FOURTH division leaders Malton & Old Malton suffered their first reversal of the season when losing at home to Acomb by six wickets.

Malton made 146-5 with Nick Smith making 54, Lester Parkin 40 and John Foxton 26no. Richard Clayton then played the defining innings as he made 73 for Acomb who, with Scott Nicholls adding 27, emerged as winners at 150-4 to move into third place.

Second-placed Huby had the better of a draw over Thorp Arch and Boston Spa who continue to be haunted by the spectre of relegation.

Dave Patmore hit 62 and Col Piercy 48 as Huby made 182 despite a good spell of bowling by Matt Linacre which earned him 6-51.

For TABS, Mike Cole made 53 and James Turner 34no but skipper Paul Moore held sway with 4-48 to hold the visitors to 140-8.

Dunnington shrugged off the disappointment of being deducted 24 points this week with victory over Londesborough Park.

They were docked points for a technical breach of rule 12 on the second week of the season when they inadvertently fielded an ineligible player against Londesbrough.

In the reverse fixture on Saturday, bottom club Dunnington were victorious by eight wickets.

Londesbrough's Ian Hodson made 36 and Martin Swann 27 but good bowling by Chris Kitching with 5-60 and Paul Olivier 4-32 had Park all out for 147.

Ian Burgess then led the response with 67, while 15-year-old Jack Bolam made 28 to take Dunnington to a morale-boosting win.

Easingwold boosted their survival chances when an unbeaten 74 from Gary Sanders helped them defeat Whitkirk by seven wickets. Dave Boucher's 73, abetted by Gary Thorpe (31) and James Tate (25) helped Whitkirk make 176-9 as Tom Langstaff took 4-55 and Alan Robinson 3-40. Sanders had early help from Richard Skilbeck who made 38 before Robinson 27no, joined him to propel Easingwold to victory.

Sheriff Hutton were pegged to 131-9 as Simon Hall (4-38) and Nigel Bartram (4-49) put Cawood in command. Ed Taylor, with 46, and Joel Wilford (44no) were the two successful batsmen.

Richard Armitage then hit back with 4-42 but Stuart Baxter made 28 and Hall 36 as Cawood edged to a two-wicket win.

Sheriff Hutton Bridge included three of their Under-13 team, but their batsmen failed to back up their bowlers and slipped to a 55-run defeat when bowled out for 80 by Osbaldwick.

Philip Hall made 33 and Nigel Bellerby 47 as they put on 55 for the first wicket. From then on, Bridge bowlers Dave Houldridge (4-72) and Dave Ellis (5-37) took control and Osbaldwick were dismissed for 135.

However, only Bridge skipper Dave Ellis (24) offered token resistance as Bellerby took 4-4 in 22 deliveries. Marcus Hollis and Stuart Hall each helped themselves to a pair of wickets and Osbaldwick skipper Brian Burton was able to enjoy the trip to his former club with a victory.

Updated: 10:02 Monday, July 21, 2003