VICTORY for Dunnington next week will give the Hunters York & District Senior League leaders promotion back into the Premier League.

A mean spell from Adam Sutcliffe (5-18) helped to make it eight wins from nine with a 52-run victory at Studley Royal.

The visitors looked to be under pressure after being bowled out for 173, a half-century from Luke Kilby (51) alongside the contributions of Sutcliffe (36) and Daniel Barrett (42) combating the efforts of Matt Coad (5-37) and Dan Craven (3-45), but in the end the total proved to be well out of reach of the hosts, who slumped to a third straight defeat.

York made it three wins in a row and dealt a blow to Folkton & Flixton's promotion chances, thanks to another solid team performance.

Richard Love, who only recently moved back to York from Acomb, top-scored with 73, and Ben Robinson made 58 for the visitors before they were bowled out for 226, Jamie Nesfield (4-80) and Tom Norman (5-51) being almost entirely responsible for the wickets.

The home side struggled against Chris Burn (4-48) and Tom Fosdyke (3-23), with Will Hutchinson's 77 the stand- out innings as they fell 64 runs short.

Beverley Town's promotion chances improved, despite being held by local rivals Driffield Town after the three teams directly below them all lost.

Ben Hatfield's 121 century at Kings Mill Road helped the visitors reach 264-5, Pete Shally also contributing with 46.

The home side, who remain bottom of the table and favourites for relegation, refused to give up without a fight and after Kevin Woodcock (35) and Jack Riley (34) had both been dismissed in the 30s, Nick Johnson produced an unbeaten 65.

Jamie Roe finished as the pick of the bowlers with 3-35 as the hosts reached 200-7 by the close.

Easingwold left it late to beat Whitkirk, with their victory by two wickets coming with just one ball to spare.

Simon Webb (62) and Sean Pickles (63) shared the batting honours for the hosts in a total of 198, which included wickets for Zak Wilson (4-50) and Josh Sargent (3-22).

Michael O'Brien responded with 3-55 and, after an early 32 from Ryan Waite, it was left to Paul Skilbeck with an unbeaten 75 to guide the visitors to a welcome win after an indifferent run of results.

Meanwhile, the home side will need to turn things around if they are to mount a serious challenge for promotion after their third defeat in a row.

Malton & Old Malton made the short trip to Pickering but came away empty handed, with Keiran Bowes' unbeaten 41 the key innings in a closely-fought contest which went the way of the hosts.

Mike Brown took 5-53 as the visitors were all out for 172, with Neil Johnson top scoring with 31.

Matthew Butler made 33 for the home side but wickets from Michael Linsley (4-58) and Nick Scholfield (3-35) meant that the game hung in the balance until Bowes' timely intervention.

Bolton Percy's recent revival continued with a 63-run victory at home to Hull & Zingari.

Joe White's 46 for the hosts was the stand-out performance with the bat in a low-scoring encounter.

James Anson took 5-41 and Nathan Johnson 3-29 as the home side struggled, eventually reaching 136.

The only real resistance from the visitors came from Jack Storey with 27 as Tom Atkinson (5-37) and Danny White (4-11) bowled them out for just 73.