Simon Kelly (pictured above) snubbed Delph & Dobcross with a brilliant batting performance as they overhauled an imposing first innings total to harm Delph’s survival hopes. Defeated Skelmanthorpe and Armitage Bridge also had their concerns deepened by fourth bottom Moorlands bouncing back with a success over Golcar.
Simon Kelly blasted a brilliant 89 to leave steadily improving Delph down in the dumps at Far End Lane in a frantic contest which saw several superb batting displays. Mosun Hussain cracked his third century of the season as Delph compiled their best ever score away at Honley. Hussain made 111 from 146 balls and fellow opener Nathan Jones scored a season’s best 69 as the pair put on 167 for the first wicket. Nayyar Abbas hammered a quick 57 as Delph racked up 263-5 on a day to forget for bowlers. However Honley shrugged off the loss of Lewis Evans as Kelly and Timmy Taylor first put on 69 runs for the second wicket and then Jeremy Hackett (29) helped them put on 72 runs for the second wicket. The match was finely poised when Honley talisman Kelly fell for LBW soon after but the returning Eddie Wilson was let loose with a quick 45no from 28 balls to seal Honley’s remarkable win with seven overs left.
Moorlands eased their league worries with a high-scoring success over Golcar. Shoukat Ali (75, pictured above) and Michael McEwan (68) set up their 279-7 first innings total with a 141-run partnership for the second wicket with several others chipping in to boost the score. Jake Lockwood took 3-55 with a rare outing with the ball and even with his second innings 51, Golcar were never really in the hunt. Jack McNamara made a stubborn half-century - his fourth of the season - but Moorlands bowler Alex Rowden (4-58) made sure of victory as the visitors were dismissed for 212.
Dan Moorhouse (pictured above) made it a perfect weekend for Almondbury Wesleyans by following up their win over Moorlands with an equally remarkable success over Scholes who slipped to third place. The former Armitage Bridge spin bowler took 5-25 and along with Ash Smith (2-33) and Ben Shufflebotham (2-16) they stunned title hopefuls Scholes as they surrendered to 79ao. Yassar Imtiaz took his ninth wicket of the weekend to create unease amongst the visitors but they were well worth their value in the end as they responded with 80-6.
Skelmanthorpe fell to their fifth straight league loss as the gap between them and safety widened to six points. Their derby defeat away at Shepley wasn’t helped by their frittering away of a decent start as Shepley stalwart Danny Glover (5-41, pictured above) sent them crashing from 62-2 to 143ao. Opening batsmen Dan Wood (76no) and Tom Chadwick (45no) saw home victory as Shepley responded with 145 without loss.
Hoylandswaine’s Furqan Shafiq (pictured above) hit a precise century to sidestep Thongsbridge at Haigh Lane. The former Lancashire opener scored 100 from 11 balls with Sarjinder Pal Singh (41), Faisal Irfan (56) and Barrie Frankland (45no) all making use of Shafiq’s solid innings to compile a lofty 298-9 target. Rory France (49) squandered a half-century and Pragam Sharma added 33 to his four wickets from the first innings but Thongsbridge were well short on 190ao thanks to Junaid Khan’s 3-62 and Max Morley’s 4-38.
Cameron Van Rensburg (pictured above) gave Armitage Bridge a torrid time to consign the Sykes Cup semi-finalists to more league misery. Bridge were bowled out for 151 despite Jaycub Curtling’s defiant 48no with spinner Van Rensburg picking up 4-33. George Hampshire (44), Ben Heritage (32), Luke Bridges (38no) and Harry Finch (33no) all hit significant scores as Barkisland waltzed to a win on 154-3.
Kirkburton’s match at Broad Oak was abandoned after five overs after the umpires deemed the wicket unsafe with the home side on 21-1. With the groundsman unavailable, another wicket couldn’t be prepared in time.
