Bolton ended their first season in a rather unexpected way when the fixture away at Wigton was cancelled due to the referee not showing up. He had unfortunately been caught up in traffic travelling from Newcastle and nobody else suitable was available to officiate the match. This leaves Bolton having only played 5 and sat in 8th spot following their 3 home victories against Hawcoat Park, Workington and Silloth in which they have managed to rack up a total of 204 points and concede just 10, a record which they have not been able to match on the road with losses at both Aspatria and Carlisle.

Wigton, also with only 5 games played sit in 5th place thanks to their 3 wins, 1 draw and a single loss so far in their campaign. That draw was the result of a last minute kick that helped Fleetwood salvage a draw from the jaws of defeat at home which keeps them top of the table as the only side to still have 0 in the losses column. This current form seems very reminiscent of their previous season’s starts, but comments from the Fleetwood camp suggest they are now reaping the benefit of their ongoing investment into their junior section with new players coming through. The suggestion is that the seasiders are in it for the long haul this season and could very well be there or thereabouts when the season comes to a close. Albeit they have yet to take on a tough opponent away from home, but have already beaten Aspatria and Carlisle on home turf.

De La Salle are hot on the heels of Fleetwood though with 5 wins out of 6 and a single loss against Aspatria at home to their names. Not many will travel to Salford and come away smiling this season, but Spyat managed to do just that in week 3, with De La Salle earning a losing bonus point in the process. Elsewhere, they have picked up 3 try bonus points to keep them in the hunt. The one team to beat them, currently lie in 4th place having also only lost one fixture so far against league leaders Fleetwood. Aspatria are always strong but have had a number of nearly but not quite seasons, noises from their camp suggest that they want this to be their season and their early form backs that up. The only reason they don’t sit higher in the league is their lack of 4 try bonus points, having only picked up one so far in an unexpected romp over Oldham. No doubt they will pick up more as the season progresses.

3rd placed Oldham have also started well, despite their heavy defeat to Aspatria. With 4 wins, a draw and a single loss they are just 3 points behind Fleetwood thanks to their 4 try bonus points. No doubt their day up at Bower Park has been consigned to the history books as they look to go one better than last season and finish in the top two in what is looking likely to be a hotly contested top half of the table. Their draw came against Hawcoat Park, who after being handed a lifeline last season have seemed resurgent this time around picking up 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses from their opening 6 games. They lie in 5th place but have 3 sides in touching distance with games in hand underneath.

Like Bolton and Wigton, Carlisle have also only managed to fulfil 5 fixtures so far due to Littleborough being unable to field a team because of a player’s wedding arrangements… It’s believed that despite Carlisle agreeing to rearrange for this coming weekend, Littleborough will be docked 5 points for failing to fulfil a fixture. Many could argue this is harsh, but after last season’s fixture backlog you can understand the organisers not wanting games to be called off, especially when conditions aren’t the issue. This deduction is yet to take place, but would see Littleborough move down a spot with a fixture against Carlisle still to be played as they have managed just 2 victories so far. Carlisle, relegated from N1W last season, have started well with 3 wins and 2 losses so far - their losses coming against Fleetwood and De La Salle on the road. The Cumbrians remain a contender for promotion even at this early stage.

Despite good starts from Aspatria, Carlisle, Hawcoat Park and Wigton, the same cannot be said for the remaining Cumbrian teams. Silloth and Workington have both failed to register a win with the latter being subject to a 5 point deduction for an administrative error last season. This leaves them both at the bottom of the table with an average of 54 points conceded each game. Both teams look like early candidates for relegation along with Upper Eden who have only managed to chalk up a single victory so far.

Both teams promoted from North Lancs 1 (of whatever it may now be called) - Trafford MV and Littleborough - have picked up just 2 wins so far but even in the majority of their losses they have held their own and picked up bonus points along the way. Trafford MV lead the way on the front with a total of 6 bonus points from their 6 fixtures - an impressive start for the league new boys.

Finally, Aldwinians lie in 10th place with 2 wins under their belt but safe in the knowledge that they have already played 3 of the contenders in Aspatria, Carlisle and Wigton. After just surviving the drop last season, the Audenshaw based side will surely be hoping to improve on that this time around and that task continues with a home fixture against Bolton on the 22nd October.

So 6 weeks in and Fleetwood lead the way, with De La Salle not far behind. It will be interesting to see how the results unfold over the next few weeks as that could go a long way to deciding who is going to be in the race at both ends of the table… The tried and test Week 8 rule provided by Barney Clegg of Aspatria has proved pretty accurate in recent seasons. That suggests that once 8 fixtures have been played, that the eventual 1st and 2nd placed teams are already in the top 4 and the 3 teams that will be relegated sit in the bottom 5…