TOWNVILLE pulled level with Oakenshaw-based side Woodlands at the top of the Bradford League Premier Division after defeating them by four wickets at Albert Terrace.

And at the other end of the table there was a welcome first win of the season for Batley as they defeated Wrenthorpe by 19 runs.

Townville skipper Jack Hughes and Conor Harvey again played key roles as their side showed that they genuine title contenders.

Hughes took 5-52 with his left-arm spin as the Woodlands batsmen found the going tough. Only Brad Schmulian (68) seemed at ease until he was dismissed by Hughes.

Townville’s bowlers were backed up by some tigerish fielding, which limited the champions to a score of 188-8.

That total started to look more challenging when Schmulian (3-36) opened the bowling and reduced Townville to 19-3, but the visitors refused to panic.

Harry Warwick (41) and Hughes (31) stabilised the innings before the aggressive Harvey hit an unbeaten 45 to see his side home.

New Farnley are 12 points behind the joint leaders after their 135-run win at Cleckheaton.

Mark Lawson marked his return to the first team with an unbeaten 119, which helped New Farnley to a total of 319-4.

Dan Hodgson (56) put on 159 for the fourth wicket with Hodgson, while skipper Lee Goddard (48) and Grant Soames (40no) helped swell the total.

Harvey Booth (51) and Ian Carradice (39) battled hard for Cleckheaton, who were bowled out for 184. Left-arm spinner Gurman Randhawa impressed with 4-30.

Bradford & Bingley eased their relegation fears and added to the problems for second-bottom Morley as they defeated them by 111 runs.

The Wagon Laners batted themselves into a strong position by making 292-8.

Skipper Ed Brown (64) and Charlie Davy (61) led the way while Henry Rush (4-55) was the best of the Morley bowlers.

Morley’s fragile top order disintegrated again as only Sri Lankan Kavindu Kulasekara made an impression.

He made an unbeaten 79 and was joined in an unbroken last wicket stand of 45 with David Nebard (20no), which at least earned their side two extra batting points.

There were three wickets apiece for Bradley Reeve and Yasir Abbas.

Hanging Heaton climbed above Methley into fourth place after beating them by eight wickets at Bennett Lane.

An opening stand of 124 between Nick Connolly (79) and Gary Fellows (64) helped Hanging Heaton overhaul Methley’s score of 207.

Spinner Josh Wheatley (4-72) and David Stiff (3-31) proved to be the most successful bowlers for Hanging Heaton.

There was a low-scoring encounter at Red Lane where Farsley defeated Pudsey St Lawrence by 12 runs as 20 wickets fell for just 158 runs.

Left-armer Henry Barrow returned his best Bradford Premier League bowling figures of 7-36 as he exploited the conditions in tandem with skipper Matthew Lumb (3-37).

That meant St Lawrence were dismissed for 73 in reply to Farsley’s 85, all 10 wickets falling to catches close to the wicket.

Charlie Parker (5-27) and Archie Scott (3-16) were the bowlers who caused most problems for Farsley when they batted first.

Batley have waited 12 games for their first win and though they remain bottom of the table, the result against Wrenthorpe should be a big boost for them.

Openers Roheil Hussain (72) and Abdul Wahid (66) set the tone with an opening stand of 107 as Batley finished up on 267-6.

Matthew Race (73) was again a key figure in the Wrenthorpe reply of 248, but Muhammad Hafeez (4-62) and Umar Farooq (4-52) made sure that Batley secured the win.

Ossett have a 22-point lead at the mid-point of the Division One season after a comfortable 97-run win over Undercliffe, who had defeated second-placed Birstall by nine wickets in their previous game.

The league leaders were set on their way to a total of 232 by opener Marcus Walmsley (73), with Sunny Matharu (5-56) the star bowler for Undercliffe.

Undercliffe’s innings never flourished as they were dismissed for 135 with spinners Matthew Varley (3-29) and Max Chappell (3-37) enjoying the most success.

Birstall got back to winning ways but were made to work hard for their two-wicket win over lowly Lightcliffe.

All rounder Josh Haynes again figured prominently for Birstall.

He took 5-52 as Lightcliffe were restricted to 160-9, before he followed up with 50 in the reply as Birstall squeezed home.

Opener Matthew West hit his second league century of the season to help East Bierley chase down Baildon’s score of 214 and secure a seven-wicket win.

West hit two sixes and 14 fours and shared a second wicket partnership of 103 with Danny Cross (48). Simon Bailey (49) top scored for Baildon against a bowling attack led by Jack Hebden (4-66).

Bankfoot kept a firm grip on third place with a 115-run win over Keighley. Spinner Andy Stothart took 6-57 as the visitors were bowled out for 122.

Hisan Ahmad continued his good form with the bat for Bankfoot with 69, while overseas player Azeem Ghumman (46) and Seif Hussain (45) helped their side to 237. Nathan Storton posed the main threat with 6-62 while leg spinner James Massheder took 3-55.

Carlton climbed off the bottom of the table at Keighley’s expense as they edged a one-wicket win over Gomersal – their second win in succession.

Big-hitting Farrouk Alam smashed eight sixes in his 73 which was key to his side passing Gomersal’s total of 183.

