WOODHOUSE Grange have closed to within three points of York at the top of the Hunters ECB Yorkshire Premier League North following an eight-wicket victory at Low Catton Road against Stamford Bridge, who began the day in third.

Opener Pradeeptha Gunaratne’s half-century was the only bright spot for the home side as their batsman struggled against the visitors’ spinners, with Josh Jackson taking 4-33 and skipper James Finch 3-29.

Chasing only 162, Andrew Bilton (73) and Chris Wood got Grange’s reply off to the perfect start with a stand of 141.

Wood finished unbeaten on 62, sealing the victory which brought to an end the hosts' four match-winning run, and saw then drop to fourth.

Leaders York earned a hard-fought victory at relegation-threatened Sessay by just 18 runs.

The home side secured four valuable points and, as a result, climbed out of the bottom two, thanks to a resolute batting display late on from Navin Kavikara (39), Nick Harrison (36) and Tim Hall (45) as visiting skipper Daniel Woods (5-50) threatened to take the game away.

Earlier, after Duncan Snell (38) and Finlay Bean (48) had given the visitors a solid foundation, Chris Booth’s first century (102no) had helped them reach 258-6.

Sheriff Hutton Bridge returned to winning ways after back-to-back defeats, beating Clifton Alliance by seven wickets.

Opener David Taylor made 43 and stand-in captain John Gilham an unbeaten 33 as the visitors reached 196-8, with Freddie Collins taking 3-52 and Yorkshire spinner Karl Carver returning excellent figures of 4-25 from 13 overs. Dulash Udayanga continued his recent run of form with 75, and a partnership of 123 with Tommy Hudson (51no) eased the home side to victory, while Samuel Grant had the consolation of taking the only wickets to fall, finishing with 3-44.

Castleford boast the competition's longest current winning streak as a century and three wickets from David Wainwright inspired his side's fifth straight victory, beating Scarborough by 81 runs at North Marine Road.

The Cas skipper made 120 not out from a total of 223, which included 43 from Liam Hyde, with former and current captains Ben Elvidge (5-35) and Sam Drury (3-42) sharing the majority of the wickets for the home side.

Openers James Pick (36) and Darren Harland (41) provided a positive start to the reply before the innings subsided, with Drury (34) the only other batsman to reach double figures, Eddie Morrison being the leading wicket-taker with 4-49.

Having narrowly beaten York in the final over a week ago, Harrogate were again involved in a gripping contest, this time losing out to Yorkshire Academy off the final ball of the match.

Half-centuries at Weetwood from Edward Wilson (51) and Ollie Horberry (51) helped the visitors go from 82-4 to 258-9, with George Hill (3-59) and Edward Barnes (3-68) among the wickets.

James Wharton made 32 at the top of the order for the home side but it was the performance of the middle order that set up the victory, with Tom Loten (55) and Bilal Anjum (40) making valuable contributions before a 52-run partnership in the closing overs between Barnes (25no) and Harry Duke (49no) guided the side to a memorable victory.

The visitors' defeat and results elsewhere mean that Harrogate drop back into the bottom two.

An opening stand of 181 at Kings Mill Road between Alec Drury (100) and Mark Tennant (126no) set Driffield Town on their way to consecutive victories as they attempt to pull away from the relegation places, but the two points from a 32-run defeat picked up by Acomb did little to ease their plight.

The home side went on to reach 262-4, with Darcy O’Connor picking up two wickets before making 64, which, alongside Matthew Dale’s 66, offered much of the visitors’ resistance.

Jonny Rawsthorne (33) was the only other batsman to reach double figures as Kavindu Kulasekara took 3-36.