WHAT HAVE YOU MADE OF THE 2008 SUMMER LEAGUE SEASON?
SEND US YOUR VIEWS AND COMMENTS BELOW.


OUR look at the 2008 Summer League season opens with a question.

How many different league leaders were there during the summer?

Well, those of you who think that there can be only one and that Ysceifiog led the way throughout ... are wrong!

In fact, there were three leaders - and at one point Ysceifiog were down as low as fourth.

Nantglyn took over the leadership after their 3-2 comeback win at home to Ysceifiog on May 1 and at that stage they were two points clear of Llanrhaeadr, with the Flintshire outfit fourth.

Then, five nights later on May 6, Llanrhaeadr claimed pole position with their 2-1 result versus Llangynhafal.

Nantglyn were second on goal difference with their 3-3 draw at Clawddnewydd, while Ysceifiog were a point back after a 2-0 home success over Henllan moved them back up into the top-three.

But that mini-spell apart, it was Ysceifiog who led the way.

They regained possession of first place on May 8, as both Llanrhaeadr and Nantglyn slipped up.

Llan lost 1-0 at Caerwys, Nantglyn's unbeaten start ended with a 3-1 reverse to Llanfair and Ysceifiog were top again after easing past Trefnant.

Even a second Ysceifiog defeat - 3-2 at home to Llanrhaeadr on May 19 - failed to dislodge them, although Llanfair's title tilt was then at its strongest as a 4-1 victory at Henllan moved them to within a point of the leadership.

Llanfair's big chance to overhaul the leaders ended in disappointment in the next game, a 3-1 loss at home to Ysceifiog, which meant the Flintshire flyers reached the halfway point of the season with a three-point advantage over second-placed Llangynhafal.

That was as close as Martin Dyer's young side got to mounting a championship push, though, as in their next game they were beaten 3-1 at the league leaders, and the top of the standings remained unchanged throughout the second half of the summer.

Arfon Griffiths' Llanrhaeadr took second spot on May 29 thanks to their thrilling 7-4 victory at defending champions Clawddnewydd.

The gap between them and Ysceifiog was four points at that stage, and Llanrhaeadr were just keen to keep up the pressure, which they managed with wins over Llanfair, Rhewl and Henllan.

Ysceifiog kept on winning too, though, and after winning at Henllan on June 12, the gap was up to seven points as Llanrhaeadr lost at Llangynhafal.

There were just six games left to play at this point and when Llanrhaeadr suffered a 5-2 loss at Cefn, they were 10 points back with four games left.

Ysceifiog finally wrapped things up in the next round of games - on June 23 - as a hat-trick from Dave Holloway helped secure the title with a 5-1 win at Cefn.

That was Ysceifiog's 10th win on the trot - a phenomenal run - which was stretched to a lucky 13 victories by the time the league campaign was finally wrapped up.

Looking at the best of the rest, Llanrhaeadr and Nantglyn were the other most consistent performers.

Both will be hoping to build on their top-three finish next time out and Nantglyn look to be back close to their best, after six wins in their last seven league games to conclude the season.

Llangynhafal, who eventually finished four, also enjoyed a good finish.

Four wins out of five set Llangynhafal up nicely for their North Wales Times Shield campaign.

It looked like being a memorable season for Llanfair at one point, but a run of just one win in their closing seven matches meant that Roger Beech's side had to be content to finish fifth.

At the other end of the scale, only four clubs occupied 12th spot throughout the summer.

Llangynhafal were bottom after the first game, while Llandyrnog slipped to the foot of the table on goal difference after their 5-0 loss to Clawddnewydd on May 1.

Henllan were the club most synonymous with last place in 2008, spending eight consecutive weeks in the dreaded spot, but they weren't 12th after their penultimate match of the season.

A brilliant 4-1 Henllan win at home to Llandyrnog meant Trefnant slumped to the bottom, where they remained until the end courtesy of a 3-1 final night loss to Llangynhafal.


WHAT HAVE YOU MADE OF THE 2008 SUMMER LEAGUE SEASON?
SEND US YOUR VIEWS AND COMMENTS BELOW.