Broughton Road Bowling Club will be the venue on Monday, August 9 for this season’s Slater Arms Clarkson Cup final, which will be between Skipton Devonshire A and Silsden Playing Fields A.

Silsden Playing Fields A put up a good performance at Cross Hills to beat Colne Cricket Club in a very one-sided semi-final this week.

Silsden had five points handicap start but that never came into play as they had eight winners, with Nigel Breadley (21-7), Bob Jeffries (21-11) and skipper Alan Pennington (21-12) leading the way to a final score of 239-189.

The other semi-final at Cononley, where Devon A received 15 points start from Keighley A, proved much closer.

Devon’s advantage soon went as Richard Hargreaves produced a bit of wizardry to win 21-6 but Peter Clark pulled points back for Devon with a 21-11 win.

However, two more wins for Keighley A had them just two points behind, and a 21-8 win for Steve Morris put them back in front.

Devon’s other middle order did well with wins for Nick Squires (21-12) and Craig Carpenter (21-11), and Richard Baker fought back well to go down just 21-20 to Len Buxton.

Steven Lofthouse then completed Devon’s night with a 21-7 win, leaving Trevor Hargreaves’ 21-10 win too late in a final score of 192-182.

With only one league match last week, there was no lack of action, with some big surprises.

Foster Walker Division One leaders Cononley A (202 points) travelled to Craven A (159), and found the hosts in top form, Craven A notch-ing an 8-4 victory, led by Robbie Ellis junior’s 21-8 win.

Keighley A (177) got a good 8-4 win at Colne Cricket (130), while Sutton A (166) recovered from the first three losers against Devon A (156) to win 9-3.

Best results went to Cross Hills A (153) and Silsden PF A (153), who both won away 10-2 – at Silsden PF B and Broughton Road A respectively.

The position at the bottom changes every game. Silsden PF B’s (87) defeat means they dropped back to bottom.

Colne Legion A (89) lost at home to Silsden (129) 8-4, while Steeton A (96) defeated Sutton B (91) 9-3 to move up to fourth from bottom. Lund Park A (112) produced a good 11-1 win against Settle A (104).

Oxenhope (198) continue to stretch clear at the top of Skipton Glass Division Two as they won 12-0 at Addingham A (100), but Gargrave A (165), with just one win in four games, have slipped into a fight for second place as they lost 10-2 at Keighley B (164), who moved into third place.

Fourth-placed Oakworth (162) won 7-5 at home to Lund Park B (116), and Devon B (159) stay fifth after a 11-1 home win against Sutton B (98).

That defeat kept Sutton in trouble as they fill the relegation places with Whinfield B (75).

In Skipton Building Society Division Three, now-promoted Craven B (176) fell foul of the weather as their game at Steeton B (101) was postponed.

They remain 14 points ahead of Settle B (162), who had two games, winning 9-3 at home to Addingham B (103) but coming unstuck at Devon C (112) 9-3.

However, they remain on course for promotion as Silsden PF C (132) had no game and Lund Park C’s (130) 8-4 win at Gargrave B (96) means they remain in third and fourth places.

Broughton Road C (65) also had their match at Keighley C (120) postponed, while Whinfield C (65) picked up four points at Cross Hills C (94) to join Broughton Road on 65 points at the bottom.

The veterans’ inter-district side slipped up against a useful Castleford side, five winners at Gargrave, Tony Akers and Derek Seed leading the way, not being enough to secure the win, as three poor defeats cost the aggregate and they drew 14-14.

Despite two wins for Trevor Hargreaves and Doug Stone at Pontefract, it was always going to be difficult, and a 21-7 defeat meant a overall score of 35-21, so Skipton need a big win against Halifax next week to retain any chance of top spot. The home match is at Craven.

The junior inter-district side have suffered a couple of defeats recently – at Bradford A 8-2, good wins for George Chatburn (21-10) and Ben Hewitt (21-6) being the highlight, and 8-2 against Bradford B in a re-arranged game at Lund Park, Ben Hewitt and Andrew Peel both win-ning 21-20.