As the halfway point of the Mewies Solicitors Craven & District League season has been reached, all the divisions look to have some mouthwatering scraps to come in the second half.

Two of the joint leaders in Division One, Cullingworth and Crossflatts locked horns at Roydwood Terrace and produced a tense tie.

Opener Liam Sumpter made 66 as the homesters posted 180. Fiaz Akram took 6-54 and James O’Hara 4-34. The visitors reply was led by Mick Brooksbank (53) and Mohammed Adil (52) and they closed on 180-8 as Chris Welch took 4-46.

Bradley, the other joint leaders, took advantage of the tie to beat Bingley Congs and move top.

After an opening stand of 98 by Andrew Copping (46 and) Neil Copping (63), the Beckfoot Lane side failed to get to grips with the guile of James Heseltine.

He finished with 6-60 off 14 overs to go with Matt Simpson’s 4-57 as the innings closed on 167. The visitors opened with 82 and saun-tered home by seven wickets in the 37th over to send out a clear message that they mean business.

There was another tie when fourth-placed Haworth Road en-tertained fifth-placed Oakworth.

Charlie Hainsworth (62) and Mansha Khan (53) saw the home side to 229 as youngster Jack Davison claimed 5-98.

The Cure Hill side, led by Jack Hainsworth (67) and Drew Duffey (51), also made 229 as Andy Gudgeon spun his way to 4-73.

Haworth made a challenging 194-7 at home to Embsay, with Anthony Godden (59), Jamie Rowell (40) and Peter Gower (39) the main contributors as Stephen Speak returned 4-70 off 16 overs.

The Shires Laners had two early setbacks before skipper Duncan Ward and Haroon Ali (47) took the score to 106-3.

This became 133-6 before Ben Keane joined Ward, who went on to finish with 101, hitting the third ball of the 44th over for six to reach his century and take the points. Jamie Rowell (3-65) was the best bowler.

Cowling eased their position as they cruised past Ingrow by five wickets. Going first, the Hainworth side made 184 on the back of 49 from Adie Parker and 48no by Mark Price. S Hassan, the fifth bowler used finished with 7-29 off 9.2 overs.

Mike Dudley (68) and Ben Thurston put on 117 for the second wicket and reached their target in the 42nd over.

Bottom side Cononley won their first game of the season when they entertained and beat fellow strugglers Glusburn by 111 runs.

The hosts opened with 85 for the first wicket when Freddie Pearson went for 54. Herbie Starkey made 39 and Matt Hagyard 27 to push the score to an impressive 236-8, James Yeadon and Richard Golson taking three wickets each.

Only Ian Beattie (53) offered much resistance as the Park Field side were dismissed for a disappointing 125. Pearson finished with 3-19 off five overs and Jonathan Smith 2-11 off three overs.

Thornton stay top of Division Two, although Foulridge made them work hard for the points at Booth Bridge Lane.

The Noyna side had three batsmen dismissed on 32 as John Lickess top-scored with 66 in an innings of 193. Rob Foster was the most successful bowler with 4-33.

In the reply, Dan Oldfield made 48 and David Scothern 44no to guide the home side to the spoils by two wickets in the 41st over.

Second-placed Barrowford entertained neighbours Pendle Forest and sent them back to Fence beaten by 51 runs.

Liam Roberts (71) was the backbone of the Bull Holme side’s 204-7. The visitors were dismissed for 153, with Kevin Lyons scoring 50 as A Roberts took 4-32 and Dan Jones 3-49.

Third-placed Chatburn retain their position, despite going down by 58 runs at Riddlesden. The homesters made 169, with Rishabh Jain making 50 as M Eglin claimed 4-24.

The Ribble Valley side were under the cosh from the word go and struggled to 111 after being 65-8. I Shah was at his best, taking 5-11 off 15 overs and J Halliday finished with 3-50 off 16 overs.

Wilsden and Sandy Lane are joint fourth. The former lost at home to Sutton by 14 runs.

The visitors recovered from 46-5 thanks to Andy Kay (70) and Justin Holdsworth (66) putting on 111 for the sixth wicket. The innings closed on 212. The Windy Grove side were similarly placed at 11-3.

