TADCASTER Magnets suffered a 7-1 home defeat against F1 Racing to drop into the York Minster Engineering League premier division drop zone.

The result means three teams are now fighting to say up with only a fortnight of the campaign remaining.

Clinical finishing saw F1 Racing lead 5-0 by the break thanks to braces from Jason McCloud and George Trifan, as well as a spectacular edge-of-the-box half-volley by Chris Dempsey.

The second period saw Dempsey complete his hat-trick, outpacing the Magnets defence from the half-way line to slot home before taking his league total to 29 for the season following a one-on-one with the Magnets keeper.

Tadcaster then managed a late consolation.

An Osbaldwick side, containing seven 17 year-olds, went down to Oli Baron’s 80th-minute strike for Copmanthorpe, which moved the latter out of the bottom two and a point ahead of Magnets with both teams having three games to play.

Riccall United, meanwhile, had a miserable day following a severe leg break to Josh Lamming early in their 3-1 defeat to Huntington Rovers.

Lamming had earlier put Riccall ahead before his injury led to delay of over an hour.

Goals from Josh Whaite, Joe Milner and Jon James then won the match for Rovers, leaving Riccall just a point ahead of Copmanthorpe with only York RI left to play.

Old Malton St Mary’s moved up into third following a 5-1 win over Sporting Knavesmire, whose consolation came from George Wilson, while Scott Preston scored the only goal of the game as Malton & Norton triumphed at Dunnington.

York RI dispelled any relegation fears with a 3-2 success at home to Church Fenton White Horse thanks to Ben Jones (2) and Callum Willoughby.

In division one, Hemingbrough United moved second following a 5-2 win at Kirkbymoorside.

Strensall also climbed into the second promotion place in the division below with Jack Bell, Joe Davison (2), Chris Johnson and Charlie Coupland on target in a 5-2 victory at Haxby.

Easingwold Town overcame Civil Service 2-1 with Gavin Macek and Josh Cryer netting either side of a Lloyd Crawford equaliser, meaning their team must now collect more points than Strensall from the final round of games if they are to win promotion.

In the group stages of the York Minster Engineering League Junior Cup, LNER Builders and Fulford played out a goalless draw before the former won 5-4 on penalties.

A 1-1 draw with Bubwith at Wilberfoss also saw the hosts prevail 4-2 in the subsequent shoot-out.

Ben Neal fired home four times as The Raj crushed AFC Crayke 6-2 with Akif Kaya and Aaron Rose the other marksmen.

Bramham’s Matt Lombard also scored four goals in a 6-0 rout of Rufforth.

Nathan Spreckley’s double hat-trick and Craig Hargreaves’ brace saw Stamford Bridge demolish Wheldrake 11-0 in midweek, before they then saw off Wetherby Athletic 4-1.

Heworth Green were 6-1 winners against Wheldrake, while Chris Johnson and Steve Kendall were the marksmen as Strensall beat Civil Service 2-0.

In Reserve A, Huntington Rovers are now just four points away from securing the league title following a 9-1 mauling of Malton & Norton.

After a goal-less first half, Kieran Flanagan and super-subs Lee Bunce and Ben Thompson all hit hat-tricks.

An excellent Ryan Cooper free-kick offered little consolation for the visitors.

Old Malton prevailed 3-2 at Hemingbrough United, while Chris Bullen, Rich Hunter, Ben Ballantyne and Dave Mumby struck for Harrison Signs in a 4-0 triumph over Reserve B opponents Haxby United.

In Reserve C, Wilberfoss put a dent into Heworth Green’s promotion hopes by holding them to a 4-4 draw, courtesy of Sam Gibney, Charlie Dodds, Dan Tunicliffe and Dave Laverack efforts.

Civil Service gained a 4-3 win at Malt Shovel with Dec Richardson (3) and James Cartwright on the scoresheet.

A late comeback from Shovel saw them come within one of the victors but they could not bridge the gap as Service hung on to claim the points.

Isaac Leach, Dan Collins, Nathan Leach and Lewys Williams were all on target for Cliffe in a comfortable 4-0 victory at home to Rufforth United.