With Richmondshire carrying off the championship silverware, Seaton Carew surviving a remarkable relegation battle and Billingham Synthonia winning promotion to the premier division, the final day lived up to expectations.

Richmond needed seven points from a draw to crack open the champagne, and finished with one of the most decisive of their 14 victories to clinch the title for the third time in four years, and the fourth time overall.

Vice-captain Mike Layfield said he and his team-mates had worked hard, after parting company with key players, to gain the success.

“In previous seasons we have dominated teams but this year we had to dig-in on many occasions to get results”, he explained. “There were times when we scraped over the line and it meant having to grind out matches which was different for us. Nevertheless it’s been a great summer”.

Second-placed Great Ayton let an unbeaten 12-match run slip away at the hands of the slick Seaton outfit, who doubled their points tally in the second half of the summer to perform the most dramatic of escapes.

They stay in the top division at the expense of Marton and Redcar, who both lost their final games and will return to the lower division where they last played together in 2005. Since then Marton have been premier champions twice and major cup holders six times.

Richmond’s final win was against Stokesley, who had defeated them earlier in the season but went down by four wickets despite scoring 201-9.

Jack Craig hit 73 from 74 balls, with eight fours and three sixes, and Andrew Weighell made 48 with 30 in boundaries. Toby Bulcock (4-42) took his wicket total to 79, topping the chart by ten. Gary Pratt (77) shared the batting honours with Robert Carr who made his first half century of the season as the Dalesmen reached 202-6 with eight overs to spare.

Ayton were blasted by Seaton Carew for whom Sanjaya Rodrigo smashed 94 and might have reached a century had Joe Marsay not taken an excellent catch on the mid-wicket boundary. He shared in a stand worth 123 with Paul Braithwaite, who was unbeaten on 50. They still had nine overs left when they reached the winning total of 180-2. Lewis Harper (44) and Steve Pennock (42) top scored for Ayton, who finished runners-up, but 33 points behind the champions.

Barnard Castle had a disappointing finish – they lost three of their last four matches including Saturday’s visit by Darlington. Doug Mulholland (45 not out), Paul Freary (39) and Liam Coates (28) contributed most to their 50-over total of 184-6 before Grant Sowerby (4-23) and Matty Brown (4-32) knocked out their hosts for 145 despite 64 from 77 balls from opener Josh Mason.

Barney’s batting suffered a series of collapses after reaching 102 with just two wickets down and their last five fell for 20.

There was another close finish at Normanby where Marske scored 173 from 48 overs to win by 21 runs.

Johnathon Pickard (53) and Joe Wing (36) produced the backbone for the Seasiders’ batting as Carl McGregor (4-54), James Clarkson (3-30) and Leigh Beaumont (3-31) shared the wickets. Hall lost four wickets without adding a run in mid-order with Pickard (5-30) and Wing (5-28) then becoming the match winners.

The relegated teams both ended on a losing note, Redcar at Middlesbrough’s Acklam Park and Marton on their own patch against Hartlepool.

Ollie Rodgers made a season best 89 not out with ten fours in a 97-ball innings which included a 62-run partnership with Jonathan Cooper (41) as the Seasiders reached 209-8. But Boro were too strong as South African pro Steve Reeves made an undefeated 93 and skipper James Lowe hit 74.

Reeves faced 116 balls and smashed 13 fours and two sixes while Lowe hit 46 in boundaries from 103 balls. Together they made 128 in a third wicket stand from 29 overs. Sam Berry (3-88) was Redcar’s best bowler but Boro got to 212-6 with 25 balls to spare. Marton lost by 45 runs after Pool made 192-8 and bowled them out for 147.

Promoted Billingham Synthonia defeated Great Ayton’s depleted second string to win by a massive margin of 166 runs to return to the top-flight after a three-year absence.