Cup final, and mentioned sponsors Baimbridge Flooring, which was also good and which I was delighted to do. If only the RFL could be anywhere near as proactive.
Meanwhile I was deeply saddened to learn, on Friday, from his daughter Amanda ‘Wiggy’ Wigglesworth that her beloved dad Les had passed away that morning.
Les was one of those blokes it was impossible not to like, despite (or perhaps because of) his forthright manner.
I got to know him very well over the last three decades, firstly through my job as a Rugby League journalist, in which capacity I would often speak to the man who, as secretary of Oulton Raiders’ National Conference League team, had carved out a reputation as one of the most efficient – and affable – administrators in the flagship competition.
I also dealt with Les very regularly in my various roles with Methley Royals, who were the Raiders’ nearest neighbours, and I have to say that when I popped along to Oulton at regular intervals with transfer requests (we were on an upwards trajectory back then under coach Paul Handforth) I was met with nothing but warmth, civility and friendship, with Les to the fore.
Perhaps, apart from that being integral to the man’s character, his attitude was underpinned by the fact that his wealth of experience had taught him to bend with the wind (up to a point, anyway, he wasn’t slow to be critical of those who play politics in our sport and who he therefore felt were a blight on Rugby League).
And maybe the fact that he battled cancer for a lengthy period added to his sense of perspective, although I reckon he had that quality in abundance anyway.
Above all, Les brought a player’s mentality to the role, having played for many years before becoming a driving off-field force at Oulton.
He will be sadly missed, not only at the Raiders but, also, far and wide throughout the National Conference League and, indeed, through grassroots Rugby League as a whole.
RIP Les Wigglesworth.