KEIGHLEY Cricket Club will be glad to see the back of this season.

Aiming for promotion from Division Two of the Bradford Premier League after being relegated last term, they have fallen well short, and on an awful run of form, they are currently without a win since July 22.

Fortunately, they can no longer be mathematically relegated, but they will be desperate to gain a surprise win at title-chasing Bowling Old Lane on the final day this Saturday.

The weekend just gone brought yet more misery for Keighley, as a slightly-weakened team were thumped by seven wickets away to fourth-placed Hopton Mills.

With Zahir Shah batting nicely, Keighley looked to have laid a solid foundation at 60-1.

But when Azeem Hussain (16) was dismissed, the away side fell apart, losing their last nine wickets for just 48, to be all out for 108.

That was hard luck on No.3 Shah, who made nearly half of his side’s runs by scoring 51.

Having reduced Hopton to 63-3, Keighley looked to be in with half a chance of victory, but an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 46 saw the home side with ease.

Keighley currently sit seventh in the 12-team table, but will finish eighth if they lose to Old Lane and Northowram Fields beat relegation battling Liversedge on the final day.

It was a much tighter affair for Keighley’s seconds at home to their Hopton Mills counterparts in Reserves Division Two.

Three wickets apiece for Oscar Webster and Noah Thirkill saw Mills dismissed for 166.

Captain Dillon Birkett and Stephen Butterfield both hit 35 apiece in the reply, as Keighley recovered superbly from 57-6.

Keighley still looked out of it on 146-9, but an unbroken last-wicket partnership of 18 got them agonisingly close, as they lost by two runs having run out of overs.

That leaves them seventh, with a mid-table finish guaranteed ahead of their final game at home to promotion-chasing Birstall.