Pride of place went to Cross Hills bowler Phillip Dowgill on a weekend of successes for local bowlers.

He won the Skipton Merit title at Keighley Bowling Club, beating former Steeton star Tony Finn , who now represents Whinfield, 21-15 in an exciting final on a green of varying pace. Losing semi-finalists were Walter Turner (Rolls Royce) and Keith Moore (Devon).

Watching Phillip win was his proud father Peter Peter who reached the semi-final of the Valley Handicap at Oawkorth earlier the same day, losing to the eventual winner, David 'Action man' Hewitt of Highfield.

David, is the son-in-law of the previous holder Pauline Lightowler, and kept the trophy in the family. He beat favourite Trevor Hargreaves of Cross Roads 21-10 in the final. The other losing semi-finalist was Liz Bland.

Top team Cross Roads also won the Yorkshire Parks Brotherton Cup yet again in the Shipley area, following easy wins over Spen Victoria and Rufford Park. The final at the Shipley club proved slightly more difficult as the locals only just defeated Pudsey Brittania by three points, having six losers. Les Foster was the hero of the hour as he got the winning points and remained unbeaten on the day, together with Neil Hargreaves, David Cadwallader and Scott Bairstow.

The team also has a chance of making history tomorrow (Saturday) when they meet Mirfield Old bank A in the Yorkshire Cup semi-final at Wakefield sports when they are aiming for a place in the final on August 17 against Lower Hopton WMC at Ossett flying Horse.

Their opponents were once again the greatest team in Yorkshire and have won the cup 18 teams since 1893. However, they are not the power of recent years and Cross Roads could pull off a comfortable victory.

Skipton's hopes of winning the Inter-District title took a slight knock as they only beat Leeds 11-10 overall. At Oakworth Les Foster, Trevor Hargreaves and Phill Dowgill excelled along with young Scott Wilkins, but away at Harehills only three winners emerged, led by stand-in Neil Hargreaves. The next game is on August 22 against Wakefield.

The Skipton Vets team finished their campaign and clinched the wooden spoon after being crushed home and away by West Riding with only ex-Bradford 'goalie' Geoff Smith winning on home ground at Whinfield and spoiling a West Riding clean sheet.

The final fo the Skipton knockout event, the Clarkson Cup, will be at Settle on Monday when Silsden PF B meet Foulridge in what is expected to be a close game. The Silsden side, from Division Two, narrowly beat Devon B thanks to efforts by Arthur Woolocott and Alan Hughes to secure a one-point win.

Their opponents, who play in Diviison One, are favourites, but are a difficult side to predict especially away from home.

Sunday sees the John Ryecroft Trophy finals at Broughton Road, featuring several of the game's top players including the legendary Brian Duncan (Preston) and the games No1, Graham Wilson from Oldham.

They have been paired together in Round One to the disappointment of the expected large crowd. Local hope Richard Hargreaves will be battling it out among all the stars and on his day he could beat them all.

Peter Clarke and Phil Anderson are two locals through in the Waterloo handicap which continues in mid-August.