THE FIRST matches of the new century saw a full programme completed for the first time in five weeks.

The only thing missing on Saturday were the referees. A total of 11 games went unstaffed mainly because of County Cup appointments, flu, and a general shortage of officials.

Cross Hills had a very comfortable 5-0 victory over bottom club Cononley Sports in the Silentnight Premier Division. The league leaders attacked from the start, but Cononley defended valiantly and it took until the last ten minutes of the half before a cross from Andrew Holland was forced home by Adam Whiteoak. Cononley continued to defend well in the second half until substitute Gavin Baluk came on and a quick cross saw Whiteoak score the second.

Cononley were forced onto the attack in attempt to rescue something from the game, but gaps appeared at the back and Richard Kaminski hit the third before Whiteoak completed his hat-trick and Ian Craven rounded off proceedings to keep Hills clear leaders.

Keighley entertained a weakened Skipton LMS side and dominated from start to finish. They played some excellent football which saw them take an early lead through Daz Harwood which was quickly followed by a Steve duff goal. More Keighley chances went begging, allowing LMS back into the game but the second half was very one-sided with two goals from David McManus. Steven Cooke came off the sub's bench to score the fifth and Joynal Ali made it six.

Oxenhope Recreation played at home for the first time since October '99 and entertained Grassington, the last team they met before the long lay off. After a difficult first few minutes Oxenhope got into their rhythm and football began to flow with Paul Sewell scoring the opener. Grassington equalised just before the break.

The second half saw Oxenhope on top and goals from Neil Barnes and Michael Sharp gave them a 3-1 lead. Grassington were not giving up though and pulled a goal back before Paul Sewell produced two superb strikes to complete his hat-trick.

Oxenhope Reserves visited fellow strugglers Intake in Division One and the absence of an official referee may have proved costly for the Worth Valley side. They were under pressure in the early stages, but defended well, restricting Intake to a one goal lead at the interval. The second half saw Oxenhope play well and Jason Lockley opened the scoring, quickly followed by a second goal this time from Duncan Bairstow.

Intake piled on the pressure and pulled back level. With minutes to go they snatched the winner with the visitors appealing , vainly, for offside.

Cowling and Sutton are both in the relegation zone and the points were vital to both when they met at cowling. The home side started well playing against a strong wind and looked the livelier side, but it was Sutton who scored first through Nicholas Clouston whose 20-yard strike beat the Cowling keeper. The lead was short lived with Cowling striking back within minutes when a gutsy run by Martin Brown gave new boy Edward Whinnery a great chance which he took with ease.

The second half was nip and tuck with both sides having their moments, but the match looked to be heading for a draw until a short corner from Sutton's Steve Reape found Joseph Matthews who scored the vital goal to earn his team two vital points.

In Division Two Lothersdale Athletic struggled to raise a team for their visit to high flying Barnoldswick United and had to call on their manager and assistant manager to make up numbers. Rumours that manager Pat Dawson has now played in three centuries are unfounded, or so they say, and despite their problems Dale matched Barnoldswick in the first half and were level 1-1 at half time with Andrew Keslinke scoring for Dale. The second half saw Dale's defence begin to flounder as the fitter Barnoldswick side showed their skill and scored twice. Dale pushed forward and were caught out at the back conceding a further three goals before Craig Walsh helped give the scoreline a little respectability from the penalty spot.

Leaders Bronte Wanderers had a 4-2 home win over Cowling Reserves to make it 10 straight wins, despite having five first team players missing. Bronte took a 2-0 lead before Cowling got into the match with an own goal and a strike from Nigel Smith. Cowling tried hard bt made too many basic errors and a goal from Edward Waterhouse on half time virtually sealed the match.

In a spirited second half Cowling scored through Craig Broughton and Chris Anson, but a second own goal put Bronte in an unassailable position.

Keighley Reserves visited Skipton Bulldogs reserves and had little difficulty securing a 6-0 victory. Keith Spencer and Anthony Cooper scored two goals each with other strikes from Chris Morris and Joshua McNee.

Silsden Athletic enjoyed a good win, putting nine past a poor Gargrave reserve side. Silsden were on top form and were 3-0 up at the break. They went to town in the second half with Simon Lilley and Chris Fowler completing their hat-tricks while other goals came from Jamie Cunningham, George Bayliss and Gareth Nash.

Silsden travelled to Horton and came away with both points after a keenly fought game. Mark Whittaker gave them an early lead, but Horton hit back before substitute John Hindle settled things with a late goal.

A weakened Bronte Wanderers reserve side went down 4-2 at Bradley in Division Three. Davoid Armstrong and Scott Turkington scored for Bronte.

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