Pudsey rivals Congs and St Lawrence are setting the pace at the top of Division One after the opening two rounds of JCT600 Bradford League matches.

Congs, who brushed aside Saltaire by 150 runs, lead the way by a point from their neighbours, who had a dramatic 16-run win at Cleckheaton.

Champions Woodlands, who beat last season’s runners-up Lightcliffe by five wickets, are level with St Lawrence on 35 points, while Hanging Heaton are on 34 points after edging out Baildon by four runs in a high-scoring game.

The youthful Pudsey Congs side have certainly made a fine start to the season.

Eugene Burzler (54) and opener Nick Lindley (50) made half-centuries, while Jack Seddon added 31 in a total of 214. The dependable Mansha Khan was the pick of the Saltaire bowlers with 5-36.

Dependable wasn’t the word to describe Saltaire’s batting. They were skittled for just 64 as left-arm spinner Glenn Roberts took 3-14.

Pudsey St Lawrence looked to be heading for defeat when Cleckheaton cruised to 147-4 in reply to their 182-8, but a remarkable collapse saw the home side lose their last six wickets for just 19 runs.

Off-spinners Chris Marsden took 4-32 and Steve Watts (3-20) as Cleckheaton were pegged back after skipper John Wood (37) and Ammer Mahmood (31) had punished some indifferent early bowling.

Opener Adam Waite had been the cornerstone of the St Lawrence innings with a patient 54 in the face of some good bowling from Yorkshire’s Iain Wardlaw (5-52).

Left-armer Chris Brice had Lightcliffe in a spin, taking 6-32 as they were bowled out for 161. Alex Stead battled hard for his team’s top score of 61.

Woodlands had a couple of alarms against the off-spin of Josh Wheatley (3-43) but got home with four overs to spare thanks to Scott Richardson (43) and Grant Soames (35no).

Hanging Heaton followed up their opening-day win at Morley by defeating the other promoted club, Baildon, in a thrilling encounter.

Gary Fellows (69), Simon Davies (47) – against his old club – and Mark Lawson (36) laid the foundations for a furious late assault from David Stiff.

He smashed five sixes and three fours in a quickfire 61 not out, which helped his side to 256-6. Left-arm spinner Simon Bailey was the pick of the Baildon bowlers with 4-60.

Baildon were undaunted by the target which was set for them. Simon Webb (73), Jonny Reynolds (67) and Sohail Raz (53) took their side to 252-8, leaving the home side mighty relieved to win by just four runs.

East Bierley’s new Pakistani fast bowler Waqas Maqsood was their match-winner. He took 6-54 as his side sentenced Bradford & Bingley to a 76-run defeat at Wagon Lane – their second loss of the season.

Earlier, the Bradford & Bingley pace bowlers Jack Hartley (3-38) and Matt Simpson (3-46) enjoyed some success, but couldn’t prevent East Bierley making 210-9. Andrew Rennison (40) and Richard Atkins (33) provided the key contributions.

There was a thrilling finish at Scotchman Road, where Manningham Mills edged out Morley by one wicket in the final over.

Zeeshan Qasim (33) and Adil Islam (31) were the top scorers for Mills as they were made to struggle to overcome a modest score of 143-8. Paceman Nathan Bromby typified the Morley spirit with 6-40.

Overseas player Kashif Naveed, making his first appearance of the season, top-scored for Morley with 50, while opener Gary Wainwright made a gritty 36