Pudsey A step it up ahead of title clash with Crossgates

Gary Wike 21-6 and Ian Shaw 21-9 were the pick of nine home winners as their side opened a gap of 37 points over Crossgates, whose game against Eccleshill has been rearranged.

The title decider looks certain to be on Tuesday, September 13 when Crossgates host Pudsey A in a game rescheduled from July 30.

At the other end of the table, Asa Briggs A went down 17-13 at home to Whitkirk despite a great 21-9 effort from Jack Summers for the hosts.

Wyke A are another team deep in trouble as they suffered a 20-10 home defeat to Shipley Club, with Daniel Metcalfe 21-8 and Bailey Rice 21-9 the best of seven away winners.

Ladyhill A eased their relegation fears with a narrow 17-13 home success over Brighouse Sports A, despite a great 21-9 from Robert Hopper for the visitors.

Ladyhill now find themselves six points behind Asa Briggs with a home game in hand and still have a big home game against Asa to come on September 17.

Any one of four teams could find themselves promoted from the second-tier Godwin section.

Current leaders Cononley have it in their own hands with three home games to play against the other promotion challengers, as well as trips to relegation-threatened Brighouse Sports B and Eccleshill B.

Pudsey B and Littlemoor A both face a difficult run-in which could open the door for Akroydon Victoria A.

Last weekend, Pudsey went down to a surprise 18-12 loss at Clayton B, with Nino Esposito 21-6 and Myles Summers 21-7 doing the damage – despite a great 21-9 from Darren Crawley for the B team.

Martin Benson's 21-5 for Rufford A dented Akroydon's promotion push as they suffered a 16-14 loss, while Guiseley A won by the same score at Brighouse Sports thanks to Tom Cater's 21-8 cancelling out Steve Foster's 21-9 for the hosts.

Eccleshill B are in massive trouble now following a 17-13 home defeat against Elland C&BC, who saw Adrian Kenyon log a great 21-6. Eccleshill should have guaranteed a home win following wins by Will Gilroy 21-0 and Adam Mellor 21-9 but four home winners is not enough when fighting for safety.

The match between Cononley and Littlemoor is to be rearranged, with a new date yet to be confirmed.

The Observer third-tier title challenge looks to be between Hove Edge A and Shipley Club B, with both teams almost certainly guaranteed promotion.

Hove Edge currently sit 47 points ahead of Shipley at the top, although Shipley have two games in hand on the leaders as

well as Greengates A in third place 33 points off the pace.

Hove Edge extended their lead at the summit following a 28-2 home win over Drighlington A thanks to six single-figure winners – Suzi Ladbrooke 21-5, Richard Hopley 21-6, Christine Barker 21-7, Julie Mallinson 21-8, John Butterworth 21-8 and Stephen Rothwell 21-9. Josh Gamble's 21-9 win for the visitors guaranteed they left with a couple of points.

Greengates A slipped up as they try and catch the top two, losing 19-11 at home to Wyke B after 21-6 wins from Michael Walton, Ian Wilson and Glen Molineux. Stuart Wilson replied with an excellent 21-4 for Greengates, proving he could play at a higher level.

Gerald Bromley 21-6, Shaun Carter 21-9 and Vinnie Smith 21-9 helped Hightown to a 21-9 home win over Horsforth Woodside A, with both teams comfortably in mid-table.

Peel continue to slide and were not helped by a 23-7 defeat against Littlemoor B, despite a great 21-9 from Alison Stocks. Jim Moorin 21-5, Angela Carter 21-6 and Philip Richards 21-7 ensured a good home win as Littlemoor continue to climb the table.

Nick Crowther's 21-7 helped Hipperholme & Lightcliffe A to a 19-11 home win against Ladyhill B, the ever-improving Lee Hicks starring for Ladyhill with a 21-8 away success.

* PAUL Gill (Clayton) was the winner of the Hospital Handicap after defeating Andrew Walker (Harold Park) 21-10 in the final.

Gill has been a great bowler in the Bradford League for many years now and followed up wins in the Bradford Merit (1985), Victor Ludorum (1997) and Bradford Pairs Merit with Paul Kaye (2008 and 2015) with his first Hospital Handicap title, winning off a scratch handicap.

Massive thanks go to Hove Edge Bowling Club for hosting the tournament as well sponsoring it.

