THORNTON were responsible for a change at the top of the Halifax League Premier Division.

They had leaders Illingworth St Mary’s in early bother after the visitors chose to bat, losing their first five wickets for 66.

Bradley Weatherhead was Thornton’s chief weapon, removing four of their top five in nine overs on his way to 5-52 from 14.

No St Mary’s batter reached 20 in their 103, and Thornton required less than 29 overs to gain maximum points, losing five wickets in the process as Copley went top by defeating Sowerby Bridge.

Ricky Hassell (49) top-scored for Great Horton Park Chapel at Luddendenfoot, but the batters following him struggled to deal with a five-pronged home attack in which Connor McGow took 4-41.

The Foot made batting look easy in their innings as they cruised to 12 points with 158-2 in only the 31st over, with Jacob Whitehouse (76no) and Isaac Baldwin (44) leading the way in a clash of promoted teams.

In the First Division, Blackley stormed to the top with a 10-wicket win at Lindley Road over fellow relegated team, Shelf Northowram HT.

The visitors could only manage 106 in the face of a fearsome foursome bowling attack which shared all 10 wickets before Sam Mindham (69no) and Ibbi Mir (28no) took just 14 overs to reach 108-0.

Sowerby St Peter’s surprisingly went down by 10 runs at home to Oxenhope and slipped to second.

The Keighley visitors were bowled out for 152 in less than 40 overs, and a home victory looked the favourite result.

However, a superb set of five bowlers tied down the Sowerby batters with fine economy rates and, despite Hayden Bruce scoring 56 not out, he could not get his team over the line.

Low Moor Holy Trinity moved to within a point in third place as Andrew Pinfield (79) and James Overend (26) enjoyed their team’s best opening partnership for some time as they put on 95 at Queensbury.

It laid the foundation for three other batters to add good scores, with Dan Robinson (52) to the fore as 45 overs brought 242-6, with Gareth Walker, the fifth bowler used, taking 4-56.

The hosts, in reply, were bowled out for 218. The majority of their runs came from Steven Priestley (88) and Oliver Challis (84), who forged a third-wicket partnership of 176.

An abacus was not required to work out that the remaining nine batters simply failed to support their two team-mates as they could manage only 36 between them, Stuart Fenton recording 4-16.

Connor Ambler (56) and skipper Joseph Brown (40) led the scoring for hosts Clayton against Greetland, and other batters chipped in to post a 45-over score of 191-7.

Greetland took it to the wire before gaining a one-wicket victory as they passed the target at 195-9 in the 43rd over.

Opener Zafar Khan hit 49 before Muhammad Asif held the middle order together with 42 not out and ensured the win, despite the efforts of Adnaan Shafique (4-39) and Paul Gelder (4-44).

In the Second Division, leaders Mount continued their 100 per cent start to the campaign and now lead the table by eight points from Southowram.

Mount’s fourth win of the season, at Outlane, was a product of their middle order which, not for the first time, was their strength as Mahmadbhai Makda (57no), Mahmad Kayat (51) and Anees Rawat (40) top-scored in a total of 258-8.

The home team made a valiant attempt chasing and only failed by 24 runs.

Andy Holding (59) led the scoring and it just needed one of three other batters, out in the thirties, to stay that little bit longer and a final score of 234 could have been better.

Jack Stephenson hammered 78 not out at exactly a run-a-ball for Upper Hopton as they made the short trip to Bradley & Colnebridge, and with three other batters making significant scores, a total of 212-6 was posted.

When the B&C reply stood at 19-6 in the face of some hostile bowling from Matthew Broadbent (7-27), it was only a matter of time before the end came, and the 23rd over saw a final score of 79, Broadbent’s figures being the best of his career.

Cullingworth were one of only a few teams to insert their opponents on a sunny afternoon, doing so at Leymoor.

It proved a smart move as the hosts were dismissed for 124, with James Bloodworth (4-32) in the wickets again.

However, the visitors too struggled with the bat and with their score at 46-6, a rare Leymoor win looked possible.

To the rescue for Cullingworth came numbers eight and nine in Graham Rankin (45) and Bloodworth (34no) as they staggered over the winning line at 126-8.