As the country heads into a month’s worth of lockdown and the gates at The Riverside slam shut once again, the Pitching In Northern Premier League North/West Division table will be pleasant viewing whilst waiting for the game to restart.
It has been a magnificent start to the campaign for Chris Willcock’s men, winning six of their eight games which included an Rammy unprecedented four from four to kick the season off.
The only blip was the disappointing 3-1 reverse at Clitheroe and our record could have been better but for Kendal Town’s unlikely last gasp equaliser in the next game.
But we bounced back with a brace of 2-1 victories which saw us hit the top of the table as the league and all of the ‘non-elite’ football takes a month long sabbatical across England.
No-one can doubt the entertainment value as eleven different players have made it onto the scoresheet with Sefton Gonzales leading the way with seven and Mason Fawns just behind with 5.
Scoring 30 goals in the 12 games across all competitions is certainly impressive and the 19 notched in the league the divisional leaders. Average home crowds of 282 this season in the six home games can’t be wrong!
All of this led me to thinking – well, what if the league season did finish now like it did back in March?
What would the FA and the league do? Would they decree a second season in a row null-and-void?
Of course this is all very unlikely. After all, this lockdown for England is only due to last a month and, all being well, our next match will be the away game with Runcorn Linnets on December 5.
It is naturally disappointing that our away game with Brighouse Town, the home clash with local rivals Colne, the away day at Marine and the much awaited and already moved once game with top of the table challengers Workington are all to be rescheduled, all leaving us a completely blank November.
We have had many in-season long breaks due to weather but none have completely wiped out a whole calendar month!
So we at RammyStats decided to combine the last two seasons together and see what the statistics were, should it be decided to run promotion and relegation on a points-per-game basis.
Workington would still top the table as their 2.28 PPG pips the Rams’ 2.22 but only three sides in the combined season have recorded a better than two PPG and the other is Marske United, who have played the fewest games by any of the sides (discounting the disbanded Droylsden) with only 31.
The North Yorkshiremen have had a stellar couple of seasons rather under the radar and their record of just five defeats in 31 games has kept them in contention and they are unbeaten this season as well but sit in seventh place having only played five this season so far.
However, the Rams did beat them 5-1 last season at the HWRS and they recorded a 2-2 draw and 0-2 loss to Workington.
Marine are fourth with 1.91 and Pontefract Collieries next at 1.78 before Clitheroe roll in at a distant 1.57.
At the bottom, it is Pickering Town with just 0.59 PPG then Ossett United (0.72) and Kendal Town (0.79).
We naturally hope it doesn’t come to this and this ‘fire-break’ is exactly that – a short, sharp cut in the COVID-19 increases. Everyone hopes we will get back to action again at the top end of December when the Rams will look to continue their great start to the season.
In the meantime, Rammy Stats will continue to try and entertain you with articles, profiles and stories so keep us on your favourites!
