PERHAPS fittingly, in view of all the hard work that their organisers had put in, Skipton under-13s won their age group in Upper Airedale Junior Association's festival that was jointly staged by Skipton and Skipton Church Institute.

The under-13s played on the Lord's and The Oval pitches, and things started well there for Upper Wharfedale, who upset Oakworth, thanks almost single-handedly to Henry James, who scored 42 in a total of 43.

However, Earby defeated them next up in a high-scoring encounter to leave Wharfedale level on on six points with Oakworth, with Earby leading the way on nine.

But Wharfedale then lost to Cullingworth to scupper their final chances, with Earby finishing first.

Matches at The Oval boiled down to a battle between Skipton, who had an early tie against Oakworth B, and Steeton, who defeated Oxenhope, Embsay and Oakworth B.

Skipton posted 53 but the loss of four wickets curtailed Steeton's reply and they finished seven runs short.

The final was also a cracker, with Earby's 50 just proving insufficient to overhaul Skipton's 56.

Skipton CI had pitches called 'Headingley' and 'Old Trafford' for the under-11s, with Steeton (Group One) and Upper Wharfedale B (Group Two) notching early wins.

Steeton then gained a crucial victory over Earby by four runs (61-57), while Wharfedale finished on the wrong end of a 68-61 defeat against Oakworth, who thus met Steeton in the final.

Oakworth, thanks to Subhaan Ahmed and Lewis Brown, made a daunting 68-0, but Steeton could only reply with 55-2, making Oakworth winners a year after they had lost in the final.

The under-nines played on two Flicx (plastic) pitches called 'Edgbaston' and 'Trent Bridge', and Oxenhope and Skipton each ended in third place in their groups as Oakworth faced Cullingworth in the final, with the latter winning by 28 runs.