Clifton ALLIANCE II will be relegated to division three after being totally outplayed by Hornsea.

Clifton were cut down for a mere 64 by John McKenzie who took 5-20 and Richard Medforth (3-6).

Hornsea the moved to a 25-pointer at 68-2 to keep their division two promotion hopes alive.

Their cause was enhanced by the weather at Studley Royal where second-placed Tadcaster Magnet were unable to finish their game because of rain.

Stamford Bridge regained the leadership with a nine-wicket victory in the East Riding derby at Wilberfoss and now enjoy a nine- point lead over the Tadcaster side. Ian Clish was the shining star in Wilberfoss' innings as he made 63 but 5-29 by Neil Porteous had the hosts all out for 132. Youngster John Hetherton then led Stamford's response, making an unbeaten 52, while Darren King (46) was the only casualty in a nine-wicket victory.

Castleford edged nearer relegation when they narrowly lost a close encounter with Bridlington which saw Brid emerge victorious by two wickets.

Malton's Aussie batting star Ben Nicholson added a further 83 runs to his 800-plus for the season as he led his side to 179-5 against Bubwith in a game reduced to 30 overs per side. He gained valuable support from Andy Tyres who made 53.

Bubwith are making a late bid to stave off relegation and made a good fist of chasing their challenging target. Edward Smith made his second half-century of the season, remaining unbeaten with 52, while Neil Readman (33) and Gary Moore (27) aided and abetted. However, their efforts failed to bring full reward but Bubwith did leave with an honourable draw at 150-5.

Scarborough and Harrogate were involved in a close game at North Marine Road.

Harrogate batted first but found runs hard to come by as Peter Beard took 3-29 and Arjan Kundi 3-32. Tom Durrance deserved much of the credit for Harrogate's eventual score of 139-8 as he hit 55.

Kundi was then to make Scarborough's top score of 27 but his efforts were not enough as Boyle captured 3-31 and Rupert Scales 3-36, as they combined to dismiss Scarborough for 136, leaving Harrogate victors by just three runs.

Updated: 08:32 Tuesday, August 27, 2002