THE top two were unmoved as both Ockbrook & Borrowash and Sandiacre Town took maximum points in the Beechdale Mazda Derbyshire Premier League title race.
And that was bad news for champions Swarkestone, held to a draw by Dunstall and now 30 points behind second-placed Sandiacre.
Ockbrook stuttered for a while in their win over Alfreton but proved they now have some batting depth.
Josh Clarke's 50 out of the first 87 got them going but after he had gone, they slipped to a worrying 114-6, with wicketkeeper Corrie Keable gone for 38.
From there, teenager Jacob Conners hit 51 and put on 73 with Nick Birds (32).
Dan Corcoran added 24 from 12 balls at the end to carry them to a respectable 231-8 and when Alfreton lost their first two wickets, including Australian Anthony Mosca, for three runs, the bottom side faced a long battle.
Kevin Dean took three of the first four to fall on his way to 4-33 and when John Aspinall was caught and bowled by Trevor Smith for 33, Alfreton were 73-5.
Elliott Savidge defied Ockbrook with 31 not out but they were all out for 148 with 45.5 overs gone, Lian Wharton grabbing three wickets and Keable taking six catches.
Alvaston & Boulton chose to bat at home to Sandiacre but after they put up 50 for the first wicket, wickets fell too regularly.
The top six all got more than 20 but no-one got further than Rahib Ali's 36 as Rob Cook took 3-55 and they could reach only a modest 213-9.
It was not plain sailing for Sandiacre, who lost New Zealander Mitch McCann for a duck and were 105-4 when James Chapman went for 53.
Andy Rhodes hit them out of trouble in a stand of 91 with John Trueman, scoring 67 from 54 balls with eight fours and three sixes.
Only 18 more were needed when he was out and Trueman's experienced head took care of most of those as he finished 30 not out.
Swarkestone would have been expecting more than 201 all out when they began with 58 between Jamie Guthrie and Chris Durham at home to Dunstall but their middle order faltered against the spin of Martin Clewley (2-48) and Steve Brodrick (4-38), keeper Andy Malkin having three stumpings in five victims.
With Bruce Dilks' opening seam bringing him 4-39 from 15 overs, Dunstall could not keep up with the necessary rate and closed on 182-8.
A week after probably their worst display of the season against Ockbrook, Marehay climbed out of the relegation places with their first win, a close finish at Spondon.
They put up a useful 224 all out after initially slipping to 7-2, Ben Gartside scoring 63 with five sixes and five fours.
At 125-3, Spondon seemed on course but Marehay kept chipping away.
James Kyte, Ben Perry-Taylor and Matt White each took three wickets, Australian pace man White's three-wicket burst at the end proving crucial as Spondon were bowled out for 216 with nine balls left.
