THE opening day clash of the titans at Dunnington saw the home team earn the better of a draw over champions Easingwold thanks, largely, to another century by Collis King.

His 124 was his 32nd three figure score in the York and District Senior Cricket League. Paul Miles weighed in with 32 while Paul Skilbeck claimed 3-55 but was unable to keep the hosts below 232-7

Zaheer Khan then made early inroads into the batting as he progressed towards 5-40, Dan Copeland prospered with 41 and former Crayke player Andrew Dawson made 28 on his return to the Town ground. However, Masood Asim Bhat claimed 3-45 and the champions were forced to hang in for a draw at 134-8.

Dunnington made no mistake the following day as they won the President's Trophy at Easingwold by ten wickets.

The champions were bowled out for 153 which the cup holders knocked off in just 24.4 overs.

King's exploits were surpassed by Clifton Alliance's latest talented Australian when Danny Harris hit an unbeaten 132 at Sheriff Hutton Bridge.

He had good support from John Hunter 39 and Johnny Stevens 33 as Alliance reached 259-5. After losing three early wickets, Bridge were rescued by a three figure stand between the Crowder brothers with skipper Steve making 66 and Peter his best ever premier division score of 71no and their side reached a comfortable draw at 208-4.

Despite having had a number of exits from their playing ranks, Osbaldwick pulled off a fine victory at Beverley where Andy Hall led from the front with 6-45. Mick Hammerton 30 and Paul Finnie 26 had eased Osso to 174-9 despite a good performance by Simon Roe who claimed 6-65. Beverley then made progress via Ron Davey who made 69, and Ali Burton 29 before skipper Hall seized the initiative to bowl the home side out for 158.

With both the Pickering and Malton grounds being unavailable the sides met at Harome where Malton, making their first appearance at the top level, made a first innings total of 171-9. Gary Hall was top scorer with 77 with Mark Linsley chipping in with 30 as Ady Boyes took 3-55. Pickering's reply rested with Mark Shepherd 41 and Simon King 26no. Matt Yates captured 4-56 but the Pikes were able to bag the now universal 30 points with a four-wicket victory.

Heworth's new skipper Dave Simpson celebrated his return to the helm with a knock of 80. Zimbabwean Colin de Grandhomme impressed on his debut with 68 but Sessay skipper Richard Till, who is by far the longest serving captain in the league, grabbed a hat-trick in his 5- 38 and, with overseas man Dave Johnson taking 3-50, Heworth were bowled out for 214.

Aussie Johnson then completed a fine debut by hitting an unbeaten 102 which included 17 fours and one six as he and veteran John Flintoff 54 helped their side recover from 13-2 to reach a winning score of 215-6.

Two teams with hopes of challenging for the title clashed at Woodhouse Grange where the home side had much the better of a draw over Acomb. Nick Hadfield figured in two three figure partnerships as he compiled an unbeaten 118.

Simon Dwyer 28 played the junior role in a second wicket stand of 101 then skipper Mike Burdett made a more dominant contribution to an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 110 as he made an unbeaten 56.

New captain Andy Tute then top scored for the visitors with 35 while Richard Sykes added 27 but Steve Burdett threatened to win the game with 5-43 in a notable 22-over spell which left Acomb hanging in for a draw at 128-8.

Updated: 10:14 Monday, April 25, 2005