Harrogate - Ripley and Turley fire Kirk Deighton to brink of Premier safety

KIRK DEIGHTON Rangers put themselves on the verge of achieving Premier Division safety with Saturday's 5-0 defeat of third-bottom Kirkstall Crusaders, writes LEE SOBOT.

James Ripley and Joe Turley both bagged doubles for Rangers who were also on target through Jonathan Gobbi.

Kirkstall were also defeated 6-1 at fifth-placed Knaresborough Celtic last Tuesday evening with a Daniel Smith strike in vain against home trebles from Byron Littlefair and Edmore Marau.

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Beckwithshaw Saints are bottom after Saturday’s 4-1 loss at fourth-placed Wetherby Athletic A who are now one point behind third-placed Clifford after Clifford’s 4-3 loss to fifth-placed Knaresborough Celtic.

But the title is a two-horse race between leaders Rawdon Old Boys and Bedale Town who are five points adrift but with three games in hand. Rawdon ended their league campaign with Saturday’s home walkover against Kirkby Malzeard.

Rawdon booked their place in the League Challenge Cup final with last Tuesday night’s 5-0 cruise at Clifford. A Darren Nicholls double was supported by a goal each from Ben Durrant, James Nightingale and Benjamin Whitfield.

Beckwithshaw Saints squeezed through their semi-final which ended in a 1-0 win at second tier outfit Pannal Sports. Promotion-chasing Sports followed that loss with Saturday’s 3-1 win triumph at fourth-bottom Hampsthwaite in Division One. Daniel Batt netted a consolation for the hosts.

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On Thursday, bottom club Kirk Deighton Rangers Reserves suffered a 4-3 loss at fifth-bottom Beckwithshaw Saints Reserves. Two goals from Eddie Milsted plus one each from Crag Denison and Daniel Robinson saw the hosts to victory.

Boroughbridge Reserves won the Hulme Cup with a 4-0 defeat of Hampsthwaite United Reserves in Saturday’s final at Knaresborough Town.