A CHANCELESS 78 not out by Jake Atkinson guided Clifton Alliance to their first HPH Cup final triumph at Acomb on Sunday.

They beat South Cave & Brantingham by seven wickets in the York Vale League's knockout cup final at Acomb after restricting the East Yorkshire side to 156-9 from their 40 overs.

Cave struggled to build any meaningful early partnerships, sliding to 38-4 against new-ball pair Jack Heartshorne (3-26) and Matt Mellor (2-35). Opener Sid Sharma (54) dug in and a late cameo from Ed Ryan (25) left Alliance needing to score about four an over to lift the trophy.

Ben Scorah made two early breakthroughs as Cave reduced Clifton to 20-2 but Atkinson and Jason Gatus added 61 for the third wicket before a sharp leg-side catch by wicketkeeper Sam Patchett off Tom Mounser got rid of Gatus for 35.

Atkinson calmly saw Alliance home with more than 10 overs to spare alongside Tom Bews (26no).

The trophy was presented to winning skipper Gatus by Robert Woolley, a partner in chartered accountancy firm HPH, who have sponsored the Vale League for 25 years.

South Cave & Brantingham: S Sharma c, b Heartshorne 54, N Pai lbw Mellor 13, S Coulson c, b Mellor 4, B Scorah c, b Mellor 1, S Patchett c b Heartshorne 10, A Lucy b L Clark 12, M Ash b L Clark 0, E Ryan run out 25, a Bahl c, b Heartshorne 11, T Scotter not out 4, T Mounser not out 2. Extras 20. Total: 156-9 (40 overs). Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-24, 3-26, 4-38, 5-92, 6-92, 7-133, 8-139, 9-153. Bowling: J Heartshorne 10-1-26-3, M Mellor 10-2-35-3, T Bews 3-0-27-0, L Clarke 10-1-35-2, J Hodge 5-0-15-0, J Mayfield 2-0-14-0.

Clifton Alliance: J Gatus c, b Mouser 35, M Taylor b Scorah 5, A Parkinson, c, b Scorah 0, J Atkinson not out 78, T Bews not out 26. Did not bat: L Clark, J Clark, M Mellor, J Mayfield, J Heartshorne, J Hodge. Extras 15. Total: 159-3 (29.3 overs). Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-20, 3-80. Bowling: B Scorah 10-1-52-2, A Bahl 6-3-16-0, T Scotter 6-1-29-0, T Mounser 5-0-34-1, E Ryan 2-0-18-0, M Ash 0.3-0-8-0.

Clifton Alliance win by 7 wkts.

* SELBY CC will host the Vale League’s T20 finals on Sunday at its Sandhill Lane ground.

The Prendergast Memorial Trophy final between Ovington II and Clifton Alliance II will start at 1pm, followed by the Guy Mitchell Cup final at about 4pm between Stamford Bridge and Stockton & Hopgrove.

The umpires for both finals are Jim Brannigan and Derek Chadburn.