Quarter-finals: Paul Gill (Clayton) 21 Tommy Harney (Clayton) 16, Vince Cleary (Ladyhill) 21 Paul Blackburn (Spen Victoria) 9, Andrew Walker (Harold Park) 21 June Wilson (Clayton) 13, Nigel Wormald (Wyke) 18 Andrew Bairstow (Harold Club) 21. Semi-finals: Gill 21 Cleary 11, Walker 21 Bairstow 16. Final: Gill 21 Walker 10.

* ASHLEY Tattersley (Lower Hopton) and Mick Wood (Crossgates) were the latest qualifiers in the £5,300 Brighouse Classic.

Tattersley beat Gary Ellis (Whitefield) 21-20 in a superb game to go through, while Wood defeated Lee Johnstone (Warrington) 21-10.

The action continues tomorrow evening and includes Greg Smith (West Bromwich) in action with a tough opener against John Hanson (Chipping).

Full draw (6.30pm start): Glyn Picknell (Telford) v Paul Rooks (Eccleshill), Ryan Clark (Sheffield) v Paul Mottram (Alverthorpe), John Hanson (Chipping) v Greg Smith (West Bromwich), Adam Douglas (Huddersfield) v Liam Griffin (Pudsey), Tom Langford (Telford) v Chris Kelly (Sheffield), Nicky Bastow (Eccleshill) v David Hodgson (Harrogate), Gary Wike (Pudsey) v Allan Croft (Alverthorpe), Elliott McGuiness (West Bromwich) v Michael Sweeney (Dewsbury).

* THE finals of the Spen Masters, sponsored by P I Hopkins Butchers, takes place on Saturday from 4.30pm.

Stuart King (Littlemoor) is in the top half of the draw, opening up against Andrew Cairns (Rossendale), while Mark Hughes (Crossgates), Mark Allman (Littlemoor) and David Scott (Clayton) are all in the bottom half.

Full draw: Danny Ferris (Stoke on Trent) v Wayne Ditchfield (Eccleston), Stuart King (Littlemoor) v Andrew Cairns (Rossendale), Bill Burlison (Warrington) v Craig Newton (Wakefield), Garry Ellis (Whitefield) v Paul Williams (Shropshire), Mark Hughes (Crossgates) v Carl Armitage (Warrington), Mark Allman (Littlemoor) v Ben Gloag (Manchester), Carl Fielding (Solihull) v Tommy Johnston (Poynton), David Scott (Halifax) v Lee Johnstone (Warrington).

* YORKSHIRE play Shropshire in the final of the British Crown Green County Championship (Crosfield Cup) on Sunday, with the home match at Elland C&BC and the away leg at Greenfields (number two green) in Shrewsbury.

This should be a great game between two high-class teams, with the draw throwing up some mouth-watering clashes.

In the home match, John Spinks (Pudsey) takes on former Wibsey and Salts bowler Phil Emery, who now bowls in Newport, while Chris Mordue v Clay Flattley and Stuart King v Callum Wraight are tough games to call in the away contest.

Home draw (Yorkshire names first): Craig Newton v Andy Moss, Dave Fox v Robert Roden, Graeme Wilson v Scott Harries, Craig Gant v Glyn Picknell, Gareth Coates v Alex Jones, Simon Walder v Rich Lawson, Ashley Tattersley v Jamie King, John Spinks v Phil Emery, Kez Smith v Rob Burroughs, Gary Siswick v Tom Roden, Robert Hitchen v Martin Lloyd, Ashley Daykin v Stuart Rutter.

Away draw (Yorkshire names first): Tom Hanson v Richie Goddard, Jack Dyson v Paul Williams, James Hanson v Darren Wellings, Scott Fisher v Colin Beaman, Ian Booth v Spencer Clarke, Chris Mordue v Clay Flattley, Stuart King v Callum Wraight, Nick White v Wayne Phillips, Kevin Burns v Kiah Roberts, Phil Dowgill v Michael Beer, James Davison v Derek Wright, Liam Griffin v Wayne Rogers.

* CROSSGATES were the winners of the Yorkshire Cup after defeating Brighouse Sports 228-187 in the final at Almondbury Liberal Club.

The match was much closer than the scoreline suggests as Brighouse fought right until the end.

Crossgates held an early six-point advantage after four jacks thanks to 21-9 wins from Jon Wilcox and Mark Taylor.

