YORK beat top four rivals Stamford Bridge to close on Hunters ECB Yorkshire Premier Cricket League North leaders Sheriff Hutton Bridge.

While York beat hosts Stamford Bridge and the rain, Sheriff Hutton Bridge's game against second-placed Woodhouse Grange at Moor Farm was one of three abandoned due to rain.

Ben Robinson was the match-winner for defending champions York, leading off the innings with 40 and then in his first spell at this level picking up three wickets to set up a 28-run victory.

James Billington (49) narrowly missed out on a half-century in a rain effected innings, the visitors reaching 219-6 from 46 overs thanks in part to a partnership of 80 from 66 balls in the closing stages between Nick James (52) and Tom Brooks (31no).

Spinner Ryan McKendry finished with 3-67 against his former side.

The result of the early rain and the intervention of DLS increased the home side’s target to 227.

Kyle Waite (33) and Zac Kuene (39) progressed the total to 98-1 before both were dismissed in the space of eight balls and, after Robinson picked up the key wickets of McKendry (24) and Dominic Rhodes (26), both of whom threatened to take the game away from the visitors, the innings fell away.

A fifth win on their travels closes the gap between themselves and leaders Sheriff Hutton Bridge to nine points, with Woodhouse Grange sandwiched in between.

The eagerly anticipated meeting between the top two was limited to just 15.1 overs, enough time for Edward Barnes to capture a couple wickets as the visitors stumbled to 47-3 before the game was abandoned.

SHB have yet to lose at home, having won all seven of their completed games at Moor Farm, while Grange have won five of nine on the road, with four now having been rained off.

Those who turned up at Weetwood for the game between Yorkshire Academy and Dunnington witnessed two wickets from Harrison Quarmby and little else with only 7.3 overs possible, the visitors reaching 16-2 before the match was abandoned.

The afternoon ended in similar fashion at North Marine Road, an outcome which certainly favoured Sessay who found themselves on the end of a season's best performance from Scarborough’s Linden Gray, his figures of 4-11 from 7.5 overs reducing the visitors to 76-6.

Harrogate benefited from the presence of Yorkshire’s Ben Coad (4-47) in the line-up for the first time in almost a year, as he and Tom Geeson-Brown (3-56) proved too much for Beverley Town, who were reduced to 77-7 inside 17 overs at Norwood Park.

For the second Saturday in a row it fell to Jamie Roe (33no) to engender some respectability to the score, an eighth-wicket stand of 43 with Greg Whyley (32) the only meaningful partnership in a total of 142 all out.

With four wickets from 10 overs under his belt, Coad could have been forgiven for putting his feet up but instead he opened the batting to devastating effect, smashing 10 fours and two sixes in an unbeaten 78, a century stand alongside Alex Twigg (42) at the start of the reply coming of 103 balls.

The visitors’ eventual eight-wicket victory was their first back-to-back success of the season and further eases the relegation concerns that had begun to creep in around St George’s Road.

There was a thrilling climax at Clifton Park were Matthew Montgomery (78no) struck consecutive boundaries in the final over off former Alliance skipper Scott Hopkinson to secure victory with one ball to spare.

Montgomery (78no) and Craig Nicoll (37no) came together with 79 needed off the final 12 overs of a rain-affected game after the visitors' total of 179-4 had been revised by DLS to a target of 195 from 43 overs.

A stand of 71 between David Wainwright (61) and Umair Khan (32) provided the backbone for Castleford’s total, which was boosted in the final three overs by the addition of 30 runs by Eitan Litivn (10no) and Edward Cole (20no).

The result, the third win in four weeks for the home side, sees the pair swap places in the relative comfort of middle table.