A nerve-jangling day saw the final pieces of the Aire-Wharfe League promotion and relegation jigsaw put in place – but not without a few shocks and unforeseen twists.

Ben Rhydding were already sure of promotion from DIVISION THREE and only needed a point at lowly Bardsey to secure the title. But perhaps they relaxed too much and, having only managed to set a target of 155-8, went down to their third defeat of the season.

Ilkley, who had missed out by five points a year before, needed to beat Skipton and hope Menston slipped up in order to take the second promotion spot.

As so often this season, they dominated the game – Alex Bailey (47) and Rory Kroon (37) taking them to 212-8 and then Richard Harrison (6-37) and Andrew Wheeler (4-26) skittling out Skipton for 88.

So it was all down to Menston’s encounter with fourth-placed Colton.

With Charlie Dracup (3-59) and Ben Purvis (5-45) in good form, they managed to bowl out the visitors for 176.

John Storey then chose the perfect time to hit his first century of the season as Menston got home by five wickets, not only ensuring promotion but edging out Ben Rhydding for top spot.

Silsden were already confirmed as one of the clubs to drop out of DIVISION TWO but three clubs still had a battle on their hands to make sure they did not join them.

Knaresborough had something of a roller-coaster ride before they secured the two points they needed to be safe, seeing Upper Wharfedale recover from 72-8 to a modest 134-8 and then making a good start before struggling and finally hanging on with just two wickets in hand.

A half-century from Grant McDonald (59no) as Steeton reached 179-6 did nothing to calm Calverley nerves and, with Gary Boulton (4-39) and Jonathan Best (3-47) bowling tight, they never looked likely to win. But Imran Mirza (40) and a stubborn 32 not out from Zarshad Khan saw them to 138-9 and two points.

That meant Illingworth had to win against Tong Park-Esholt and they managed to take nine of the visitors’ wickets but the last pair saw out the final over and sent their opponents down.

There was similar tension at the bottom of DIVISION ONE, where Adel – who had been in the bottom two since June 5 – produced a stunning win over runners-up Beckwithshaw.

That made the game between Rawdon and Pool crucial and, having stumbled so often this season, Rawdon found their best form at just the right time.

Stewart Smith (137) and Jamie Pickering (69no) put on 137 for the third wicket as Rawdon set a formidable target of 249-3. And with Stuart Dobson (4-37) and Andrew Doidge (3-44) giving away nothing, Pool could only stumble to 115-8 and relegation.

Elsewhere, newly-crowned champions Burley slipped up against third-placed Green Lane despite Shane Etherington (5-65) and Jason Wright (5-14) bowling out the visitors for 173, of which Ishtikhar Hussain hit a half-century. Richard Brook replied with 46 but found little support and Lane won by 19 runs.

Adam Waite (106) was star of the show as Guiseley beat Kirkstall Educational by four wickets, while Matt O’Grady (71), Andrew Rhodes (53) and John Brough (7-66) made the telling contributions as Otley scraped past Collingham by two runs.

Mahir Ali ended a successful first season in the top flight for Thackley with a half-century in a winning draw over North Leeds.

In DIVISION TWO, Olicanian lost to champions Follifoot and Silsden went down by five wickets at runners-up Bilton.

Harden refound the form that almost earned promotion, James Roper (70) and Jeremy Batty (84) guiding them to 243-8 before Phil Leng (5-59) helped dismiss Bolton Villas for 144.

Having finished last season rock bottom with just 11 points, Addingham underlined their vast improvement with a DIVISION THREE win over Horsforth.

Andrew Robinson (59) took his tally to 215 runs in the last three games as Horsforth reached 127-6, in which Richard Hey took 4-36.

Robinson then picked up four wickets but could not prevent Addingham getting home with two wickets in hand, Neil Freeman top-scoring with 36 not out.