Skipton’s Inter-District Veterans earned a well-deserved draw against league leaders Huddersfield.

In the home game at Devon, Arnie Ripley, Len Buxton, Colin Wortley, David Jacques, Derek Seed and Keith Coppen all had wins after close matches on the way to an 18-10 win for Skipton.

Although it was always going to be difficult at Thongsbridge, three winners in Doug Stone, Billy Hardwick and Barry Turnbull, with an excellent 21-3 – the best result of the day – led to an 18-10 defeat and a match score of 28-28, leaving Skipton three points behind the leaders The next match against Castleford is on Friday, July 16, with the home game at Gargrave.

In the latest Skipton League results, Division One leaders Cononley A dropped home points in an 8-4 win against Cross Hills A but made amends with a 12-0 win at Settle A, which, I am reliably informed, is the first time Settle A have had ten losers at home.

Two wins for Keighley A (10-2 at home to Silsden PF B and 8-4 at Cross Hills A) meant they slipped to 21 points behind the leaders.

Sutton A remain third but fell further adrift after a 9-3 defeat at Colne Cricket and a 9-3 home win over Broughton Road. Sutton B (74 points), Steeton A (76), Colne Legion A (77) and Silsden PF B (81) are in a four-way tussle at the bottom.

At the top of Division Two, Oxenhope won well 9-3 at Cross Hills B, but then surprisingly let four points slip away at home to Grassington.

Gargrave A won well 10-2 at Whin-field B but also slipped up at home, having six losers against Colne Legion B.

They managed to win the aggregate, so finished with a 6-6 draw that leaves Oxenhope 20 points clear of Gargrave A at the top.

Devon B let third place slip away with a 9-3 home defeat to Keighley B, but a 7-5 win at Cononley B kept them in joint fourth.

Oakworth moved into third with an 11-1 home win over Addingham A but they then lost 8-4 at Rolls Royce.

Keighley B finished a good week with a 9-3 win over Whinfield B to be joint fourth. Whinfield B remain bottom, while Sutton C need points so they don’t get left at the bottom.

The top match in the Third Division was Craven B’s visit to second-placed Settle B. Craven B got a great start with the first six winners, only to see Settle B fight back with four good winners to end the match 6-6.

Craven B then won their home game 12-0 against Addingham B, all of which leaves Craven B 16 points ahead of Settle B, who have two games in hand.

Silsden PF C won 7-5 at third-placed rivals Lund Park C, and then won at home 12-0 against Gargrave B. Lund Park B won 10-2 at Broughton Road C to leave them five points behind Silsden. Broughton Road C and Whinfield C are separated by three points at the bottom.

The big final at the weekend was the Cleckheaton John Smith’s Classic.

Peter Clark (Devon) and David Scott (Cross Hills) had both done well to qualify and were seen as outsiders in a quality field.

In the last 16, Clark put up a good performance to beat Michael Robinson 21-18, but Scotty found Paul Sigsworth in top form on a quick green and could not match the county skipper, going out 21-5.

Clark’s quarter-final was against competition favourite Andrew Spragg from Chesterfield.

Spragg was 2-7 with the bookies and Clark a no-hoper, but it proved much tighter than predicted with Clark fighting back to level at 19-19.

A crucial measure put Clark on 20 and when Spragg knocked up Clark’s wood and could not beat it with his last bowl, it was Clark who moved into the semi-final.

It was a case of after the Lord Mayor’s show, however, as he struggled to find a length on the slowing green and Richard Jackson was in no mood for any more surprises as he went on to win 21-12, and then beat Ashley Daykin 21-19 in the final.

On Friday, it is the Veterans’ League handicap final at Cononley BC (1.30pm).

The final eight are: Alan Pennington, Keith Coppen, Trevor Hargreaves, Pat Clark, Peter Deighton, Tony Langstroth, Dave Hemsley and David Jacques.

Cononley have a big game on Saturday at Bramley Libs when they play Morton House in the Yorkshire Cup quarter-final.

Craven are also in action with an Eric Hutchinson Trophy quarter-final against Pontefract BC at Elland C&BC.

On Friday, the Craven Classic Final starts at 6.30pm. A good field has been attracted with locals in Stuart Myers and Andrew Tate.

The draw is: R Hitchen v G Foulkes, C Mordue v A Tate, S Myers v A Daykin, B Lowden v R Clarke.