THE Airedale & Wharfedale Cricket league's bid to win the Costcutter Yorkshire Inter-League Knockout ended in disappointment.

They suffered a four-wicket defeat at the hands of the Yorkshire League in a low-scoring encounter at Dunnington.

A tricky pitch posed problems for the batsmen of both sides and only 155 runs were scored for the loss of 16 wickets.

It was a disappointing climax to a competition which had seen the Aire-Wharfe League side perform outstandingly well to make the final.

Skipper Steve Thompson must have been regretting his decision to bat first when the ball started to seam about.

The ball didn't come on to the bat either which made runscoring extremely difficult.

The Aire-Wharfe side was plunged into difficulties almost immediately as Man of the match Andy Wyllie went to work.

He returned figures of four for six as the Aire-Wharfe batting folded.

There was no respite when the Yorkshire League's other bowlers joined the attack. Andy Carrington's two for nine from ten overs kept the pressure on.

It was a measure of the meanness of the bowling that the Aire-Wharfe league took 44.5overs to make 75.

Their top scorer was Barrie Singleton who made just 12.

Early wickets were needed if the Aire-Wharfe League were to put pressure on their rivals but their hopes were thwarted.

Openers Simon Mason and Steve Clark put together a stand of 63 before the fun started.

Rob Winter and Singleton triggered an amazing collapse which at least gave their side fresh heart.

Even when two wickets fell at 63 there was no real alarm in the Yorkshire League camp but a feeling of unease did surface when further wickets tumbled at 69 and 73.

With the scores level there was still time for further drama. Two more wickets fell before a delivery eluded wicketkeeper Steve Thompson and went for four byes to seal the outcome.

Winter (3-9) and Singleton (3-18) bowled well.