METHLEY were the day’s big winners on a day when rain left its mark on the All Rounder Bradford Premier League programme.

The Premier Division’s bottom team defeated Townville by 33 runs to keep alive their hopes of a dramatic late escape from relegation.

The win over their old Central Yorkshire League rivals means they are now 17 points adrift of second-from-bottom Lightcliffe and 28 points from safety.

With five games to go there is still plenty of work to be done, but the win should provide them with a welcome boost for the final run-in.

The experienced Grant Soames played a huge role in the victory. He top scored with 60 as Methley made 199-8 when they batted first. Off spinner Harry Clewett (5-60) posed the main threat.

The Townville reply was dominated by their skipper Jack Hughes. He made 73 but lacked effective support as his side were dismissed for 166.

The only other one of the six top-flight games to see any action was at Bennett Lane where Hanging Heaton brought their losing streak to a halt with DLS win over Wrenthorpe.

Skipper Gary Fellows blasted 62 against his former club and shared an opening stand of 93 with Nick Connolly (41no), who had only stepped off a plane from Australia hours earlier after attending a family funeral.

Ben Kohler-Cadmore struck three sixes as he scored 25 runs from the final over of the rain-hit Hanging Heaton innings to finish unbeaten on 33 from 12 balls.

Hanging Heaton finished on 145-1 from 22 overs and Wrenthorpe found themselves facing an adjusted target of 189.

Opener James Glynn (52) top scored as Wrenthorpe made 149-7, left-arm spinner Callum Bethel taking 4-40. The results saw Hanging Heaton return to fourth place.

Meanwhile, in Championship One, play was only possible in three of the six scheduled fixtures and none of them had sufficient action to produce a positive result.

Leaders Batley looked as if they were on course for another win after Muhammad Shahnawaz (4-21) and Huzaifah Patel (3-24) had helped bowl out Baildon for just 86.

Batley were wobbling at 26-3 when play was finally called off but they did have the satisfaction of increasing their lead to 23 points with the eight they earned from the game.

Third-placed Morley reached 66-3 before the weather ended their clash with Wakefield St Michael’s while Ossett were 4-0 at Gomersal when rain had the final say.