AFTER last week’s near washout, a full round of fixtures was completed in the Pilmoor Evening Cricket league.

In the first division, 2014 champions Sheriff Hutton Bridge, the losers in the only fixture to be played on the opening week, lost again when they visited Sessay. Batting first they struggled to 80 for 7, the only batsmen to show any real form being Shaun Harland with 20 and Mark Fisher with 26 not out, with Craig Easton (3 for 16) and Ben Scaling (2 for 23) bowling their side into a strong position. An unbroken opening partnership between Stuart Peirse (47 not out) and Matthew Wass (26 not out) then eased Sessay to a comfortable victory at 82 for 0.

Last year’s runners up Thirsk also lost, coming off second best in a closely fought contest at Newburgh. The hosts batted first on a slow pitch and struggled to 68 for 7, James Banks with 18 and Rob Proudley (19) being the only batsmen with any answer to the bowling of James Wilkinson, who had the outstanding figures of 5 for 5, and Jake Porter who took 2 for 17.

Thirsk’s batsmen then also failed to adapt to the conditions and they were reduced to 31 for 7 principally by Wayne Linton’s opening burst of 4 for 13, and although Jake Porter tried hard to rally his side with 14 not out, Newburgh’ s win was sealed by Tom Banks’ 2 for 17 as Thirsk closed on 63 for 8.

Promoted Acomb posted the highest score of the evening when they made 129 for 5 against Alne. Dave Darley made 24 and Joe Dale 57, whilst Tom Wilson took 2 for 37 for Alne. The Alne response seemed to be well in contention as opener Paul Hutchinson made 31 and Alex Buteux 53, but their progress slowed by the spin of Dale who returned 3 for 8 from 3 overs to ensure that Alne fell short on 117 for 5.

Helperby were the other victors in the first division when they recorded a last over success at Sheriff Hutton. Matthew Prosser top scored as Sheriff posted 83 for 8, but his colleagues were undermined by Atish Chouhan who returned 5 for 16. Ross McKenzie made 20 in the Helperby reply, but Sheriff remained in contention through Matthew Maltby (2 for 16) and David Hull (2 for 19), leaving the visitors requiring 5 from the last 3 balls. A six then won the match for Helperby with two deliveries remaining, Dan Marston’s unbeaten 25 proving decisive.

In the second division, the closest finish of the evening came at Easingwold where Rowntrees and Huntington were the visitors. Mark Keyworth (35) and Josh de Silva (31) did most to take the visitors to 115 for 7, Harry Kerr being the standout bowler for Easingwold with figures of 4 for 11. Easingwold then lost wickets with regularity to Tom Frane (4 for 24) and it was the experience of Kyle Waite (50 not out) and Andrew Metcalfe (37) which eventually saw them home at 116 for 9.

Raskelf batted first at Huby and posted a respectable 113 for 3, the main contributions coming from Harry Ellis with 36 not out, Simon Webster with 31 and Sam Porter with 26, whilst Josh Robertshaw took 2 for 34 for Huby. The outstanding innings of the evening however came from Huby’s Aaron Kirkbride with 53 (ret) and with Matt Woodall making 21, Huby claimed victory at 114 for 5 with more than an over in hand, Dan Noble claiming 2 for 17 for the losers.

Clifton Alliance batted first against Civil Service and their 114 for 7 was due mainly to the efforts of Jake Atkinson (28), Jason Gatus (27) and Joe Ashdown (22) with Dennis Sivapragasam (3 for 21) and Richard Simpson (2 for 14) having the best returns for Civil Service, whose reply was 75 for 2 with Will Phelps making 34 not out.

Crayke made a good start to the campaign with a nine-run victory at Dringhouses. Their evening started shakily as they lost two wickets in the first over, but opener Peter Carr held firm and found his form to make 55 (ret) which proved to be the cornerstone of his side’s 106 for 5, B Johnson taking 2 for 24 for Dringhouses. Sam Lingard got the home reply off to a promising start with 23, but Mark Hutchinson hit back hard for Crayke and his 4 for 24, together with 2 for 15 from James Pocklington, held the hosts at bay as they closed on 97 for 9.