A pair of convincing wins for Accrington & Leyland Lions has thrown them right into the mix at the top of the Co-opertative RL Conference North West Merit League table. A trip to Fleetwood Sharks on Saturday saw a 58-6 win and this was followed up with a 42-0 shut out at home to Little Hulton Reds on Tuesday. This week they face Bridge Bar Bandits on Tuesday night, knowing that victory will see them top the table.

The Bandits were on the wrong end of a 32-14 score on a visit to the unbeaten Bamber Bridge. The home side showed great resilience in turning around a 10-14 deficit at half time, helped in no small way by 3 quick fire tries in the opening 5 minutes of the second half.

In Burnley, young hearts were broken against Ashton Bears in the very last move of the game as last season's merit league champions scored under the posts from a tap penalty with 22 seconds remaining to win 28-26.

The local derby between Chester Gladiators 'A' and Ellesmere Port saw another 5 tries for Port, and another man of the match performance from their prop James Callaghan. It was still not enough to pick up the win however, with Chester coming out on top 42-28. This weekend Ellesmere Port host Salford Central, and Chester host Bamber Bridge who may top the league with a victory.

The team that can stop them leading the rankings over the weekend are the Broncos opponents this Saturday, the unbeaten Wigan Riversiders Eels. Kick off at Wigan St Judes is at 2PM, and with the Eels coming off the back of a 32-22 away win at Blackpool Stanley they are sure to provide tough opposition for our opening fixture.