Skipton'S overseas player Rob Dilger has been the subject of the match reports in recent weeks for his explosive batting performances, but this week he came up trumps with the ball by landing his first five-wicket haul of the season as the Sandylands men beat Olicanian with something to spare.

In doing so they retained their six-point lead at the top of Division C and extended their lead over third-placed Colton to 12 points.

The dismissals of the two openers Long and Murray inside the first ten overs, both by Dilger, put the Sandylands men firmly in the driving seat, although stubborn resistance from Veitch and Hudson materialised into a partnership of 51 to claw the visitors back to 71-2, when Aussie Veitch was removed thanks to a running catch by Chris Hope off Dilger's bowling.

This led to the demise of Olicanian's batting. Next to go was Hall for a golden duck, as the umpire confidently raised his finger for a plum lbw decision, which left Dilger on a hat trick ball at the end of the 21st over.

Unfortunately, this was not to be and he came off for a rest after taking 4-24 off 12 overs.

This brought Andrew Fergie into the attack and he removed the middle order to finish a very tidy spell of bowling with 4-30 off 10 overs.

Dilger's breather brought Hope into the spotlight and he claimed the seventh wicket of the day by removing the anchor man Hudson for 27, but as the tail-enders arrived, Dilger returned to claim his first five-wicket haul.

Sure enough, on the last ball of his first over he bowled last man, Hughes, for a duck to finish with 5-25 from 13 overs, including six maidens.

The avalanche of wickets reduced the visitors to 110 all out from just 37 overs, thereby donating the remaining 13 to Skipton.

The steady start from Skipton openers Kevin Owens and Steve Carling soon changed into a full-blooded attack.

From scoring only seven off the first five overs, the Skiptonians soon got into their stride and posted a partnership of 68 for the first wicket before Carling was dismissed for 30.

The setback did not deter Owens and he continued to play with the confidence of a man in form. The main threat to the table-toppers was Veitch, who was forced to retire from bowling due to injury after just two overs.

This brought House into the attack and he claimed the wicket of Carling, but never bowled enough balls in the right place to seriously threaten the batsmen, as they forcefully stroked their way to victory.

Fairly tight bowling from Wagstaff denied the hosts victory for a short while, but Owens was taking a liking to House's bowling and in his 10th over smashed 18 runs to bring up a well deserved half-century.

At 99-1 there was no way back for the Ilkley side. The next over brought nine runs to bring Skipton within sniffing distance of victory and Iqbal duly hit the winning runs to finish on 10 no. Owens closed on 66 no, an impressive 60 of which came in boundaries, including 2 sixes.

With Colton losing,

While Skipton were consolidating their promotion chances, Upper Wharfedale's bid to strengthen their mid-table position were denied by a narrow margin when they visited second-placed Horsforth.

Opener Baik (72) and No 9 Tim Linley (58no) provided the backbone to Horsforth's total of 209-8, but at 187-6, the Dalesmen looked to be in a challenging position.

The loss of opener David Whitfield, who retired hurt when a rising ball damaged his eye and needed hospital treatment, was a decisive blow. He had made 80 at the time and was in good form. Although he had good support from Kevin Holme (34), there were no other innings of substance to advance the total as the side finished four runs adrift.

In Division A, Steeton are looking increasingly likely to take the drop after a three-wicket defeat at home to North Leeds. Alex Howarth (59) and Gary Boulton (59) both did well with the bat as Steeton totalled 231-7, but the visitors produced a stronger all-round effort to claim the win and retain third place.

Silsden were on the wrong end of some powerful batting when they entertained neighbours Ilkley.

The visiting openers John Hughes and Richard Simpson put on 198 for the first wicket, Hughes going on to reach 164 as the visitors reached a massive 309-7, a total which left the home side well short despite reaching 211 themselves in reply.