Eppleton lost ground and had their lead reduced to four points when they were unable to capitalise on bowling themselves into a potentially winning position at Burnmoor.

And the drawn outcome allowed South Hetton to move into second place after their convincing victory at Durham City.

Early Eppleton success saw them claim five Burnmoor wickets for 43 runs and place the Moors in a precarious position.

However, they lost the initiative when Ian Miller and Martin Thursfield joined forces to add 49 together before a crucial ninth-wicket partnership.

Thursfield was aided by Des Beach and 53 came in the stand at a run a minute. With Thursfield ending on 62 Burnmoor were thankful for their final total of 167. Eppleton entered the final hour's play requiring 110 with seven wickets intact, but soon lost David Lowther and decided on the safety of a draw.

South Hetton were one of two sides to win when they restricted Durham City to 113. Professional Glen Froud was the main destroyer of the City innings with six wickets to clinch victory. Seaham Harbour were the other winners when they successfully chased 192 at Boldon. Grant Forster needed just 84 deliveries as he cracked 72 in the Boldon total. Neville Gustard (4-64) and former Boldon player Alan Lamb (3-24) contained the rest of the batting before a declaration came.

Despite losing two wickets early, Seaham powered on through Chris Lamb (38), and Simon Weston (49 no) who was still at the crease when the victory arrived with 2.4 overs left.

South Shields produced a spirited display against Horden but again lacked the ability to score runs. Matthew Muchall (5-48) caused problems throughout and left his side to chase 150 runs to win. Lee Whalley (36) and Ashok Patel (41) took the total to 50 before being separated. The introduction of 16-year old Adam Dixon, who bowled in tandem with Nadeem Khan (4-40), almost saw the champions to victory but in the end Shields survived to take 11 points from the draw.

Whitburn looked well-placed to win against Hetton Lyons but were unable to find the killer punch to finish off the opposition. Keith Burdett and Neil Ayre (32) rattled up the first 100 in just 90 minutes before the partnership was broken. On reaching 200 Whitburn declared after Burdett hit a useful 73.

Youngsters Eden Elstob (3-15) and Ian Elliott claimed early wickets to provide Whitburn with a winning chance. But despite seven balls at the final pair, they were unable to make the crucial breakthrough.

The Marsden batting had a more solid look about it at Felling and John Dunn (61) and Michael Ghandy (72) added 106 for the sixth wicket leaving Felling to chase 182 for victory.

Neil Levinson (89 no) held their innings together but they were short of a winning total; each side claiming 11 points.