DAVE Greenlay was Thirsk's match-winner last Saturday when his team boosted their chances of premier division survival with a surprisingly comfortable victory over second-placed Acomb.

The result also virtually ended Acomb's chances of catching leaders Dunnington, who are now 73 points ahead.

Greenlay first impressed as a bowler, capturing 6-37 to leave Barry Petty playing an unaccustomed supporting role. He took 4-51 as Acomb were dismissed for 99.

Greenlay then shone as a batsman, producing an unbeaten 61 to record one of the best all-round performances of the season and take Thirsk to victory by seven wickets.

The clash at Moor Farm between old rivals Sheriff Hutton Bridge and Easingwold turned out to be the match of the day.

Both teams were seeking a much-needed victory, with the hosts trying to avoid relegation and Easingwold attempting to keep up their challenge for the runners-up spot, so the resulting draw did little to enhance either team's ambitions.

Paul Skilbeck drew first blood when Bridge skipper Mike Smith was caught by Greg Saunders for a duck. His fellow opener, Paul Oldfield, was then joined by Steve Crowder and the pair put together a sound partnership which had added 82 runs when Oldfield was caught by Dan Copeland off Tom Langstaff for 38.

Paul Scaling quickly followed when he was caught off Alan Robinson for just two, but Crowder was involved in another half-century liaison as he and Duncan Snell added 59 for the fourth wicket.

The partnership ended at 146 when another Saunders catch aided Copeland's dismissal of Snell for 16.

Crowder moved on towards three figures, but was bowled by Copeland when nine runs short of his century.

The home innings then lost momentum as Skilbeck bagged three more wickets to finish with figures of 4-44 in 14 overs and restrict the Bridge to 193-8.

When Easingwold batted, wicketkeeper Saunders was the first to go when he fell to Mike Smith for nine, but Paul Skilbeck helped Martin Piercy hoist the total to 52 before Oldfield had him caught by Snell for 20.

James Pringle (17) then helped the score to 99 before becoming a victim of teenage spinner Danny Snowball.

Former Bridge junior Piercy moved to his sixth half-century of the season as he passed the 500-run mark, but saw Paul Redshaw fall to Oldfield for 15 at 146-4.

Dan Copeland kept Easingwold on track with 17, but Piercy had reached 85 when he was run out at 185-6 in the penultimate over.

Easingwold required eight to win off the final over, bowled by Oldfield, but a Nick Scaling catch removed Alan Robinson for five and Langstaff was run out for a duck off the final delivery as Easingwold failed to score the required boundary and fell short of victory at 191-8.

Oldfield's reward for keeping his nerve was figures of 3-61 off 18 overs, while Mike Smith had 2-45.

Division One

Only one game was played in the division, but it did produce a significant result as leaders Ripon were soundly beaten at York.

As a result, they dropped to third place behind joint leaders Driffield and Carlton Towers, who are five points clear of the former leaders. Only 19 points separate the top six sides in a closely-fought section, with ninth-placed Crayke only 49 points behind the leaders.

Ripon's batsmen, with the exception of Gary Blackburn (37), struggled as Richard Carroll took 4-39, Kent Stone 3-36 and Dave De Sylva 3-19.

The visitors could only post an inadequate 139 and York then moved comfortably to victory. John McGrady (42) was one of only two wickets to fall, with Andrew Kay in command with an unbeaten 84.

Division Four

Easingwold improved their promotion chances with a victory over Sheriff Hutton Bridge in one of only two games played.

Dave Houldridge and Steve Glaves shared the 45 overs when Easingwold batted first. An opening stand of 33 was disturbed when Kevin Smith (13) hit a return catch to Houldridge and the bowler had two more successes when he repeated his caught and bowled to dismiss Trevor Smith for four and then had Andy Graves caught by Richard Coverdale for 27.

Glaves then got in on the act and a fourth wicket for Houldridge had half the Easingwold side out for 58. Gavin Rees (35) and Ken Skilbeck (31) revived the home side's fortunes by adding 32 and the latter was then involved in a 34-run stand for the eighth wicket to help his side reach 127-9.

Houldridge had the excellent figures of 6-52 in 23 overs, while Glaves had 2-75 in one over less.

The second half of the game was dominated by Adrian Leckenby, who tore the Bridge batting to shreds with 7-34 in 18 overs. Trevor Smith supported with 3-21 as the visitors were dismissed for 97 in the 36th over.

* The league's Premier Cup final between Dunnington and Easingwold will take place at Woodhouse Grange on Sunday.

On the same day, the league's representative side will entertain the Nidderdale League in the semi-final of the Leeds Area Cricket Council knockout competition at Carlton Towers.

* There is a vacancy for a team in the league's winter indoor competition. Any interested club should contact the league secretary as soon as possible