Then Tom Peirson (61) and Steve Wright (47) put on 106 for the fourth wicket but, despite 36no from D Mistry, they closed on 198-8, Holdsworth rounding off a good day by bowling through and taking 3-76.

Sandy Lane also enjoyed a close contest before winning by 13 runs against Ingrow St John’s.

Gargrave and Airedale continue to share top spot in Division Three. The former were at Glusburn II and it appeared that the game was a Twenty20.

The home side made 110 in 23 overs and the visitors took 16 overs to pass that for the loss of five wickets. Tom Cowburn was the star for the visitors, taking 7-42.

Airedale were at Eldwick & Gilstead and rattled up 206-7 with Paul Feather scoring 62no and Imran Zaman 60. The Dick Hudsons side were knocked over for 81 (Joe Milner 5-18, Nadeem Zaman 4-20).

That defeat for Eldwick & Gil-stead allows Embsay II to jump over them after a 27-run victory against Haworth Road II.

The highlight of the home side’s 243-5 was a super knock of 118 by Nas Hussein – his maiden century. The Baildon Bottom side replied with a creditable 216, of which Richard Butterfield made 52 as father and son Simon and Joe Holt spun their side to the points with 4-77 and 4-72 respectively.

Denholme entertained Skipton CI and it was the Sandylands side that came away with the spoils by five wickets.

Cononley II travelled to Ingrow St John’s II and, made a modest 125, with Joel Grainger making 45 as A Khalid took 5-33. The Saints reply was successful by two wickets with Mudasser Hussain making 45 as Scott Brook 3-29.

Crossflatts II clung to the top of Division Four, winning by two wickets at home to Sandy Lane II.

Meanwhile Cullingworth II were flexing their muscles at Pendle Forest II.

The visitors’ skipper George Fletcher hit a superb 139no to lead his side to 277-6. The Fence side could only manage 152 in reply.

Barrowford II had Bradley II toil-ing in the sun at the Playing Fields. The Bull Holme side smashed 353-3, with N Ahmed hitting a magnificent 175no to go with Ajmal Choudhry’s 128.

The home side got some batting practice and replied with 223-7, with Guy Andrews making 54, Jack Price 40 and Matthew Price 36.

Ingrow II are fourth after handing a ten-wicket beating to nine-man Sutton II. The Royd Mill side were restricted to 61, M Casey taking 5-22 and B Pursey 3-34.

Division Five leaders Little Marsden reached a landmark as they completed one calendar year without defeat. In that time they have won 21 of their matches.

They travelled to Penistone Park and restricted Haworth WE II to 121. Opener D Walsh made 36 as Tony Stafford took 5-8 off four overs. In the reply, W Sohail (53no) and A Ahmed (41no) rescued their side from 50-5 with an undefeated partnership of 74.

Thornton II are seven points adrift in second spot. They travelled to Skipton CI II and rattled up 171 with Mark Procter making 54 and Mick Foster 34. Paul Smith was the best bowler with 6-69 off 18.1 overs. The Sandylanders were restricted to 157-6 in their overs with Bruce Woodhouse and David Suter snr both scoring 35.

Haworth II are third after winning a low scoring game at Pendle Forest III by two wickets. Seasoned campaigners Dave Walsh 6-26 and Derek Bright 4-25 had the homesters back in the hut for 54 with only A Arhaz 24 scoring double figures.

The Bronte side faired a little better although at one time they were 26-6 before a timely 24 from Craig Ogden helped them to the points as N Ahmed took 4-15 off seven overs.

Bingley Congs II journey over the border proved to be fruitful as they beat Foulridge by eight wickets, Dan Baines (4-48) and Tony Teale (67) being the main contributors.

Joel Barnett (5-27) and Giles Wilmore (3-31) hustled visitors Bradford & Bingley III out for 82. The homesters also found batting hard as they struggled home by three wickets.

Eldwick & Gilstead II were restricted to 138 on their visit to Gargrave. However, this was enough as the homesters were dismissed for 100.

Finally Denholme II rattled up 223 at Oakworth III with Callum Gerard hitting a fine 104. The Cure Hill side replied with 160 with Graham Fothergill making 73 as A Gerard took 4-29 and J Wilkinson 3-27