It was a bitter sweet weekend for Keighley as they took on teams from both ends of the Bradford League spectrum at the weekend.

On Saturday Keighley took the short trip to Windhill and were clinical in their demolition of the basement club. The home side batted first but never got to grips with the Keighley bowling attack especially talisman Ross Towler who was in a rampant mood as he ripped through the Windhill line up claiming 4/12 backed up by his opening partner in crime Nick Austin with 3/33. Alex Towler (2/21) and Richard Robinson (1/22) mopped up the left overs as Windhill were bowled out for 88.

In reply, Matthew Bottomley made short work of the Windhill attack hitting a breezy 54 not out leading Keighley to an 8 wicket victory and ensuring Keighley's 100% league record remains in tact.

Sunday's visit to Woodlands in the Priestley Cup semi-final saw Keighley taste defeat for the first time this year but only by a slim margin after putting up a very brave effort in front of a large crowd.

Bowling first, Keighley put the pressure on the home side right from the word go with an excellent display of fielding in hot conditions and at one stage had Woodlands at 62 for 6. King of the swingers, Alexander Towler, thrived on the big occasion claiming a gutsy 4/31 off his 10 over allocation. Some big hitting down the order saw the home side reach 173 all out. Richard Robinson and Steve Reape took two wickets each with one for Nick Austin.

Keighley made a steady start in reply lead once again by Mr. Consistency, Matthew Bottomley, who cruised his way to 44 with some quality strokes. The fall of the second wicket brought Richard Robinson to the crease who is no stranger to the big occasion and his stand of 52 with Bottomley put Keighley in the box seat. The dismissal of Bottomley and Robinson (36) in relatively quick succession resulted in the tempo of the Keighley innings being curtailed slightly. Nick Austin (27) and skipper Steve Reape (14) battled to get the Keighley innings back on track but wickets were steadily falling.

This resulted in Ross Towler and Richard Wood being together for the last wicket needing 15 to win. In a tense finale Keighley managed 12 runs from the over finishing agonisingly close to a place in the final.

There was the inevitable disappointment in the Keighley camp but they can take comfort from the fact that they put up a good display against one of the best sides in the First Division who they will hope to be meeting next year on level terms.

This week Keighley are in league action on Saturday with the visit of much improved Hartshead Moor to Lawkholme Lane. On Sunday there is another trip to Woodlands for another bite of the cherry, this time in the semi final of the Heavy Woollen Cup, where Keighley will be going all out for revenge.

Windhill v Keighley

Windhill

P Mosey c Wood b R Towler 5

S Curry c Wood b R Towler 3

T Amin b Austin 6

A Iqbal c Wood b R Towler 0

J Pringle c Austin b A Towler 13

M Bates c Gordon b R Towler 4

L Harber b Austin 19

A Bennett c Wilkinson b Robinson 0

G Greenwood b Austin 23

D Drake not out 7

D Skillicorn c Wood b A Towler 6

Extras 2 Total 88

Fall: 1-5, 2-8, 3-14, 4-14, 5-22, 6-37, 7-38, 8-69, 9-76

Bowling: N Austin 12-4-33-3, R Towler 9-5-12-4, A Towler 4.1-2-21-2, R Robinson 7-2-22-1.

Keighley

P Wilkinson c Amin b Drake 0

M Bottomley not out 54

A Broadley c Amin b Iqbal 17

L Gordon not out 12

Extras 6 Total (2wkts) 89

Fall: 1-15, 2-64

Bowling: M Bates 4-2-24-0, D Drake 2-2-9-1, J Pringle 6-0-29-0, A Iqbal 3.4-0-22-1.

Windhill 0, Keighley 6.

WOODLANDS v KEIGHLEY

WOODLANDS

R Murray c Ratcliffe b Austin 5

P Winrow c Wilkinson b A Towler 22

N Whitehill b A Towler 14

I Orrell c Gordon b A Towler 9

N Rushworth c Robinson b Reape 9

A Goldthorpe c Robinson b A Towler 1

P Swanepoel not out 36

M Robson c Gordon b Reape 24

S Ahmed c Austin b Robinson 30

C Brice run out 12

R Spittlehouse b Robinson 2

Extras 9 Total 173

Fall: 1-14, 2-38, 3-47, 4-52, 5-62, 6-63, 7-99, 8-132, 9-170, 10-173.

Bowling: N Austin 10-4-26-1, R Towler 10-6-21-0, A Towler 10-3-31-4, S Reape 9-2-44-2, R Robinson 9.5-0-42-2.

KEIGHLEY

P Wilkinson b Spittlehouse 3

M Bottomley b Brice 44

L Gordon c Murray b Winrow 4

R Robinson c Whitehiill b Brice 36

N Austin c Goldthorpe b Swanepoel 27

R Hopkinson lbw Brice 0

S Reape c Rushworth b Ahmed 14

S Ratcliffe b Brice 0

R Towler not out 14

A Towler b Ahmed 0

R Wood not out 12

Extras 14 Total (9wkts) 171

Fall: 1-29, 2-38, 3-92, 4-103, 5-104, 6-132, 7-141, 8-147, 9-147.

Bowling: S Ahmed 10-3-19-2, P Swanepoel 10-1-40-1, R Spittlehouse 10-1-44-1, P Winrow 10-1-30-1, C Brice 10-2-30-4.

Keighley 2nd XI v Windhill 2nd XI

Windhill: And Evans run out 3, P Nichols c Andrews b Shahzad 5, P Hepworth b Birkett 14, R Clow c Andrews b J N Robinson 15, D Saville c Benson b A Robinson 8, P Wiseman b Coppen 43, D Pearce b Coppen 7, R Holdsworth c Broadley b Robinson 3, Aid Evans c Birkett b Robinson 11, L Jacklin not out 2, extras 14. Total 125-9

Bowling: J N Robinson 13-6-11-1, H Shahzad 8-2-14-1, A Birkett 7-2-14-1, A Coppen 9.5-3-21-2, A Robinson 7-0-49-3.

Keighley 2nd XI: A Robinson lbw Pearce 1, A Birkett lbw Pearce 8, A Benson b Pearce 4, L Moretti b Pearce 0, J Andrews lbw Pearce 5, P Broadley b Clow 0, J N Robinson c Evans b Holdworth 17, A Coppen b Pearce 30, S Long lbw Wiseman 4, P Cryer not out 0, H Shahzad lbw Pearce 0, extras 17, Total 88.

Bowling: D Pearce 16.2-6-29-7, R Clow 12-4-26-1, P Wiseman 6-0-15-1, R Holdworth 2-1-2-1.