Skipton collected their second six-pointer in two weeks with a comprehensive six wicket win over Horsforth.

Skipper Rob Walker started the day well winning the toss and inserting Horsforth.

It looked to be an excellent decision and Richard Walker struck in the second over bowling opener Graves.

Next man in was Horsforth's Aussie overseas player Zak Keune.

He immediately looked at home on a wicket playing well, and supported by his captain Binks, they began to push the score with Keune punishing anything short.

Mahmood and Walker were removed from the attack and it was down to the spinners Fergie and Summergill to bowl the lion’s share of the overs.

Runs became harder to come by with some excellent bowling by both bowlers but Horsforth moved serenely to 107-1 at drinks.

However three overs later it was Summersgill who struck trapping Binks lbw for 44.

Keune continued to bat well using the full depth of his crease to good effect.

Unfortunately for him there appeared to be little support at the other end.

Fergie bowled Stephens for three to leave Horsforth 143-4 and then Mahmood brought about a run out with a direct hit.

Pullan was quickly caught off the bowling off Summersgill to make the score 159-6.

Keune reached his hundred with a hit through midwicket before being next man to fall for an excellent 111. The Horsforth batters were now looking to score quickly and agricultural boundaries were mixed with a steady fall of wickets.

A quickfire 26 from Lewis managed to push the score to 238-9 after the allotted overs.

It looked a reasonable score on an excellent wicket but the Skipton openers Kevin Owens and Stephen Carling set about the chase with aplomb.

Some short bowling led to early boundaries with Skipton reaching 55-0 after 10 overs.

Runs came quickly to Carling as he too punished anything short and he moved quickly to his fifth half century of the season.

It wasn’t until the 23rd over with the score on 126 that the first wicket fell. Owens was caught on the boundary off the bowling of Stephens.

Carling followed in the same over caught behind and Skipton were 126-2.

When Keir Nelson departed soon after there was some concern until Azhar Mahmood and skipper Walker took charge of the situation.

Mahmood made 36 and after he departed a flurry of boundaries from Walker sealed the win that took Skipton up to fifth place.

Skipton and play host to the fourth placed Colton this weekend.

The second team suffered an eight-wicket loss against Silsden. Sam Baldwin’s 62no dominated Skipton’s total of 133 A wicket each for Mukherjee and Smith proved a small consolation as Silsden strolled home in 35.3 overs.

Upper Wharfedale kept pace with the Division Two leaders with a dominant winning draw over newly-promoted Bolton Villas.

The Greens were rarely troubled throughout the day with the biggest concern proving to be finishing in time for a certain football match.

On a pitch that looked extremely seamer friendly, Wharfedale were asked to bat, a decision that was vindicated when both opening batsmen were removed after some accurate swing bowling.

However a strong middle order stood up to the challenge presented by the Bolton Villas openers and as the deck started to flatten out a large score loomed for the Greens.

Overseas player Cam Taylor tucked in to a few ‘buffet overs’ – one in particular going for 24.

Taylor was ably assisted by contributions all the way down the batting card, with Foulds, Starkey (30) and Pearson all scoring at a good rate.

Taylor fell for a well made 80, and left the field to deserved applause from both sides This brought Dan Russell to the crease, who is fast becoming the Michael Hussey of this Wharfedale side, finishing with a flourish and adding 30 runs to a decent total.

A score of 233-8 represented a solid first half, however with the pitch seemingly batsmen friendly, the Greens knew they could not afford to relax their grip on the match.

Luckily – a word that hasn't gone hand in hand with Stephen Pearson this season – Wharfedale’s left arm quick started to find the edges he had been beating all season.

Wickets fell at regular intervals and the combination of Pearson the bowler and Starkey at first slip seemed destined to take all 10 of Bolton Villas wickets!

Unfortunately this wasn’t the case, and after only 10 overs the visitors decided they were playing for 1 solitary point, making for some dull cricket at times.

The Wharfedale bowlers, backed up by top-class fielding – notably from Starkey, who took a stunning one handed catch at slip off the bowling of Baines – tried desperately to find the remaining wickets but it was not to be.

Bolton Villas finished eight wickets down and nearly 100 runs short and the Greens marched off the field with their heads held high, knowing they had dominated the match from the outset