Yorkshire Inter-District League defending champions Bradford No 1 bounced back from recent setbacks with a resounding 5-1 victory at Castleford No 1.

Wayne Cooper made a 51 break in the first frame, after Castleford’s Pete Fisher had produced a 35, before the latter cleared with 27 to take the frame 67-59 on the black.

Fisher started the second frame in similar fashion, making his own break of 51, but Cooper responded with a frame-winning clearance of 48 to win on the black, 68-56, and level the tie.

Kevin Firth, having been out of sorts in recent matches, made a telling 37 break to win 83-27, backing this up with a 53 for an 80-36 success over Danny Womersley to put Bradford 3-1 in front.

Mark Slater then produced yet more quality snooker against Lee Brooks, breaks of 36 and 37 in his first (84-1) and a 59 in the second (66-23) giving the visitors a much-needed victory and a three-point lead at the top of Division One.

Bradford face Sheffield No 1 on Sunday (7.30pm) at Undercliffe Cricket Club.

The billiards side faced defending champions Leeds and were on the wrong end of a 5-2 defeat.

Captain Stephen Kershaw fell 200-103 to Jonathon Bagley, who had breaks of 58 and 58, with John McEachran being able to do little about opponent Dave Barker’s 85 break in a 200-127 loss.

Paul Devitt restored pride with a solid performance against Bob Patterson. An early 34 break set the tone and a 34 unfinished break gave the Bradford player a 200-97 success.

The deadline for the Bradford snooker singles and pairs is February 28.

Results in so far are: Singles: H Mawson 4, E Glover 0; A Green 4 R Bakes 1; L Walsh 4, H Rafiq 2; K Firth 4, P Hamilton 1. Pairs: T McDonald & S Sandhu 3; P Young & L Walsh 1; E Glover & C Morton 3, W Downey & T Borza 1; H Rafiq & B Singh 3, H Mawson & C Metcalfe 2; S Khan & T Mohammed 3, P Wood & S Shawmarsh 1; M Slater & J Murgatroyd 3, S Ough & J Fieldhouse 2; K Firth & W Cooper 3, M Sharp & R Denny 1.

The Heys Trophy quarter-finals and Hopkinson Plate second round conclude tomorrow night. Results should be sent to Eddie Ratcliffe.