Hunters the Estate Agent York & District Senior League

In the Premier Division, Collis King was again in imperious form when he flayed the Malton & Old Malton attack for 163 runs of just 140 balls to record his third century of the season.

King, who hit 14 fours and seven sixes, joined opener Hamid Khan in a second wicket stand of 181, with the opener also reaching three figures as he made 107. Their combined efforts saw Dunnington post a daunting 303-4.

However, their bowlers were unable to force home the advantage as Malton reached a relatively comfortable draw at 198-6 through Brent Warren and Danny Foxton, who both made 40, and Neil Johnson who made 26.

Easingwold skipper Martin Piercy was another player to log on to his third century of the season when he made 109 as he and Jonathon Marwood posted an opening stand of 167 against old rivals Sheriff Hutton Bridge.

Marwood's share was 80 and, with James Banks making 38 not out, Easingwold took a comfortable tea at 268-4. When Bridge replied, opener Paul Oldfield made 71 as he and brothers Steve Crowder, with 25, and Peter Crowder, with 30, seemed to have set their side on course to an easy draw.

However, Paul Skilbeck then caused Bridge to suffer tremors before they scraped a draw at 191-9.

Beverley Town relinquished their runners-up slot when they suffered a home defeat at the hands of Pickering whose three-wicket win went a considerable way to ensuring divisional safety.

Beverley's big batting guns failed as Tony Evans took 5-49 and Chris Aconley 3-29, and it was left to Alan Acklam with 29 and Peter Parnaby, who was 25 not out, to help them to 176 all out.

Colin Frank again topped the poll for the Pikes with 58, Paul Witty made 47 and Simon King 32.

In Division One, a 69-run stand for the ninth wicket between Alex Boyle and Rob Harrison denied Duncombe Park victory over York II.

Park openers Brian Leckenby and Adam Rayner blasted their way to 50 in 7.4 overs and had doubled this by the time the 16th over ended.

Their opening stand had risen to 124 when Leckenby fell for 44. Rayner followed when he fell on 96, but Mark Wilkie, with 53, and Peter Kent, with 58, continued to dominate as Park reached 281-6.

York soon found themselves staring defeat in the face when they lost eight wickets for 139, with only Adam Boasman, who had earlier taken 3-77, resisting with 28.

Boyle found a good partner in ex-Scarborough man Harrison as the pair added 69 for the ninth wicket, before Boyle fell for 41, leaving Harrison to eke out a draw at 233-9.

In Division Two, Crayke missed a splendid opportunity to lift themselves out of the relegation zone during a low scoring encounter at Bridlington.

The villagers' bowlers did the business with panache as Dave Allitt took 6-74 and Mark Hutchinson 3-49. Their efforts resulted in Bridlington, for whom teenager Richard Lount made 49, struggling to 132-9.

When Crayke replied, Graeme Dawson made 30 and Peter Carr 26, but restrictive bowling by Sam Edmundson, with 4-27, and Casey Rudd, with 3-37, saw Crayke's reply run out of steam at 116-8.

Bottom-placed Hovingham pulled off the major shock of the day when they severely dented Sewerby's promotion drive by recording a thrilling one-wicket win in a high-scoring affair at Sewerby's cliff top ground. For more, turn to page 42.

In Division Three, leaders Folkton & Flixton eliminated one of their stronger challengers when they recorded an early victory over Clifton Alliance, who were vanquished by nine wickets.

Only Clifton batsman Paul Atkinson, with 39, made any impression as Damian Gormley, with 5-31, and Richard Baker, with 3-59, dismissed them for 146. Neil Elvidge then hit a rapid 83 before becoming the only casualty as Flixton ran out winners by nine wickets, with Mick Walmsley unbeaten on 43.

During the week, Stillington's talented youngster Mike Whitwell became the first player to hit a century in the Yorkshire Schools' competition as he led Easingwold School to their first ever title at Headingley. The youngster carried on where he had left off by making 46 to help his side reach 239-8 when they played hosts to Malton & Old Malton II.

Whitwell was helped by two other young players, Ben Drummond, who made 69, and Shaun Speck, who hit 48. Malton's best two bowlers were Shane Bonsor with 3-85 and Chris Brigham 3-68, and the duo both featured with the bat when their side replied, with Bonsor making 35 and Brigham 34 not out.

John Foxton hit 51 and Andrew Raine 28 as Malton earned a draw at 188-8, with Speck also proving his all-round ability by taking 3-68.

In Division Four, Sheriff Hutton took advantage of a rare Beverley defeat to edge five points clear, despite being on the wrong end of a draw at Thorp Arch & Boston Spa.

The home batsmen did well to reach 246-9, as Matt Warrilow hit 60, Chris Cole 40 and Andy Griffith 35. Although, Sheriff's Richard Coverdale produced his best figures since switching his allegiance from neighbouring Sheriff Hutton Bridge when he captured 5-58.

Sheriff made a reasonable attempt at matching their hosts as Chris Megone, with 29, Barry Dale, with 27, and Andy Frank, with 40, scored runs, but Mike Cole took 3-8 in a cameo five-over spell which threatened to earn a home win before Sheriff were left with 14 points from a draw when their innings closed on 203-9.

Pickering II did their survival chances a power of good when they copied their first team by beating leaders Beverley Town by 46 runs.

Robert Aconley, with 34, Jason Feaster, with 43, and Stephen Beal, with 26, provided most of the input to a Pickering total of 165, with Dave Craker taking 5-39 and Richard Laycock 3-27 in the spotlight for Beverley. Aconley then followed with 3-28 and, with James Bayes' 30 as the only bright spot, Beverley were rolled over for 119.

Bubwith were only able to field eight men for their trip to Huby but, incredibly, came away with a 30-run victory when they successfully defended a modest 139 all out.

Bubwith had to thank Dan Curtis, who made 36, Joe Lane, with 47, and Simon Lazenby, 29, for their score whilst Huby's Paul Moore was probably left ruing a missed opportunity to bag an eight-wicket haul when he was prevented from improving on his 6-55 by the absence of the three missing players.

When Huby replied, Darren Howell made 37, but Lazenby took control with a 6-61 bag and, with Brian Last getting 3-29, Huby found themselves off the pace when they were all out for 109.

In Division Five, with Dunnington virtually certain of clinching the division honours, the real battle revolves around the runners-up position, which is currently occupied by Sheriff Hutton Bridge II.

No batsman made a big score for Bridge but contributions came from most of the side, so that a total of 197-9 was reached. Another of Easingwold School's stars, Adam Blair, made 27 and Geoff Schofield made 29. The top performer in the first half was York's Matthew Hodgson, who took 5-38.

As before, no batsman made a notable score and York found themselves bowled out for 143 off the penultimate ball when spinner Danny Snowball, who finished 6-54, dismissed Steve Beales.

In Division Six, Hovingham continue to set the pace after gaining a four-wicket home win over Stillington. With the latter batting first, Dennis North made 29 and Pete Dalton 31 in a score of 151 all out, with Mark Redhead taking 5-48 and 14-year-old Will Prescott 2-16.

Dalton followed with 3-31 and his long-standing hunting partner Dave Linton took 3-38, but Steve Thompson made an important 67 to see his side to their ninth win of the season.

Updated: 16:12 Wednesday, July 27, 2005