APRIL & MAY Guiseley's 2002 season got off to a disastrous start with a loss to Hall park on a damp wicket as some poor batting and some interesting umpiring decisions were to see Guiseley fall short of their target. Hall Park were dismissed for 109 with Rickey Harrison taking 4-38, Adrian Threapleton 3-14 and a superb spell from Ian Colquhoun taking 3-18 in 12 overs. Guiseley struggled in the drying conditions and were eventually dismissed for a paltry 82 with only Graeme Wolfenden (25) showing any fight.  The following week saw Guiseley travel to North Leeds where they restricted the home side to just 163 for 6 as Adrian Threapleton (3-29) and Ian Colquhoun (3-46) did the damage supported by Marcus Brown who bowled 25 overs for just 75 runs. Guiseley set off well with Simon Ross (38) and Graeme Wolfenden (28) scoring at well over four an over but they were dismissed in the space of two overs to cause a few nerves in the Guiseley camp but David Ross (58 not out) saw Guiseley home at a canter. Guiseley were away the following week (11th May) against local rivals Rawdon as they comfortably won by 56 runs. Guiseley scored 149 all out and the bowled out Rawdon for 93, Adrian Threapleton taking 5-43 and Steve Dickinson 2-14. Otley were the visitors at Guiseley (18th May) in what was to turn out to be a very exciting game as Guiseley were bowled out for 138 on another damp wicket (Richard Whitaker 20, Ian Colquhoun 57). In reply, Otley had slumped to 9 runs for the loss of 6 wickets and then 17 for 7 before Jonty Maston (79 not out) led a comeback getting within 24 runs of the Guiseley score. Marcus Brown taking 4-35 and Adam Perring 3-18. Guiseley were away at Ilkley where a rain effected match saw Guiseley come away with 5 points after Guiseley had posted a score of 185 for 2 off 46 overs with Graeme Wolfenden scoring 100 not out and Chris Cooper 36 not out. In reply Ilkley never went for the runs and finished on 132-7 with Sean Yeates taking 2-9. JUNE The first match in June brought Green Lane to Guiseley as the two league form teams and local rivals did battle. Guiseley were bowled out for a poor 116 with only Craig Chaplin (29) making a score. To compensate for the batting the bowlers took charge to dismiss Green Lane for 88, Marcus Brown 5-13, Adrian Threapleton 3-13 and Richard Whitaker 2-11 bowled Guiseley to victory and also to the top of the league. On the bank holiday (3rd June) Guiseley travelled to Calverley where another 6 points cemented their place at the top of the league. Calverley were dismissed for 132 with Steve Dickinson taking 5-47, Guiseley in reply knocked off the required runs for the loss of just two wickets with Craig Chaplin scoring 51 and David Ross 32 not out. Follifoot were the visitors on the 8th and Guiseley gave them a good welcome by amassing 173-4 with Graeme Wolfenden again scoring a century (104). Follifoot were always in trouble and eventually settled on 80-8 as Adrian Threapleton (3-19) and Ian Colquhoun (3-10) pushed for the victory but it was not to be, another 5 points earned! The following weeks game against Beckwithshaw was called off due to rainfall which allowed Guiseley's league rivals to catch up. Adel were the visitors on the 22nd as Guiseley sought to keep their league challenge going as they walloped Adel by 110 runs with Adrian Threapleton taking another 5 wicket haul. Guiseley traveled to Bilton looking to stretch their lead at the top of the table but came way in second place as they hung on for a one point draw. Bilton won the toss and elected to bat on a good batting surface which the Guiseley bowlers struggled to take wickets on. Bilton were kept in check early on in their innings but got away to score 216 with Ian Colquhoun 1-33 and Richard Whitaker 1-36 struggled to keep Bilton in check. Guiseley in reply got off to a speedy start with Steve Dickinson smashing 32 off 30 balls before he was caught and bowled. Richard Whitaker (39) and Ian Colquhoun (31) set about leading Guiseley's victory charge before both were out within 8 balls of each other and the Guiseley innings faltered to 146-8 at the end with Sean Yeates hanging around for 17 not out to get a point. JULY With half the season gone, Guiseley traveled to Hall Park (6th July) in Horsforth seeking revenge for their season opening defeat. Guiseley got off to a good start removing both openers with less than 30 on the board but Mick Allen struck 42 to take his team to 134 all out with Ian Colquhoun taking four wickets and Adrian Threapleton 3 wickets for 26. In reply Guiseley got off to a less than confident start on a drying wicket but Graeme Wolfenden (80) led the way with some positive stroke play and put on 64 for the first wicket with Sean Yeates (16). It was left to Ian Colquhoun (15 not out) and Chris Cooper (9 not out) to see Guiseley home with 20 overs to spare. On a hot summers day Guiseley won yet another important game against a team who were also in form and were boosted by the inclusion of their Aussie overseas fast bowler. North Leeds got off to a great start with Andy Stevens punishing anything loose as he scored 63 of the 88 on the board when he was eventually removed by Steve Dickinson. Tight fielding and bowling restricted North Leeds to 205 for 7 on a very good batting strip at Guiseley (first one of the year). Pick of the bowlers were Steve Dickinson (playing his last game due to football commitments) 46-4 and Adrian Threapleton 42-3.  