LOCAL teams failed to pull many trees up in a disappointing weekend, which ironically began well on Friday with the Worth Valley over-60s at Elland C&BC.

The Federation holders started with a 6-4 victory over local favourites Halifax A, especially as one of the side’s top players was ‘dry-rubbed’.

However, Barry Turnbull put in a match-winning effort to clinch the narrow victory after the winners were shared.

Worth Valley improved matters in the second game, beating Leeds B 9-1 but a big effort is needed in the three remaining games, beginning a week tomorrow.

On Sunday, Skipton scrambled through in the preliminaries of the Yorkshire ABA Inter-District at Crowghyll Park, narrowly defeating Castleford and a weakened Aire-Wharfe.

This qualified them for a semi-final against Wakefield at Drighlington but the inconsistency shown in the first two matches continued as the side lost by over 50 points to a far superior team.

Only Richard Hargreaves and Andrew Tate remained undefeated on an forgettable day all round, while Wakefield won the event by beating Leeds at Littlemoor BC, Pudsey in a tremendous match.

It was also a bad day on Sunday for the Worth Valley’s Federation District team as they lost to South Lancashire and finish bottom of Group Five. They managed a narrow win at home at Whinfield in the home leg, where the winners were shared and Mick Claxton excelled, but went down by almost 100 points at Atherton, where Mick Duke’s solitary 21-20 win was all they had to show for their efforts.

Overall, the team lost 23-9, a result of again having to field a weakened side.

Qualifiers in the Skipton Merit last week included holder David Scott, Richard Hargreaves, Phil Anderson, Derek Metcalfe and Barry Turnbull. The final is on Sunday, August 9.

The two Team Knockout finals in Skipton are to be completed tonight, and a full report will be in the Keighley News next week.

Skipton Devon play in the semi-final of the Yorkshire ABA’s mixed team event, the Hutchinson Trophy, on Saturday at 2.30pm, meeting Pudsey BC at Kingston BC, Halifax, but only a tremendous effort will ensure the team reach the final on Sunday, August 23.

The Valley’s District Merit is scheduled for Cross Hills on Sunday, and draw details can be obtained from Mick Demaine.

The Skipton Inter-District Vets play their last match of a disappointing season tomorrow at 1.30pm when they meet a struggling Wakefield side.

It should be a winning climax, with the home leg at Craven and the away leg at College Grove, where a few years ago the locals had a full house of winners. Can miracles still happen?