THORNTON only require 10 points to secure their second successive championship in the ENCO Halifax League Premier Division.
They travelled to Triangle and secured maximum points via a seven-wicket win in a match that produced just shy of 500 runs.
Triangle made 245, with No 9 Tom Belfield (52), opener Adam Stocks (43) and Grant Soames (4-86) the principle performers.
Thornton’s batting heavyweights then used the ground’s small boundaries to perfection as Joshua Hutchinson (72no), Grant Soames (67), Max Rawson (52) and Nikki Hutchinson (50no) combined in a winning 249-3, with the Hutchinsons adding an unbeaten 122.
The Laycocks too were on top form for second-placed Booth as the visiting Shelf Northowram Hedge Top bowling attack were plundered for 305-7.
Robert hit 105, while Richard scored 84 as they shared a fourth-wicket partnership worth 171.
Hedge Top’s reply got off to a dreadful start, with the first six wickets falling for a miserly 10.
The lower order gained some respectability, including No 9 Sam Dimbleby, whose 48 not out at least took the score into triple figures, eventually being dismissed for 110 as James Morgan took 6-29.
Fear of relegation sometimes causes players to pull their fingers out, and that was certainly the case with Sowerby Bridge, who defeated visitors Oxenhope by five wickets.
Only five points ahead of Bradshaw, who also won at cellar dwellers Luddendenfoot, Bridge were inspired as they restricted the visitors to 169, with Harris Rowlett (49) and Will Rankin (46) top scoring as Jaganathan Prabu (4-7) prevented any wagging of the tail.
The Bridge’s Hasan Jamil (62) and Sam Mellor (48) then both found the form that their top order had been lacking of late, and won by five wickets in the 41st over.
The clash of the top two in the First Division at Clayton, where Upper Hopton visited, went the way of the home team and, with Great Horton Park Chapel winning with ease at Mytholmroyd, the championship and promotion battle concertinaed.
The points for the top three teams now reads Upper Hopton 183, Clayton 181 and Great Horton 173, with just two matches each remaining.
At The Avenue, Clayton were inserted by Hopton and runs were hard to come by.
Only two batters topped 30 as their 45-over total reached 169-9.
However, it proved more than enough as Hopton, having reached 69-2, imploded as their remaining eight wickets fell for only 47, with Mitesh Mistry taking 5-49.
There was an early finish at Mytholmroyd, where Park Chapel remained in the promotion race with a ten-wicket win.
The Royd could only muster 84 as Zafar Anwar (6-13) and Daniel Gill (4-56) provided the killer blows.
Adam Beesley (41no) and Ryan Frankland-Martin (37no) then required only 87 balls to reach 85-0.
At The Trinity Oval, bottom-of-the-table Augustinians were easily defeated by Low Moor Holy Trinity, losing by eight wickets, and they are almost certain to be playing in the Second Division next season.
Batting first, the visitors could only just top three figures as they were bowled out for 109, with Matthew Jordan taking 7-44 - his best performance since 2019.
Ryan Williamson, with 64 not out, led the Trinity reply as a winning 113-2 was reached in the 25th over.
In the Second Division. Oakworth moved within a point of leaders Sowerby St Peter’s, who surprisingly lost at home to next-to-bottom Bradley & Colnebridge by six runs.
Oakworth won at home to Southowram to leave the destination of the championship on a knife-edge.
The hosts batted first and posted 183-9, with Joel Gallagher (70) and Jake Keslinke (52) scoring the bulk of the runs as Ian Gledhill took 4-38.
The Rams fell 23 runs short as they were bowled out for 160, with only Abshar Hussain (48) passing the forty mark, Keslinke taking 4-13.
Queensbury enjoyed an excellent batting performance against visiting Outlane as Oliver Challis (69), Bradley Gerrard-Harrison (58) and Will Mackay (41) top-scored in a total of 250.
Despite the run bonanza, two bowlers, Joshua Wrigley (5-71) and Finley Townsend (4-40) turned in worthwhile efforts.
Not so their team’s batting effort, however, as they only managed 74, with the innings lasting less than 24 overs.
Lee Mellor (37no) scored half of the total with Khalid Mahmood (5-21) the chief wicket-taker.
Mount recorded a maximum-points win on their visit to Old Town, triumphing by 78 runs.
Batting first, the visitors hit a challenging 282-4, No 3 Mahmadbhai Makda hitting 114 not out and adding 76 for the second wicket with Nazir Patel (41) and 124 for the third with keeper Anees Rawat (55) before captain Ismail Mayat put on 63 unbroken with Makda.
The hosts could only reach 204 in return, with Yusuf Patel taking 3-20 and Makda 4-32.
Stones, sent in by visitors Cullingworth, made 241-6, Phil Poole Jnr taking 4-29.
Cullingworth replied with 202-6, with keeper Michael Dennison (52), Elliot Robinson (48) and Bilal Khalid (46) in the runs as the game was drawn.
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