Bradford League: Methley, Townville and Ossett enjoy Premier wins

Jason Marshall was in fine form again as Methley comfortably held onto their 100 per cent winning record in the Premier Division of the Gordon Rigg Bradford League with a five-wicket success against Bankfoot.
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Opener Marshall hit his second successive century as early pacesetters Methley collected a maximum 20 points from their fourth league win of the campaign.

He cracked 14 fours and two sixes and finished not out on 100 to lead his side home past their opponents’ 201.

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Alex Cree (53) joined Marshall in an opening stand of 111 which gave Methley the perfect platform to complete their victory with more than 12 overs to spare.

Alex Cree hit 53 as he joined Jason Marshall for an opening stand of 111 to send Methley on the way to victory in their latest Bradford League game.Alex Cree hit 53 as he joined Jason Marshall for an opening stand of 111 to send Methley on the way to victory in their latest Bradford League game.
Alex Cree hit 53 as he joined Jason Marshall for an opening stand of 111 to send Methley on the way to victory in their latest Bradford League game.

Bankfoot had earlier looked well placed to post a big score as they reached 97-2 and 157-3, but they were pegged back by a bowler introduced as the seventh member of Methley’s attack.

Cameron Sharp only bowled 6.2 overs, but came away with the excellent figures of 5-26 while Ben Waite took 2-31 and James Wainman 2-35.

An unbeaten 60 from just 64 balls by James Glynn enabled Townville to recover from 78-5 to inflict a fourth defeat of the season on Hanging Heaton in their Premier Division game.

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Glynn hit seven fours and two sixes after coming in at number seven to play his vital knock. He received support from Tom Brook (32) in a stand of 86 for the sixth wicket that effectively ended any hope the home side had of defending their score of 175 and registering their first win.

Harry Warwick earlier hit 23, but Townville’s top order found it tough going.

Hanging Heaton had also found it hard after being put in. Josh Wheatley did hit 45 and Callum Bethel contributed 39, but only two other batsmen scraped into double figures as Conor Harvey (4-48) and Jack Hughes (3-49) led the Townville attack well. Ritchie Bresnan also took two early wickets.

After a difficult start to the season last year’s runners-up Townville have now moved up to fifth place while Methley lead the way, 10 points clear of New Farnley as the only side to have won all four of their matches.

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Ossett’s encouraging start to life in the Premier Division continued as they recorded a 92-run win over Bradford & Bingley in the Gordon Rigg Bradford League.

Skipper Nick Connolly (51) and Matty Race (57) helped them to set a challenging target as they posted a 235 total.

Opening bowlers Yasir Abbas (3-36) and Jack Hartley (3-63) enjoyed the most success for the visitors.

Bradford & Bingley struggled in reply with only skipper Ed Brown (35) making an impression as Marcus Walmsley (4-34) helped Ossett wrap up their third win from their first four matches. James Wade also chipped in with 2-36.

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Carlton are just one point behind Jer Lane at the top of Division One after taking the last nine Undercliffe wickets for 39 runs to pull off an 18-run win.

Previously unbeaten Undercliffe had been favourites to chase down Carlton’s 208-7 when Byron Boshoff (89) and Danish Hussain (49) added 134 for the second wicket, but their former all-rounder Farrouk Alam (4-41) and Kershaski John Lewis (4-44) had other ideas as they turned the game round.

Daniel Ford (51), Alam (38) and Steve Cooper (33) were the main contributors for Carlton who have made a markedly different start to last year. They have now won all four games while in 2021 they lost their first seven.

At the other end of the table, Wrenthorpe showed signs of improvement, but lost by eight wickets to Baildon.

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Kevin McDermott (89) and Jonny Reynolds (59no) shared 133 for the second wicket as Baildon powered past the bottom team’s 202-9.

Wrenthorpe did put up a better show with the bat as they played out their 50 overs with Adal Islam hitting nine fours and a six in a top scoring knock of 71 and support coming from Sayed Salman (33no) and Sam Johnson (25).

East Ardsley are second from bottom after losing by seven wickets to neighbours Morley who had not previously won this season.

Opener Jack Rowett’s unbeaten 74 guided Morley home after Ardsley had been restricted to 160-8 with Haseen Bashir (44) top scoring.

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New signing Michael Carroll (6-38) and Sam Noden (3-36) bowled out Old Lane for 78 as Sandal recorded a 60-run win to maintain their early season challenge in Division Two.

They are up to second spot with three wins and one loss so far, but their victory hopes did not look too promising when they were bowled out for 138.

However, a battling 32 from skipper Kristian Shuttleworth proved crucial, along with Brandon Hewlett’s 26.

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Wakefield St Michael’s were skittled for 72 as they lost their Division Two match by 122 runs to Lightcliffe.

Opening bowler Jonathan Whiteoak took 5-39 to lead the way for the early season table toppers with only Myles Wood (28) offering much in the way of resistance.

Lightcliffe made 194-9 when they batted first as Lee Gelderd claimed 3-43 and there were two wickets each for Conor Andrews, Joseph Finnigan and Syed Shah Bukhari.

After winning their first two matches following promotion to Division Two, Great Preston have now lost twice.

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Despite a decent batting effort they went down by five wickets to Hunslet Nelson.

Sam Thewlis (58no) and Andy McIntosh (40) led the way as Great Preston’s 223 total was chased down.

James Conlon (50), Ian Newton (46) and Ben Broxup (33) gave Preston a good start as they reached 120-2, but the middle order could not cash in with only Clayton Henderson (27no) able to make any kind of impact in the rest of the innings.

Altofts went down by four wickets to second-placed Liversedge in Division Three.

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Batting first, they were all out for 126 with Andrew Wood (43) top scoring and Craig Wood hitting a brisk 25 at the top of the order. In reply, Liversedge lost six wickets before reaching their target despite the efforts of Wood (3-22) and Patrick Hinchliffe (3-35).