YORK RI 'B' are on the brink of promotion to the Woodhouse Cup for the first time after a narrow win over promotion rivals Sheffield 'C'.

York RI 'B' need to win their last match at home to NEGAS to secure second place in the IM Brown and the promotion that should follow.

The 5-3 victory over Sheffield 'C' was a fantastic result as the team was weakened with two regular players missing. York lost quickly on board seven but wins from Eric Key, John Clark, Martin Cook and Laurence Cornhill, plus draws from Richard Mounce and Steve Webster, secured the vital victory.

In the Woodhouse Cup, York RI 'A' continued their good run by crushing Doncaster 'A' 7-2. It is a shame they could not produce this kind of performance earlier in the season when they still had a chance of the title.

The result was achieved with

wins from Richard Palliser, David Adams, Tony Slinger, Barry Marshall, Jon Griffith, Paul Johnson and draws from Paul Townsend, Paul Hopwood and Jim Shemilt.

In the Silver Rook, York RI 'C' also had a resounding win thumping Netherton 'A' 6-1 victory with wins from Eric Winn, Neville Pearce, Ewen Cameron, Sri Sriharan and John Blades and draws from Richard Hardy, David Findlay and Mick Beavers.

This leaves them one point behind joint leaders Bradford DCA and Doncaster 'B', who they still have to play with two games remaining.

York RI 'D' couldn't complete the clean sweep and were heavily beaten 7-1 by Bradford DCA with the only win coming by means of a default. York RI 'D' will need to win their pemultimate match against Harrogate 'C' to avoid relegation and to achieve that they will need to strengthen their team.

Lady Anne Middleton 2 remained on course for winning the York Evening League second division with a 4-1 win over Nowhere Men.

They quickly went into a 3-1 lead with wins from Neville Pearce, Lee Wilson and Andy Wade with Andy McNicholl replying for the home team but the remaining two games were close. The vital point of the match was John Knowles and Laurence Cornhill agreeing a draw to give the match to LAM2.

In the last game to finish Colin

Snowball won to give the away team a flattering scoreline.

Updated: 12:10 Thursday, March 28, 2002