A MISSED penalty cost Cross Hills a share of the points in their top of the table battle with Embsay.

Hills are top of the Premier Division with third placed Embsay determined to close the gap, and although Hills had to field a depleted side they matched Embsay in all departments for most of the opening period. After heavy pressure from the South Craven side Embsay broke out of defence to open the scoring midway through the half.

In the second period Hills piled on constant pressure with substitute Ian Craven, who came on for the injured Richard Booth, having a superb game. Gavin Baluk was brought down in the box, but Hills squandered the chance to draw level from the penalty spot.

Embsay were quick on the break and stretched their lead to 2-0. Andrew Holland pulled one back with a bullet header and Matthew Lloyd went close with a shot which screamed over the bar, but the equaliser would not come.

Keighley FC saw their title hopes dwindle when they lost 5-2 at home to struggling Rimington. Keighley did not perform at all, going down to a debatable penalty early in the game and Rimington scored two more before half time.

After the beak Keighley were in a more determined mood and Sultan Latif reduced the arrears, but the rot really set in with two quick goals for the Ribble Valley side as Keighley were left chasing shadows. Dave McManus managed to pull another goal back before the final whistle, but it was too little, too late.

Sutton and Intake were both looking for points to avoid relegation from Division One when they met. Intake elected to play with the wind and swept into a 3-0 lead while the home side only had one shot of note. Sutton were more determined in the second half and scored two goals in as many minutes through Jon Reape and Gareth Brown. Intake defended strongly and looked like holding on to both points until a last minute corner from Martin Cookson flew straight into the net to secure a point.

Keighley Reserves started slowly against the basement club, Gargrave, with Tony Cooper scoring the only goal of the first half. Goals began to flow with strikes from Lee Isherwood, Cooper, Chris Morris and Gerry Griffin rounding off a good second half performance.

Lothersdale Athletic kept their slim promotion hopes alive as they completed the double over Cowling Reserves with a 3-1 victory. Cowling gave as good as they got and can count themselves unlucky not to get a point.

A goal by Philip Richardson, direct from a corner, opened the scoring, but it was well into the second half before Dale got their second through Craig James. Cowling had not given up by any means and pulled a goal back through James Anson, however Dale were in no mood to let a point slip and snuffed out any chance Cowling had when they scored a third through Thomas Richardson.

Silsden Athletic and Horton fought out a 1-1 draw in very windy conditions. Silsden showed a big improvement, but they are still not firing on all cylinders. Simon Lilley put them ahead from the penalty spot and defences remained on top for most of the match but Horton managed a late equaliser.

Leaders Bronte Wanderers travelled to second placed Barnoldswick United winning 2-1. Bronte's reserve team entertained Carleton Reserves, but both teams failed to phone their results to the league secretary.

Oxenhope Recreation entertained Skipton LMS in the quarter-final of the Northern Plant Hire challenge Trophy and set a hot pace. Adam Bailey opened the scoring and Oxenhope increased their lead with a Darren Whittaker header. The pattern continued in the second half with Chris Ellis making it three from the penalty spot with LMS offering little in attack. The semi-final place was clinched when James Bailey and Michael Butterfield secured a 5-0 victory.

Cowling met Division One Cup holders, Hellifield Sports, in the quarter-final of the competition and started well. Constant pressure kept Hellifield on the back foot and the hard work paid off when Robert Walker scored after good work by Jody Walker. The second half turned into a nightmare, a high chip over stand-in keeper Stuart Sugden brought Hellifield level and an unstoppable shot put them ahead. A defensive mistake made it three and a ball dropping from the heavens eluded everybody to give Hellifield their fourth goal. To their credit Cowling battled well, but despite going near they could not score.

Silsden visited Barrowford United in the quarter-final of the Division Two Cup and held the strong home side in the first half. Both sides created chances after the break with Barrowford converting four while Silsden could not get the ball into the net.

Keighley FA and Craven FA are holding their cup semi-finals this weekend with all the games requiring referee's assistants, reducing the number of officials available to cover the league programme. Any referee without a match should contact league secretary, Peter Marsden on 01756-792859.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.