THE last unbeaten record in County League Division One went down at the weekend when Rolls-Royce were surprisingly beaten at home by Denby.

As a result, Royces' lead at the top of the table was cut to six points – although they are still in a strong position, with a game in hand.

The odds would have been on a Rolls-Royce win when Denby batted first and struggled to 174-9 from their 50 overs.

Naeem Akhtar put them on the back foot by taking the first three wickets and he went on to concede only 28 runs from his 15 overs.

But, crucially as it turned out, Denby's eighth and ninth-wicket partnerships edged them from 112-7 up to the final total, wicketkeeper Peter Scott coming in at number nine to top score with 28.

Royces looked set fair when their reply reached 87-1 but Denby's South African, Peter Furstenburg, took the crucial wickets of Arfan Fazal (35) and Muhammad Sultan (45) in a five-over spell.

Then Denby captain Joe Greenhalgh introduced his spin as fifth bowler and wickets continued to tumble.

The innings fell away, with Greenhalgh taking 5-39 and Zaheer Abassi was left stranded on 53 not out when the last wicket fell with Royces seven runs short of Denby's score.

Aston-on-Trent would have taken over at the top if they could have beaten Stainsby Hall but they will be reasonably pleased with a 17-point haul from a winning draw away to their rivals.

Aston piled up 276-8, with Faisal Khan scoring 81 not out and Shahid Khan 51.

Stainsby did not threaten to pass the target but they were never in danger of losing either, as Andy Barlow hit an unbeaten 103 to carry them to 216-5.

Swarkestone moved into third place in the table with a winning draw against bottom club Shipley Hall.

Jonny Guthrie hit an unbeaten 102, Jamie Guthrie scored 80 and Luke Thomas was 61 not out as they totalled 268-1.

Jonny Guthrie then added four catches behind the wicket but Swarkestone could not force the win, as Shipley scored 205-8, Stef Gamble top-scoring with 89.

Clifton climbed out of the relegation places with maximum points against Staveley Welfare.

They might have been staring at defeat after managing only 159-9, in which captain Simon Moore top-scored with 57, but Staveley crumbled for 79, Nick Hopewell picking up 3-8 and Rifatullah Mohman 3-17.

Marehay pulled off a superb run chase to beat Rolleston, on a day when bowlers suffered.

Rolleston rattled up 257-3, Paul Allen scoring 90.

But Andy Walters surpassed that with 120 and, with Chris Kerry adding 66, they sailed past the target with four wickets down in 41.1 overs.

It was a similar story at Nutbrook, where visitors Matlock knocked off a target of 235-7 with four wickets down.

Their South African, Mandla Mashimbyi, added 115 runs to his 4-55 with the ball.

In Sunday's Division 2N match at Chesterfield, the big news was that Pilsley's run machine, Saeed Bin Nasir, was out for a duck, although his side managed a winning draw.

That was a minor inconvenience. Well on course to break the County League record he already holds, Bin Nasir passed 1,000 for the season with the first of his 136 runs in his side's win over Belper Amateurs on Saturday.