The battle for promotion in Division Two is hotting up as Keighley beat second placed Farsley by 49 runs on Saturday and top-of-the-table Idle suffered a heavy defeat against Undercliffe.

Keighley's win allowed them to close the gap on their two rivals. Third placed Keighley have 114 points, two behind Farsley and ten behind leaders Idle. Undercliffe are also in mix with 111 points.

On Saturday Keighley put in a good all-round team performance to take the lion's share of the points against Farsley.

Batting first the top order batsmen in the Keighley line-up did most of the damage as three men scored more than 40 runs.

Once again Richard Robinson was in the runs for the Lawkholme Lane side. He reached a half-century in 45 balls and finished with a knock of 58 from 55 deliveries. His score included ten boundaries, all of which were fours.

Stuart Ratcliffe and Andrew Waggett also had very good knocks of their own. Ratcliffe came to the crease after opener Matthew Bottomley went for just ten runs. Ratcliffe then put a fine total of 48 before getting out lbw.

Waggett also had a good day, scoring 43 runs. No 6 batsman Max Davidson chipped in with 22 runs as Keighley closed their innings on 211 for seven.

In the Farsley reply two early wickets by Ross Towler had the visitors struggling on just two for two, with opener Harvey Anderson and West Indian Lorenzo Ingham his victims In-form Shabir Rashid helped steady the ship and went on to score 35. However Keighley had a nice spell of bowling when Towler got the wicket of opener Dan Clayton and Davidson got Rashid and then bowled out danger man Ashley Metcalfe to leave Farsley on five for 41.

The visitors were unable to overcome that and despite Chris Henry (38) and Dave Syers (35) scoring some late runs, Farsley were all out for 162. Towler posted figures of three for 56 in his 11 overs. Davidson took two for 24 in ten overs, which included four maidens. Robinson (2-24), Stephen Reape (2-29) and Dale Towler (1-4) got the remaining wickets.

Keighley are at Windhill on Saturday.

Second team

Keighley's second team came up 18 runs short in their loss at Cleckheaton on Saturday.

Cleckheaton batted first and scored 214 for nine in their innings, led by opener Chris Dobson and Edward Walmsley, who top scored with 70 runs each. Walmsley was not out as he helped guide the home side to their total.

Ashley Robinson (2-26) and Andrew Coppen (2-45) were the pick of the Keighley bowlers.

In reply Keighley made a good attempt to reach the Cleckheaton target but came up short, finishing on 196 for nine.

Tim Burnley hit a half-century to lead Keighley, finishing with 51 off 57 balls. Openers Alan Broadley and Liam Dyson also batted well, scoring 43 and 38 runs respectively.

Keighley's love affair with the Crowther Cup competition continues. Last year's beaten finalists saw off Manningham Mills by 13 runs on Sunday to advance to the quarter-finals on Sunday, June 22.

Keighley batted first and set Manningham a target of 224 for eight with Scott Hartley (33), Chris Crook (33) and Jonathan Wilkinson (35) all making significant contributions.

In reply Manningham Mills were all out for 211 with Nadeem Ghalib top scoring with 81 as Ashley Robinson did the damage with the ball for Keighley, taking five for 32.

In the next round Keighley play at Yorkshire League side Barnsley, who won the Crowther Cup in 2006. Keighley seconds are at home to Pudsey Congs this Saturday and play their second league game of the weekend on Sunday at home to Balidon.