With the season halfway through, Cononley A are well on their way to retaining the Skipton Bowling Association's Walker Foster First Division title.

They have 140 points from 15 games, averaging 9.33 points per game, and lead Keighley A in second by 20 points.

The regulation home win (11-1 over Lund Park A) started Cononley A’s week, but a visit to bottom team Colne Legion A saw a near collapse with six losses in the first eight games.

However, the last two winners pulled it out of the fire with Tony Finn triumphing 21-5 to secure the aggregate and a 6-6 draw.

Keighley A (120 points) stay in second with a 10-2 home win over Settle A and a 7-5 triumph at Lund Park A.

Sutton A (117) had a better week with an 8-4 win at Silsden PF A, then a 11-1 success against their B team to close the gap on Keighley A.

Craven A (109), Cross Hills A (107), Silsden PF A (107) and Devon A (105) are separated by just four points.

Teams at the bottom are picking up points, so plenty of teams are looking at the relegation places.

Colne Legion A (54) picked up nine points this week, while Silsden PF B (58) picked up eight and move above Sutton B (56). Lund Park A (64) and Steeton A (65) are not a long way clear.

At the top of Skipton Glass Division Two, Oxenhope and Gargrave B are both going well.

Oxenhope (134 points) are making their green – new to the league – a good home advantage, and they certainly put it to good use against third-placed Devon B, an 11-1 win following a 9-3 victory at Sutton C.

Gargrave A (124) are also pushing hard to return to Division One, 9-3 wins at Lund Park B and at home to Oxenhope putting them clear of Devon B (110).

Keighley B (109) and Oakworth (107) are also looking for third place but, as always in Division Two, the rest are never separated by much.

Rolls Royce (91) are in sixth, just 16 points clear of Cononley B (75), who are third from bottom.

Whinfield B (49) followed their first win with an even better 9-3 home triumph over Cononley B, and then got four points against Whinfield A.

They are still well behind Sutton C (70) but it is good for them to win a couple of games.

Craven B (131) are really doing well at holding back Settle B (105) at the top of the Skipton Glass Third Division, although Settle B have three games in hand.

The leaders are now 26 points in front after wins at Devon C (8-4) and at home to Whinfield C (11-1).

Settle B had just one game and went down to a 7-5 defeat at Silsden PF C.

Keighley C (92) hold third place after losing 7-5 at Lund Park C, but made amends with a good 11-1 win at home to Gargrave B.

Lund Park C (89) and Silsden PF C (82) are fourth and fifth, while Whin-field C (42) and Broughton Road C (50) fill the last two places.

Skipton & District Ladies travelled to Scarborough to take part in the Yorkshire Ladies’ Inter-District Tournament.

In a round-robin group of three teams at North Cliff, Skipton had comfortable wins against Bradford and Aire-Wharfe to put them into the semi-final, where they would meet Leeds at Eastfield.

Skipton were in fine form as they swept Leeds aside with ten winners.

The final was at Hunmanby against favourites Huddersfield Ladies.

Skipton got off to a good start, three winners in the first five giving them a good lead.

But a couple of games slipped away after good leads were relinquished and, with only one more Skipton winner, the match went the way of Huddersfield by three points.

Nevertheless, it was a great effort by Skipton, who were very disappointed not to win the title.

The Inter-District Veterans continued their good run against Bradford.

The home side had a shaky start but then came good to finish with six winners, Colin Wortley and Lewis Hubbock top-scoring to give them a 21-7 win.

The away side were at Oakenshaw and the selectors were on top form as both Trevor Hargreaves and Alan Pennington won, along with Tony ‘Bomber’ Harris.

They helped the team to a 12-16 defeat, giving a final result of 33-23 to Skipton.

The next match is against top side Huddersfield on Friday, July 2 (1.30pm start), with the home leg at Devon. A good home crowd would really help the side.

In last week's report on the Veterans' Handicap, I must apologise for an error.

I put the wrong Grassington Pat in the final. It is Pat Clarke who reached the final not Pat Metcalfe. The green for the final will be decided at this weekend's executive meeting.

Saturday is Yorkshire team competition day, In the Yorkshire Cup, Cononley take on Linthwaite C&BC at Sowerby Bridge Hillcrest.

Cross Roads take on Eccleshill at Elland C&BC. With David Cadwallader getting married, four games have already been played and Cross Roads are one point behind.

In the Eric Hutchinson Trophy, Craven travel to Outwood BC to take on Drighlington Park, while Settle look to have a tough match against Asa Briggs A at Valley Ridge BC, Leeds.

The final team involved are Whinfield, who are in the Derrick Radley Trophy, and are looking like having to play their first game against Jackson Bridge at a cracking venue Ossett Flying Horse.

The League Handicap final takes place this Friday at Cross Hills Bowling Club with a 6.30pm start.

The eight finalists are; Maurice Haley (5) Steeton, Steve Morris (4) Keighley, Graham Reay (scr) Cononley, Len Buxton (2) Keighley, Stuart Myers (1) Cononley, Roy Sanderson (4) Oakworth, Chris Wilson (2) Keighley and Trevor Hargreaves (1) Keighley.

On Sunday, the Hills Supllies final is at Brockholes BC, Huddersfield, and good luck to our two finalists Alan Thornber and Martyn Cox. Both are in the second half with a noon arrival time.

JACS League Merit entries must be in this Saturday.