In reply, Guiseley were struggling with the first three batters removed for 63 with N Eke doing the damage taking 2 wickets. Chris Cooper took up the challenge with Ian Colquhoun (50 not out) putting on 56 for the fourth wicket before Cooper was removed for a resolute 41 against some quick but unpredictable bowling of Eke. Although Nick Fraser was out in quick fashion, Steve Dickinson smashed all bowling all around the Guiseley pitch and also hitting a six into Otley...or there abouts!!! Dickinson ended up with 42 from 26 balls while Ian Colquhoun hit a patient 50 not out. An amazing 44 extras were conceded by North Leeds including 32 wides, most from the overseas bowler!!! Rawdon were the visitors at a very confident Guiseley (20th July) as Guiseley looked to keep the pressure on Bilton at the top of the league. Nick Fraser lost the toss again and Guiseley were put into bat and scored 195-8 on a damp wicket with Craig Chaplin (58), David Ross (54) and a quick fire 19 from Adam Perring saw Guiseley post a respectable score. In reply Rawdon were always up against it against some determined bowling but a rain storm reduced the game to 42 overs and Guiseley had to be at their best to claim a victory. Marcus Brown bowled exceptionally well to take 5-37 and Adam Perring backed him up with 4-29 as Guiseley just stole the match with 3 balls to spare. Credit to ex Rawdon skipper Gary Walker and opener Alan Hall though as they at least tried for the victory rather than go for the boring draw! On the hottest and sunniest day of the year Guiseley were put into bat on a flat dry wicket at Cross Green thanking their lucky stars they didn't have to field in the stifling heat. With Craig Chaplin and Richard Whitaker drafted in to the first team, it was left to Sean Yeates to Open the batting and he wasted no time in smashing the opening bowler A. Richards off the attack. Ben Carter then came on to bowl what would turn out to be a marathon spell of 23 overs and in tandem with Pullen kept Guiseley in check but after Pullen was replaced by Mick Gray the scoring accelerated. At drinks Guiseley had made 122 without loss. Soon after Yeates (65) and Wolfenden (52) were dismissed and again the middle order frailties were exposed as Guiseley plummeted to 152 for 7 (Mick Gray taking a hat-trick of LBW's). Without the battling David Ross (58 not out) Guiseley would have scored much less than the 208 they did score. In reply Otley scored freely with Jonty Maston smashing a quickfire 120 ably supported by S Wood (46) as they put on 124 for the first wicket before Wood was caught off the lively bowling of Joe Davies. Carl Smith then departed without troubling the scorers unluckily given out off the wicket keepers helmet but Otley's middle order showed more gumption than Guiseley's and A. Chaplin made a patient 21 not out to see them home with two overs to spare. AUGUST Following three days of heavy rain Guiseley's pitch resembled the local duck pond rather than a cricket field and some early morning preparation was required to get the game started. The game did start but at 2.30 and at 45 overs each. Guiseley again lost the toss and were put into bat on a very damp but drying wicket in the strong July sun. A positive opening stand of 52 between Richard Whitaker (29) and Graeme Wolfenden (76) got Guiseley off to a great start, but the middle order problems surfaced again and they were soon in trouble at 80-4. Wolfenden plugged away and a late flurry from Adam Perring pushed the score 149 all out giving Ilkley 3 overs. In reply Ilkley got off to a steady start before the pressure of Guiseley's tight bowling began to tell and a number of frustrated shots and suicide calling landed Ilkley in trouble 130-8. Ilkley batted out the remaining 4 overs for a draw in a game which both sides could have won in this 'ding-dong' battle. The following weeks game at Green Lane was called off after a week of thunderstorms meant that only one game in Division 'A' was played so this meant Guiseley were still two points behind Bilton. Losing the toss yet again Guiseley were put in on a benign track and thanks to the consistent batting of Graeme Wolfenden and David Ross with 54 and 93 respectively ably supported by Chris Cooper with 22 and young Ricky Harrison 18 not out at the end they managed to amass an excellent 242 for the loss of 8 wickets in their 50 overs. The danger at tea-time was that the game would be viewed as dead from the outset by the Calverley batters but Adrian Threapleton ensured that there would be no soft draw and produced the second best bowling figures of his life with 8 for 30 in just 11 overs. Calverley were eventually dismissed for a paltry 59. Guiseley traveled to Follifoot on the 24th but once again Nick Fraser's inability to call correctly proved crucial as Guiseley were inserted and the Rudding Park wicket proved very helpful early on with 4 wickets falling to Mayes and Milnes for the addition of only 8 runs in the middle of the innings with only Graeme Wolfenden (31) showing some graft. A brave rescue act from Ian Colquhoun and Adrian Threapleton who added 59 for the 6th wicket created a respectable score of 133. However the Guiseley bowlers were never able to generate the same response from the pitch as the Follifoot bowlers and failed to create the necessary chances early on. Even though Ian Colquhoun capped a good day with 2 wickets Sean Mayes with 64 not out and Tim Holgate with 28 not out were never troubled as they added an unbroken 80 for the third wicket to ensure an easy victory for the home side. Unfortunately for Guiseley the same Gremlins that were in the pitch earlier were not there in the second innings. Luckily for Guiseley however the League leaders Bilton could only manage a rain-affected 1 point draw against Adel and extended their lead to 3 points with 3 games to go. The following week (31st) saw Beckwithshaw bring a young side to Guiseley. Beckwithshaw were invited to bat first and the game started in incredible fashion with the normally consistent Adrian Threapleton conceding 6 wides, 5 no-balls, a 4 off the bat and a single before clean bowling the No2 with middle stump cartwheeling out of the ground - all in his first over !! Beckwithshaw scored at a creditable 4 an over throughout their innings but lost wickets at the same rate and had no answer to Marcus Brown who had career-best figures of 7 for 34 in 10.3 overs. Tea was not ready on completion of the innings and the Guiseley openers, Richard Whitaker and Graeme Wolfenden, went straight to the crease to knock off the runs in 10.5 overs without loss scoring 35 and 34 not out respectively. Proceedings finished at 3:15pm and Guiseley were now just 1 points behind Bilton after they could only get 4 points which left an intriguing last two games. SEPTEMBER Guiseley went to Adel knowing that six points were essential to keep the league championship dream alive on th 7 th September. For once losing the toss proved to be in Guiseley's favour as rain had a dramatic effect on the battle for the League crown. Put in again by Adel skipper Dave Weston rain intervened proceedings for over 2 hours at 1:35pm with the score on 23 for none after 7 overs. Taking tea early a calculation was made to play a 30 over game as Guiseley could not afford to take the chance of a 1 point draw already being 1 point behind Bilton with only one game remaining. Come what may the Guiseley players decided that they must declare after 30 overs but some excellent batting by Richard Whitaker, David Ross and Ian Colquhoun ensured that a figure of 178 was achieved. Needing 6 an over was always going to be a big ask and once the danger men of Bill Holmes and Dave Weston had been removed the Adel reply was quickly reduced to 27 for 4. Attacking fields for the next few overs did not produce the required breakthrough and a change of tactics led to some exciting last overs as Guiseley went for 5 points rather than the full 6. Excellent bowling again from Marcus Brown and some tight overs from Adam Perring ensured that Adel ended up 6 short of the 2 point figure and the innings closed at 128 for 7. Frantic calls to Bilton and Green Lane afterwards ascertained that both had only got 1 point from rain-affected games when they were batting second and not in control of the game. Guiseley go into the last game with a 3 point lead and need only 2 points at home against Bilton to win the League. All was set up for a dramatic last game as the only two title contenders Bilton and Guiseley met at Nethermoor in the decider with Guiseley entering the game 3 points clear and needing only a 2 point draw to bring home the title. Losing the toss for the 11th time on the trot Guiseley were asked to bat giving Bilton their best chance of ensuring the victory they needed but some outstanding batting from Graeme Wolfenden (49) and David Ross (50) with a second wicket partnership of 76 put Guiseley in a strong position. Knocks of 29 and 27 at a run a ball from Chris Cooper and Ian Colquhoun respectively capitalised on a good start and a magnificent 33 from 18 balls by Adam Perring put the cream on the cake as the innings closed at 212 for 6.  However in the first half of the season Bilton scored 216 and the Guiseley bowlers knew they had to be on their mettle to restrict teh dangerous batting line-up but the supporters had no need to worry as the openers struggled against Adrian Threapleton and Marcus Brown to score at 3 an over for the first 15 overs and the first ball dismissal of leading run scorer Chris Dawson LBW to Brown put them in the driving seat. Michael Pye batted well at No4 for 34 but had little support and 3 run outs created the collapse that led to their eventual dismissal for 130. There were joyous scenes as Marcus Brown and Adam Perring combined to run out last man Chris Morley and Nick Fraser led the Guiseley players from the field. The Bilton players were magnificent in defeat and the two teams who have become good friends in some close battles over the last 2 years enjoyed a beer together afterwards.  The Guiseley players were still found to be there in the small hours celebrating at their annual fancy dress end of season party but the sore heads the next morning were fully merited !!!!!!!