THORNTON have retained their two-point lead at the top of the SPENSER WILSON HALIFAX LEAGUE Premier Division after a 112-run win at Sowerby St Peter's, where Josh Hutchinson showed his all-round talents.

The visitors batted first and, after Ben Birkill (44) had set the tone, Hutchinson took the Sowerby bowling apart with seven fours and ten sixes in 127 not out.

Not content with that, he then proceeded to take 4-21 as second-change bowler as the home side were dismissed for 161.

Shelf Northowram Hedge Top's players had a satisfied look on their faces as they left Triangle, having successfully chased a target of 324 in a five-wicket maximum points return and, in the process, gained revenge for their Parish Cup exit on the same ground six days previously.

The winning chase was led by Harry Talbot (93), Oliver Hemingway (67) and Barbar Malik (61) to leave Triangle's championship ambitions in grave doubt as they now have a 22-point gap to bridge.

Oxenhope's Lewis Hopkinson will still be trying to work out how he finished on the losing team, having scored 140 runs at SBCI.

The No 5 batsman dominated the first innings as the next best score was 21, and a total of 249-9 looked a considerable challenge.

And so it proved, but SBCI were up for it with their top six batsmen all making good scores, led by the half-centuries of Simon Wood (71no) and Lewis Firth (54).

The former guided his team home to a excellent six-wicket victory and, at the same time, dumping Copley into the bottom two alongside Bridgeholme.

Second-placed Booth enjoyed their trip down the A646 to Eastwood, only failing by one run to top 400, as well as keeping the gap to Thornton to just two points.

Rob Laycock (104), Ian Sharkey (86) and Jon Midgley (85) all enjoyed the delights of Bridgehome as the visitors piled up 399-6.

The struggling bottom-of-the-table team could not compete with that score and fell for 179, with Nigel Horsfall cleaning up the lower order in taking 5-33.

The championship hopes of Warley took a severe blow at Mytholmroyd to leave them 19 points adrift of top spot as two home players starred in a five-wicket win.

The Paradise Laners were surprisingly restricted to 181-6 by a tight bowling display, best demonstrated by James Cowens' analysis of 18-7-47-4.

In Mytholmroyd's reply, not to be outdone in the distribution of plaudits, Matthew Scholefield reached 100 not out, hitting the winning runs to lift his team into fifth.

All 20 wickets fell at Southowram, where visiting Copley failed to reach a middle-of-the-road 217 target by 49, despite William Rushton's 72.

He eventually fell to Tom Belfield, one of the opening bowler's victims in his match-winning 6-52.

Previously, Daniel Pummell (53no) and Dean Crossley (53) had kept the Rams innings flowing, with their half-centuries proving vital at the finish.

In the First Division, Great Horton Park Chapel remain in second place, 13 points behind Illingworth St Mary's, after a nine-wicket home win against Stones.

Matthew Jordan (6-41) ripped the visitors' innings apart as they lost nine wickets for 39 runs at one stage, and Chris Brown's 52 not out completed the task.

Bowlers were well on top at Clayton, no more so than Sam Wilson, who demolished the Bradshaw batting with a return of 12-6-27-8, the second best analysis in the league this season.

The home team were all out for 120 in 27 overs, with Ricky Beaumont (4-35) and Aaron Buckley (4-66) doing the damage.

Wilson's later efforts, however, brought a 27-run win as Bradshaw capitulated for 93.

At 47-5, Sowerby Bridge were in trouble at Queensbury, chasing the home team's total of 163, but Sam Mellor (43no) and Ashton Richardson staged a recovery that squeezed a two-wicket win.

The efforts of Joseph Clough (5-47) hardly deserving to be a losing one.

Previously Oliver Challis had scored 57 and Jake Dixon had taken 4-51.

Illingworth St Mary's had an eight-wicket win at The Ainleys against Blackley.

While thwarted of a maximum by the visitors' last-wicket pair, they still enjoy a healthy 20-point lead over third-placed Clayton.

Blackley, 45-6 at one stage, were saved from embarrassment by Naeel Asif's 59 but it was hardly enough as Matthew Sewell (60) and Daniel Murfet (59no) combined to see the Saints home.

There was a very tight top-of-the–table clash at Upper Hopton in the Second Division as Luddendenfoot visited, and it was the Foot who came out on top by two wickets to go nine points ahead of their third placed promotion rivals. Hopton posted a respectable 234-9, with No 7 Callum Fern (81) top-scoring.

Foot's top five batsmen all registered some good scores, with Lee Broadbent (65) and Thomas Hosker (53) the pick, so victory looked straightforward.

However, panic set in. Batsmen six to nine managed just 12 runs between them and it was left to No 4 Charlie Holt-Conway (38no) to oversee the scramble over the finishing line.

Mount lead the table by just two points from the Foot, with their latest win coming at Outlane as they chased a target of 265.

The hosts batted first, and the scores of opener Alan Davies (113) and Chris Brook (75) were prominent in a total that was above par.

There was one quirky fact from the innings that Mount's skipper will no doubt have been reminded of by Fakir Laher as his eighth-choice bowler took took 6-18!

However, the skipper does have a man in top batting form in Mahmad Gheewala, and his 123 not out, combined with Mahmad Kayat's 53 not out, ensured a maximum points return as early as the 36th over.

Cullingworth continue to struggle at the bottom of the table, and the visit of Low Moor HT brought no respite.

The Moor batted first and, with Mark Stokes contributing 54 and other batsmen chipping in, a total of 185 was posted, eventually proving 100 too many.

Bradley & Colnebridge encountered little problems on their short trip to Greetland, dismissing the hosts for 119, with Yasir Arfat (7-46) enjoying the track at The Holme.

In reply, an easy win came in the 20th over, with Iqrar Hussain scoring a quick 41 to ensure maximum points.

The surprise package of the season are turning out to be Old Town, who registered their fifth win, propelling them to the dizzy heights of fourth place, their highest for some years.

They now stand just 13 points off a promotion spot as they sent Leymoor crashing, although, batting first the Town's 180 all out did not look too formidable as Dean Dyson took 5-61. However the Golcar team's batting must have been affected either by the 15-mile trip or the 916 feet altitude of Boston Hill as it served up a very poor effort, capitulating to 135 all out with its 'top' six batsmen managing a miserly 33 runs between them – Waqas Ali claiming 5-43.