GARGRAVE, whose rise really began in the Covid summer of 2020, has inflicted just their fourth defeat in four seasons in the Timothy Taylor's Craven League on defending champions Riddlesden - and that was by an emphatic margin.
Will Smith's side won the toss and elected to bowl at their Skipton Road base, dismissing the visitors, who were looking for a fourth straight division title, inside 25 overs for just 73, with opening bowler Joe Wood 5 -35 won and the first change won. George Beckwith 4-13.
Gargrave went on to win by nine wickets, losing only keeper Shaun Airey (13) as they were seen home by Brad Gardner (22 no) and Matt Simpson (27 no).
Gargrave were promoted to second in Division Two in 2021, finished fifth in 2022 and second last year. Could this be their year for league silver?
They top the table with 49 points, but just a point behind in second place is Cowling, who won by three wickets against Eldwick & Gilstead at Grange Road.
E&G were sent in and were boosted by a wagging tail to finish on 130, with Denmark's Hameed taking 4-30 and Martyn Dalby a miserly 2-14 from his 12 overs, a third of which were virgins.
Captain Dalby then guided his team to victory in the 35th over at 30 not out at number 8 after openers Wasim Hussain (30) and Rahman Ali (25) and Vasu Goyal (21) contributed.
Glusburn are fourth after tasting victory for the first time, and they made a profit on what must be one of the best wickets in the competition, scoring 217 after winning the toss at Park Field.
However, despite 39 from captain Steve Brown they had to recover from 87-5, Abrar Sarwar (73) adding 65 for the sixth wicket with Harry Barker (12), No. 9 Danny Ridehalgh (38no) and then putting on 48 for the last wicket with Brett Parkin (6).
Sarwar (3-16) and Ridehalgh (3-21) completed fine all-round matches, assisted by Umar Farooq (31), while cellar dwellers Haworth were bowled for 93.
Bradley also recorded their first win on a good day for the promoted duo, who were sent in by hosts Wilsden to make 142.
Goalkeeper Dave Hunt (30) and Iklaq Ahmed (38) were the main men with the bat, and Zain Naeem then took over with the ball to score 5-34 as Wilsden was back in the pavilion for 109.
Silsden, whose 2023 was hampered by points deductions, led Division Two with 50 points and were also in the runs at Cononley, making 243 after winning the toss.
Joshua Waind went into the home attack from the start and finished with 105, including seven fours and ten sixes, and he added 82 for the third wicket with Cameron Knowles (20).
Keeper Tom Greenwood played his hand well with 65, hitting five fours and three sixes, putting on 58 for the fourth wicket with Waind and 32 for the last with Kieran Lawrence (8).
Herbie Starkey (6-47) was the standout Cononley bowler, and he went on to score 30 and add 62 for the third wicket with his brother Andrew (39) after they had been 0-2, but there was nothing else to talk about speak. as they were dismissed for 124, Ben Sugden with 5-35 and Knowles with 2-23.
Just a point behind Silsden is Thornton-in-Craven, who scored 185 after winning the toss at home to Sutton, while opener Scott Howarth-Hynes dominated the innings with 79.
He put on 70 for the fifth wicket with Chris Bowler (39), the most successful Sutton bowlers were Sachin Abraham (3-35) and Dave Snowden (5-40), the fifth bowler used.
Sutton, in danger of a second successive relegation, were 58-1 in reply, with Sam Solley making 29 and Snowden 17, but they could only manage 102 total, losing two wickets at 58, two more at 60 and finally two at 102. .
Opening bowlers Ian Holden (4-46) and Rob Cockell (3-43) eventually put Sutton on the back foot, with Rob Foster slamming in at the end for 2-0.
There was a close match at Scotchman Road where Bowling Baptists made 130 despite Qamar Zulfiqar winning 5-30 and Azhar Iqbal 3-31.
Only three Skipton CI players then reached double figures, but that was still enough to help them to 114, while Zulfiqar completed an excellent match by scoring 41.
Cowling II led the way in Division Three after winning a low-scoring match at home to Wilsden II.
Haseeb Majid (23) and Ben Davy (21) were the only players to reach the top 20 in Cowling's 108 after winning the toss, and Majid then showed his skill with the ball by scoring 4-25, supported by Ubaid Rauf (3-2). 42) and Yash Sethiya (3-6), as the attendance was limited to 84 besides the bottom one.
Sutton II is off the track having castled Gargrave II for just 32 at Royd Hill, with the wickets shared by 15-year-old Sam Stoneman (3-4), 18-year-old Laurence Powell (3-13) and the 14-year-old year-old Will Tedder (3-2).
No one made double figures as the innings was wrapped up in 18.4 overs after Sutton made 115-8, 44 of which came from veteran Tony Walton, while Will Storr took 4-20 and Ben Wood 2-20.
Silsden II, who were 16-4 and 59-7 at home to Bradford & Bingley III, did well to reach 105, mainly thanks to Finlay Nixon-Snowden's 31, but despite Bilal Mahmood (5-28) taking five from the first six batters dismissed, Bingley won by four wickets, after 22-5.
Skipton CI II, relegated last season, are making a good early fist of coming straight back as they sit second in Division Four on 48, a point behind surprise leaders Hepworth & Idle III.
The Sandylanders won the toss at home against the struggling Ingrow II and scored 244-8, keeper Naveed Hussain hitting 12 fours in his 78, other telling contributions came from Edwin Sebastian (34), Danyal Iqbal (53 no) and Jibin Jacob (40 no ).
Matt Ryder then scored 3-14, Jacob 2-17 and Irfan Badshah 2-25 as the visitors fell to 99-8 in their 40 overs.
Bradley II is third, four points further, after beating Menston V by 35 runs.
Harry Andrews scored 52 opening the batting for Bradley, who made 144, while Andrews put on 61 for the second wicket with Tom Long (20), although they had slumped from 83-1.
Luke Watson (5-26) and Charlie Andrews (3-19) then proved deadly with the ball as Menston was back in the pavilion for 109.
Umar Dar (27) and Ryan Fountain (21no) did best with the bat for Glusburn II in a total of 121 at Airedale II.
Tahir Mehmood (6-10) then proved unplayable as the visitors were dismissed for 45, having been 30-1, while Rafaqat Hussain took 3-6 in a victory for the fourth and fifth bowlers used.
