Huddersfield 24-32 West Riding

Veterans League
2 hours ago
3 min read

Veterans League

The Huddersfield teams fell short of inflicting a first defeat of the season on the table-topping West Riding team but there were some encouraging signs from the away team. They won the away leg 17-11 by winning 5 of the 8 games but that wasn't translated into the overall match score which saw the West Riding collect their fifth consecutive win.

What do the Friday results mean for the two Huddersfield teams? Well overall in the table of combined Home and Away results sees the Huddersfield team move up one place from 7th to 6th. In the Home & Away Divisions the Away team move up to 4th from 6th and the Home team drop one place to sixth. The Away team match was staged at Cleckheaton Sports on the smaller back green whilst the Home team were based at Hemplow.

All the results, tables and fixtures along with some action shots from Cleckheaton are all below but before that, try this.

Bowling is very much a team game and as a rule I wouldn't single out any individual for a special mention but rules are made to be broken and I would like to mention Dave Pollard's contribution not just this match but to the Inter-District team in general.

Dave first played for the away team in 2016 when he reached the qualifying age of 65 as it was then (now 60). He has been a regular member of the team since then and he is not the longest serving member of the team but he is up there in the leading trio.

I recall speaking to David at an Inter-District away match in the 2023 season. He had only played three matches for the team in the previous 2022 season and lost them all. The 2023 season hadn't been any kinder to him and he ended up losing all four of his Inter-District games that season. He spoke to me about stepping down as he felt his 'Best Before Date' had been passed and with the changes to the qualifying age he felt that some younger bowlers should be given that opportunity.

However Malcolm Gilbert showed his faith in Dave (and a couple of others) and that faith was rewarded when Dave finished top of the team averages for the 2024 season. Last season, Dave played in all 8 away team matches winning four and losing four. Then on Friday he was playing his third game of the season against a bowler well known in Huddersfield area teams, Graham Hirst. Graham had won all four of his matches in the Inter-District League this season and was in top form, a most formidable opponent.

My eyes followed this pair around the green as it became evident that this was the tightest and highest level game of the first four. It went on to produce the closest finish with Dave winning the final end to run out a 21-20 winner and making a significant contribution to the 3-1 halfway lead.

I caught up with Dave after the break and reminded him of our conversation 3 years previous and he expressed his continuing surprise that not enough of the younger bowlers had come through to threaten his place even during the barren years. He had never expected to be bowling at this level in his late 70's and on the evidence of this performance he will be around for some years to come. Well done Dave.

There were also first-half wins for Steve Haigh, on his debut, and Edwin Haigh (definitely not on his debut). These were followed up with second-half wins for two Kirkheaton clubmates of mine, Garry Senior and Andy Lumb, who now top the away team averages for this season.

Congratulations to all the team members for a great all-around team-winning performance.

FRIDAY'S RESULTS

Friday 26 June 2026

HUDDERSFIELD 24-32 WEST RIDING

Aire & Wharfe 16-40 Leeds

Castleford 13-33 Halifax

Bradford 41-15 Wakefield

Skipton bye