Sponsored by
Cricket - Towergate Halifax League: Long wait over for Blackley
BLACKLEY have waited more than a century to get their hands on the league's championship trophy and their victorious skipper David Townsend promptly dropped it on Saturday night!
League chairman Barry Tennyson handed over the silverware after Blackley had gained the point they needed from a home game against Mytholmroyd to be sure of winning the Premier Division title, just 12 months after winning the middle section crown.
Blackley are believed to be the first side since Triangle in the early 1970s to win the two trophies in successive years and vice captain Craig Taylor said: "The club had been up and down for a few years so this is massive for us."
Although Blackley have granted Townsend his wish of being able to go to Jer Lane on the last day of the season with the title already in the bag, the long-time leaders have rather limped over the winning line.
They lost at Northowram the previous week and managed only 130 in reply to Mytholmroyd's imposing 289 for six on Saturday.
However, a superb first half to the season had put them in the driving seat. They are generally acknowledged as very worthy champions and Taylor said they had switched the batting order around on Saturday after knowing top spot was secure.
It took them until the closing stages of Mytholmroyd's innings to gain the one point they needed, Dan Houldin claiming the all-important fourth wicket when bowling leg spin rather than his usual seam up.
Former skipper Kris Halstead top scored with 86 for 'Royd - his average actually took a knock after a string of 'red inkers' this season - while Shahid Rashid made 74 in a total which provided well beyond the home side.
Until they got the one bonus point, Blackley were unaware that second-placed Jer Lane's game at Sowerby had been washed out. The Booth versus Northowram HT contest also failed to get under way.
SBCI took advantage of Jer Lane and Booth’s inactivity to move into second place with a 15-run win in a typically high-scoring game at Triangle.
Jamie Sykes’s 78 not out got SBCI up to 315 eight and that was just too many for Roger Smith’s hosts in spite of Nathan Cavalier’s 126 not out, which included nine sixes.
Southowram remain the team most likely to go down alongside Old Crossleyans even though they won their third successive game, this time at Sowerby Bridge.
Tom Belfield took four wickets and Michael Wild three but Bridge recovered from 57 for five to reach 204 for nine thanks to Chris Whitehill (59) and Richard Price (48) in a 44 overs a side contest.
Visiting skipper Dean Crossley maintained his superb form with the bat by hitting 51 but it was Mark Ambler (42) and Belfield (43 no) who saw the Rams to a four wicket win.
The bad news for them was that third-from-bottom Warley matched their nine point return at home to Crocs, Nolan Bottomley making 87 and skipper Ian Shaw 61 not out as the deposed 2008 champions hit the 181 they needed for the loss of four wickets.
POINTS: Blackley 164, SBCI 149, Mytholmroyd 147, Jer Lane 145, Booth 144, Sowerby SP 136, Northowram 133, Sowerby bridge 129, Warley 118, Triangle 117, Southowram 112, Old Crossleyans 90.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Halifax
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -6 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: -4 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South
