Promotion and relegation issues were settled on Saturday as the weather again took control.

In the First Division, Long are relegated and Bingley Congs will be taking their place after gaining promotion from the Second Division. Cowling II are going down from Division Three.

In the First Division it is now a two horse race for the title between Barrowford and Embsay. Third placed Oakworth can still have a say as they play the Embsay in the penultimate game and will not be making life easy for anyone in the clossing stages of the season.

Should the top two go through to the last hurdle undefeated they will slug it out for the crown at Shires Lane.

Barrowford entertained Cullingworth and had opener Ajmal Choudry as the backbone of their innings of 222. He made 86 and was 7th out with the score at 212, other useful contributions coming from Kevin Lyons and Liam Roberts. David Robinson finished with 6-51 off 12.2 overs. The visitors were always on the back foot against a lively attack, and the innings petered out at 162-6. Adie Powis making 53no, Chris Welch 32 and Dave Hall 31.

Embsay entertained Bradley who went first at Shires Lane, and despite missing their leading batters made a decent fist of their effort. James Wiggan 70 and James Heseltine 61 put on 144 for the second wicket, and the score reached 178-4 at the end of their overs. Dan Stephens being the pick of the bowlers with 3-65. The homesters lost a wicket with the score on 16, and then proceeded to hit the ball to all parts of the ground. Skipper Duncan Ward scored a splendid 103no, and Duncan Bullough 55no to put on an undefeated 164 for the second wicket. The winning runs coming in the 34th overs.

There was another centurion at Cure Hill as Oakworth skipper, Jon Crossley, scored a magnificent 259-5 against Sutton. Michael Scarborough chipping in with 69. The visitors then meander to 130-3 in reply, Paul Williams scoring 51 before retiring hurt.

The mammoth score helps the winners back into third spot on run rate.

Dropping down a slot are Cowling who enjoyed a 20 run win at home to Haworth WE. Gareth Frankland 69 and Simon Spencer 47 helped the homesters to 189 as Steve Potts and Jason Bilbrough took 4 wickets apiece. For the Bronte side John Robinson made 41, Joe Nash 38 and Graham Ellis 30 as they reached 169-8 in reply.

IN a 35 over per side game Thornton had a handy win at home to Foulridge who are nervously looking over their shoulder to see where Sutton are. Richard Craddock scored 44 as the Booth Bridge Lane side made 152-7, with Ryan Duerden taking 3-37 and Tom Stephenson 3-37. The Noyna side managed 115 in reply with Chris Gildea making 35 as Brian Laycock claimed 3-32.

Long Lee's demise to the Second Division was confirmed at Haworth. Put in on a wet wicket the Bronte side did well to get to 146. Jamie Rowell 42 and Richard Powell 37 were the chief scorers as Neil Kennedy claimed 6-32. Derek Bright then took 6-17 in 33 balls to send the visitors packing for a modest 54.

Bingley Congs confirmed promotion when they saw off Skipton CI at Beckfoot in a low scoring game. Matt Carr 4-11, John Drake 3-9 and Nick Williamson 3-36 had the leaders back in the hut for 94. However it was enough as the visitors collapsed to 48 all out with only Sean Williamson reaching double figures. Tom Greenbank 4-19, Andy Copping 3-4 and Neil Copping 2-24 doing the damage.

Glusburn run of poor form continues as they lost again, this time to Ingrow, who continue to battle to avoid relegation. The Keighley side made 164 with Adie Parker scoring 50 as Omar Khatab took 4-13. The latter then battled hard to take his side to the points by making 75, unfortunately for him his colleagues could join and they fell 17 short of their target, with A Mahmood 5-41 and N Khan 3-70 doing the damage.

Fortunately for Glusburn their closest rivals, Chatburn and Skipton CI also lost.

Chatburn could only muster 9 men on their travels to Haworth Road and batting first were restricted to 125-7 in the overs with Steve Proctor 34 and Stuart Draycott 33 being the main contributors as Andy Gudgeon spun his way to 4-31. The Shipley lost a wicket at 7 then sauntered to a fine 9-wicket victory, which just about secures their position for next season. Josh Crookes making a super 73no.

Cononley travelled to fellow strugglers Wilsden and gave themselves hope of avoiding relegation, winning by 35 runs. The visitors' Colin Stead being the man of the match with 46 and 6-22. There was no play at Airedale or Pendle Forest.

Sandy Lane have a grasp on the Pheonix Trophies Third Division title after easily over coming 8 man Cowling II by 8 wickets at Greenwood Park - a result that confirms the visitors to life in the Fourth Division next season.

Embsay II put a bid dint in Crossflat ts chances of the title by completing the double over them. The Shires Laners lost 2 quick wickets before Brian Hodgson 94 and Jonathan Coward 60no put on 114 for the 4th wicket and the innings closed on 167-5 as Q Ayub finished with 4-61 off 14 overs. In the reply Nas Hussain hit a rich vein of form to take 7-39 in 21 overs, which helped the homeside back to the hut for 104. Ayub was the top scorer with 18

Barrowford II move three points closer to Crossflatts after a good victory down at Carleton. The Bull Holme side posted 208-8 with David Wilkinson making 43 and M Caton 40. The Ramper Park side were dismissed for 138 in reply with Gareth Wooler top scoring with 65. This leaves them 6 points away from safety and looking favourites to accompany Cowling II in relegation.

Oakworth II are the side immediately above Carleton and they must find some form on the run in after they narrowly lost at Gargrave. On a pudding they restricted the homesters to 99 with Paul McCullough taking 5-16 as Steve Longley top scored with 31. Then the evergreens, Ray Jones, 5-14, and Chris Flood, 5-47, dismissed the Cure Hill side for 91, with Steve Hartley scoring 28 and Rob Hollingsworth 22.

There was no play at Riddlesden, which helped Ingrow St John's cause for staying up.

Haworth Road look set to move up a division as they took a point in an abandoned match at Bradley.

Glusburn nipped back into second spot after they managed to beat the weather and Ingrow by 89 runs at Hainworth. Nick Hoyle took 6-64 for the losers and Bryan Hollis 4-39 and Richard Smith 4-31 did the business for the winners.

Skipton CI and Pendle Forest who were in joint second spot both lost out to the weather, and Long Lee were unable to raise a side which gifts three points to Haworth.

Up at Cullingworth, visitors Wilsden rattled up 231-5 in their overs with John Greenwood scoring a superb 119no. The homesters put up a fight before going down by 19 runs with George Fletcher leading the way with 57no

Keighley TC were not in action but saw their lead only cut by one point, as Crossflatts were unable to play over at Foulridge in the Fifth Division.

Chatburn were unable to take advantage as they slipped up at home to Pendle Forest III and lost by the narrowest of margins, just 3 runs. The Fence side made 100 as Geoff Lambert took 5-38 and Steve McFadden scored 25. In the Ribblesdale sides reply E Melling took 4-24, Graham Dagg 4-32 and veteran Roland Lyons 2-30 to set up the welcome victory.

Gargrave had the stars up at Denholme and came away victorious by 79 runs. The visitors made 152 with M Saleem scoring 71. Robert Storr 7-32 and S Moon 3-31 had the homesters back in the pavilion for 73

Sandy Lane's Paul Sutcliffe followed up his whirlwind 121 of last week, with a fine piece of bowling this week. He finished with 9-52 as Cononley were dismissed for 136 in reply to Lane s 166. C Gibson made 85 for the winners as Kendal Gott, 40, John Tatham 36 and Tim Holloway 3-31 battled gamely for the losers.

There was no play at Sutton.