Another team drops out

They have been forced to concede defeat in their efforts to get enough players and contacted league secretary Malcolm Edmondson at 5pm on Tuesday.

Division Five now has nine teams and they will each have a bye on successive weeks.

Elland C & BC B are without a match on Wednesday when the action gets under way in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth divisions.

Division Three sides Asa Briggs B and Moorside recently withdrew from Division Three, forcing Edmondson to delay the start of matches in that section and make changes to the fixture list.

The Sowerby Bridge League has also been hit with Moorside B withdrawing from Division Three and Halifax BC from Division Four.

Two matches have already taken place for the top teams in the Halifax Wednesday league and champions Brighouse Sports, likely title rivals Elland WMC and Clayton Victoria already have two wins on the board in Division One.

Brighouse followed up their 12-0 home whitewash of Asa Briggs with an 8-4 (195-171) victory in the return.

Elland added an 8-4 away success to their 9-3 win over Hill Crest seven days earlier. Brian and Philip Holroyd, Gordon Halliday and Scott Haynes won for Crest but Graeme Wilson and John Armitage took their opponents to single figures in a 188-145 scoreline.

Stuart Forster had a 21-4 success but Darren Hickey was Siddal’s only other winner as they capitulated to Clayton for the second week running, this time by 10-2 (186-152) away.

Luddenden Foot beat Todmorden 8-4 with green advantage on the opening night and drew 6-6 in the return. They had six winners at Tod but the hosts took the aggregate by 11.

Hove Edge got off the mark in the top flight with an 8-4 home win over Sowerby West End in a game which featured numerous very close contests.

Mytholmroyd beat visitors Crossroads 9-3 (189-159) with Ian Holden registering his first win for them since his switch from Todmorden.

In Division Two, there were home wins for Kingston (9-3, 191-148) against Hipperholme A, Crossroads B (8-4, 193-179) against Oxenhope and Stainland A (8-4, 182-146) against Hill Crest B.

Yorkshire Ladies beat the Civil Service 213-151 in their warm-up game for the season at Hove Edge last Sunday.

New faces Carron McGrath (Linthwaite), Nichole Farrar (Whitkirk) and Rachel Quirk (Cross Gates) joined a team of experienced county bowlers.

Yorkshire 213, Civil Service 151: S. Howarth (New Mill) 21, J. Howarth 8; A. Ormsby (Meltham) 21, G. Carroll 6; R. Quirk (Cross Gates) 21, J. Chapman 19; L. Carter (Cowcliffe Libs) 21 L. Daykin 19; J. Best (Marsh Utd.) 21, B. Hill 6; J. Roper (Meltham) 21, M. Wrench 7; I. Turner (Cranmore) 21, B. Bonsall 14; D. Radcliffe (Lockwood Cons.) 21, B. Viney 15; C. McGrath (Linthwaite Hall) 21, R. Lyon 12; N. Farrar (Whitkirk) 21, J. Butterworth 7; K. Atkinson (Marsh Utd.) 21, L. Hough 17; S. Ladbrooke (Lockwood Cons) 12, K. Brown 21.

Local player Mark Regan, Scott Fisher, Matt Fellows and Kevin Burns are the first players through after the opening two rounds of the Sovereign Wealth Elland Classic.

Friday, April 4 scores, round one: John Hanson 12 Josh Mordue 21, Mark Regan walkover v Dan Patcher, Ian Shaw 21 Ronnie Wormald 17, Tony Riley 16 Gareth McMahon 21, Andy Hodgson 21 Andy Walker 9, Chris Mordue 21 Gary Downs 16, Andrew Tate 16 Ashley Daykin 21, Danny Fountain 10 Scott Fisher 21.

Round two: J Mordue 8 Regan 21, Shaw 21 McMahon 17, Hodgson 12 C.Mordue 21, Daykin 11 Fisher 21.

Qualifying games: Regan 21 Shaw 18, C.Mordue 13, Fisher 21.

Last Sunday’s scores, round one: Kris Shuttleworth 5 Liam Griffin 21, George Podmore 6 Steve Gilroy 21, Dean Scarth 21 James Wilcox 13, Mark Bennett 9 Matt Fellows 21, Michael Sweeney 17 Kevin Burns 21, Martin Griffiths 21 Glen Smith 19, Peter Wilcox walkover, Lee Brown 21 Sam Bailey 15.

Round two: Griffin 12 Gilroy 21, Scarth 16 Fellows 21, Burns 21 Griffiths 3, Wilcox 13 Brown 21.

Qualifying games: Gilroy 5 Fellows 21, Burns 21 Brown 16.