It could have been billed as a Priestley Cup final rehearsal, but neither captain believes Bradford & Bingley’s 47-run win at Farsley yesterday in the JCT600 Bradford League First Division will have any bearing on the final at the end of August.

Bingley’s win consolidated their second place, but the margin of victory does not tell the story of a match that began badly for the visitors and fluctuated throughout.

Gone were the flat, dry pitches of recent weeks as the ball moved about on a damp pitch under cloudy skies, and the Farsley attack made the most of the conditions after skipper Chris Henry had put the visitors in.

Henry, in particular, made Bingley struggle for, after Robert Thornton trapped Simon Davies with only one run on the board, the Farsley skipper took the next five wickets for 37 runs to leave the visitors reeling at 71-6.

At that stage, a Bingley victory looked highly unlikely, but all-rounder Chris Thompson staged a rescue act in a seventh-wicket stand of 49 with James Davies (24), and then, when he was bowled by off-spinner Lorenzo Inghram for a defiant 45, Richard McCarthy (29) helped Bingley reach 169.

Henry finished with admirable figures of 5-35 in 12 overs while Inghram took 3-26.

Having made a strong recovery from their perilous position, Bingley hit back hard, reducing the under- strength home side to 73-7, with McCarthy taking 4-35 in 15 overs as he moved closer to the coveted 1,000 Bradford League wickets, and Thompson 3-15.

At that stage, the visitors appeared to be on the verge of victory, but 18-year-old Joe Greaves and Ryan Lumb staged a spirited recovery in an enterprising eighth-wicket stand of 49, most of them coming from six overs of leg spin from Naveed Gharni that cost 34 runs.

Then Phil Slater brought the match to a dramatic conclusion with a triple-wicket maiden over, starting with the crucial dismissal of Greaves, lbw for a fine 44, followed by Henry and Thornton as Farsley were dismissed for 122.

Slater, who finished with 3-10, said: “Conditions were like the start of the season - damp and overcast - and we struggled early on, but Chris Thompson batted well and we knew we were in with a chance if we bowled well.

“We conceded a few boundaries early on, but Richard McCarthy then started hitting his line and length and bowled really well, as did James Davies and Chris Thompson. It was a matter of being patient and not getting frustrated.”

Slater didn’t think Bingley bowled ‘particularly brilliantly’ during the Greaves-Lumb stand, but gave credit to the young batsmen.

“We knew if we could get a breakthrough and get Joe Greaves out it would put the pressure back on Farsley,” he said.

Disappointed Henry, whose depleted side lacked Yorkshire second-team pace bowler James Lee and batsman David Syers, having a trial with Bradford City, said: “They didn’t win, we lost.

"Bingley scored more than they probably should have done, but it should never have been enough. The two young lads, Joe Greaves and Ryan Lumb, put us back in the game but no-one else made a significant contribution.”