Nigel Bloomer showed his class and Ronnie Wormald rolled back the years as both won 21-12, keeping Brighouse in with a shout in the early stages.

The game slipped away from them in the middle four jacks, with Peter Wilcox 21-7 and Ira Jeffers 21-13 extending Crossgates' lead to 28 chalks after eight jacks.

Crossgates held their nerve with another three winners at the end, led by Mark Hughes' 21-9 to give them a 41-point overall victory.

It was a great achievement for Brighouse to make it to the final but it Crossgates proved to be the best team on the day and fully deserved their victory.

Scores (Brighouse Sports names first): Graham Roberts 9 Jon Wilcox 21, Nigel Bloomer 21 Jon Wood 12, Tony Riley 9 Mark Taylor 21, Ronnie Wormald 21 Dave Walker 12, Alan Bray 19 Gareth Lally 21, Robert Hopper 7 Peter Wilcox 21, Hedley Kettlewell 13 Ira Jeffers 21, Richard Hobson 21 James Wilcox 19, David Stansfield 20 Kez Smith 21, Peter Clark 21 Nigel Cranston 17, Robert Whitfield 17 Steven Gilroy 21, Danny Fountain 9 Mark Hughes 21. Brighouse Sports 187 Crossgates 228.

* THE Spen Floodlit League gets underway next week with a total of 34 teams across four divisions.

Over recent years this has proved to be a very successful format, with teams enjoying the 5-4-3-2-1 scoring system introduced some years ago by David Beardsworth and the late Frank Robinson.

Matches are to be played Mondays and Wednesdays, although clubs with more than two teams will play their home games on a Tuesday and a Thursday. Fixtures can be found on the bowlsnet website under the Shipley page.

* GUISELEY won the Marie Ogden Pairs after defeating Farsley 3-2 in the final at Shipley Club.

Mick and Sandra Hall beat Neil Nicholson and Will Gilroy 21-13 as Guiseley made the perfect start, while Ralph Sissons and Graham Oliver overcame Matthew Leaf and Duncan McPhail 21-7 to earn a 2-0 lead.

Guiseley knew that one more point would see them crowned champions and when Tommy Cater and Andy Durkin breezed home 21-5 against legendary duo Brian Dowling and Ronnie Witham, the title was theirs.

Farsley showed some late resistance, with Graham Petty and Stephen Gilroy beating Luke Teale and Joe Stockdale 21-15, while Chris Hight and Stuart Brook disposed of Colin and Carolyn Matthewman 21-10 to give the score respectability.

* KEN Lee (Rufford) won the Yorkshire Parks Senior Individual Merit after edging out Tony Riley (Clayton) 21-20 in the decider.

Lee came through a tough field at Shipley Club to take the title, beating Angela Carter (Littlemoor), Kath Bywell (Littlemoor), Mick Hall (Guiseley) and David Beardsworth (Farsley) on his way to the final.

The Rufford player then raced ahead to lead 13-4 and 18-10 before Riley rallied and even took the lead before Lee levelled it at 20-across.

A yard bowl from Lee did not look enough, as Riley bettered it with a two-footer. Lee held his nerve as he bowled a front-nodder and Riley then ran into the short debris with his final bowl, gifting Lee the chalk he needed to take the title.

* THE Walter Worsman Teenage Handicap, sponsored by Alpha Graphic, will now be played on Sunday, September 25 at Birkenshaw from 1pm.

This competition is open to players aged between 13 and 19 as of the competition date. Entry is free and anyone interested should contact Martin Hayton on 07825-740281.

* SEPTEMBER 25 is also the date for the semi-finals and final of the Bradford Pairs KO, sponsored by Derek Relton.

The semi-finals see Tyersal take on Clayton and Asa Briggs A up against Salts. Both will be played simultaneously at Cleckheaton Sports (back green) from 1pm, with the final following on the same green.

* ANOTHER event taking place on Sunday, September 25 sees Bradford playing in the end-of-season Federation Champion of Champions competition in Blackburn.

A team will be selected over the coming weeks, with Bradford set to face Leeds A, Colne Valley and Liverpool/St Helens in Group One at Roe Lea Park.

Group Two consists of Barnsley, North Yorkshire, Dudley and Bolton (at East Lancs Club, Dukes Brow). The winner of each section will contest the final at The Alex (opposite East Lancs Club).