Craven Football League

Oxenhope defeated Carleton after coming from 2-0 down to win 6-3 in extra time and Embsay progressed thanks to a 4-2 victory at Cowling.

In their Division One League Cup first round match Oxenhope took leaders Addingham to extra time before going down 6-3.

The Silentnight Premier Division leaders Cross Hills had to fight all the way to take maximum points from their game with Grassington, eventually winning 2-0.

Keighley are mounting a serious challenge for honours and they visited Rimington and came home 7-2 winners to move into second place six points behind the leaders but with three games in hand.

Skipton Bulldogs playing their fifth league match of the season had a 4-1 victory over Colne Cricket Club.

And Skipton LMS narrowly edged home against Gargrave by 4-3.

With Division One leaders Addingham involved in a cup match the chasing pack had the chance to close the gap.

Second-placed Clitheroe failed to do so though going down at home to a revitalised Sutton 3-1.

Grindleton and St Pauls both took advantage, Grindleton winning 2-1 at Hellifield and St Pauls having a 2-0 victory at Intake.

Division Two leaders Bronte Wanderers saw their 100 per cent record go when they lost at Barrowford 4-3.

However they still have a six-point lead over Embsay who defeated bottom of the table Gargrave 6-0.

Second-placed Barnoldswick United had no match while Lothersdale returned to winning form with a 3-2 victory over Horton and Silsden Athletic continued their good run with a 3-2 defeat of Grindleton.

In Division Three Waddington dropped their first point of the season in a 2-2 draw with leaders Colne Cricket Club.

Ilkley Juniors Youth closed the gap at the top to one point with a 3-0 defeat of Earby and have six matches in hand on Colne.

Cononley moved off the bottom with a 3-1 away victory over McBrides and Grassington kept on the fringe of promotion with a 3-2 victory at Skipton Town.

Addingham beat Bradley 3-1, Bronte Wanderers overcame Hellifield 5-1 and Settle had a 3-2 win against Intake.

Northern Plant Hire Challenge Trophy

Round One

Carleton 3 Oxenhope 6 after extra time

The homesters started well and took the game to Oxenhope and with Liam Jameson and Paul Coleman outstanding in midfield they were soon 2-0 up through Pete Wrathmell and Coleman.

Then say Carleton Oxenhope reverted to bully boy tactics and some very bad tackles and just before the break Jameson was carried off and was soon followed by Dale Nicholson and Coleman.

The visitors pulled a goal back in the second half through Paul Sewell and then levelled shortly after through Darren Whitaker.

Carleton went in front again either in normal time or extra time with a penalty by Martyn Windle.

But Oxenhope drew level again through Stephen Pearson and went on to win with further goals from Whitaker, Simon Duffin and Chris Ellis with a disputed penalty as Carleton suffered two more injuries.

Cowling 2 Embsay 4

Embsay's first half performance lacked much of their early season promise but they still managed to lead 2-1 at the interval.

Their first goal was a tap-in by Stephen Speak although Cowling say it was a hotly disputed offside goal in which their keeper David Sutton was injured and had to go off, being replaced by Stuart Sugden.

After 30 minutes a delicate lob by James Ayrton saw Cowling level and they continued to press with Edward Whinnery hitting the bar with a tremendous shot.

Embsay's second goal came when a free kick was only half-cleared and Lee Watchler hit a shot of pure quality from 25 yards.

In the second half Speak scored his second goal with a well-placed header.

And Embsay say they continued to play the more positive football with more confident performances from Watchler and Rob Wooler.

Their fourth score came when a one two in midfield gave the ball to Matt Reynolds who played an exquisite through ball which split the defence and Speak completed his hat trick.

Cowling got a second score through Ayrton following a defence-splitting ball from sub Steven Spellman.

They were then unlucky on several occasions and Embsay kept hitting them on the break but the visitors were met by the stalwart defending of Cowling's man of the match Glenn McQuillan and Martin Brown.

Division One League Cup Round One

Oxenhope 3 Addingham 6 after extra time

For the first 18 minutes Oxenhope made a mockery of their league position as they outplayed Addingham.

And they took a two-goal lead through Adrian Snowden and Duncan Bairstow.

Brian Wild pulled one back and then Oxenhope got a third through Adam Bailey.

In the second half Addingham piled on the pressure and pulled back two goals through Wild and Jamie Barrow.

In the 89th minute Oxenhope had a player dismissed for hand ball but the resulting penalty was missed and extra time followed.

Showing more desire the visitors dominated and Barrow, Graham Dickinson and Simon Collins added three more goals.

Addingham comment that with a team of this quality Oxenhope's league position is a mystery.

They add that the referee gave a splendid display.

Continued on Page 34.

Adam Whiteoak found Ian Craven who miscued from six yards. A free kick on the angle of the box saw James McCormack open the scoring with a clever shot into the near post. Soon after Andrew Summersgill threaded Kaminksi through and he notched up his 10th goal of the season. Cross Hills were still on top in the second half but could not get a third goal with Grassington keeper Riccardo Baldoni making brilliant saves from an Andrew Hardaker thunderbolt and sub Steven Holden's low drive. Grassington worked hard but never really threatened. McCormack was the winners' man of the match.

Rimington 2 Keighley 7

Keighley played their best football of the season so far. Joynal Ali opened the scoring and Sean Rowley made it 2-0. Rimington then pulled one back, Paul Sayle scoring a typical centre forward's goal showing great strength and balance before smashing in an unstoppable shot. However Keighley hit a third just before the interval, Steve Cook being the scorer. Rimington started the second half strongly and got a second goal with an own score. However Keighley stepped up a couple of gears and Steve Duff hit a fourth and further goals came from Ali, Cook and substitute keeper Paul Stewart.

Colne Cricket Club 1 Skipton Bulldogs 4

Bulldogs started slowly on a tricky surface and it took them 15 minutes to put their first move together. There were chances at both ends and if it had not been for a great reflex save by Dogs keeper James Wiggan Colne would have taken the lead. With five minutes to the break Jimmy McConville raced through and his goalbound shot came back off the keeper for Ian Bernard to slot home for the Skiptoners. Within five minutes of the start of the second half McConville increased Dogs' lead but Colne replied straight away. However it was Dogs who got the next vital goal when McConville was upended in the box and after a lengthy debate Iain Tyrer smashed home the spot kick. Sub Darren Hodge added a fourth. The name of the Colne scorer is not to hand.

Gargrave 3 Skipton LMS 4

From the start LMS pushed forward and had numerous early chances but poor finishing and a Gargrave keeper in inspired form kept them from scoring. After 25 minutes Gargrave went into the lead and this inspired LMS to hit back three minutes later with a goal from Mark Osadzenko. Gargrave went further into the lead with a very well taken goal but before half-time LMS levelled when Richard Cartman rifled the ball in. In the second half LMS kept pushing forward and were rewarded when Tom Wolstenholme was first to react to a good through ball and score from eight yards. LMS continued to squander the chances they created and were caught out when Gargrave levelled with a great shot from 25 yards. With 15 minutes left LMS got the winner when Darren Phillip forced his way into the Gargrave penalty area and hit an unstoppable shot from 12 yards. The names of the Gargrave scorers are not to hand.

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