Thornton blow their chance and leave way clear for Triangle to win the title

Only ten of its players will really know what went wrong as lowly Sowerby Bridge produced the shock win of the season by seven wickets.

The eleventh player was opener Matthew Wear (41 not out) as he watched in horror at one end, losing all his partners in a 125 all out total.

Even that score did not look feasible as the usually prolific top order collapsed to 17-5.

Despite some late recovery the damage inflicted by Jake Dixon (5-21) and Tom Belfield (4-36) ensured that there will be a warm welcome at Grassy Bottom for them on their next visit.

Tim Helliwell (36 not out) anchored the Bridge reply and with three other batsmen hitting twenties that unpredictable result was completed at 128-3.

Meanwhile in total contrast Triangle’s batsmen enjoyed the sunshine on the last day of the season at Booth as three of them hit half-centuries.

Tom Watson (64), Kurtis Whippey (55no) and Adam Stocks (52) all contributed in a first innings total of 237-4 with the home team’s bowlers struggling to find any assistance from perhaps one of the best tracks for weeks.

No doubt Thornton’s capitulation had been pinging on the handhelds, as if Triangle needed any extra motivation after its own poor show last week. Still with a very outside chance of the title Booth’s top order must also have been affected by nerves as it too collapsed to 35-5.

It was left to skipper Richard Laycock (83) to head a recovery but when he was dismissed by Liam Turner (4-36) at 172-7 Triangle’s hopes rose considerably and so it proved as the Booth innings closed on 215 all out,

Kurtis Whippey finishing with 4-60. Triangle’s championship will certainly be remembered for some time, despite coming in a truncated season and most certainly because of its late unexpectedness.

Blackley’s decision to bat first at Bradshaw proved the correct one despite being bowled out for 153 runs in only 33 overs.

Wickets fell at regular intervals but it was the second-change bowler, Simon Collins, who did the majority of the damage with figures of 8-4-13-6, only Joseph Hardcastle (48) managing to cause any problems.

Bradshaw encountered even more trouble and a score of 10-3 was one it never really recovered from.

Jonathan Lister’s 21 runs was its top score as four Blackley bowlers took two or more wickets in a final score of 118 all out SBCI was put in to bat by Warley at The Astleys and the hosts lost early wickets, in particular without any addition to the score from 34-2 to 34-5.

A three-pronged attack led by Milton Greenwood (4-24) kept the pressure on and despite a mini revival tea was soon on the agenda after 35.4 overs and 101 all out.

Warley required less than 25 overs to complete a maximum points victory as the wickets of Christopher Marsh (37 not out) and Kieran Collins (32 not out) remained intact at 103-2.

At Shelf Northowram Hedge Top opener Josh Cooper, of Illingworth St Mary’s, finished off his year in some style batting for all 40 overs and, to his relief, just reaching 101 not out in the final over.

It needed a vital innings from No 11 Jamie Moorhouse (14 not out) to get him there as the ninth wicket at fallen at 155 runs with Cooper still needing 26 runs for his ton. The rest of St Mary’s innings, Callum Cook (54) apart, is best

left unreported other than the reason was Oliver Hemingway’s 5-25.

A total of 196-9 proved 59 runs too many however for SNHT, only Scott Richardson (44) causing the six visiting bowlers any worries. He was last man out in a total of 137 all out, run out trying to push the score along with No 11 Chaitanya Deshpande, who deserves credit for his 21 not out after entering the fray at 80-9.

The week’s humoristic remark came from Copley secretary Tim Rushton who, on learning that his team’s home match had been called off, due to Mytholmroyd’s lack of players, commented, ‘On the plus side a strong finish to the season from Copley with two 12-pointers on the bounce!’

First Division champions Great Hprton PC did not let up on its concluding match of the season and won with comparative ease at Oxenhope.

Opening bowler Harris Cunningham (4-29) led the way as the home team was dismissed for 166 all out, the best efforts from the hosts coming from two scores of 35 runs by Joshua Fleetwood and Chris Kibble.

The cream however was yet to rise and it came from openers Christopher Brown (83 not out) and Ricky Hassall (60 not out) who concluded the Bradford team’s excellent season with aplomb in an undefeated partnership of 170 runs, with Horton finishing with an impressive average of 10.55 points per match.

