YORK are the newly-crowned champions of the Hunters ECB Yorkshire Premier League North after a dramatic final day.

Saturday began with rain disrupting those chasing the title and ended in the gloom at North Marine Road, where Clifton Alliance snatched the points which guaranteed their survival at the expense of Hull.

The start of the match at Shipton Road between York, who went into the final day knowing that victory would secure them the title, and Driffield Town was delayed by rain, and there would be further interruptions throughout the day.

Between the showers, Ben Kohler-Cadmore scored 59 off 36 balls but wickets from Matthew Waite (3-34) pegged the visitors back, and Daniel Woods' 4-18 helped bowl them out for 135. The hosts wrapped up the title in emphatic style, reaching the target inside 15 overs, with Waite scoring 44 and county colleague Jack Leaning finishing unbeaten on 70.

Stamford Bridge were assured of the runners-up spot when the match at Weetwood between Yorkshire Academy and Easingwold was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

After winning the Rudgate Brewery Cup the previous Sunday, Bridge signed off the season in style with a seven-wicket win at local rivals Woodhouse Grange.

Andrew Bilton top-scored for the home side with 45, but three early wickets from Ryan Gibson helped restrict them to 167-7, and he then smashed 78 off just 27 balls as the visitors raced to their target off just 19.3 overs.

The game between Harrogate and Sheriff Hutton Bridge fell victim to the early rain, and with no play possible, the pair remained where they began the day in fourth and fifth respectively, so with matters at the top resolved early, all attention was focused on the foot of the table, where three teams were battling to avoid relegation.

Two of those involved went head to head at Ferens Recreation Ground, with both Hull and visitors Acomb aware that a win would guarantee their safety.

The home side, having been put, in made a solid start, skipper Matthew Wilkinson leading the way with 60, but from 133-2 they slumped to 179-9, with Jack Spence taking 3-22.

Half-centuries from both Spence (51) and his captain Joe Dale (54) took the visitors to within sight of victory, but it was Richard Love (24no) who held his nerve to secure their Premier League future with just four balls to spare.

Hull's defeat threw Clifton Alliance a lifeline at Scarborough, and they were able to grab it with both hands.

Chasing 184, they knew that reaching three-quarters of that score with wickets in hand by the close would give them two points, which would be enough to climb out of the bottom two. They did so thanks to Greg Drewery (44) and Paul Walton (32), reaching 149-7 when play eventually ended at 7.45pm.

Earlier, Bradley Scott (31) and Darren Harland (69) had resurrected the hosts' innings with a sixth-wicket stand of 74.