Eddie Wilson was cruelly denied a standout century for Honley, however it didn’t deny them victory in their crunch fixture at home to Kirkburton. Scholes blasted themselves to a second win to snub Thongsbridge whilst Broad Oak and Hoylandswaine also stayed in the 100% club. Armitage Bridge and Delph find the early going tough as they both fell to defeats.
Honley’s Eddie Wilson (main pic) helped his team to maximum points from the opening two matches with a marvellously brisk innings to give them an edge against Kirkburton. The former Broad Oak, Golcar and Harrogate man was introduced at 58-3 and after they soon lost Timmy Taylor to make it 64-4, Honley had work to do. His excellent innings, supported readily by the always-improving Charlie Jakeman (38), concluded frustratingly on 99 after he was run out in the final over. By then, the hosts had compiled a sturdy 205-5 which Kirkburton fell short of. In fact, the visitors were well ahead of the asking rate, but will reflect on a moment when they slipped from 108-2 to 122-6 that pivoted control Honley’s way. Aaron Joby (40) and Sam Wigglesworth (51) battled gamely, but an impressive home debut by Honley’s Jeremy Hackett (3-45) backed up with two each for Lewis Kenworthy and Timmy Taylor secured an important victory as ‘Burton were dismissed for 177 after 46 overs.
Hoylandswaine batted themselves out of a predicament at home to Barkisland thanks to some lusty hitting from new batsman-wicketkeeper Jack Seddon. The former Buttershaw St Pauls and Gomersal man slammed 110 in 73 balls to build on Chris Holliday’s 71 after Max Didgiunaitis (4-53) had landed an early blow. Barkisland found Swaine’s 248ao total a tough ask, although Luke Bridges hit a handy 51. Muhammad Azharullah (above) nailed his second consecutive five-wicket haul to see off the visitors who finished 161ao.
Nico Georgiou-Nicola (above) scored his debut first team ton to leave Thongsbridge winless after two matches. The Scholes opener compiled a fine 107no from 123 balls to help his side chase down the visitors’ total of 223ao. Ben Raven-Hill hit 46 on his first appearance of the season and their Indian overseas, Pragam Sharma added a fluent 75 in an innings that sagged after showing early promise. Wasim Javed followed up three last week with three more wickets here to snag Thongsbridge before Nico’s stellar turn took the game away. Brad Birkhead (46) offered useful support as Scholes responded with 226-2 after 43 overs.
Dogged experience trumped youthful experience at Kaye Lane where Almondbury Wesleyans celebrated their first Premiership win after promotion last term, over Xander Selby’s promising young Delph team. The visiting skipper was fairly content with a fairly par-looking 210-9 where Wesleyans squandered a solid start laid on by Tom Binns (44) and the evergreen Paul Winrow (42) and was crucially boosted late on by the heavy hitting from Dan Payne (40). Selby (5-46) revelled in his return from holiday but the hosts’, Daniel Moorhouse (4-39) turned things on its head by snaring a catch at deep square leg to remove spearhead Mosun Hussain (35). The left-arm spinner (above) then went on to take 4-39 as Delph struggled under renewed pressure and were eventually dismissed just 8 runs short of a precious point on 150.
A punishing display of bowling by Golcar ripped through Shepley at Marsh Lane to leave both sides with a win and a defeat each. Jack McNamara’s tenacious 38 was the most Golcar scored in a first innings dominated by Shepley slow bowlers Josh Hoyle (4-32) and Oliver Davidson (3-55). However, Golcar’s 142ao was more than enough as it turned out when Will Hinchliffe took four, and McNamara (above) weighed in with two wickets as the hosts were bowled out themselves for 110.
James Stansfield’s four wickets sent Armitage Bridge packing from Moorlands as the Premiership runners-up emphatically opened their 2022 account. Stansfield (4-33, above) and Darrell Sykes (3-45) provided the undoing as the visitors were all out for 101 after 30 overs. Alec Jakeman (24) had a fruitful debut for Bridge and Moorlands’ new opening batsman, Gharib Nawaz (33) looked like he was back to the form that gave him a fearsome reputation at Hoylandswaine which helped the hosts start impeccably. Shoukat Ali hammered a 33-ball half-century during this routine victory as Moorlands cantered home by seven wickets.
Skelmanthorpe were given a rude awakening in their first home Premiership match for five years by Broad Oak. Daniel Taylor (4-48) matched his tally from the opening day with another impressive bowling display as Oak efficiently stymied Skelmanthorpe’s power batsmen. Adam Rammell (43no) built on Jack Newby’s earlier 44 but they needed more than 195-8 to seriously test an Oak side that had started the season strongly. Two of the visitors’ most experienced batters provided the bedrock to the reply with opener Sean Mee (58) and Dom Finn (62no) sharing a century stand to put them in command. New boy Fletcher Coutts added a gloss finish for Oak as they overtook Skelmanthorpe’s total in relative comfort with 198-3.