Matt Broadbent (5-33) was the thorn in the side of Clayton at Upper Hopton where the visitors were bowled out for 133. Skipper Joseph Brown (39) did his best to bolster the Bradford team’s effort but lacked any real support from the middle and lower order. With opening bowler Matthew Roe (6-26) in fine form Hopton did not have it all its own way chasing the low target, especially after it lost Callum Fern (33) at 58-4, and even more so at 97-8.

Skipper Charlie Gallagher came to the rescue however with 30 not out to ensure a two wicket win at 135-8.

The remaining match in the division, between Luddendenfoot and Mount, was cancelled for safety reasons, maybe an indicator that the early closure of the season was a sensible move in these worrying times.

Queensbury’s players needed eight points to guarantee the Second Division title and with the sun-shining, ensuring that there was no chance of the weather intervening, were well motivated to complete the task.

Leymoor were the visitors and having been asked to bat never really got into the groove and with five bowlers sharing the wickets, including Gareth Walker (4-17), its innings faded to 86 all out.

Despite losing a couple of early wickets, at 10-2, skipper Oliver Challis (57 not out) and Joshua Dougall (21 not out) kept their nerve to ensure victory at 87-2 and, more importantly, the title.

Southowram endured a bad day at the office at Bradley & Colnebridge as a decision to bat first proved mistaken at best.

Its innings only lasted 20 overs as skipper Ian Gledhiill (26) was the only batsman to show any enthusiasm for the task. All his teammates failed to reach double figures in a score of 62 all out with opening bowlers Shaid Khan (4-26) and Irfan Rashid (3-22) doing most of the damage.

B&C lost just three wickets in reply aas only a further 11.2 overs were required to score 64-3 and seal third place in the final table.

Outlane made its longest trip of the season only to come away from Cullingworth with just a couple of points.

Batting first it struggled to 116 all out with only Jordan Croft (40) making any impression, Jack Rogers (5-30) taking half the wickets. Opener Steve Welch (49 not out), despite losing six partners as Mosan Raza took 4-48, guided Cullingworth to 118-6 and maximum points.

Augustinians will be wishing that the season had just started because, having notched its first win last week, it repeated the process at Greetland in winning by 19 runs. Having scored nearly two-thirds of its points in these last two matches it also dumped Leymoor to the bottom of the final league table.

Taking first knock Shakeel Mahmood (40) led the way but it was the lower order that contributed most as four batsmen hit 130 runs in a final total of 211 all out.

The Greetland scorecard had a very strange look in response, as it was totally dominated by the innings of skipper Mohammed Yousaf with his 111 runs. He had scored just a single when the score stood at 53-6 and almost single-handed took it to 182-8 before losing his wicket.

That guaranteed the win for the vistors as Greetland closed on 192 all out.

Premier Division: Triangle 237-4 (Watson 64, Whippey 55no, Stocks 52), *Booth 215 (Ri Laycock 83, Turner 4-36, Whippey 4-60): pts 12-4. Blackley 153 (Hardcastle 48, Collins 6-13), *Bradshaw 118: pts 12-4. *Copley w/o v Mytholmroyd: pts 12-0. Illingworth St Mary’s 196-9 (Cooper 101no, C Cook 53, Hemingway 5-25), *Shelf Northowram HT 137 (Richardson 44): 12-3. *SBCI 101 (Greenwood 4-24), Warley 103-2: pts 1-12. *Thornton 125 (Wear 41no, Dixon 5-21, Belfield 4-36), Sowerby Bridge 128-3: pts 1-12. Final Top Three: Triangle 8.90, Thornton 8.50, Blackley 8.00.

First Division: *Luddendenfoot v Mount - cancelled – safety reasons. *Oxenhope 166 (Cunningham 4-29), Great Horton PC 170-0 (Brown 83no, Hassall 60no): pts 2-12. Clayton 133 (Broadbent 5-33), *Upper Hopton 135-8 (Roe 6-26): pts 3-12. Final Top Three: Great Horton PC 10.56, Low Moor HT 7.75, Upper Hopton 7.56.

Second Division: Southowram 62 (Sd Khan 4-26), *Bradley & Colnebridge 64-3: pts 0-12. Outlane 116 (Croft 40, Rogers 5-30), *Cullingworth 118-6 (S Welch 49, Raza 4-48): pts 2-12. Augustinians 211 (Mahmood 40), Greetland 192 (Yousaf 111): pts 12-6. Leymoor 86 (Walker 4-17), *Queensbury 87-2 (Challis 57no): pts 0-12. Final Top Three: Queensbury 9.11, Stones 8.57, Bradley & Colnebridge 8.00.