THE destiny of the Hunters ECB Yorkshire Premier Cricket League North crown remains in the hands of Sheriff Hutton Bridge after they saw off title challengers York in a nervy low-scoring contest at Moor Farm.

The defending champions struggled to come to terms with the conditions and could only manage 154 before being bowled out, Yorkshire spinner Karl Carver finishing with 4-32 from 13 overs.

Chris Booth’s (52) half-century was the stand out performance in the visitors total in which extras at 33 was the second highest contributor.

The hosts’ unbeaten home record looked to be under threat as they slumped to 99-6 in reply, which included a record equalling five catches from wicket-keeper Tom Brooks.

Mark Fisher (20no) and Avish Patel (33no) came to the home side's rescue with an unbroken stand of 56 to seal a four-wicket win with five overs to spare.

Woodhouse Grange moved back above York into second place as they returned to winning ways with a six-wicket victory over Scarborough at North Marine Road.

Tom Neal (5-37) gave the visitors the perfect start with two wickets in the opening over, and went on to collect his first five-wicket haul since joining Grange.

Jack Harrison held the latter part of the home side’s innings together, making an unbeaten 34 with the last three wickets contributing 58 to the eventual total of 157.

Opener Andrew Bilton (42) and brother Chris (65) made sure there were few alarms for the visitors, who reached the target with more than a dozen overs in hand.

The victory leaves them just three points behind the leaders with three games to go.

A third-wicket partnership worth 192 between Zac Keune and Ryan McKendry set up a colossal 231-run victory for Stamford Bridge at Low Catton Road against bottom of the table Beverley Town.

It came after the hosts found themselves 12-2 early on. Edward Chappell (3-54) picked up three wickets including both Keune and McKendry but not before the duo had effectively put the game out of reach.

Chasing an unlikely victory target of 285 the visitors batting fell apart, Dominic Rhodes taking a Yorkshire League North career-best 6-26.

Only two visiting batsmen reaching double figures as they were dismissed for 53, equalling the third lowest total since the competition began almost four years ago.

The result leaves the Norwood Park side on the verge of an immediate return to the Senior League.

Dunnington’s first win for over a month has left Sessay with a mountain to climb if they are to retain Premier League status.

The visitors found the early going tough, losing their top five for just 25 runs. The situation was improved to an extent by Tim Hall and Liam Carver, who both made 33.

Hall was seventh out, one of three wickets for Luke Kilby (3-35), while Carver was one of the two not out batsmen when the innings closed at 145-9.

The home side were always in control despite the loss of wickets at regular intervals and a fifth-wicket stand of 59 between George Drury (38) and Jack Spofforth (44no) took them to the brink of victory.

Sessay now need to win all their remaining games to have any chance of avoiding relegation, while Dunnington can contemplate a top half finish in their first season back at this level.

A century from David Taylor (100), the first by a Clifton Alliance batsman this season, helped secure his side's Premier League status for another year as they won at home against Harrogate by 21 runs.

A partnership of 173 for the second wicket with Matthew Montgomery (61) took up all but eight overs of the hosts’ innings and provided the vast majority of the final total of 197-4.

It took a half-century from skipper Ross Sedgley (54) to kick-start the visitors’ innings after early wickets from Samuel Grant (3-47) and David Friend (3-38).

Corrie Keeble (34) and Ishan Abeysekara (31no) kept their side in the hunt but three wickets towards the end from Montgomery (3-33) wrapped up the points.

The closest game of the day came at Weetwood where Castleford beat Yorkshire Academy by just nine runs.

A half-century from Eitan Litvin (54) and 40 from Christopher Briggs followed an earlier 34 by skipper David Wainwright while three wickets each from Harrison Quarmby (3-43) and Joshua Sullivan (3-44) went some way to limiting the total to 202.

The top four for the home side all got starts but only George Hill was able to go on passing 50 for the fourth time in only seven appearances in 2019, Eddie Morrison (3-54) picked up three wickets and the chase was further hindered by three run outs.

Hill was dismissed for 84 with a couple of overs remaining but his effort had at least secured the side a share of the points if not the victory.