Holmfirth drank in the oxygen of safety with a huge success over Clayton West who propped up the Championship table with a demoralising defeat. Top two Delph and Golcar both gained retribution over teams that had beaten them earlier in the season as Rastrick and Armitage Bridge kept their vain hopes of promotion alive. Shelley survived a tough inquisition at Lascelles Hall to lessen their relegation fears.
Mohammed Babar (above) and Ibrar Hussain launched a barrage into sorry Clayton West to deposit them at the foot of the table and move Holmfirth into touching distance of safety. Holmfirth shrugged off a sluggish start after being asked to bat and found themselves compromised at 18-3 with youngster Harry Oxley (3-37) making early inroads. The two Holmfirth men put on a huge 168 run partnership as Hussain (68no) provided the foil for Babar to lash 89 runs. Clayton West’s fragile batting folded alarmingly with almost all batsmen failing to break into double figures. Babar celebrated an faultless all-round performance by savaging the visitors for 5-12 with Australian spinner Kye Zanardi contributing 3-19 as Clayton West succumbed to 57ao.
Unbeaten in five, Rastrick chalked off another victory to move up to third in the table by taking down visiting Meltham who let a good opportunity slip. Meltham had set the table nicely on 136-3 with Mark Askham making 57 and skipper Sam Clegg adding 42. However, both batsmen fell near to one another and Meltham surrendered on 169ao with Rastrick man Safyan Sarwar weighing in with 4-17. In-form Fahid Rehman hit a nicely-rounded fifty but Rastrick struggled for momentum with Ibrar Hussain (4-29) conducting proceedings. A steely partnership developed in the Rastrick lower order with the experienced Matthew Lambert making 27no and Jordan Ghani finished unbeaten on 25ao to see home another win.
Golcar restored their Colne Valley dominance with a home success over out-of-form neighbours Slaithwaite, a team that defeated them earlier in the campaign. Zac Hurley (48) and Steve Whitwam (65) put on 93 for the first wicket and Golcar never looked back in a dominant display. Ryan Adams (above) chipped in with 40 and captain Jack McNamara (33no) oversaw his side to an imposing first innings total of 265-9. Wily all-rounder Dave Berry earned five wickets but they sorely missed the absent Alex Walker as Golcar racked up the runs. Slaithwaite opener Finlay Brook made 52 to get the reply off smoothly and Blair McKenzie scored a magnificent 80 to keep the match in the balance. Once he was dismissed, off the bowling of Hurley, the visitors soon ran out of road and were dismissed for 239.
Former Armitage Bridge man Saquib Matlub carved a beautiful century for Denby against his old team, but his efforts were overshadowed by a brutal innings by Chris Dennison (above) as Bridge romped to victory. Denby put up 235-8 thanks to Matlub’s eloquent 103 from 126 balls and Tom Barrow hit 51 with Connor Parr taking 3-64 for Bridge. The visitors only needed 25 overs to overhaul their target as Dennison clubbed 138 from just 69 balls with 17 fours and 10 sixes peppering the nearby fields. Steve Cawood hit a more conventional 69no to see home victory on 238-2.
Nayyar Abbas (above) had Birkby Rose Hill in a spin after he took 4-20 for Delph in a one-sided thrashing where the visitors slid down to fifth. Adnan Ghani returned to bowling duties with 3-16 as Birkby were steadily dismantled by the leaders, who now look set for an instant return to the Premiership. Abbas Khan made a classy 40 but was the final wicket to fall in an under-par 84ao. Mosun Hussain top scored with 26 as Delph replied with 85-3.
Faisal Usman (above) took 4-31 for Shelley who pushed themselves clear of danger with a win at Lascelles Hall. Opener partner Tiger Payne collected 3-49 as Lascelles Hall were all out for 173 in the final over with middle-order batsman Daniel Marshall making 56. Kirin Green stood firm as Shelley found the going tricky as they neared the target. Green hit an unbeaten 73 under pressure from a Hall bowling attack led by the excellent Marlon Rodriguo (6-57) but Shelley held out to reply with 174-9.
