SKIPTON made the semi-finals of the Yorkshire ABA’s annual inter-district event before bowing out to hosts Huddersfield.

The first game in their group at Almondbury Liberal saw Wakefield, the section favourites, defeat the East Coast by only five points.

The losers played quite well and went on to defeat Skipton by 11 points and have six winners out of ten. Skipton never got going in truth and if it had not been for good wins by Andy Tate, Phil Dowgill and Neil Hargreaves, it could have been worse.

That meant Skipton had to beat bogey team Wakefield to progress and they did so in fine style with seven successes and big wins by Richard Hargreaves and David Scott.

It was a different story in the semi-final at Meltham where they were almost routed by a star-studded Huddersfield team in top form on one of their favourite greens. Only two narrow wins late on by Graeme Reay and Scott saved the team from a whitewash. Huddersfield went on to win the event at Marsh United, comfortably beating Leeds.

Meanwhile, Devon A won the Clarkson Cup at Broughton Road with a 13-point victory over Gargrave A in a lacklustre game where the losers made a good start but fell away badly after single-figure wins by Les Foster and Martin Lee swung the game in Devon’s favour.

The Supplementary Cup final was a much closer affair at Silsden BC where Cross Hills B defeated Whinfield A by one point. Big wins by Christine Hasselby, Idris Wade and Rebecca Seward saw the South Craven team home in a game where the winners were shared. In truth, however, it was only two late winners for Whinfield that made the result closer than it could have been.

Skipton Inter-District Veterans finished off their season with a comfortable victory over a struggling Wakefield team, winning 40-16 overall.

In the home leg at Sutton, the locals had only one loser and were indebted to good wins by Wade and Cliff Taylor, plus a debut win by Tony Langstroth. In the away match at West Bretton, Skipton managed five winners on a rain-soaked playing surface, with league president Alister Keighley leading the way with a 21-8 victory. Overall the team finished a disappointing fifth in the table.

Worth Valley Veterans are back in action at Elland C&BC tomorrow in their penultimate visit when they meet Federation League leaders Halifax A in a must-win game.

Skipton/Worth Valley Juniors also return to action on Saturday at Lund Park when they meet Bradford B (7pm).

There is some doubt about the District Merit at Cross Hills on Sunday due to the usual problems with entries. Contact Mick Demain for further details.