Four games for Littleborough RUFC to seal the championship title

Littleborough RUFC Third Team - Leigh Nolan and Leaun Higgs (both bottom left)

Huge change in the Lancashire North division has left Littleborough RUFC with four games to seal the championship title starting with a big clash away at Garstang.

Littleborough put themselves firmly in the driving seat for the league crown with a impressive second half comeback against the then table toppers Trafford MV to regain the number one spot, if only just because of a better points difference.

However, they have since been helped by the big news this week that after a consultation between the league committee and the clubs, it has been agreed that all the teams in the league are to have Hutton and Pendle's results removed from their league results, and any outstanding fixtures against these teams will be cancelled and rearranged with other outstanding fixtures of teams in the league.

The impact on Littleborough is substantial as Trafford MV will have five points taken from them as a result of their bonus point victory over Pendle back in the early stages of the season. So Boro now have a clear advantage in the race for the title. It means that as long as Littleborough beat the teams lower than them in the table, they can afford to lose the reverse fixture with Trafford by less than four tries or by less than seven points in two weeks time and still finish as league table toppers.

Now that is not as easy as it sounds on paper as Garstang present a very tough challenge on Saturday, despite not recording a win in their last five games.

Garstang upset the apple cart last year with a 25-12 win over their opponents Boro at Hudson Park and will hoping to finish strongly after enduring a difficult league campaign.

Centre Andy Walton is Boro's only absentee for Saturday's crucial game. Chris Hough is expected to shrug off the knocks he picked up in his man-of-the-match display against Trafford to continue at fly half.

In Division Four East, Littleborough Thirds continue their promotion fight right to the very end with a visit from against Marple Thirds.

Marple come into the clash in the midst of a relegation scrap and find themselves only three points above the drop zone while Boro sit seven points adrift of second place Village Spartans, who have played a game more.

Promotion is not yet out of the question but with the other two Littleborough teams sitting in the promotion places in their respective leagues, the Thirds will not want to miss out on making it one of, if not the best season, in the club's history.