IT WAS a day of close finishes in the Hunters ECB Yorkshire Premier League North, with three matches settled in the final over.

Leaders York were pegged back as they lost to Yorkshire Academy and their title rivals all won while, at the other end of the table, Clifton Alliance secured a vital victory.

Yorkshire Academy completed the double over the leaders in a game that went down to the final over at Shipton Road.

Duncan Snell (58) top scored for the home side, who at one stage were 97-7 with James Logan taking 3-48, but recovered to 196 thanks to Tom Pringle (39) and Kyle Brockley (31).

Bila Anjum scored 42 at the top of the order but Brockley (4-43) and Daniel Woods (3-50) put York on top before Edward Barnes held his nerve to see the visitors home with an unbeaten half-century.

There was another close finish at St George's Road, where Harrogate beat Woodhouse Grange by 18 runs but were unable to secure maximum points, with the visitors holding on to take a share of the spoils.

Josh Atkinson (51) and Kallen Bond (47) made runs at the top of the order but the rest of the line up were pegged back by Chris Suddaby, who took 4-37 to restrict the home side to 218-8. Brothers Andrew and Chris Bilton shared a second-wicket stand of 105 but then Bond (3-36) and Tom Geeson-Brown (3-44) left them hanging on at the end.

Stamford Bridge made it six wins in a row, beating Scarborough at North Marine Road by six wickets.

Donovan Sinclair set up a comfortable victory by taking 5-26 as the home side slumped to 88-8 before eventually being bowled out for 113, Oliver Stephenson being the top scorer with 39. The visitors lost a couple of early wickets before, just like the previous week against Harrogate, Will Rhodes secured the points with an unbeaten half-century.

Dave Barrick (7-65) took seven wickets in a match for the second time this season but, despite his efforts, Hull lost at home to Sheriff Hutton Bridge by 80 runs, a result which puts them back in the relegation places.

Louis Foxton (36), Robert Pinder (31) and Karl Carver (40), all victims of Barrick, helped their side to 181, but that proved more than enough in difficult batting conditions.

Skipper Matthew Wilkinson made 31 but he and Barrick (28) were two of only three batsmen to reach double figures in the home side's innings as Carver took 5-27 and Russ Robinson finished with the remarkable figures of five wickets for six runs from eight overs.

Clifton Alliance ended a seven-match losing streak with victory at Easingwold but only just.

In an almost carbon-copy of the side's previous league meeting, the game went down to the final over and, whereas on that occasion the match was decided with a single ball to spare, this one finished with three to go.

The hosts reached 218 thanks to Joshua Greenlay's 43 and an unbeaten 33 from Zac Wilson as Thomas Brown took 3-51.

Josh Sargeant replied with 3-37 but Jack Beath (38) and skipper Scott Hopkinson (54) were on hand to deny the bottom side victory, and their plight looks increasingly perilous as they remain winless and cut adrift at the foot of the table.

Driffield Town took less than 19 overs to chase down Acomb's total of 135 at The Green, Casey Rudd scoring 64 and Afaq Rahim an unbeaten 66.

Earlier, Nick Hardgrave had taken 4-26 as the hosts struggled, with Australian Jack Spence (45) the only real exception.

The result did nothing to ease the home side's relegation concerns, and heaped even greater significance on next weekend's visit to Clifton Alliance.