Draw puts Pikes in fourth (From Gazette & Herald)

Draw puts Pikes in fourth

Hunters Estate Agent York & District Senior League:

In the Premier Division, leaders Clifton Alliance clung on to pole position when they managed to partially defend their below par total of 166 all out to emerge with a tie at Malton & Old Malton, which earned them 21 points.

John Gilham was their top scorer with 45, while Chris Malthouse followed last week's debut half century with 37. Australian Brent Warren took the bowling honours for Malton with 6-79 off 19 overs, while slow man Matt Yates gave sound support with 3-31.

When Malton responded, Darren Wyrill made 28, but it was left to skipper Neil Johnson to carry the flag with 79. Despite his efforts, Malton entered the final over needing eight for victory, which was eventually reduced to two off the final ball. The resulting single left the scores level with Malton on 166-6, and taking 23 points due to dismissing their opponents.

Two other batsmen to strike form after a lean start to the season were Sheriff Hutton Bridge's Paul Oldfield and Mike Smith, who made 91 and 53 respectively to see their side to 218-9 at Acomb.

With both Dave and Richard Sykes away on holiday, Andy Sykes maintained the family tradition by taking 6-62 in an important 13 over spell. Acomb were then given a sound start by Andy Tute with 25 and Scott Nicholls with 35.

But their dismissal gave little cause for concern in their opponents' ranks. Sanjay Rodrigo, who was 78 not out, and Joey Burton, who was 69 not out, then shared an unbroken stand of 157, which took Acomb to an eight-wicket victory to leave the Bridge trailing the pack by 29 points.

Pickering find themselves in the upper ranks as they lie in fourth place after gaining an advantage draw over Easingwold. The Pikes' three stalwarts, Chris Nicholls with 36, Mark Shepherd with 42 and Colin Frank with 27, provided the bedrock before Mark Aconley hit an unbeaten 57 to lift the home score to 220-6. Jonathon Marwood with 3-60 showed the best bowling return for the visitors.

Easingwold skipper Martin Piercy then made 45 and cousin Tom Piercy 59. But Tony Evans claimed 3-49 and Easingwold fell marginally short at 212-6, despite an unbeaten 35 from Dan Copeland.

In Division One, Lorenzo Ingram was again amongst the runs for Stamford Bridge and was homing in on a fourth century when he was caught by Duncombe Park's Mike Harding off Mark Wilkie for 80.

But by the time the Jamaican departed, Stamford were well on the way to surpassing the 143 all out total made by second-placed Park, for whom Wilkie made 59. Bridge's successful bowlers were Pete Aconley with 3-30 and Graham Tipping 4-54, while Ed Sykes supported Ingram with 39 as Stamford increased their lead at the top of the division.

In Division Two, it was a similar tale at New Earswick where the home side were dismissed for only 89 by Crayke. Mark Hutchinson took six for 46 and Dave Allitt had 3-22 to set up Crayke's first win of the season, which they duly achieved for the loss of just one wicket as Paul Hutchinson made 63 not out to inflict a loss which leaves Earswick 46 points adrift at the foot of the division.

Rowntrees bounced back from a poor performance last week to defeat Hovingham by six wickets. Dave Thompson had a good nine-over spell to take 3-12, which helped to restrict Hovingham to 146-9 with the better batting coming from Stuart Prest with 34 and Richie Brown with 39. Gerry Capelin then made 38 to set Rowntrees on their way, leaving Johan Alazhappwruma to finish the job with an unbeaten 44.

In Division Three, league newcomers and divisional favourites Folkton & Flixton suffered a surprise defeat when they travelled to Wilberfoss. Skipper Neil Elvidge made 55 for Flixton, with John Boddy with 25 and Rob Lacey with 26 helping him post a total of 190-9, despite a 4-49 return by Josh Room.

John Chaplin then gave Wilberfoss a good foundation with 63 and Phil Stothard added 28. Damian Gormley captured three of the five wickets to fall at a cost of 40, but the experienced Mike Stothard saw his side to victory with an unbeaten 34 to earn a five-wicket win, which saw Wilberfoss jump to the head of the division.

Castleford improved their lowly position with a five-wicket home win over a Malton & Old Malton II side, who set a target of 162-9 via Andy Raines with 39 and Shane Bonsor with 34. For Castleford, Conan Roos took 3-40 and Nick Welburn 3-20, then Glen Shalley made 33 and Shaun Le Roux a decisive 67 to see their side home by five wickets after 35.1 overs.

Clifton Alliance II had the biggest win of the day when they annihilated Stillington to the tune of 156 runs. Once again, Clifton's Shipton Road ground was the scene of fluent batsmanship as the home side amassed 151-5, with five batsmen catching the eye. Simon Corley led the run feast with 54, while Paul Atkinson with 42, Matt Phillips with 36, John Myers with 38 and Duncan Naylor, who made 29 not out, all satisfied their appetites.

Wayne Linton took 3-79 for Stillington, but then saw his side disintegrate as Chris Dower grabbed six for 19 and Dave Heartshorne 3-42 to send Stillington toppling to 95 all out.

In Division Four, Beverley Town II suffered their first defeat when they went down by 18 runs when entertaining Huby. Chris Cundall hit an unbeaten 53 for the Hambleton side, with other runs coming from Darren Howell with 30 and Hugh Sheddon with 28, who countered the 3-35 return by Richard Laycock to see Huby to 166-7.

