Leeds Beckett’s impeccable win record sees the team from Yorkshire sitting comfortably at the top of the BUCS Rugby League Premier North.
After playing eight games, the side have picked up eight wins, and are currently averaging 57 points per game.
Their total of 24 points sees a gap of three points to Northumbria in second, who have only lost one game so far in this campaign. Unsurprisingly, their only defeat came at the hands of Leeds Beckett.
Title race all but over with two games left
After winning every league game to this point in the season, it will take a miracle for Leeds Beckett to be overtaken in the race for the BUCS Rugby League Premier North title.
However, Northumbria do pose a threat to the somewhat foregone conclusion of Beckett winning the title. The two sides still left to play each other in the league in the last game of the season.
The equation is simple: if Leeds Beckett continue their hot streak and get the best of Liverpool on Wednesday 25th January, the title will be theirs. Given the last meeting between the two sides in mid-October ended 70-0 to Leeds Beckett, the top team will be confident in their ability.
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Even a victory on the last day would not be enough for Northumbria, unless they were able to overturn the huge gap in goal difference between the two teams. Currently, the side from the northeast would not only need to beat the champions-elect, but win by a difference of 79 points.
Mid table team way off the pace in the BUCS Rugby League Premier North
The incredible form of the teams at the top of the league has seen the remaining four teams blown away in a sense.
The gap between second and third in the BUCS Rugby League Premier North currently sits at nine points- the gap between the last four teams is only 12 points.
Newcastle currently sit in third, therefore claiming the crown of ‘best of the rest.’ There have certainly been peaks and troughs for them throughout the campaign, with their record reading as four wins and four losses after eight games.
The title of best of the rest is fitting, given the fact they have exclusively beaten the teams below them, and lost each of the four times they have played against the top two. The defeats against Northumbria will particularly sting, given the rivalry between the two teams.
Three points below Newcastle sit Liverpool John Moores, who have nine points after their eight fixtures. The story of their season reads similarily to Newcastle’s, but only slightly worse. They have been beaten each time they have played a team above, and only found joy when playing Leeds and Liverpool who sit below them.
However, this season will not be classed as a failure by Liverpool John Moores, given they have completed the double over their local rivals, with whom they share a city.
A season to forget for Liverpool and Leeds
Going further down the BUCS Rugby League Premier North league table does not make for great reading for students of either Leeds or Liverpool Universities.
Leeds currently occupy fifth position, which would see them avoid the risk of relegation.
They have picked up just one win all season, and were beaten twice in the Leeds derby. To make matters worse, their city neighbours have scored more than seven times more than the 64 points they have mustered up in the league.
Liverpool have picked up a win, but are staring down the barrel of relegation, despite conceding less points than both Leeds and Liverpool John Moores.
After starting their season with a win against Leeds, they went on a run of six consecutive losses, before conceding a walkover in their game against Northumbria. As a result of this concession of walkover, they face relegation without a playoff to Northern 1A if they remain bottom, due to BUCS Regulation 13.
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