Hamilton Panthers reclaimed pole position in the Leeper Hare York and District Football League premier division with an impressive 4-2 win over Haxby United.

The clash between the top two sides started with a flurry of three goals inside the first five minutes.

With less than a minute gone, Panthers’ Paul King smashed a shot off the underside of the crossbar to put the hosts in front.

Two minutes later Liam Stilgoe doubled the advantage, but Andy Green reduced the deficit on the five-minute mark.

Mark Woodward’s 13th goal of the season made it 3-1 but, within a minute, Kev Butler had pulled a goal back for Haxby with a 35-yard volley.

With quarter of an hour remaining, Panthers’ ten-match unbeaten run was confirmed when Paul Barren scored a fourth goal.

Tate & Lyle moved out of the bottom two for the first time since October as they beat fellow strugglers Tockwith 2-0. Daniel Rhodes broke the deadlock on 20 minutes and John Carter added a second 20 minutes from time.

Malton & Norton recorded their seventh draw of the season as they shared two goals with York St John. Simon Collins put the Ryedale side in front, but Kyle Audsley hit a late equaliser.

Poppleton are slipping into the relegation mire after they lost 4-1 at home to Wigginton, their fourth defeat in a row.

Mark Scoreby’s early goal for the visitors was cancelled out by a Dave Pickles free-kick and Wigginton added to their score with goals from Jamie Seal, Adam Wash and Ben Coates.

It was another good day for division one leaders Riccall as they were the only side in the top half of the table to take maximum points.

They stretched their unbeaten run to 13 games with a 2-1 win at Easingwold. Liam Brown and Ben Olsen scored for Riccall, with Nick Thorn replying for Easingwold.

Second-placed Thorpe took the lead against Tadcaster through Alan Jackson, but they drew 1-1.

Ouseburn and York RI shared the spoils for a second time this season after they drew 1-1.

Lee Dutton’s 11th goal of the season gave RI the lead, but Richard Carruthers levelled.

A revitalised Nestlé Rowntree continued their recovery with a 2-1 home win over Bishopthorpe.

Paul Scaife and Carl Stewart, scoring for a fourth consecutive game, hit the homes side’s goals. George Matthews replied for Bishopthorpe.

Three goals in ten minutes gave Stamford Bridge a 3-0 win at Rufforth.

Chris Plowman led the way, quickly followed by goals from Simon Connell and Kev Tate.