EASINGWOLD'S Paul Skilbeck lived up to his reputation as one of the Hunters The Estate Agent York and District Senior Cricket League's hardest strikers of a ball when he raced to 50 off just 21 balls against Acomb in the premier division.

His skipper, Martin Piercy, was back in the groove following his first ball dismissal on Saturday and, in making 93, passed the 50 mark for the eighth time.

However, it was Skilbeck who gave the home crowd Bank Holiday excitement as he struck seven sixes on his way to a quickfire 61 with one of his straight hits off the bowling of Dave Sykes sailing clear over the pavilion.

The Acomb paceman had the final word when he bowled Skilbeck to return figures of 4-64. His bowling partner, Andy Tute, also took four wickets but at a cost of 142 as Easingwold posted a total of 208-9.

Tute then went much of the way to balancing the books as he responded with 80, Joey Burton added 39 and Neil Grant's unbeaten 38 enabled Acomb to draw at 194-5 as Skilbeck rounded off a good day by taking 2-43 in 17 economical overs.

Bowlers were in supreme command at Clifton Alliance where the home side gained a victory to retain their second place despite being dismissed for a first innings total of 110 in 35.3 overs.

James Postill made 28 and Chris Malthouse 25 in an innings which was interrupted after 25 overs when the score stood at 63-3. The game was reduced to 39 overs but Clifton found themselves dismissed early as Richard Bowling took 4-32 and Ashfaq Ahmed 6-36.

The modest total turned out to be much more than adequate as Heworth were dismissed for the season's lowest premier total in just 20 overs. Skipper Richard Bowling was the only batsman to score more than five, as his side was destroyed by Paul Boraston, who took 7-27, and John Thornton, who returned 3-17, as Heworth were all out for just 56. Boraston's haul saw him become the first premier bowler to take 50 wickets in the season.

Woodhouse Grange skipper Steve Burdett cemented his position at the top of the bowling averages when his 6-33 set up a five-wicket win for his side at bottom club Beverley.

Olly Grantham made 72 for Beverley while Peter Parnaby added 26 in an eventual total of 158-9. Grange's successful reply was based on Joel Hughes' 47 and Mike Burdett's 42 with Barry Sayer taking 3-42 for the hosts.

Stamford Bridge returned to the danger zone when they floundered at nearby Dunnington where Simon Kellett (44) and Hamed Khan (51no) saw the home side to an eight-wicket victory. Stamford skipper Matt Beckett was a lone star in his side's innings of 121 all out, making an unbeaten 66 as his comrades fell to Kashif Mahmood, who had figures of 5-26.

Malton youngster Mike Linsley made 54 and then took 3-23 at Pickering. He shared in a third-wicket stand of 95 with Greg Johnson (52), which helped Malton to a total of 175-9 to offset the bowling of Mark Shepherd (3-57) and Tony Evans (4-36).

Pickering's Colin Frank then hit a fine 87 as Pickering came close to gaining a valuable victory in their bid to avoid relegation. They were denied their win by Linsley and spinner Danny Foxton, who took 3-28, as the pair held Pickering to 162-9.