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It was only a question of time before Blackhall's batsmen struck form and to Darlington's misfortune they choose Saturday as the day.

Not content with posting a formidable total, the Colliers also enjoyed a best performance of the season by Richie Watts who completed a double blast.

Once the home side built up a score of 243 for the loss of seven wickets in 50 overs, the Feethams team had a fight on their hands.

Tony Booth struck ten boundaries making 68, Stephen Sargent added 38 before Graeme Bell took an unbeaten 40 from just 18 deliveries. He recorded four sixes and a couple of fours.

Following the early dismissal of Simon Guy by Ben Usher, the hopes of Darlington rose when opener Mark Stainsby found a very able partner in Mark Jobling but when the former also fell to Usher, the writing was on the wall.

Any hopes of saving the game disappeared with the introduction of Watts into the attack. He claimed seven wickets for a paltry 18 runs in 12.5 overs and the innings collapsed to 146 all out after 43.5 overs.

Darlington RA ended with almost 200 on the board following 49.4 overs but the total proved insufficent as Marske won in quick time. Neil Coverdale was the hero, blasting five sixes and no fewer than 15 boundaries as he batted throughout for an unbeaten 110 taken from 134 balls.

He shared a third wicket stand of 113 with Jonathan Wiltshire (37) and victory was secured with seven wickets intact.

Darren Hickey was also a century-maker in the game. He blasted six sixes and ten fours adding 104 from the 94 balls he received and formed a second wicket stand with his captain David Eckels which accelerated the scoreboard by 118 runs.

Stuart Mackay bowled a lengthy 19.4 overs in the Marske attack, collecting four wickets for 52 runs and Tim Hood weighed in with figures of 3-72. Redcar remain in pole position.

The Northallerton total of 134-9 which took 50 overs to compile was meat and drink to Dulip Samaraweera, who gave another polished performace hitting 15 boundaries in his unbeaten innings of 81, leading his side to a nine wickets victory.

When they batted first, the visitors innings almost collapsed before Ian Place finished unbeaten on 49 and Peter Guy, who went in at number nine, added 30 before being run out.

Neil Russell, with 4-23 from 16 overs including six maidens, was the most successful Redcar bowler.

Saltburn are second following their comfortable win over Bishop Auckland at Kingsway.

When Mauhtashim Rashid took 7-59 to reduce the home side to 143 all out, the Seasiders' were on their way and the task was completed by in-form Paul Ramage (36), Richie Storr, with an undefeated half-century, and Ditta (44) . Darren Blenkiron (54) top-performed with the bat for Bishop's.

Guisborough maintained their challenge for top spot, defeating Normanby Hall by nine wickets. They needed only 136 and Richard Dunn, who hit one six and 11 fours in 72 not out, and Graham Shaw (52 not out) obliged with an unbroken partnership of 126 for the second wicket. David Towse conceded fewer than two runs an over when he bowled throughout in the Guisborough attack. His 4-49 from 25 overs, including ten maidens, kept the Hall on the defensive especially as Dunn chipped in with figures of 3-52 from 19 overs.

The only real resistance came from Tariq Ramzan with 33. A welcome win for Middlesbrough lifted them to joint fourth from bottom.

Their total of 162-6 against Richmondshire at Acklam Park looked vulnerable but Matthew Brown (3-33) and Ben Roberts with 4-17 came up trumps. Clive Layfield opened with 43 for Richmond but a big blow was the early dismissal of Shanoka Dissanayake. James Beaumont (73) scored almost half the Boro total.

Thornaby were another side to improve their position near the bottom. They could only draw with Hartlepool but took 15 points from the game. Hrishikesh Kanitkar maintained his impressive form with 88 and 63 from Moore and 34 not out by Ian Still propelled Thornaby to an impressive 225-5.

Pool managed only 179-8 by close of play and more than 100 of the runs came from openers Gary Tebbitt with 63 and Steve Chapman (41).