AFTER two extremely disappointing years, Civil Service made a good start in the third division by getting the better of a draw at Cawood although their failure to capture the final wicket was no doubt galling.

Service bowler Mick Bradley laid early claim to the monthly bowling prize by putting down his marker with figures of 8 for 42 as Cawood struggled to 78 for 9.

Earlier Service had made 125 for 9 with Dave Randall playing the only accomplished innings of the match as he made 37. Rich Nicholson took 3 for 26 and Howard Stean 3 for 36 for Cawood.,

Heworth II's batsmen enjoyed themselves when they took first innings on the impressive Hovingham ground, but they couldn't prevent the scores being tied. Graham Hogben hit 94 and Richard Bowling 35 as Jonty Rounthwaite captured 3 for 56.

When Hovingham batted, Stuart Prest made 42 and Alistair Thorpe 34 but Trev Walton's 3 for 32 off ten overs held them to 158 for 7.

Sewerby have been looking forward all winter to their first season in the York League but their script did not include a fairy tale start to their campaign as they suffered a four-wicket defeat at New Earswick.

S Foster made 56 and M Langley 38 as Sewerby made 165 for 7 but their efforts were trumped by Andy Freeman (57), Mark Benson (43no) and Andy Routledge (29no) as Earswick moved to 166 for 6. R Coates took 3 for 32 for the newcomers.

After the anguish of their last gasp relegation last year, Rowntree made a good start when they beat Whitkirk II by seven wickets.

Dan Stone made an unbeaten 61 off 92 balls while Graham Jepson chipped in with 32. Richard Tuite claimed 4 for 34 in 15 overs and, largely due to his efforts, Whitkirk were dismissed for 160.

Rowntree then lost three wickets for 57, including Gerry Capelin for 26 before new skipper Paul Horner was joined by his predecessor Sean Marshall and this pair forged a match-winning stand of 106 in 105 balls. Horner's unbeaten 70 came off 68 deliveries while Marshall made an unbeaten 30 off 48 balls.

There seemed to be Stuart Cravens everywhere when Woodhouse Grange gained the better of a draw with Londesbrough Park.

Grange's Stuart Craven made 67 in his side's 178 for 6 while his Londesbrough Park namesake made 52no to steer his team to 128 for 6.

Other good performances for Grange came from James Rudd who made 58 and Peter Nolton who took 4 for 36 while Robert Sawyer took 3 for 34 for Londesbrough.

There was an extremely high scoring and close game at Yapham where the home side just held the upper hand in a draw when Heslington fell just four runs short.

Yapham's 261 for 9 came largely from Trevor Walker as he rattled 13 fours and eight sixes to make the day's top score of 129. Tim Lazenby made 30no and the Yapham score may well have been nearer 300 but for a spell a three-wicket over by Chris Dower who had final figures of 3 for 44.

Dower continued to trouble the hosts when he followed with 59 while Andy Ezzard's unbeaten 40 took Heslington close to pulling off a fine win as they replied with 257 for 8. John Flint took 3 for 84 for Yapham while Rich Elliott had 3 for 48 for Heslington.

Updated: 14:17 Monday, April 29, 2002