BECKETT LEAGUE: Morris ton edges Staxton to huge win at title rivals Cayton

After Staxton the toss and elected to bat, Dave Morris steered his side to an imposing 231-6 as he made a fabulous 105 off 144 balls, his second century of the campaign as Cayton were put to the sword.

Chris Dove provided the main support with 45 as Joel Boyer took 3-31.

Michael Dennis hit 28 in reply but Cayton’s batsmen found the spin of Elliott Cooper and Linden Gray hard to handle. Cooper claimed his fourth five-wicket haul of the summer to finish with 5-47 and Gray took 3-36 as only Nick Strangio showed any resistance with 34 as the hosts finished on 146 all out.

Staithes jumped into second following a comfortable six-wicket home win over Filey.

Opener Paul Bowes was in majestic form as he made a superb 83 and along with Jamie Gilbank, 41, Filey posted 172 all out.

Aussie off-spinner Justin Ringin was the main man for Staithes, taking 3-49 and finding good support from Stuart Theaker and Simon Bowes, who both claimed two wickets apiece.

After a quickfire 35 from Stuart Marsay, Bowes then took over with the bat, smashing an unbeaten 77 which included three sixes as the title challengers won in just 31.5 overs despite 2-43 from Josh Dawson and Ben Briggs’ 2-54.

Ebberston’s Jonny Mason hit a brilliant 151 not out as his side made a daunting 277-4 against Flixton 2nds.

Eddie Craggs also made 42. Flixton’s Stuart Stocks struck 47 in reply and captain Mark Shackley made 29 not out, but 3-26 from young left-arm spinner Sam Hardy kept Flixton at bay as they finished on 158-6, 119 runs short.

This win consolidated Ebbertson’s fourth place under Ben Lealman’s captaincy and also confirmed Flixton’s relegation.

Scalby gave themselves hope of beating the drop by beating fellow strugglers Forge Valley at Wilsons Lane reducing the gap to just six points.

Tom Brough, 41, and Carl Jackson’s 31 were the only batsmen to have answers to Scalby’s seam trio of James Deaves, 4-21, Sam Fox, 3-28, and Jonny Barton, 3-35.

Lee Kerr and Joe Hills both made 20 in reply as Alex Glass, 3-20, and Jackson, 3-26 bowled well, but poor discipline cost them as they conceded 35 extras as the visitors gained a vital 16-point win.

Nawton Grange pulled further clear from the relegation zone with a hard-fought 16-run win over Heslerton.

Joe Lush made 62 and skipper Jonny Pickard hit 26 in their 191-7 as Adam Spaven, 2-56, and Andy Slaughter, 2-43, caused constant problems.

Tony Watson and Sam Triffitt both reached the 30s, but Adam Durrant, 3-39, and Tom Garbutt’s 3-40 saw their side to victory.

Mulgrave remain on course for the Division One title as they made short work of Cloughton in an eight-wicket home win.

Cloughton won the toss and elected to bat but found the going tough against the home side’s seam attack.

Chris Malthouse top-scored with 46 and Glynn Botterill made 25, but left-arm paceman Joe Hinchclife took 3-24 and Andrew Thompson claimed 3-31 as the visitors were all out for 118.

Nick Gibson and Mario Spagnuolo both made 40, leaving Chris Clarkson in at the end to see his side home with 25 not out in 22.5 overs.

Mulgrave face second-placed Seamer next week, knowing a win will secure the Division A crown.

Seamer staged a remarkable fightback to remain in the hunt for the title after being shot out for just 76 at Brompton.

Greg Chadwick made 40, but no other batsmen made any impression as Pete Webster, 3-9, James Bruce, 3-26, and three wickets for youngster Arthur Aston found top form.

Ross Triffitt made 36 after the interval, but brilliant spells from Paul Greenough, 5-30, and 4-36 from Adam Morris saw Seamer edge home by six runs.

Settrington stay clear in third place following a comprehensive eight-wicket away win over Grindale, who were bundled out for 61.

Settrington Skipper Adam Morley made 30 for his team in their comfortable reply.

In another low-scoring affair, Wykeham completed a narrow six-run win over Sherburn with lanky pace bowler Dave Pearson the star of the show.

After being asked to bat, Wykeham’s Ian Spence made 31, but good spells from left arm swinger Mike Holtby, 5-27, and Phil Pickard, 4-14, saw them out all for just 86.

