Leaders Bridge beaten again

Southowram head the chasers and Cullingworth, who beat Bridge by seven wickets at Walton Street yesterday, are only one point further back.

Cullingworth not only beat Bridge but must have shaken their confidence with a seven-wicket success.

Dave Robinson took 7-44 to limit the hosts to 164. Opener Ben Burkill then stroked a 12-boundary 73 not out to seal victory and he needs only a further 72 to reach 1,000 runs for the season.

Southowram were 30 run winners at Blackley with long-serving Dean Crossley again showing his value to the side.

Crossley top scored with 77 and there were other good contributions from Jason Wilkinson (52) and Ashley Johnson (58) as the Rams posted 258 for five.

Blackley were hot in pursuit when Freddie Fox (102) and Jason Baxter (55) added 153 for the third wicket but occasional bowler Crossley dismissed them both and two more Blackley players as the hosts had to settle for 228 for nine.

Bridgeholme are also very much in the promotion hunt.

Nazakat Al and Aqib Mahmood took four wickets apiece as struggling Stones mustered only 112 against them at Ripponden. Chris Kibble’s 36 not out saw the Eastwood side to a six-wicket win.

Division One: Southowram 258-5 (Crossley 77, Johnson 58*, Wilkinson 52), *Blackley 228-9 (Fox 102, Baxter 55, Crossley 4-33): pts 11-4. *Shelf 88, Great Horton PC 92-6: pts 1-12. *Sowerby Bridge 164 (Robinson 7-44), Cullingworth 167-3 (Birkill 73*): pts 2-12. Bridgeholme beat *Stones by six wickets: pts 2-12.

Points (after 17 matches): Sowerby Bridge 148, Southowram 146, Cullingworth 145, Bridgeholme 141, Blackley 130, Great Horton PC 112, Shelf 79, Stones 54.

Outlane and Leymoor fought out the first tie of the season in the Halifax League, each scoring 161 in their Division Two derby match.

Adam Davies (85) scored more than half of Outlane’s 161 with George Smith (32) and James Mitton (26) the only other double figure contributors.

Martin Allison led Leymoor’s reply with 57, but Andrew Holding came up trumps with two wickets at the end for Outlane, bowling Colin Johnson with the scores level.

Illingworth SM only need only eight points to secure promotion in their first season back in the league after hitting the 200 points mark with a 78-run win at Luddenden Foot.

James Lawton (78) kept up the good work after his doubt ton against Old Town the previous week and Stephen Cook (54), plus a brisk 45 from Stuart Thompson, helped the visitors to 260.

Foot’s star batsman took his seasonal tally to 862 with another 76 but Dan Murfet (5-43) and Thompson (3-43) closed out the Foot innings for 182.

Bradshaw are a clear second best in the section. They were 56 for five at Upper Hopton before Nick Jowett made his way down to the pitch and hit 76 not out.

A total of 192 proved more than enough with rivals Waseem Iqbal and Ricky Beaumont taking four wickets apiece.

Clayton lost ground on the leading pair when shot out for 68 by Greetland at West Vale.

Sajid Ali took 5-30 and Greetland battled to their target for the loss of six wickets.

Low Moor ended a five match losing run when they won at Old Town by 13 runs.

Moor scored 162 and Mark Stokes (5-28) and Craig Green (4-67) ensured the efforts of Mohammed Jamil (45) and Mohammad Khan (43) were in vain.

Keyur Mistry’s 5-26 set up Birchencliffe for a four wicket win over Mount, were dismissed for 121.

Division Two: Mount 121, *Birchencliffe 127-6: pts 2-12. *Bradshaw 192-8 (Jowett 76, Iqbal 4-59), Upper Hopton 121 (Beaumont 4-29): pts 12-3. Clayton 68 (Ali 5-30), *Greetland 72-6: pts 12-1. Illingworth St Mary’s 260 (James Lawton 78, Cook 54, Thompson 45, Richardson 4-48), *Luddenden Foot 182 (Broadbent 76, Murfet 5-43): pts 12-6. Low Moor HT 162, *Old Town 149 (Jamil 45, Khan 43, Stokes 5-28, Green 4-67): pts 12-5. *Outlane 161 (Davies 85), Leymoor 161 (Allison 57, Mitton 4-53): pts 8-8.

Points (after 17 matches): Illingworth SM 200, Bradshaw 166, Clayton 147, Outlane 126, Luddenden Foot 126, Mount 119, Leymoor 116, Birchencliffe 107, Old Town 91, Low Moor 90, Greetland 89, Upper Hopton 80.