Defeat was hard on Gomersal’s Daniel Syme who hit 66 and took 3-36.

There was a welcome win for Hartshead Moor as they cruised to a seven-wicket win over Pudsey Congs.

Their bowlers held the key to their success with Abhishek Paradkar (4-24), Dave McCallum (3-25) and Mohammad Shahnawaz (3-23) bowling out Pudsey Congs for 107.

Opener Jacob Slator (38) was the only batsman to resist for long.

Paradkar followed up his bowling efforts by making an unbeaten 33 to see his side home with 13.5 overs to spare.

It is tight at the top of Division Two with just one point separating leaders Buttershaw St Paul’s and second-place Sandal after both recorded commanding wins.

A third-wicket partnership of 138 between Jamie Robson (78) and Amer Ayub (74) helped St Paul’s to overcome the Scholes score of 222-9, which featured a stand of 156 for the fifth wicket between Saif Tahir (87) and Ali Rafiq (58).

Bowlers Sam Noden (4-44) and Lee Geldard (4-55) helped Sandal dismiss Bowling Old Lane for 181 before knocking off the runs for the loss of just three wickets, openers Danny Riley (61) and Karl Hewitt (52) leading the way.

Zeeshan Haider (47) and Imran Malik (45) were Old Lane’s top scorers.

Jer Lane, who are eight points further back with a game in hand, bowled out East Ardsley for just 63 on their way to a 10-wicket triumph.

Amjid Khan (6-14) and Ibrar Younis (3-41) set up the success with their effective new-ball bowling.

Northowram Fields’ challenge suffered a setback as they went down to a two-wicket defeat against Yeadon.

Only opener Ben Grech (39) made an impression as Northowram Fields were dismissed for 126, with Gulsheraz Ahmed (4-19) and Gareth Lee (3-19) impressing.

Muhammad Khan (46) helped Yeadon to reach their target despite the efforts of Sam Gardner (4-28) and Joe Hough (3-33).

There was no joy for the bottom two as Hunslet Nelson and Spen Victoria both suffered defeats.

Umar Abbas smashed an unbeaten 121 from just 75 balls as Hopton Mills scored 283-6 before dismissing Hunslet Nelson for 127 to complete a 156-run win.

Abbas built on the earlier work of Chris Scott (45) and Ashley Mackereth (40) by hitting 12 sixes and seven fours as 100 of his runs came in boundaries.

Nelson were in never in the hunt as they were dismissed for 127. Andrew McIntosh (35) top scored as Mackereth (4-18) and Michael Carroll (3-39) took the bowling honours.

A hard-hit 88 from Abid Awain plus half centuries from Bilal Ejaz (59) and Qasim Akbar (52) were not quite enough for Spen Victoria as they went down by five runs at Wakefield St Michael’s.

The visitors finished on 242-9 in response the St Michael’s total of 247-6, which featured a fine 112 not out from opener Qasar Hameed, as Awain picked up 4-69.

Crossflatts are the new leaders of Division Three after capitalising on Brighouse’s first defeat of the season.

The league newcomers defeated Crossbank Methodists by 46 runs and are now 12 points ahead of Brighouse, who lost by eight wickets against third-place Great Preston.

Opener Josh Brooksbank (62) top scored as Crossflatts posted 220-7 before dismissing their visitors for 174 with Mohammad Shahnawaz taking 6-68.

Arshad Jan (69) was the best of the Crossbank batsmen.

Callum Jordan (4-33) and Oli Baron (3-20) were the key figures as Great Preston bowled out Brighouse for 121, Mohammad Saqab top scoring with 58.

Oliver Newton (63no) and Baron (32) helped the visitors to an eight-wicket win.

Matthew Gibson scored 70 and took 5-45 for Liversedge but could not save his side from a one-wicket defeat by Adwalton.

Gibson and Alex Willis (59) put on 139 for the third wicket as Liversedge made 214. Tom Marshall (4-64) and Chris Priestley (3-40) posed the main threat.

Adwalton, who seem to be making a habit of winning tight games, achieved their latest success through the efforts of Matty Waller (77), Will Cutt (35) and Chris Curtis (34).

Mick O’Halloran took 5-45 as Gildersome & Farnley Hill bowled out Rodley for 116 on their way to a nine-wicket win.

Only Dan Turbitt (35) and Louis Stronach (32) offered resistance. Liam Pearson hit an unbeaten 62 to speed Gildersome & Farnley Hill to victory.

Altofts ended their dismal run by defeating Heckmondwike & Carlinghow by five wickets to climb off the bottom of the table and lift themselves up to ninth.

Alfie Oliver took 5-48 and Danny Eden (3-28) as Heckmondwike & Carlinghow were bowled out for 115. Liam Webb (30) helped Altofts to their target.

Windhill & Daisy Hill are now propping up the table after a 79-run at East Leeds, where they were bowled out for 68 in reply to the home side’s 147.

James Watling (4-12) and Kirti Tandel (3-19) sealed victory for East Leeds after Chris Cannings (47) and Zahid Tarvas (34) provided the bulk of their runs.

Byron Greenwood took 3-40 for Windhill & Daisy Hill.