Steeton's six-wicket victory away to North Leeds confirmed their place at the top of Division A.

They won the toss and feeling there was something in the pitch for the bowlers captain Andrew Smith asked North Leeds to bat. The prognosis did not look accurate at first as the first wicket put on 37 runs, T Hales falling to Stuart Hudson for 13, but when the second wicket went down to the same bowler at 45 it seemed the skipper might have been vindicated.

Opener T Hollis was joined by S Hussain and they proceeded steadily against accurate bowling from Hudson and Neil Spragg to add another 48 runs before Hollis fell to Alex Howarth who had replaced Spragg and steadied the ship with 12 good overs for 36 runs.

S Wales, Hussain and D McDonald added good middle order runs for North Leeds but perished in the chase for quick runs, their effort being slowed by Hussain's runout dismissal after a direct hit by Smith.

The North Leeds tail failed to wag and the innings closed at 199-8. Steeton's fielding was up to the high standard expected in senior cricket with Spragg leading the way with a league fielding point. Hudson, Spragg and Howarth deserved their wickets and on another day Phil Tunney will get the rewards his tight spell deserved.

Their figures were Hudson 19-4-77-4, Spragg 13-0-47-2, Howarth 12-3-36-1 and Tunney 6-0-26-0.

The visitors got away to a poor start when Howarth and Robert Wynn both fell at 11. However overseas star Matthew Pinniger and the home-grown Spragg steadied matters before gaining in confidence as the innings blossomed.

Both played some delightful shots all around the wicket to add 107 before Pinniger was caught and bowled for 62.

This brought the evergreen veteran keeper Mark Hedges out to bat and he was joined by Hudson when Spragg was adjudged lbw for a fluent 49.

And Hedges, 44 not out, and Hudson, 20 not out, made sure there were no further mishaps, taking less than 45 minutes to add the 60 needed for victory, the Steeton total being 203-4.

The North Leeds bowling figures were G Broughill 7-0-38-2, Wales 14-1-50-1, N Richardson 14.2-4-63-1 and D Pryce 6-0-42-0.

North Leeds: T Hales lbw Hudson 13; T Hollis c Boulton b Howarth 50; G Broughill lbw Hudson 1; S Hussain run out 42; S Wales b Hudson 25; D McDonald not out 29; A Stevens b Spragg 1; M Singleton b Spragg 4; N Richardson b Hudson 11; N Bull not out 5; extras 18; total (for 8) 199.

Steeton: A Howarth b Richardson 0; R Wynn c Stevens b Wales 10; M Pinniger c and b Broughill 62; N Spragg lbw Broughill 49; M Hedges not out 44; S Hudson not out 20; extras 18; total (for 4) 203.

Skipton bounced back from their defeat of the previous week to overwhelm Horsforth by eight wickets at home.

Skipton captain Chris Gott won the toss and asked Horsforth to bat and they were soon in trouble against the accuracy of Mick Scott and the pace of Aussie Pete Francis.

They had slumped to 35-5 when Chris Binks joined Andrew Bentley and the two brought things round for the visitors with a stand of 52.

However after Binks was lbw to Scott for 30 the tail soon collapsed and Bentley was left high and dry on 44 not out as the innings closed on 122.

Their first wicket went down on one, the second on 11 and the third on 14.

The fourth fell on 22, the fifth on 35 and the sixth on 54. The seventh was lost on 106, the eighth on 113 and the last two on 122.

Scott was the pick of the Skipton bowlers with 5-50 from another marathon spell of 24 overs, seven of them maidens, and Zafar Iqbal had 5-0-11-2, Francis 16-7-36-2 and Gott 4-0-15-1.

The Horsforth total was never going to be enough and after a couple of hiccups in the 40s when they lost two wickets on 45 Skipton cruised to victory thanks to a patient 37 not out from Matt Wilson and 57 not out from the explosive Sean Atkinson.

The Horsforth bowling figures were J Ingleson 5-1-19-2, Binks 5-0-24-0, A Dutton 11-2-25-0, Bentley 4-1-10-0, S McCullow 8-2-17-0 and N Gomsolkolara 1.3-0-19-0.

Hosrforth: M Taylor b Francis 0; G Fletcher b Scott 7; N Gomsolkolara c Gott b Francis 2; S Collins lbw Scott 6; A Dutton b Gott 9; A Bentley not out 44; C Binks lbw Scott 30; P Tooley b Scott 4; M West b Scott 1; S McCullow b Iqbal 1; J Ingleson lbw Iqbal 0; extras 18; total 122.

Skipton: P Pickles c Binks b Ingleson 17; M Wilson not out 37; C Gott b Ingleson 0; S Atkinson not out 57; extras 15; total (for 2) 125.

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