With Hetton Lyons and Whitburn both winning, the former retain their five-point lead at the top.

And, with the Eppleton versus South Hetton game ending in a draw, the top two have now advanced further ahead.

Hetton Lyons found Graham Wright (65) their main obstacle but the Felling captain received insufficient support from his colleagues. Slow bowler Ian Male (4-49) did the most damage and with Shaun Birbeck picking up three wickets Felling were all out in 49.3 overs for 157.

Birbeck was then among the runs. He added 78 for the second wicket with youngster Michael Walker.

Birbeck clattered 18 fours and three sixes - 90 in boundaries in his undefeated 103 - and Hetton Lyons were easy eight-wicket winners.

Whitburn were left to chase a larger target than they expected after a late Boldon rally. At 113 for seven, Whitburn looked set to wrap up the innings.

However, Michael Turnbull (48 not out) assisted by Mike Barnes added 61 for the eighth wicket to give Boldon's bowlers a chance.

After Neil Ayre (33) and Ashley Thorpe put on 68 together for the second wicket, the Whitburn innings slumped. Thorpe was in exhilarating form and his unbeaten ton (15 fours and a six) took his side to victory.

Marsden completed a double over Durham City with a resounding 10-wicket win.

John Stobbart began the City demise. Marsden were missing four regular bowlers so Stobbart opened the bowling and he dismissed both openers cheaply.

Although Tom Meredith proved awkward to remove, Marsden took regular wickets. Meredith completed a half century and with Stobbart ending with 4-18 Durham were dismissed for 150.

Marsden captain Chris Mann then took over, dominating the Durham attack. With useful support from David Stewart (45 not out), Mann completed an unbeaten century.

The Marsden opener struck four sixes and 14 boundaries, ending the game with a six.

Seaham Harbour gave another resilient display. A century from Kevin Spanton and 62 by Paul Franks saw Horden declare on 222 after the pair produced 114 together.

The Harbour virtually mirrored the Horden pair through David Thompson (84) and Martin Gill. A promising 127 came from the partnership, but Carl Watson (4- 38) restricted further scoring.

South Hetton were unable to take the final wicket that would have given them 20 points against Eppleton. Bob Steel (59) and John Leslie (42) were the main scorers in South Hetton's score of 182. Elliott Hughes (3-23) was again among the wickets.

Although Shaun Ezzard made a brisk contribution with nine fours in his 39, the bowling of Ashok Patel (5-45) and John Pendlington (3-28) subdued Eppleton's reply.

Burnmoor demonstrated why they are the current champions, beating South Shields after batting first.

Although they lost Barry Dews to the first delivery, Moors settled through Chris Ellison (30) and John Tindale (70).

There was a useful 48 from Neil Young, before a late flourish from Alec Linsley left Shields chasing 201 to win.

They made a promising start through Lindsay Cullen and Lee Whalley but once the pair were split, the batting collapsed.

Ian Conn (7-31) and Gary Brown (3-26) ripped the heart out of the batting.

Shields lost seven wickets for 14 runs and the chance of taking any credibility from the game rapidly slipped away.