Having travelled with a strong side they were confident, especially with their opponents second bottom. And having bowled Moorlands out for 161, after they elected to bat first, six points looked there for the taking. Sri Lankan quick bowler Duncan Arnolda did the damage again with the ball, taking 5-48.There was one wicket apiece for Tom Chester and Christian Musgrave while spinner Mark Heald took a brace and was also responsible for a run out with some clever thinking and quick hands.

Ardsley got off to a great start to their reply with openers Tim Marsden (33) and Muj Hameed (23) putting on 64 before the latter was caught at square leg. Marsden quickly followed and then Arnolda was caught out to leave Ardsley 74-3. Captain Dan McTernan and the returning Andy Langley steadied the ship with a fourth wicket partnership of 34, taking the visitors 53 runs short of a six-point victory with plenty of overs remaining. But Ardsley's score of 108-3 then turned to 143-6 as McTernan, Heald and Hofmann all went.

Ardsley were a mere 18 runs from a win, with plenty of time and four wickets in hand. It should have been in the bag, but an awesome triple wicket maiden from quickie Gary Ramsden turned the game on its head and with James (5-27) taking the last wicket of Mark Davies, Ardsley were all out for 147 - losing their last four wickets for four runs and losing the game by 14 runs.

"Too many bad shots were played by the top six - only Marsden was unlucky as he played onto the stumps - but the other five, myself included, played complacent shots," said skipper McTernan.

"Our bowlers had put in the hard graft and we fielded well as a unit to restrict Moorlands to an achievable total. And to have been in three good positions chasing we have no-one to blame but ourselves and the disappointment was obvious in the dressing room after the game.

"When news was received that both Altofts and Stanley had won we knew we had dropped to third. Luckily my team are mentally strong and we all know that 12 points from the last two games is the least we can aim to achieve. Hopefully we will bounce back and we will have to cross our fingers that the teams above us slip up."

East Ardsley will also be in action on Sunday in the semi-finals of the Yorkshire Council Supplementary Competition when they travel to play Hessle. They earned the tie with a comfortable victory at Driffield last Sunday.

Ardsley were expecting a tough game against a club with five Saturday teams, including a 1st XI in the YCB League, but after turning up to their fantastic ground an hour and half before start time they quickly realised their opponents were not taking the match as seriously.

Dan McTernan explained: "We were due to play Driffield's fourth team, but by the 12.30 start time there were only five Driffield players present. The umpires seemed to take sympathy on Driffield's predicament and didn't entertain my wishes of forcing the home side to concede the game.