TREVOR HARGREAVES won the Devon Classic after surviving a strong comeback from Frank Lord of Haslingden.

The Keighley Bowling Club member secured a 21-17 victory, but early in the game held a 9-0 lead. He also narrowly beat Hedley Kettlewell in the quarter-final and his son Richard in the semi-final. The other semi-finalist was Haword Whiteley of Brighouse. The competition was well run by league secretary Peter Haworth and his team.

Sutton followed Cross Hills into the semi-final of Yorkshire's Henry Taylor cup with a good win over Cowcliffe Liberals at Low Moor. Their victory was spearheaded by Paul Haighie with a 21-6 win. They now meet Holbeck of Leeds at Luddendenfoot on Saturday while Cross Hills face a much tougher task against the Green Bowling Club at Ferry Fryston.

Local pairings Colin Jeffrey and Trevor Hargreaves, Mick Walsh and David Cadwallader reached the semi-finals of the Yorkshire Doubles in the Hebden Bridge area, but the event was won by Ramon Hraber and Garry Bowden of Myrtle Park.

The final of the Valley Cup takes place on August 19 when holders Cross Roads A will take on Division Two side Highfield. The Supplementary Final on the same day will feature Cross Hills A and Denholme B.

Yorkshire Amateur Bowling Association has reached the final of the County Championship after a narrow victory over the Potteries. Chris Slater lost 20-21 in the away leg at Fenton Park, but helped his team to the next stage when they will take on holders Greater Manchester on September 3.

All eyes will be on the Broughton Road green on Sunday for the final of the John Rycroft Trophy with 16 top class bowlers going to post, including local heroes Les Foster, Trevor Hargreaves and Colin Jeffrey. The action starts at 2.00pm and a bumper crowd is expected and they will all be keeping a close eye on the legendary Brian Duncan of Preston.

The Valley Leading Ladies mixed pairs event, sponsored by Parkinson's Printers, is also on Sunday at Cross Hills, starting at 9.30. The draw is: 9.30: Hemsley & Partner v Seward & Partner, Potts v Gray, Slater v Cartwright, Latta v Wilkins. 10.00: M Baker v Dowgill, Redmond v McCleod, Robinson v Ellis, A Green v Stone. 11.30: V Ambrose v Hutchinson, E Bland v McGarrell, K Kennedy v C Matthews, Grayston v Bugeja, Ridding v Rowen.

Sue Finnie teamed up with Keighley Merit winner Eddie Hall (Lund Park) to win the Whiteoak Invitation pairs at Whins Wood. They held on to beat her husband Pete and David Jacques of Keighley 21-18. Losing semi-finalists were Brenda Green and Philip Dowgill and Keith and Graham Ridding reached the semi-finals.

The Clarkson Cup Quarter-Finals are on Monday, the draw is: Gargrave A v Foulridge (at Devon), Keighley A v Brouhton Road A (Steeton), Whinfield A v Devon A (Sutton), Settle A v Silsden A (Cross Hills). Semis and Finals on September 5 & 7.

The Sunday Skipton Doubles are on August 20 at Sutton, Steeton, Addingham and Rolls Royce, ( starts 1.30) with the final at Cononley in the evening.

The Valley Merit has been re-scheduled for Sunday August 27 at Bradshaw. All entries to Jim Cormican as soon as possible.

Last week was a very busy for junior bowlers with mixed fortunes. On Friday night John Robertson (Whinswood) travel to Dewsbury to contest the Yorkshire Parks teenage handicap. There was a very large entry which included many county bowlers from the Dewsbury & Huddersfield area. John consistently produced bowling of a very high class to reach the final. In the final he was against a home green bowler, in front of a large crowd at 10.30 at night John produced his best bowling of the evening to win the trophy 21-12.

This was an exceptional performance and he was congratulated on the standard of his bowling. Fortunes changed on Saturday as John was defeated by David Upton (Myrtle Park) in the inter-district games, other results were Thomas Sexton (Highfield) lost narrowly to Philip Dowgill (Cross Hills), Scott Wilkins (Cross Roads) also lost narrowly.

John, Scott & Thomas travelled to Bury to the British Finals, unfortunately all lost in the first round, which gave them a place in the plate competition. Scott was the most successful in progressing to the third round before loosing. These results were disappointing, but considering the delay of nearly four hours between games they bowled well against some of the country's best bowlers.