Marwood in the runs

Marwood remained unbeaten on 102 while his Australian partner was dismissed for 93 as Easingwold set up an advantage draw by making 214 for two.

Colin Frank top scored in Pickering's reply of 178 for seven but his side remain in a relegation place after only gaining ten points.

Heworth captain Dave Simpson carried his bat through his side's innings for the second successive game when he made an unbeaten 88, steering his team to an eight-wicket win at Whitkirk.

Home skipper Craig Shipton hit 88 and Stuart Pickles made 53 as Whitkirk banked maximum batting points in making 200 for six but Matthew Atkinson (30) helped Simpson add 90 for the first wicket then Graham Hayward made 56 not out as he and Simpson combined in an unbroken stand of 97 for the third wicket.

Dunnington's Simon Kellett continued to mine his rich veins of runs he made 71 in the top of the table clash at Clifton Alliance. His side were able to make 236 for six but Clifton made a spirited reply through Dave Taylor (55) and Rob Taylor 53 not out before Collis King struck in the 39th over to record the third hat-trick in the four year history of the premier division. The feat enabled King to complete figures of six for 40 and left Clifton hanging on for a draw at 161 for nine.

Ripon remain entrenched firmly at the foot of the division following their heavy defeat at Sheriff Hutton Bridge who ran out winners by eight wickets after Paul Oldfield (65) and Paul Scaling (78 not out) shared a 140 run partnership.

Earlier Neil Jackson made 49 no for Ripon but Mike Smith who took four for 42 and Keran Rodgers who had three for 31 had limited them to a 153 for eight.

The game at Thirsk was reduced to 45 overs because of a shower and this may well have prevented the home side gaining a victory over third-placed Acomb who were on the precipice at 100 for nine when the overs expired. Batting first, Thirsk made 151 for six as Mike Gear made 39 and Neil Stephenson 29 while Des Wyrill had reached 29 no when he was forced to retire with an injury. Dave Sykes maintained his high ranking in the bowling charts with four for 64.

Chris Simpson made 45 for Acomb but Barry Petty caused his usual problems in claiming four for 31 as Acomb hung on for a draw.

An unbeaten 90 by Nick Hadfield helped Woodhouse Grange gain their first win of the season at the expense of Osbaldwick.

Beverley Town moved to the top of the First Division after Shaun Lightowler destroyed Pocklington by taking eight for 38 to set up a nine wicket victory. Previous leaders York suffered a seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Stillington for who Mohammed Hafeez took three for 29 and made 39 not out.

Top team York suffered a surprising defeat in Division One against Stillington. Mohammed Hafeez was Stillington's star, firstly with three for 29 as York were restricted to 135 for nine and then made 39 not out as Stillington won by seven wickets.

John McGrady top scored for the Shipton side with 31 not out while Aussie Kent Stone captured all three Stillington sides for a cost of 64.

Sessay lost ground in the promotion race when they were beaten by six wickets at Carlton Towers after being dismissed for 133. Nick Harrison was Sessay's top scorer with 32 and then saw Carlton lose four wickets fairly cheaply before Jamie Pocklington 45 not out and Richard Watson 41 not out combined to take the Towers to a good win.

Crayke lifted themselves into third place with a resounding victory at Stamford Bridge who are becoming embroiled in the relegation struggle after losing by 116 runs. No Stamford player emerged with any appreciable figures as Crayke players claimed all the plaudits. Andrew Dawson figured as an all rounder by following his 71 with three for 32 whilst Graeme Dawson 46 not out and Paul Hutchinson 58 not out piled on the agony with the bat and Mark Hutchinson took three for 39 as the Bridge crumbled to 91 all out.

Scarborough strengthened thier grip at the top of Division Two with a win over second-placed visitors Bubwith.

Scarborough now lead by 15 points from newcomers Hull Zingari.

Batting first, Bubwith ran into trouble against Mark Wells who captured five for 30 and were only able to reach 136 for nine thanks to Richard Hunter 39 and Neil Readman 29. In Scarborough's reply, Jeremy Rich made 42 before Andy Welford's undefeated 40 saw Scarborough to a six wicket victory.

Malton and Old Malton moved into second place in the Third Division when they banked full batting points against Cawood and gained a profitable draw but were unable to force an outright win. Five batsmen all made significant contributions to Malton's total of 227 for five with Neil Johnson top scoring with 57. Other valuable runs came from Lester Parkin 39, Greg Johnson 29, Andy Raine 42 and Shane Bonser who made 36 not out. Stuart Baxter led Cawood's response with 51 but his batting colleague were unable to match their opposite numbers and, with Danny Foxton claiming three for 34, Cawood moved to a draw at 130 for seven.

There was some big time hitting at Yapham in Division Four where home batsman Tim Lazenby cracked an unbeaten 65 off 25 balls to help his side reach the highest total of the day, 269 for five against Easingwold. The visitors then slumped to 55 for nine before a massive last wicket stand of 71 between Gavin Rees, who made 44no and Ken Skilbeck threatened to earn a draw until the latter was dismissed by the only ball bowled by Yapham acting skipper Steve Walker.

Tadcaster, batting first, made 189 for five through Ian Dawson and Rich Cattle who each made 43 and Bobby Collins who remained undefeated with 41 in the Division Five game with Stamford whose batsmen failed to produce the goods as John Reynolds took four for 32 and Steve MacNamara three for 30 but the last pair were able to hang in for a draw at 106 for nine.

Pickering took the full 30 points when they beat Heslington by 122 runs.

The Pikes hit 219 for five with Kev Wilson 41, K R Aconley 31, Stuart Brown 31, Ian Johnson 46 not out, and Andrew Grayson 25 not out as Stuart Dickinson took four for 91. In Heslington's reply, Bob Taylor made 29 and Simon Ewing 32 but Tony Evans struck with a hat-trick in his return of five for 23 and with 15-year- old Carl Suggitt taking three for 10 Heslington were dismissed for 97 and still await their first win.

Rowntrees captain Stefan Cockerill hit eight fours in nine balls in a quickfire 45 to gain his side their first win of the season at the expense of Thorp Arch and Boston Spa whose skipper Matt Fraser top scored with 30 out of 118 all out and then had Cockerill caught to claim his first ever league wicket but Rowntrees gained a seven wicket win in the 26th over. Earlier Chris Soulsby had taken six for 26 to put the York side on top.