THE CHAMPIONSHIP fight is still wide open with Cross Hills and Skipton Bulldogs battling it out for the honours after a hectic programme of mid-week games helped to ease the fixture backlog.

Cross Hills beat Addingham 4-1 with goals from harry Peacock, Adam Whiteoak, Matthew Latto and John Harrison before following up with a 4-0 victory over Colne Cricket Club. Scorers in the second game were Matthew Lloyd, John Harrison, Harry Peacock and Steve Tosney.

Bulldogs also won both their games to leave Hills leading by two points, but Dogs have three games in hand.

In Division One Bronte Wanderers need three points from their remaining three games to take the title after beating Embsay Reserves 2-1.

Keighley Lifts Reserves went down 5-1 to Bradley which pushed them closer to relegation. Sutton lost for the second time in four days to Hellifield Sports and now look certain to go down.

Lothersdale Athletic are pushing for runners-up spot in Division Two after securing a 7-2 win over Cowling Reserves. Phillip Richardson scored four goals and there was one each from Andrew Relinski, Steven smith and Mark Westfall. Oxenhope Recreation Reserves continued their good run-in to the end of the season with a 4-3 home victory over Barrowford United with goals from Neil Barnes (2), Steven Pearson and David Maw.

Oxenhope Recreation wrecked the treble hopes of Skipton Bulldogs when they knocked them out of the League Cup. The Worth Valley side introduced young players to give them extra pace up front, and the move paid off with a 4-2 victory.

The match started at a furious pace with Oxenhope determined to prove a point and Paul Sewell opened the scoring to rock bulldogs back on their heals. The gloom deepened for the Skipton side when Simon Knaggs added a second, but dogs started to show why they are pushing for honours and pulled a goal back on half time.

Oxenhope defended well in a fast and furious opening to the second period and broke out for Sewell to restore their two goal advantage. Again Dogs hit back but Oxenhope were not letting go and booked a home semi-final tie with Cross Hills when Knaggs made it 4-2.

Bronte Wanderers continued their run in the Division One Cup with a 2-0 victory over Bradley, despite being down to 10 men within the first five minutes. Jamie Rowell headed home a David collier cross to give them the lead and although Bradley tried to take advantage of the extra man Collier put Bronte further ahead with a second goal.

Bradley found new life but Bronte's defence stood firm and their semi-final visit to Barnoldswick United was assured when James Ley made it 3-0.

Oxenhope Reserves came out on top in a close Division Two cup tie securing a 3-1 victory over Silsden Athletic. Steve Pearson gave them the opening goal and Silsden were forced onto the defensive. Stephen Buckley increase Oxenhope's lead in the second half before Jamie Cunningham put Silsden back in the game.

The Cobbydalers launched wave after wave of attacks on the Oxenhope goal, but their experience was enough to see them through to the semi-final with David Maw adding the third goal. They go on to meet Skipton LMS in the semi-final.

Lothersdale won the other semi-final place beating Bradley Reserves 9-3. Hot shot Mark Westfall scored six of the goals Paul Smith scored the opener before Westfall began his onslaught. Bradley replied and looked to be keeping in touch but Westfall had already put the game beyond reach with five more goals before they saw the back of the net again through John Lawrence. John Baker rounded off Dale's tally to book a semi-final tie against Horton.

On the league front Keighley Lifts Reserves secured a 5-2 victory over Barnoldswick United who were still recovering from a cup final outing the previous night. Lifts turned on a good performance with Anthony Cooper putting them ahead only for United to equalise. However, Lifts stepped up the pace and Cooper restored the advantage. The Keighley side dominated the second half with two goals from Ishfaq Saman and one from Chris Morris.

Sutton look set for relegation after dropping to the bottom of the table when they lost 3-1 to promotion challengers Skipton Town. Ritchie McPike gave Sutton the lead but it was pulled back to 1-1 at the break. The Skipton side were on top in the second half and two further goals secured victory.

Skipton LMS Reserves took both points in a battle of the bottom clubs, beating Cowling Reserves 3-0. The South Craven side now need a miracle to avoid the drop.