OAKWORTH have lost their first game of the season in Division One of the Craven League.

They were at Barrowford and sent the home team in, probably hoping that the wicket might get easier after tea.

The hosts made 170, but, despite 25 apiece from teenagers Bradley Powell and Lucas Keslinke, Oakworth’s reply was only 107 as they slipped to third in the table, five points behind leaders Bingley Congs.

Overtaking Oakworth in second are Cowling, who handed Embsay their first setback of the campaign.

Visitors Cowling were put in and made 106-9, which was less than seemed likely after openers Wasim Hussain (21) and Ajmal Choudhry (11) had put on 33 for the first wicket.

However, it proved enough as Embsay were toppled for 90, with Choudhry taking 4-22 and Jalal Khan 3-11.

Runs were generally hard to come by, and Haworth did better than most in making 155 at home to Hepworth & Idle after being sent in.

Dan Trowers (52) and James Roper (28) added 76 for the third wicket, and they were backed up by Jacob Stephens (34) and No.9 George Ingham (29).

Only three visiting batsmen then made double figures in their 112, with all four Haworth bowlers enjoying themselves, Jamie Rowell returning 3-24, Ollie Bishop 3-26, Damian Rowell 2-28 and Jacob Hudson 2-30.

Low scores made for many tight finishes, and one came at Sutton, who sent Ingrow in and dismissed them for 89, which would have been much worse were it not for No.3 Joe Hoyle scoring 50, which included six fours.

No.8 Tobias Hartley (16) also helped Ingrow recover from 21-6 as Richard Walker (4-10), James McDonald (2-12) and George Elrick (2-33) kept Sutton on top.

Sutton were in trouble themselves at 56-7, despite 32 from opener Walker, but a partnership of 30 between under-15 Greg Riddiough (22no) and McDonald (16) helped them get over the line by one wicket, despite Ben Pursey’s 3-37 and Hartley’s 4-30.

Gargrave and Denholme, who are first and second, are the only unbeaten teams in Division Two, and the latter posted one of the best scores of the day in making 211-7 after opting to bat at home to Bingley Congs II.

Toby Priestley continued his rich vein of form with 78, and he was well supported by Richard Taylor (39), Adam Taylor (32) and Callum Gerrard (20), with Priestley and Adam Taylor adding 64 for the second wicket.

Only two of the Congs’ second strings made double figures in their reply of 65, with Priestley completing another fine game with 3-6, Ryan Clark bagging 3-17 and Richard Taylor 2-16.

A low-scoring thriller came at Silsden, who sent Cononley in and bowled them out for 72, with only No.6 David Turner (16) making double figures as Mohsan Gulbar (3-10), Will Pullen (3-19) and Joe Sugden (2-18) held sway.

Silsden started well via Jack Lister (24) and skipper Jack Roberts (12) but needed a last-wicket stand of nine between Tom Snowden (9no) and Sugden (4no) to get over the line.

The best bowler for Cononley, who included their three Afghan teenagers, was Tom Feather (6-18), with Ikram Daulatzia (2-13) almost making it a memorable day for the trio of south Asian debutants.

Bradley faced Bradford & Bingley III at Sandy Lane, and the home side were dismissed for 62, with Donnacha Washington (3-8) and Toby Meynell (3-9) among the wickets again, Tom Eaglesfield taking 2-0.

However, Bradley were then castled for just 38, with George Bell (27no) the stand-out at No.8 in an innings that was 8-7 at one stage and contained six ducks.

Riddlesden, one of two unbeaten sides in Division Three alongside Embsay II, are second after a convincing win at Cowling II.

Mohammed Qadeer was rewarded for batting through the Riddlesden innings of 166-6, hitting seven fours in his 117-ball 56 not out.

Wicket-keeper Zahid Abbas made 36 and Mohammed Gulnawaz 25, with Qadeer and Gulnawaz sharing a sixth-wicket stand of 77 as Aqib Chatta (3-22) tried to make life difficult.

Only Majid Iqbal (12) and John Cleaver (17) then troubled the scorers to any degree in Cowling’s reply of 67 as Mohammed Zulfiqar took 4-13, Arfan Mahmood 2-11 and Jamal Hussain 2-28.

Glusburn are equal fourth after a 35-run victory at Thornton-in-Craven that owed much to Irfan Khaliq’s 45 at No.10 in the visitors’ 106.

Wicket-keeper James Tillotson (15) and No.11 Tamoor Munir (13no) were the only other players to reach double figures in the innings, which was in great peril at 32-8, with Liam Walter (4-10), Adam Holden (2-11) and Mark Laycock (2-31) the destroyers in chief.

Laycock then scored 43 not out in the home side’s 71 as they fell well short.

Oakworth II are also on 11 points but missed a chance to go joint second by losing at home to leaders Embsay II.

Ellis Marshall (33), skipper Michael Scarborough (18) and Joshua Kiteley (13) did best with the bat for Oakworth in their 107-9, but Embsay made light of that by winning by seven wickets in the 31st over.

Unluckiest batsman of the day was probably Haworth II’s wicket-keeper Paul Stephens, who was dismissed for 98 in their 185-5 at Wilsden II.

Danny Spencer backed him up well with 49, and Wilsden could only reply with 130 as Anthony Jozefek (4-21) and Darren Ellerton (3-45) cashed in.

Sutton could not raise a side against Hepworth & Idle II and conceded.

Hepworth & Idle’s third team were at Division Four leaders Ingrow II and came off second best.

The home side batted after winning the toss and made 163, led by Adrian Weatherall (42), Lee Rooke (31) and wicket-keeper Nasser Hussain (29).

The third teamers could only reply with 126-8, with Ollie Stell taking 3-25, Nick Hoyle 2-29 and Weatherall 2-32.

Long Lee II are third after defeating eight-man Bradley II, dismissing them for 62, with Ashley Bonser taking 4-16 and Daniel Kernan 3-27.

The visitors then scored 66-3, with Tom Butterfield making 35, but Bradley deserved praise just for fulfilling the fixture.

Top scorers of the day were second-placed Gargrave II, who hit 296 at Glusburn II, veteran Bryan Hollis taking 3-50 and Brett Parkin and Qasim Dar both 2-47.

Ten-man Glusburn’s reply ended at 127, with captain Mark Pickles scoring a defiant 53 not out and Dar 26.

Keighley III have won their first match of the season, and did it in style against Oakworth III at Haworth West End.

Ten-man Oakworth were sent in and could only score 57, with skipper Keith Gilert top-scoring with 17 and Subhaan Ahmed making 10.

The first six Keighley bowlers all took one wicket, leaving the limelight to club chairman Paul Barker, who took 2-0 in just five balls.

Nadeem Munawar (35no) and Abid Hussain (22no) then took Keighley to a nine-wicket victory off the last ball of the 12th over after the early loss of Zahid Bashir.