Pudsey Congs breathed new life into their bid for a first Division One title as they took maximum points from their two weekend games.

Victories over Yeadon by six wickets and Windhill by three wickets yesterday took them to within one point of leaders Baildon who suffered only their second defeat of the season at East Bierley on Saturday before resuming their winning ways with an eight-wicket thrashing of Brighouse.

Skipper Matthew Doidge was the inspiration for Congs in both matches.

After overseas paceman Azhar Abbas had taken five for 40 as Yeadon were restricted to 153 for seven, Doidge steered his side home with an unbeaten 47.

He followed that 24 hours later with a fine innings of 85 as he and Andy Bethel (53) shared a third-wicket stand of 93 which enabled Congs to overhaul Windhill's total of 241 for seven.

Windhill's overseas star Amol Muzumdar was unquestionably the unluckiest player of the weekend. He hit two centuries and ended up on the losing side both days.

His fine innings of 101 against Congs followed his 100 not out in the four-wicket defeat by Hanging Heaton.

Another man in top form was East Bierley's Pakistani all-rounder Jaffer Nazir. His fiery fast bowling saw him return figures of five for 40 as leaders Baildon were dismissed for just 103 on their way to a shock 98-run defeat on Saturday.

Nazir then took seven for 44 yesterday as East Bierley scored a morale-boosting eight-wicket win over champions Hanging Heaton in the clash between next month's Sovereign Health Care Priestley Cup finalists.

Hanging Heaton were dismissed for 113 despite a defiant 47 from opener Steve Bartle.

Baildon recovered from their experiences at the hands of Nazir to end the recent Brighouse revival.

Veteran spinner John Marshall took four for 12 as Brighouse subsided to 89 all out.

Baildon had little trouble reaching their victory target as Simon Davies made an unbeaten 44.

Bradford & Bingley's title hopes suffered a bitter body blow when they went down to a surprise defeat at the hands of lowly Lidget Green yesterday.

Naveeb Rana-ul-Hassan was the hero for Lidget Green. He top scored with 63 as they were bowled out for 184 and followed up with three for 36 as Bradford & Bingley were dismissed for 120.

The reverse was a big blow for Bradford & Bingley coming as it did just a day after an easy eight-wicket win over Cleckheaton in which young offspinner Richard Wilkinson maintained his fine run of form by taking six for 33.

Yorkshire Bank scored an impressive 238 for seven with Bradley Parker making 101 in their winning draw against Pudsey St Lawrence on Saturday.

But they were skittled out for Division One's lowest total of the season against Yeadon yesterday.

The Bank were dismissed for just 30 as Jon Roper (6-8) and Darren Murray (4-22) wreaked havoc.

Yeadon eased home for the loss of just one wicket.

Farsley were another side whose batting fortunes contrasted sharply over the double programme. They made 270 for five on their way to a 161-run win over Drighlington on Saturday, but were dismissed for 74 as they crashed to a nine-wicket loss against Pudsey St Lawrence yesterday.

Left-arm paceman Gary Severn produced his best bowling figures for St Lawrence, his seven for 30 to spark a massive collapse.

Chris Pickles, the most prolific batsman in the recent history of the Bradford League, dropped down to number six for Cleckheaton against bottom team Drighlington yesterday in a bid to find an answer to his batting slump, and the results were encouraging.

Pickles smashed three sixes and nine fours in an unbeaten 77 and shared a fifth-wicket stand with his normal opening partner Paul Winrow (79).

Like Pickles, Drighlington's normally prolific batsman Iqbal Khan emerged from his run of low scores by making 60 as Drighlington clung on at 147 for eight for a draw in reply to a Cleckheaton total of 222 for six.