The final issue of the 2023 Bradford Premier League season was resolved on Sunday when Gomersal were relegated to Division Two, after Baildon and Carlton secured the points they needed to escape the drop in their last game against one another.
Baildon, who went into the match needing one point for survival after a brilliant run of form, won the contest by five wickets and collected 18 points while Carlton, who required two to stay up, earned seven points.
The results catapulted Baildon up to sixth in the highly-competitive division while Carlton finished ninth with 219 points – five ahead of East Bierley (214), who ended up just a point above Gomersal.
Safety was secured for both sides when Carlton reached 150-2 on their wat to an eventual total of 236-7.
Rain led to Baildon being set a revised target of 222 in 44 overs and they were led to victory by skipper Kevin McDermott (65) and Will Kelly (32).
Baildon and Carlton had beaten East Bierley and Batley respectively 24 hours earlier to put themselves on the brink of survival.
Baildon’s win was by 34 runs, as McDermott (57), Stefan Mather (33no) and Miraj Khan (32) helped them to 238-6.
East Bierley were bowled out for 204 but the fourth bonus point they gained for passing 200 runs was enough to see them edge ahead of Gomersal and secure safety.
Umar Abbas was top scorer with 62 as Sam Kelly (4-47) and Jamin Barron-Toop (3-64) impressed with the ball.
Gomersal only had themselves to blame for going down alongside rock-bottom East Ardsley, losing by 26 runs to Sandal on Saturday.
And while East Ardsley’s relegation had been confirmed a while back, at least they bowed out with the comfort of a 27-run win over promoted Undercliffe.
And Cleckheaton skipper Richard Pyrah marked his retirement from cricket with a superb 160 not out as he steered his title-winning side to a five-wicket win over Yeadon.
Third place Morley finished on a winning note as they defeated Birstall by two wickets.
In Division Two, Bowling Old Lane blew their title hopes on the final day with a 57-run defeat to out of form Keighley, but will still be satisfied enough with promotion.
Old Lane had a meltdown in the final day heat as rivals Keighley piled up a total of 299 thanks to Ijaz Ahmed (74), Amjid Hussain (51), Simon Bailey (42) and Johandre Barnard (33).
Hazrat Abbas (4-52) and Muhammad Yasir (3-48) were the pick of the bowlers for Old Lane, who had 12 penalty runs awarded against them for their slow over rate.
Ahsan Alishan (51) and Abbas (43) tried to lift Old Lane’s spirits with the bat, but Keighley were not going to be denied. Daanyaal Ahmed (4-47), Hussain (3-52) and Bailey (3-76) shared the wickets.
That meant Hartshead Moor snatched the title instead with a crushing 159-run win over relegated Wrenthorpe.
Buttershaw St Paul’s completed their great escape from relegation with a three-wicket win over Crossflatts, who also survive in Division Two for another year.
Crossflatts were dismissed for 134 with Nadeem Safdar (34) and Josh Brooksbank (31) proving to be their top scorers as Mussawar Shah picked up 3-36.
Veteran Paul Carroll led St Paul’s to safety with a knock of 60 as Dominic Bennett (3-36) and Azhar Mehmood (3-46) proved to be the best of the Crossflatts bowlers.
Liversedge are relegated after just one season after a 230-run defeat against Northowram Fields on an afternoon they will want to forget.
Australian Harry Hauenstein (131no) and skipper John Lister (127) made centuries and there was also 92 from Richard Gould as Northowram Fields scored a mammoth 404-4.
Liversedge replied with 174-9 with Will Atkin making 48 not out, but they will drop into Division Three with Wrenthorpe after a miserable finish to the season.
Adam Greenwood made a century as Scholes compiled a total of 354-5 in their 240-run win over Crossbank Methodists which secured the Division Three title for them.
Greenwood struck 16 fours and was backed up by Christian Jackson (91) and Jamie Robson (78) as the Crossbank bowlers were made to suffer in the heat.
Crossbank were restricted to a score of 114 in reply as skipper Josh Fell took 3-25.
Scholes finished with 313 points, one ahead of Altofts who rounded off their campaign with a nine-wicket win over East Leeds.
Great Preston finished two points off the promotion places after a 125-run win over Gildersome & Farnley Hill.
Wakefield St Michael’s finished fourth after a six-wicket win over Adwalton, while Spen Victoria ended with a 64-run win over rock-bottom Brighouse.
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