Pearson then took control as he claimed a superb 7-32, his second seven-wicket haul against the same opposition this summer.

Only Jamie Thomson with 31 not out showed any form and this defeat leaves Sherburn third from bottom.

In the battle of the bottom two, Wold Newton’s Oli West produced a fine all-round performance to deny Cayton 2nds, giving his side an outside chance of survival.

Cayton skipper Simon Glave took two early wickets, leaving the hosts on 10-2, but a fine fightback led by Newton skipper Charles Gray, 29, and West moved the score onto 116-6, despite a fine spell from James Ward, who took 4-28. West was out for an excellent 70 before some late hitting by James Knaggs, 38 not out, lifted the total to a challenging 191 all out, Glaves finishing with 4-32 and Brian Heywood 2-39.

West, 4-19, took the new ball and his opening salvo took out the visitor’s top order, leaving them reeling on 6-4 after five overs.

Brian Heywood dropped anchor and found great support from the lower order in a fine recovery, but the damage was done with the new ball as Cayton were finally all out for 139, Heywood remaining there at the end for a well-constructed 51 not out as James Knaggs took 3-19 and Mark Holtby claimed 2-37.

Only 23 points separate Wykeham in fourth to Cayton in ninth, so an exciting close to the campaign is expected.

Staxton 2nds’ Mark Dove lifted his side after their recent loss of form as they registered a 25-run home win over fellow promotion hopefuls Ravenscar in Division B.

Dove hit 60 off just 57 balls to top score in Staxton’s 175-7 as Jack Pinder added 39, while Jish Rewcroft’s fine season continued as his took 3-44.

Joe Bayes, 60, and 50 from Ian Kirk led Ravenscar’s reply, but Dove claimed 5-36 in a fine personal performance to keep his side in pole position. Kyle Outhart also chipped in with 3-38 as Ravenscar were all out for 150.

Thornton Dale remain in second after a convincing nine-wicket win at Scarborough 3rds.

Damien Foster hit 68, but Colin Lockwood’s 5-38 restricted the hosts to 139 before Lewis White’s powerful 63 not out, alongside 31 from Matthew Todd and an unbeaten 30 from Lyle King saw Thornton to a 17-point win.

Fylingdales skipper Barry Heyes hit his second century of the season as his side swept aside Bridlington 2nds.

Fylingdales posted 228-8 with Heyes making an excellent 111.

Greg Miller made 40 in reply, but 3-8 from Harry Purvis saw Bridlington dismissed for 113.

Fellow east coast side Sewerby 2nds beat Ganton by eight wickets with regular first-teamer Lewis Beasley the star man.

Beasley took 5-21 as Robbie Milner, 42, and Stewart Ward’s 35 troubled the scorers before Beasley then hit 83 not out in reply.

Scalby 2nds eased to a seven-wicket win over a depleted Forge Valley 2nds with James Ledden making 30 against his former club who were earlier dismissed for just 90.

James Scott was in form with the ball as he claimed three wickets as Valley found runs difficult to come by.

Ebberston 2nds need just nine points to claim the Division C title after Cloughton 2nds conceded their fixture and second-placed Great Habton suffered a shock defeat at Seamer 2nds.

Craig Baker hit a superb 108 for Seamer, his second ton this summer in his side’s 181 all out as Liam Allenby took 5-20 for Habton.

Seamer duo Joe Tiffany, 4-21, and left-armer Steve Winwood took 3-34 as Habton were then dismissed for 122.

Muston made a shaky start to their innings losing their first three wickets for just 18 runs against Heslerton 2nds, all to Mark Dring.

Phil Robson joined Dave Meer and they changed the complex of the match. Robson peppered the boundary and the 100 came up in the 19th over, before being the fourth wicket to fall for 76 featuring in a partnership of 96.

Meer continued to 34 and George Marr added 25 as the visitors were all out for 187, Dring finishing with 3-44 and Ed Senior 6-44.

Heslerton’s innings centred round an unbeaten 60 from opener John Howden, but no other batsman reached double figures as they had no answer to spinner Matthew Kings, who took a superb 7-31, which included a sensational hat-trick to be all out for 94 in 29.1 overs.

Ryedale’s Neil Cowton was again in superb form as his side defeated Wykeham 2nds by 67 runs.

Cowton top-scored with 62 in his sides 162-8 while the consistent Sam Batty added 43 as Scott Wardman took 3-42.

Cowton then took over with the ball, taking 5-26 as Wykeham fell short on 95 all out.