ASKHAM Bryan YPO were in rampant form to demolish Norwich Union in the Horwath Pulleyn Heselton York Vale League top of division one duel.

Batting first, Norwich Union found Glynn Botterill and Mike Hamshere in devastating form. Hamshere took 7-21 from 16 overs and Botterill 3-16 from 16.4 overs as the Union ranks crashed to 40 all out.

It took Askham Bryan YPO less than ten overs to overhaul the target, Queenslander Dean Palmer pasting 34 rapid runs for a ten-wicket triumph.

British Sugar batsman Simon Taylor smashed 135no against Westow, he and fellow opener Mark Lovedale (77) putting on 211 for the first wicket.

Chasing a 236-2 Westow found the wet conditions, Wayne Bellerby (4-31) and Gary Iqbal (6-16) too slippery to handle and subsided to 48 all out.

Steve Bygott inspired Fulfordgate to victory over Stockton and Hopgrove. His 42 runs, added to an earlier 44 by Tom Wheeler, set a target of 161-7 of which Derek Fryer grabbed 5-63. Stockton's middle order nearly clicked but no batsman was able to carry on to a big score as they fell for 124. Bygott returned figures of 5-35.

Division two Kelfield were first to reach 1,000 runs for the season in their victory over Burton Salmon. David Olde (48no) alone handled the Kelfield attack before Burton's Phil Smith rampaged his way to 93no in a winning total of 132-1 in only 26 overs.

Ovington were put to the sword by Wheldrake bowling machine Carl Van Neikirk, who took 6-44 to reduce Ovington to 28-8 before Dave Brummitt (33no) nudged the score to 101. Paul Costello's 49 underpinned Wheldrake's five-wicket win.

Thixendale found Burn bowler Nigel Horsley too hot to handle. His 4-12 from 11 overs had Thixendale all out for 86. Glenn Hunter (37) took Burn home by eight wickets.

In division three, a shortened game between Clifton Alliance and Thorpe Willoughby saw Thorpe succeed. Thorpe scored 140-6, Granville North top-scoring with 45. Dave Watson then returned figures of 4-9 to send Clifton reeling to 104 all out.

Bishopthorpe were comfortable division four winners at Melbourne. After John Howden (30) and Martin Kidd (24) had departed Melbourne went from 61-2 to 84 all out. Veteran Mike Brown took 6-52 and Paul Coulson 4-31. A rapid 41 from Chris St-Clair Wickes saw the visitors home by eight wickets.

Rejuvenated Ovington eclipsed Copmanthorpe by 80 runs in division five. Barry Steel belted 102 and Fasial Bacus 87no in Ovington's 200-3. Then 17-year-old Dave Jones crushed Cop with 6-28.

Stockton & Hopgrove openers Michael Collinson (45no) and Barry Sellers (59no) comfortably steered their side to a ten-wicket win over new boys Sheriff Hutton, whose captain Tony Fisher's 54 was the backbone of their 117 total.

But there was no such joy for Stockton against Thorpe Willougby 24 hours later. Andy McEvoy's 63 graced Thorpe's 154-8 of which young Dan Fairclough took 3-43. Collinson (46) and Mick Anderson (21) got Stockton away but Neil Copsey's 4-39 held Stockton to 140-8.

Copmanthorpe, also in Sunday action, shared a nail-biter with Wheldrake.

Cop posted 117-9 after the father and son combination of Kevin Dent (4-32) and Callum Dent (4-38) did the damage.

But then Wheldrake's top order fell to Geoff Deighton (4-30) before Chris Hall (5-19) cleaned up the tail as even a four runs with two wickets in hand target proved elusive.

Updated: 10:37 Thursday, June 24, 2004