THREE League Cup finals brought the Saturday bowls fixtures to an end for this year in the Worth Valley League at Broughton Road where the rain held off for the main part of a long day.

The green, despite showing slight wear and tear after a long season, still ran very well and caught many players out on its difficult marks.

The First Division final saw Cross Roads, the league winners, take on relegated Silsden Playing Fields but the start of 74 points proved too much for the past winners.

They set off well as wins by Trevor Hargreaves, to two, and Peter Walsh to nine gave them a chance before the experienced Evelyn Pritty and Sheila Cunningham snatched surprise wins to cause a minor upset, while John Callanan secured the match in the last game for the Cobbydalers to win by over 40 points.

In the Second Division final, Whins Wood A received 21 points start from Bingley A but, despite good efforts by John Armitage and Barbara Hayhurst for the losers, fine wins by Peter Spragg, Stefan Kit and the ‘Barnes Boys’ – Harry, Andrew and Colin – put the issue well beyond doubt as the Whins Wood team won by over 40 points for a deserved victory to take the Supplementary Cup.

In the Third Division final for the Chairman’s Cup, Keighley BC met Bradshaw B and received 37 start. This was rapidly pulled back by their opponents but a good win, 21-6, by Nigel Hall steadied the boat and the team finally won by over 30 points as Lennie Buxton Junior, Paul McHale and Peter Wormald recorded further successes.

League president Trevor Hargreaves was on hand to present the prizes.

Barry Turnbull of Ilkley brought more success to his home town of Silsden when he won the Aire-Wharfe Champion of Champions event at Idle, beating Steve Calvert of Rawdon Park 21-15. Losing in the semi-finals was Steve Griffiths of Denholme.

After only one season in the top flight of the Bradford League, Cononley have been relegated, albeit it by a narrow margin. The team have not performed well enough, especially on their home patch which has not run as quickly as hoped, mainly due to the wet season coming to an end.

Latest positions in the three Skipton Floodlight Leagues sees leaders in Colne Cricket, Whinfield A and Cross Hills. The season ends on October 24.

As the season comes to a close, bowlers in local parks face concerns about rising costs and possible green closures after 2020. This will be the subject of an important discussion in Baildon next week when all local teams should attend.

The Ladies Team Championship on Sunday, originally scheduled for Heckmondwike, has been re-arranged for Cleckheaton Sports, commencing at 10am. Silsden Ladies remain our local hopes but face a difficult task.