Beverley's Andy Brumfield seemed to be well in command until he was run out after making 43. Graham Taylor added 34 but Dan Grainger, with 3-41, and Tim Little, with 3-21, took control as the home side were dismissed for 148.

Sheriff Hutton are the, perhaps, surprising leaders of Division Four after gaining a home win over Bubwith. A trio of Sheriff bowlers took three wickets apiece, with Richard Armitage's costing 25 runs, Nick Oswald conceding 32 and Simon Thornton being slightly more expensive as 39 runs came off his bowling. Their efforts had Bubwith all out for 137, of which Neil Readman made 30 and Paul Van Dyke had 31.

Sheriff's successful reply hinged on Craig Dodsworth with 37 and Ben Tompkins with 27, who did just enough to blunt the threat posed by Simon Lazenby's 3-43.

One of the better run chases in the league's history took place at Thorp Arch & Boston Spa where the home side made a mockery of the massive target of 264-5 set by Pickering II to win in a canter with seven overs in hand.

Kev Wilson struck 111 for the Pikes who, thanks to 57 by Sam Thackray and an unbeaten 45 from Steve Beales, were able to make a big score, which was to prove to be the highest losing total ever recorded in the division. When the Boston side replied, Andy Hawkswell with 48 and Matt Warrilow with 41 set the tone of the innings. Brothers Chris Cole with 39 and Mike Cole with 51 maintained the momentum, then Steve Raine hit 35 not out to see Arch reach their winning target of 270 for the loss of just four wickets in the 38th over.

Their score was the highest winning total in the division and the match aggregate of 534-9 was also a new divisional record.

In Division Five, Sheriff Hutton Bridge II are in second place following their four-wicket win at Stamford Bridge in a game which saw the league's only regular lady player have a significant role for Stamford.

Steve Fieldsend with 28 and Andy Fraser with 31 gave Stamford a steady start but 16-year-old spinner Danny Kiernan posed problems as he gained a career best 5-55, getting his first five-wicket haul in a 17-over spell.

Martin Veysey offered resistance with 34, before the Stamford innings received a boost when number 11 Laura Winfield made an unbeaten 12 as she and father Andy added 18 in an unbroken last wicket stand which lifted the total to 179-9.

The teenager then showed her prowess behind the stumps as, for the second successive week, she got two catches and a stumping. But despite Laura's efforts, the Sheriff Hutton Bridge side were able to clinch a victory as all their top four made runs, with Geoff Schofield making 41, Adam Fisher 23, Vic Klays, who was 44 not out, and York City footballer Darren Dunning got 41 to add to his earlier 3-42.

In Division Six, Wilberfoss were another side to go into their game with two vacancies in their ranks, but were able to emerge from their game at Stillington II with a draw as their last two batsmen managed to stave off defeat.

Peter Dalton with 38 and Ben Walker with 28 had seen Stillington to a modest 129-9 as Pete Edmondson took 4-20. Clive Wakefield hit back with 3-16, but Kev Davison held up proceedings with 37 and his side hung in at 82-7.

Civil Service were only able to muster nine men for their trip to Hovingham II, where Mike Hemmingway took five for 25 for the home side. Denis Wray's 25 was the best of the pack in Service's 74 all out.

Alex Livie then hit back with 4-39 but no other bowlers were able to make any inroads into Hovingham, as 16-year-old Gavin Watt steered his side to a six-wicket victory with an unbeaten 23. Hovingham now lead the division by 16 points.

Premier League Cup

Dunnington's bid to retain the trophy for the eighth successive year got off to a damp squib when Sheriff Hutton Bridge were unable to field a team and conceded the tie.

League positions were reflected at Clifton Park where Duncombe Park, who are currently in second place in Division One, inflicted a five-wicket defeat on a York II side who are in 10th place. Australian Jason English made 92 not out as he and Adam Boasman with 35 not out restored the home side's fortunes after six wickets had fallen. But it was not to be, as Mark Wilkie with an unbeaten 57 and Brian Leckenby with 25 saw Park to victory.

Malton's bowlers kept the Woodhouse Grange batsmen under control until Nick Hadfield and Steve Burdett combined to thrash 64 off the final six overs. Hadfield failed to reach triple figures as he closed on 96 not out while his partner was unbeaten with 31. Malton skipper Neil Johnson replied with 32 but teenager Andrew Bilton proved to be a thorn in the visitor's side as his four for 29 had Malton all out for 104.

Old East Yorkshire Cup rivals Pickering made a first innings total of 188-9 against Beverley as Colin Frank scored 46 and Steve Beales 49 not out. Beverley skipper Simon Roe took 4-57 and Peter Parnaby 3-22. After losing two early wickets, Olie Grantham and James Hodgson led Beverley to an eight-wicket win.

Edward Readman Trophy

Sheriff Hutton overcame a handicap deficit of 15 to trounce Cawood by eight wickets. The star of the show was 17-year-old Joel Wilford, who made his maiden century with 111. Earlier, J Pearson had made 33 in Cawood's total, making 201-9 with the 60-run handicap start. Andy Batley took 3-33 for the Sheriff side.

Folkton & Flixton appear to be favourites to lift the trophy at the first attempt after inflicting a heavy nine-wicket defeat on Studley Royal. For Studley, Steve Walmsley made 32 and Charlie Scatchard 39, but Damon Gormley took 3-24 to have them all out for 154. When Flixton replied, Gormley, with 62 not out and Mike Walmsley 34 not out saw off the opposition.

Updated: 11:48 Wednesday, June 01, 2005