Acomb skipper Dave Sykes became the first bowler in the premier division to reach the 50-wicket mark when he took 4-24 against fourth-placed Woodhouse Grange.

Nick Hadfield went past 500 runs in making 33 but Sykes had fine support from Andy Tute who produced a season's-best 6-66 to send Grange to 100 all out.

Sanjay Rodrigo then made 52 as second placed Acomb sailed to an eight-wicket victory.

There was a thriller at Clifton, where the home side's last pair were able to score the eight runs required to gain a single-wicket win over Beverley Town.

Neil Stephenson was the pick of the batsmen for the East Riding side, making 78 in their total of 160-8 with Richard Musgrave taking 3-38 for the hosts.

The Alliance then lost two wickets for just eight runs and were in serious trouble at 59-5 as Barry Sayer (3-27) and Simon Roe (4-56) posed problems. Tom Malloch, with 25, and Musgrave (34) rebuilt the innings.

But after their departure, John Gilham took control and reached an unbeaten 49 when he hit the winning run after last man Francis Hawthorne had helped add the required eight following the fall of the ninth wicket.

Because of Thirsk races, Carlton Towers agreed to their ground being used for their premier division clash with Thirsk, while their scheduled home game in division five against the same opposition was staged at Harome.

No doubt Thirsk were more than pleased to make the journey as they gained a six-wicket win which lifted them out of the bottom two and left the surrogate hosts floundering at the foot of the section.

Carlton posted a reasonable 179-7 after Mark Graves made 47, Jamie Pocklington 46 and Jonathan Dilks an unbeaten 28. Thirsk's Barry Petty reached the 40-wicket mark with 4-60.

Thirsk's response was led by veteran Des Wyrill who made a proficient unbeaten 82 to steer his side home, well-backed by Gary Kelson (45) and John Harper (37 no). Carlton's Paul Wright took 3-61.

Dunnington made a massive score when they batted first against third-placed Easingwold.

Simon Kellett followed his 121 of the previous week with 138 as he reached triple figures for the 18th time in the league to go beyond former Dunnington star Pat Wood.

The ex-Yorkshire player shared an opening stand of 139 with Hamid Khan and then played a minor role as Collis King smacked an unbeaten 69 to take his side to 271-3.

Easingwold's batsmen put up a good and effective fight to earn a draw with Tom Piercy heading the field with 49 and support coming from Jonathan Marwood 28 and Paul Skilbeck 25.

Hamid Khan was the most effective bowler with 3-50 but Easingwold held out with some comfort at 171-8.

Mohammed Fayyez and Dave Simpson were the stars when Heworth made the short trip to Osbaldwick, earning a six-wicket win which left the host side in a relegation slot.

Osso's batsmen had little answer to the bowling of Fayyez, who took 7-32, and average-topper Martin Sigsworth, who claimed 3-29. Only Steve Jackson with 36 showed prowess as his side slipped to 63-6. Colin Sanctuary improved matters with an unbeaten 29 which lifted the home total to 128.

Heworth opener Simpson made a positive statement as he made 40 out of the first 50 Heworth runs. He lost four partners before a winning combination emerged as Simpson moved to 65no and Kashif Mahmood made 32no to earn a six-wicket victory.

Updated: 09:48 Monday, August 04, 2003