A perfect day for Craven League football with a full programme and some very interesting and tight matches with lots at stake was spoilt by four referees failing to turn up after acknowledging their appointments.

Consequently Embsay v Oxenhope in the Silentnight Premier Division, St Pauls v Intake and Sutton v Grindleton in Division One and Cowling v Skipton LMS in Division Two all to be played without an official referee.

And of course this is not good enough, being unfair on both the clubs and league. Surely these officials should have had the courtesy to inform either the league or the clubs that they were not turning up, especially when there were already three matches without officials whose clubs had been notified.

There were changes in the leadership of three divisions with the previous leaders suffering reverses.

In the Silentnight Premier Division Embsay are the new leaders and they defeated Oxenhope at home 2-0 and take over from Keighley who lost at Cross Hills 3-1.

Cross Hills move into second place having the same number of points as Embsay but an inferior goal difference.

Gargrave recorded their first victory of the season with a 2-1 home victory over Rimington whose first defeat of the season it was.

Cononley collected their first point in a 2-2 draw at Grassington while Skipton Bulldogs won their away match at Skipton LMS 3-0 with all the goals coming in the second half.

In Division One Clitheroe United are the new leaders and they defeated Cowling 4-1 while previous leaders Bradley provided Hellifield with their first victory of the season as the visitors won 3-1.

Skipton Town had a narrow 1-0 home victory over Addingham and bottom club Intake went down to St Pauls 7-4 to remain pointless after six matches.

Grindleton stay among the leaders following their 4-1 victory at Sutton and Carleton converted their chances this time when they visited Oxenhope and won 3-0 on the infamous slope.

There was no change in Division Two with Bronte Wanderers coming out on top in their clash with Barnoldswick United 1-0 in an excellent match.

Silsden are rapidly climbing up the table and they trounced Grindleton 7-1. Barrowford collected their first league victory of the season with a 4-1 home win over Gargrave and Horton avenged a 6-1 home defeat at the hands of Skipton Bulldogs by winning at Dogs 4-2.

Embsay beat Silsden Athletic away 4-0, Keighley and Lothersdale drew 2-2 at Keighley and Skipton LMS beat Cowling 3-2 away.

New leaders in Division Three are Ilkley Juniors Youth after a 2-0 victory over Grassington. Previous leaders Colne Cricket Club lost at home to Bronte Wanderers 2-1 while Waddington had a 5-1 victory over Skipton Town to go fourth and maintain their 100 per cent record in the league.

Bradley beat Cononley 6-4, Intake overcame Hellifield 2-1 and Carleton had a 2-1 win over McBrides.

This Saturday sees first and second round matches in the Northern Plant Hire Challenge Trophy. In the first round Bradley v Grindleton looks to be a close-fought encounter and the tie of the second round must be the meeting between Bronte Wanderers and Ilkley Juniors Youth who are two excellent footballing sides. Holders Silsden face a trip to St Pauls with their young players well fancied to retain the trophy and Sutton v Rimington could be a close result.

Premier Division

Embsay 2 Oxenhope 0

With no official referee it was always going to be a tricky situation with a home official taking the whistle. Most of the initial play was taken to Oxenhope by an Embsay side full of confidence and they say they should have been two goals up inside 10 minutes.

However it took 20 minutes for them to net, Lee Hartley finishing from 10 yards. The tackles continued to come thick and fast which took its toll on the quality of football. However in the second half both sides picked up their game and it was Oxenhope who came closest to scoring when an effort hit the underside of the bar and the follow-up was struck straight at the keeper.

Then within 10 minutes Embsay's Stephen Speak headed home to give his side space to breath. Oxenhope continued to press but the Embsay defence held firm with credit going to John Thornton in particular for some well-timed tackles. All thanks go to Alan Robinson for standing in as referee for such an important game and he gave a good account of himself.

Cross Hills 3 Keighley 1

Keighley say this was their worst performance of the season with them lacking purpose and commitment.

Cross Hills report that the first half was pretty even as far as chances went but they had the lion's share of the play. However just on half-time James McCormack found Adam Whiteoak on the left and he mesmerised the fullback before crossing to McCormack who headed in at the far post.

The South Craveners then started to take control in the second half and superb work by Steven Holden found Andrew Holland who headed home the second. Keighley then came straight back and forced an own goal, but this was the signal for Whiteoak to take on the whole defence and fire past the keeper to notch up a brilliant solo goal. McCormack was Cross Hills' man of the match in a good team performance.

Gargrave 2 Rimington 1

The homesters played some of their best football for a long time against a good Rimington side. They went ahead either before or after the break when Lee Reilley hit a free kick that the keeper could not hold and Mark Webb followed up to score. Then Reilley got the goal he deserved before Rimington scored through Paul Sayle from a Lee Burgess cross. Gargrave say that Rimington keeper Graeme Kershaw had a great game saving time after time.

Grassington 2 Cononley 2

The official referee did not arrive until 2.35pm so a stand-in referee took control and while he was in charge Cononley took a 1-0 lead through Ewan Scarr. Grassington say they then scored twice through their man of the match Adam Steventon and Dale Berry and then with a minute to go to the break Cononley scored direct through a free kick by Dean Simpson. Cononley report that Grassington levelled and then they Cononley scored before Grassington levelled again. Whatever, it ended in a draw.

Skipton LMS 0

Skipton Bulldogs 3

Both teams squandered opportunities to go into the lead and both keepers made excellent saves, Paul Ryder for LMS and James Wiggan for Bulldogs. After a scoreless first half Bulldogs increased the pace of their game and went into the lead when Andrew Bate smashed a 20-yard screamer. And soon after Jimmy McConville made it 2-0 when he latched on to a through ball and his well- placed shot went in the bottom corner. It was then his strike partner Ian Bernard's turn as he outpaced the LMS defence, drew the keeper and coolly slotted home. Bulldogs now had a stranglehold on the game and there was only going to be one winner. Their defence was outstanding again with class performances from skipper Paul McGowan, Ian Hunter and "Billy" Parker.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.