THORNBURY A have made an impressive start to the season in the Bradford League and are the team to beat in Division Four.

They clocked up win number seven against promotion rivals Hermits H and are one of only two teams in the league with a 100 per cent record.

David Wilson has been the backbone of the Thornbury line-up in recent seasons but he has seen a steady improvement from team mates Kaleem Afzal and Mohammed Humzah, and they now have a four-man squad thanks to new signing Paul Wharton, and are therefore not as reliant on Wilson as they have been in the past.

Afzal has been their stand-out performer so far, losing only once in their seven matches, and he did not drop a game at Hermits, who led 2-1 through Geoff Parkes and Norman Swift.

However, Thornbury triumphed 7-3 as Humzah and Wharton added two each to back up Afzal's treble.

Hermits have slipped to third as a result, being overtaken by surprise packages Baildon E.

They run afternoon practise sessions which have proved extremely popular and, as a result, they entered an extra team.

The four-man squad of James Kinsella, Michael Criddle, Stephen Hirst and Malaysian Shin Ng have reeled of six wins out of eight to march into second place and, along with Hermits H and Hermits I, are promotion contenders.

Kinsella has been particularly impressive, and he took three more singles at Hermits J to take his tally to 18 out of 21.

Criddle also won three and Ng added a single as the new boys won 8-2 against Hermits J to maintain their challenge.

In Division Two, promotion rivals Hermits B and Hermits C shared the points in a ding-dong battle.

The B team led 4-2 as Andy Braithwaite won two while Shamir Bose and Greg Hill took one each, but the C team hit back to lead 5-4 as Zarnab Jamal and Paul Mckrieth both won two and Keith Powell one.

But honours finished even when Braithwaite and Bose took the doubles for Hermits B.

Results - Division One: Dewsbury Tog B 8 Pudsey A 2, Yeadon A 1 Dewsbury Tog A 9, Pudsey A 5 Hermits A 5, Highdale A 3 Dewsbury Tog B 7. Division Two: Pudsey B 4 Fastbats 6, Baildon A 2 Unity A 8, Fastbats 2 Highdale B 8, Hermits B 5 Hermits C 5. Division Three: Rastrick 5 Hermits F 5, Baildon B 4 Hermits E 6, Pudsey C 9 Unity B 1. Division Four: Hermits J 2 Baildon E 8, Thornbury B 8 Hermits K 2, Hermits H 3 Thornbury A 7.