BOTTOM-PLACED Bishop Auckland secured their first win of the season, putting more misery on struggling Hartlepool.

Bishops clawed back the gap to 20 points from the survival line with their nervy, but exciting, two-wicket win.

Pools set them a difficult target after scoring 195-5, with James Lowe making 41 and Doug Mulholland hitting a fine 73, before Tom Gavin smashed 39 not out near the end of their innings, with bowler Nimesh Vimukthi taking an excellent 5-44.

Bishops relied on Ryan Nicholson, as he made 58, and then Craig George with a match-winning 84 not out sealed this vital victory, despite Mark Davies taking an excellent 5-56 with the ball.

Marton climbed out of the bottom two, with a five-wicket win at another struggling side, Seaton Carew.

Marton had skipper Alex Wardell to thank, as he was in brilliant form with both bat and ball.

Seaton batted first and Martin Skirving was the pick of the home batting, making 52 in their 125 all out, with Wardell returning excellent figures of 5-37 and the ever reliable Muhammed Zahid taking 3-26.

In reply, Marton scored 129-5, with opening batsman Luke De Vlieg making 31 and man of the match Wardell then scored 32 not out, to see his side home to victory and claim the 20 points.

At the top, the match of the day between Great Ayton and Richmondshire was fairly one-sided as Ayton won by a massive 115 runs at Leven Park.

Their lead is now 17 points at the top over Barnard Castle, with the Dalesmen slipping to third, following this big loss.

The home side were asked to bat first, with Phillip Holdsworth making 71 and professional Pitigala Jeewantha hitting 57 not out from 65 balls in a healthy total of 213-5. Matthew McKiernan returned 3-68.

The Dalesman were never in the game with the bat, as Joe Marsay destroyed them claiming 7-35 in a brilliant spell of bowling, as he took the first six wickets to fall.

Richmondshire were bowled out for 98, to give Ayton the 25 points.

Barnard Castle are now their closest challengers, as they move into second place following a comfortable six-wicket win at home to Middlesbrough.

They asked the visitors to bat first and bowled very well, taking regular wickets, and Boro made 143 all out, with a fine 53 from the ever reliable Steven Reeves. Josh Bousfield took the bowling honours on his return from injury, claiming 4-49.

Opener James Alderson with 57 and Hashan Dumindu with 61 not out, sealed the win as they put on 98 runs for the second wicket.

Thornaby are down to fourth, after their loss at home to improving Darlington, by a massive 104 runs.

The visitors made 187-7, mainly thanks to a fine 96 from Liam Coates and 33 runs from Andrew Peacock, with Lewis Harper taking 3-66.

Thornaby never recovered from losing early wickets and with Liam Coates taking 4-29 and Oliver King also 4-29, they were never in the game with the bat.

Stokesley had a comfortable win at Windy Hill Lane, as they cruised to a seven-wicket victory over Marske. The home side batted reasonably well in 171 all out, with Sam Berry and Johnathon Pickard, both scoring 47 runs each, but skipper Andrew Weighell took 3-32 and professional Shrikant Wagh returned 5-31 off his 15 overs.

Jonny Weighell and Andrew Weighell then put on 84 for the first wicket, with Jonny scoring 46 and Andrew 44 and Shrikant Wagh with the bat, made 34 not out, in a total of 172-3.