Bolton travel to Littleborough, a ground known for its wet and cold conditions and a team that has managed to push itself away from the relegation zone with a handful of hard fought victories. Boro, on returning to NLC have managed to collect 5 wins from their 11 outings and have only been beaten on home soil once by Aspatria back in September. Since then they have registered wins against Oldham, Silloth and Trafford MV to ensure they stay clear of the danger zone.

On form and league position, most would be forgiven for expecting a Bolton victory, but experience of playing the men from Hollingworth Lake tells us that this will be a tough game with both sides in contention. Littleborough rely on their strong pack and Bolton must try and counter this with their own forwards whilst trying to bring their backs into play. Given the current weather forecast this may prove difficult and Bolton may be required to rely on route 1 ball playing Littleborough at their own game.

League leaders Carlisle host Hawcoat Park who have seemed resurgent in recent weeks after a bumpy start to their campaign. Carlisle are the form team in the league and unbeaten at home whilst Hawcoat have managed just one win and one draw on the road.

Third placed Aspatria head west to take on Workington Zebras and despite the Zebras picking up 3 wins from their last 5 outings, all at home, not many will see past a strong Black Red victory this weekend as they continue to pile the pressure on at the top end of the table.

One team that will be keeping an eye on the Workington result is Upper Eden who must travel to Silloth in the hope of trying to pull themselves out of the bottom 3. The Tigers gave Spyat a run for their money in recent weeks but appear to still be struggling to field more than a bare 15 players and UE's young team will look to try and exploit that.

Aldwinians are another side that will be hoping to put some space between themselves and the bottom 3 when they take on Trafford MV at home with a league place at stake for the home team. Trafford's superior bonus point figure is what has kept them clear up until now despite only earning 2 wins so far, whilst Aldwinians are on the hunt for win number 4.

Heading back up the table, De La Salle will be looking to get themselves back on track after their loss at Bolton, but a game against Wigton, home or away, is never an easy task and not a fixture you can take lightly. The fact DLS hold home advantage will sit well with them, but Wigton know that a win could earn them at least 1 if not 2 or 3 moves up the table.

Finally 6th placed Fleetwood make the journey across to 7th placed Oldham. Oldhams pitch is known for getting heavy this time of year bringing their large pack more into play and potentially nullifying Fleetwoods backs, but given the potential for Fleetwood to open up a gap on Oldham they will be targeting this one.

It remains to be seen whether the expected weather will make a difference, but historically results tend to get closer at this time of year as we head into Christmas and more 'upsets' begin to appear on the results page.... Given the close nature of the league table so far this season, it looks like it's really shaping up to be a great season of rugby!