ANDREW Tate was in top form as he won the Skipton and District League Hargreaves Ltd Merit title.

A disappointing field of 23 took part in the league’s major competition which was played on the green of newcomers Alkincoates PWA at Colne.

It proved to be an excellent venue and encouraged some fine bowling.

The preliminary round matches saw the departure of Les Foster 21-15 to Tate, David Jacques went out to team-mate Trevor Hargreaves 21-13 and Derek Seed was beaten 21-12 by Alister Keighley.

Peter Clark bowed out in the first round to last season’s winner Richard Hargreaves 21-15, and league president Alister Keighley lost 21-12 to Trevor Hargreaves.

The quarter-finals saw Keighley team-mates Chris Wilson and Len Buxton fight out a close match in which Wilson finally prevailed 21-19.

Warren Burnett jnr was doing well to lead Richard Hargreaves 13-12, but that was as good as it got, as Hargreaves ran out a 21-13 winner.

Tate showed title-winning form as he cruised to a 21-7 success against Trevor Hargreaves.

David Leeming recovered from 11-2 and 14-5 down to record a 2017 victory over Keith Moore.

There was an all-Keighley clash in the semi-finals with Chris Wilson hoping to stop holder Richard Hargreaves.

Three early doubles proved important for Hargreaves.

Wilson fought hard but was unable to stave off a 21-14 defeat.

Leeming could not stay with Tate in the other semi-final. Seven doubles for Tate helped him to a 21-9 triumph.

The final saw the best two players on the day take to the stage with the weather deteriorating.

It was a shame that many supporters made for home and missed a fine clash between Tate chasing his first title and Hargreaves looking to lift the trophy for the third time.

It was close through the first ten ends as Hargreaves edged ahead 7-6.

Tate responded to lead 11-8 by scoring points along the green edge, but Hargreaves recovered and put in a good run to lead 16-12 after 21 ends.

Tate had to stop his opponent’s momentum and he did that with a run over the corners to lead 18-16.

The turning point came then Hargreaves was on for one and looked to make it two. Unfortunately, he clipped the jack onto Tate’s wood.

Hargreaves did get two more but Tate closed out a 21-18 win.

The Dick Keighley Cup will take place this Sunday at Silsden Playing Fields (1pm). There are 16 entries at present.

The JACS Merit League One saw Keighley A close the gap on leaders Colne Cricket Club to four points with an 11-1 win at home to Silsden.

Colne Cricket Club went down at Crosshills A 7-5 while Cononley A kept in the title race with an 8-4 win at Gargrave A, leaving them just three points behind Keighley A.

The relegation tussle is tight. Sutton A claimed a good 9-3 win over Devon A, while Broughton Road A won the battle of the bottom two with a 7-5 home win over Settle A who remain just two points above them.

Division Two leaders Colne Legion A suffered only their second loss when going down 8-4 at struggling Devon B. Silsden P F A won 7-5 at Steeton A to move within two points of the leaders.

The top two have now gained promotion so it is a fight for the top spot with three games to go.

Cononley B look doomed to relegation, but who goes down with them is now very tight with Devon B 77, Gargrave B 78 and Steeton A 79 all in the mix.

The top three in Division Three all had good results, Rolls Royce won 9-3 at Grassington, Whinfield triumphed 10-2 at home against Lund Park B, while Keighley B came out on top 9-3 at Addingham.

With Fourth Division leaders Craven having their game postponed, Steeton B did their best to close the gap with a 9-1 win at home to Crosshills C.

Steeton B are still 14 points behind Craven but they have a game in hand, Crosshills C are third with 101 points.

This week is the last chance to enter a team in the Floodlight League. Clubs should contact Peter Haworth.