THE most dramatic Halifax League match over the weekend came in the First Division, with Great Horton Park Chapel and Clayton separated by just one run.

Horton batted first and, led by skipper Adam Beesley (54), were 172 all out with one ball remaining. Third change bowler William Edden (5-45) caused the most damage.

Clayton’s innings followed much the same pattern, with Saad Shafique (48) leading the response.

But Horton reduced the hosts to 163-9 and tight bowling restricted the last pair to just eight runs, as Clayton closed on 171-9 to give Horton the winning draw

But there was no close finish for Oxenhope, who are in all sorts of trouble and even managed a worse score than last week’s 95 all out.

The match at The Trinity Oval saw just 30.4 overs required, as Low Moor HT skittled the visitors for a meagre 50 all out, with only one player managing to reach double figures as Mark Stokes (5-31) helped himself to a five-wicket haul.

The home team then took just 11 overs to score 51-2.

Up in the Premier Division, the match at Shelf Northowram HT produced the most runs of the day with 561, keeping the scorers busy for 78.4 overs and it included the highest individual score from SBCI’s Alex Scholefield (131).

The visitors’ innings was dominated by a 149-run partnership from Schofield and Adam Fawcett (60), as a challenging 292-6 was posted.

The home team took up the mantle, with Harry Talbot (95) and the ex-Yorkshire player, Scott Richardson (49), putting on 135 runs for the first wicket.

However when Talbot was run out, five short of his century with the score on 158-2, the chase ended some 23 runs short at 269 all out – second change bowler Thomas Wood (5-65) providing the match-winning return.

Struggling Copley could only manage 148-9 at Thornton after having been sent in to bat.

A top score from Prahalad Nadella (34) rather emphasised their problems and while an all out total was avoided, the scoring rate was well below four runs per over.

The figures of Mark Clayton (4-27), the fifth bowler used by Thornton, rather proved the point.

As did Thornton’s winning total of 150-6 in 32.4 overs – Nikki Hutchinson 52 not out. The twelve overs of Oliver Thorpe (4-33) at least gave Copley some encouragement.

Down in the Second Division, Cullingworth's groundsman, David Robinson, must have worked miracles to produce a track that allowed his team to record the highest score of the day against Leymoor, which was especially to the liking of one player.

Entering the fray at 122-5, Bilal Khalid (104 not out) simply tore the Golcar team’s bowling apart, taking just 48 balls to reach his century in an unbeaten sixth-wicket stand of 168 runs with skipper Chris Welch (68 not out), as they posted a tough target of 290-5.

Tough it proved, as Leymoor, perhaps dizzy from the onslaught, managed only 141 all out, although the home team only picked up the final bowling point with three balls left – captain Pierce Walker (45 not out) disappointed to be left stranded.

Finally, Bradley & Colnebridge just failed to match the Queensbury score of 152-5, as four home batsmen hit 20 runs or more. Despite the top score in the match coming from B&C’s Irfan Rashid (43), he was last out, with his team some 12 runs short of the target at 141 all out.