Yorkshire went into their British Parks County Cham-pionship match with North Derbyshire sitting top of the Division Two table after a convincing win over North Staffordshire in May.

North Derbyshire defeated Birkenhead in their opening match and, with only a point separating the top two, this match was crucial to both sides.

In the home leg at Bramley Libs, Peter Jagger made an excellent start for Yorkshire with a terrific 21-5 win and Bob Whitfield’s 21-16 success put the home side well in command.

However, North Derbyshire claimed 21-17 wins from the the next two jacks to level proceedings.

Meanwhile at Bolsover Colliery, the opening four players for Yorkshire were seeing just how difficult the green was, with none of them getting past 15.

After eight jacks home and away, Yorkshire were 6-2 behind in matches and 25 behind on aggregate.

Into the middle four jacks at Bramley and North Derbyshire seized the momentum by claiming 21-19 and 21-16 wins to extend their advantage but Yorkshire replied strongly with Paul Bowes and Phil Dowgill putting in good performances, as they both won 21-7.

At Bolsover, Yorkshire managed their first winner with Bryan Harrison (21-19) showing terrific form, although the remaining games in the middle four all went the way of North Derbyshire, to make the score 11-5 in their favour, with Yorkshire 19 shots behind on aggregate.

The white rose side needed some big performances and they got just that at Bramley, with Jon Edmondson (21-10), Mick Smith (21-5), Harry Seehra (21-9) and Liam Griffin (21-14) wrapping up a solid home win for Yorkshire by 80 points.

In the final four jacks at Bolsover, Yorkshire were unable to add to their first winner and North Derby-shire completed a resounding 11-1 home victory by over 100 chalks.

The home result for North Derbyshire was enough to give them the overall win by 20 points to 11 and sees them leapfrog Yorkshire in the Division Two table.

The third and final group match for Yorkshire will be against Birkenhead on Sunday, August 16 at Pudsey Littlemoor.

Results – Home leg at Bramley Liberal Club (Yorkshire scores first): P Jagger 21, J Bennison 5; R Whitfield 21, I Eaton 16; A W Green 17, M Turner 21; P Rooks 17, D Allen 21; G Wike 19, D Wheatcroft 21; S Foster 16, M Binney 21; P Bowes 21, Darren Shaw 7; P Dowgill 21, D Walston 7; J Edmondson 21, Dave Shaw 10; M Smith 21, R Brassington 5; H Seehra 21, C Hall 9; L Griffin 21, B Hill 14.

Home Result: Yorkshire (8) 237, North Derbyshire (4) 157.

Away leg at Bolsover Colliery (Yorkshire scores first): J Hanson 15, D Spragg 21; D Metcalfe 15, A Weston 21; I Shaw 8, J Marshall 21; G Roberts 8, L Pashley 21; D Fox 19, S Smith 21; B Harrison 21, C Hardaker 18; T Hanson 9, D Allen 21; M Fulton 13, L Davies 21; A W Riley 11, I Johnson 21; N Mylan 16, S Sharpe 21; A Hodgson 8, M Backhouse 21; S Cooper 3, A Spragg 21.

Away Result: Yorkshire (1) 146, North Derbyshire (11) 249.

Overall Result: Yorkshire (11) 383, North Derbyshire (20) 406.

Wyke produced a shock in the semi-final of the Sharpes Estate Agents-sponsored Howarth Cup, with a one-point win over a weakened Shipley Club.

Wyke had a 55-point handicap advantage but started as underdogs against their Naylor League opponents but wins from Bob Benn (21-4) and Gerry Hird (21-11) saw Wyke edge home.

They will play Eccleshill in the final, who beat Harold Park by 16 points, despite giving them a 55-point handicap start.

Jeff Goodall and Andrew Firth both carded 21-9 victories for Eccleshill.

The final will be played at Shipley Club on Sunday, August 2 at 3.30pm.

Lister and Asa Briggs A will contest the Supplementary Cup final, as Lister edged home against Peel, while Asa beat their B team to progress. The final will be played prior to the Howarth final at 1pm.

Semi-final scores – Howarth: Eccleshill (0) 207, Harold Park (55) 191; Wyke (55) 184, Shipley Club (0) 183. Supplementary: Lister (45) 214, Peel (45) 206; Asa Briggs A (15) 209, Asa Briggs B (30) 153.

The Spen Victoria CB&AC Mixed Pairs takes place on Sunday, September 6 at 10.30am. No home bowlers. Entries plus fee of £8 to: Barry Firth, 39 Fairfield Court, Liversedge, WF15 6PQ.

The fourth round of the 2009 Spen Masters will be played at Spen Victoria this Saturday, starting at 6pm.

Results of the Spenborough Press Challenge Cup final between Mirfield Bank A (handicap 25) and Bramley Libs (Mirfield scores first): Richard Brook 21, Philip Richards 3; John Hopkinson 21, Steve Longley 13; Bernard Warr 17, Jim Moorin 21; Andy Croxall 17, Neil McPhail 21; Bryan Jenkins 21, Neil Brighton 7; Terry Kelly 21, David Smith 16; Allan Thompson 11, Mark Moorin 21; Andrew Sykes 21, Kevin Siddle 11. Total 150-139.