SOMETHING had to give when Haworth travelled to Cowling for a Mewies Solicitors Craven League Division One clash.

Leaders Cowling hadn’t tasted defeat since Bingley Congs beat them on May 15, notching eight wins when the weather didn’t interfere, while Haworth’s unbeaten run, including seven wins, stretched back even further – to May 1 when Cowling won the reverse clash.

And the return match at Keighley Road was even tighter than anticipated.

Haworth chose to bat and were given a fine start by James Roper (67) and Jamie Rowell (31), but they still needed 22 from No 9 Neil Rollins to reach 180 as Martyn Dalby (4-67) and Naqi Hassan (4-35) got among them.

Cowling, despite 22 from Abid Sharif, looked dead and buried, but pulled a one-wicket victory out of the fire thanks to No 9 Hassan, who scored 50 not out, and last man Hamid Ullah (12no), both of whose scoring shots were sixes, in a remarkable stand of 51.

Rollins took 5-43 in a fine all-round display for Haworth, while Ollie Bishop bagged 3-67.

Cowling (34) thus remain two points ahead of Congs (32) with eight matches left, with Oakworth having drawn level with third-placed Haworth on 27 points.

Oakworth had a walkover against Covid-affected Sutton, who drop into the bottom two as Ingrow notched a vital win at home to Wilsden to go above the south Craven side.

Ingrow, not surprisingly opting to bat, were indebted to wicket-keeper Ben Bright (44) and No 7 Wayne Exley (42no) in their 153-7, and Wilsden were then dismissed for 140 as Shahid Ajmal (4-38, including a hat-trick) and Ben Pursey (3-22) put them on the back foot.

In Division Two, second-placed Denholme were another team to see victory slip from their grasp.

Toby Priestley continued his fine season with 64 in their 141 against Bradford & Bingley III at Sandy Lane, adding 78 for the third wicket with Richard Taylor (26).

They were unfortunate to come up against spinner Lachlan Doidge, however, who took 6-13 as he warmed up for the following day’s Priestley Cup tie against East Bierley.

Denholme collapsed from 103-2 to 141 all out but that score looked plenty enough when Bingley were 31-5, only for numbers six, seven, eight and nine to score 107 between them as they won by three wickets.

Bradley have now drawn level with Denholme on 25 points after an easy win at Silsden.

Disciplined bowling restricted Silsden to 100-9 after the home side won the toss but they did well to get three figures after being 46-6, with Ben Sugden making 25 not out.

Toby Meynell took 4-15 and George Bell 2-31, and Bradley then knocked off the runs inside 18 overs for the loss of two wickets, with Matt Buckmaster (6) very much the minor partner in an opening stand of 67 with Edward Washington (66no).

Long Lee gained a walkover against Eldwick & Gilstead to stay level with Skipton CI on 21 points as they climbed to fourth and fifth, passing Airedale, who lost at home to Gargrave.

The visitors made 192-5, but Airedale could only reply with 130-9, Mathew Cox hitting 56 off 73 balls, including five fours and a six.

Cellar dwellers Cononley could not back up their first win with another, going down by two wickets at home to Barrowford II, but they came close.

Tom Feather (71) dominated Cononley’s innings of 141-7, Lewie Fitton providing support with 26.

Barrowford also had a lop-sided scorecard, but Hamza Jutt (38) and No 9 Ulfat Ali (50no) helped them to victory, achieved in the 27th over.

Riddlesden and Embsay II continue to lead Division Three, with the former having an easy triumph at home to third-placed Glusburn.

The visitors were rolled over for 75 after winning the toss, and it would have been much worse were it not for 22 not out by No 10 Tamoor Munir as Mohammed Zulfiqar (4-32), Mohammed Qadeer (3-20) and Arfan Mahmood (2-11) cut a swathe through their batting.

Riddlesden then cruised to a seven-wicket win halfway through the 13th over, with Saquib Hussain 40 not out, having put on 46 with wicket-keeper Naveed Hussain (21).

A tenser affair was at Royd Hill, where bottom club Sutton II made 143-7 after winning the toss against Oakworth II in a match that featured 11 juniors, six of whom were representing Oakworth.

James Wiggan was in fine form with 81, while Joshua Whiteoak scored 25, Oakworth using eight bowlers, the most successful of which was the eighth, Ellis Marshall, with 2-12.

Charlie Raby (47) and Matty Lee (15) gave Oakworth a good start but wickets then tumbled and it needed 24 from No 8 Akeel Umar to help the visitors to a two-wicket win in the 35th over as Greg Riddiough took 3-10 and Wiggan 2-12.

Another tight contest came at West Lane, where Haworth II made 149 after choosing to bat at home to Cowling II.

Tom Clifford-Loynes steadied the ship with 48 not out after the hosts were 39-4, adding 57 for the fifth wicket with Tom Rowell (24).

Junaid Gullnawaz (4-22), Qamar Zaman (2-22), after taking his pads off, and Aqib Chatta (2-38) got among the wickets, but Cowling were 90-3 before triumphing by two wickets in the 29th over.

John Cleaver made 44 and Zaman 38 to help defy under-14 prospect Rowell (6-60).

Second-from-bottom Denholme II’s defeat at leaders Embsay II was something of a hard-luck story as they only went down by six runs after restricting the visitors to 185 as under-16 Zac Wheatley took 5-44.

Loanees Liaqat Ali (22) and Mudassar Riaz (25) played their part, and Denholme were sitting pretty at 153-4, Josh Wheatley (28), Richard Jones (29) and Chris Dennison (32) also having chipped in.

Katie Charlton also did her bit with 14 but five wickets fell for 17, leaving plucky Denholme on 179-9 but without any points.

In Division Four, Long Lee II went top after being granted a walkover by Oakworth III as leaders Gargrave II fell to a shock five-wicket defeat at home to Airedale II.

Gargrave could only make 119 first up as James Crossley (3-24), Saqib Javaid (2-8), loanee Subhaan Ahmed (2-26) and Mohammed Ali Raja (2-44) got among them.

Crossley then scored 39 and Javaid 39 not out as Airedale won in the 38th over.

That gave Ingrow II the chance to go into the top two but they fluffed their lines after winning the toss at Skipton CI II.

The Keighley side could only score 83 after winning the toss, and 56 of those came from Graham Rankin (34) and Rick Loftus (22), who put on 51 for the fifth wicket.

From a high-water mark of 76-4, however, their last six wickets could only add a further seven runs and CI won by six wickets, despite Abid Hussain taking 3-27.

Keighley III were granted a walkover by Covid-afflicted Glusburn II, while the match between Bradley II and Bingley Congs III could be played at a later date for the same reason.