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Rothesay County Championship Division One, Banks Homes Riverside (day three)

Yorkshire 307 & 132-4: Lyth 53, Malan 37; Potts 2-36, Raine 2-36

Durham 427: Lees 172, Gay 152; White 3-76

Yorkshire (5 pts) lead Durham (7 pts) by 12 runs with 6 wickets standing

Durham will hope the threat of fourth afternoon weather does not ruin their chances of claiming a County Championship victory over Yorkshire at the Riverside.

Yorkshire can lay claim to having the better of day three thanks to taking the last nine first-innings wickets for 126 through until early afternoon, limiting the hosts to 427 all out.

Alex Lees was removed for a standout 172 and Emilio Gay for an excellent 152.

New-ball seamer Jack White led the way with three wickets, but all five of the county’s quicks struck, including New Zealand overseas debutant Ben Sears.

However, Durham chipped away at the second-innings wickets on a slow pitch, restricting Yorkshire to 132-4 from 59 overs at close and their lead is only 12.

Former England Test opener Adam Lyth reached 15,000 first-class career runs with a patient 53 in the North East sunshine, while Ben Raine and Matthew Potts struck twice apiece.

Lees and Gay, who faced 240 and 239 balls respectively, completed a record second-wicket partnership of 279 – their county’s highest ever for that particular wicket in first-class cricket.

They beat the 274 Scott Borthwick and Mark Stoneman shared against Middlesex here in 2014.

Yorkshire hit back strongly during a morning which saw Durham advance from 264-1 overnight to 386-6 at lunch, with Lees and Gay both falling.

While Yorkshire started the day with the spin of Dom Bess, all five wickets fell to seam.

Matthew Revis is playing his first game since suffering a back stress fracture last August and struck twice in as many overs when he had Lees taken at long-leg following a top-edged pull and Colin Ackermann caught behind for a duck.

Ollie Robinson was trapped lbw by White, now bowling with the new ball, before Will Rhodes fell the same way to Sears, who earlier took a smart diving catch running in from long-leg to help Revis remove Lees.

Sandwiched in between the departures of Robinson and Rhodes, George Hill squared Gay up and rocked back his off-stump shortly after the left-hander had reached his 150 off 235 balls.

And inside 10 overs of the afternoon, Durham had been bowled out, with White and Jordan Thompson striking twice apiece.

White bowled Raine and had Brendan Doggett caught behind, while Thompson struck twice in the 104th over to get Graham Clark caught at first slip for 33 and Paul Coughlin caught behind.

Coughlin batted lower down than usual at number 10 because of an abdominal injury suffered whilst bowling on day one, leaving Durham a bowling option light second time around.

Yorkshire lost Fin Bean lbw early on to Raine’s seam before Lyth reached the 15,000-run mark with a trademark cover drive against Potts to move to 15 before tea.

Potts had James Wharton caught at deep square-leg following a miscued pull early in the evening as Yorkshire fell to 39 for two.

From there, Lyth and Dawid Malan dug in on a slow pitch to chip away at the deficit, sharing 75 for the third wicket. But both fell in the final hour to boost Durham’s chances.

Lyth reached his 50 off 128 balls – his second of the season added to a century – but fell lbw to Raine with the deficit still six and Potts then bowled Malan for 37, leaving Yorkshire at 117-4.

The celebrations were wild.

As Pedro Neto’s 93rd-minute stunner completed a defiant Chelsea fightback at Fulham, there was no doubt about the importance of the strike.

Chelsea leapfrogged rivals Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest to return to the Premier League top five, a spot which would earn the club qualification for the Champions League next season.

And, after weeks of negativity around Chelsea’s form and hostility from sections of supporters towards head coach Enzo Maresca, the players and fans celebrated as one – with the scenes carrying on long after the final whistle.

Chelsea’s first away league win of the year was sparked by the introduction of 18-year-old academy product Tyrique George, with his 83rd-minute equaliser the prelude to a dramatic finale.

And it all came just when Chelsea’s top-five challenge was in danger of fizzling out.

Had Chelsea drawn, we would be talking about a club without a win in nine away matches, seventh in the table with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez’s struggling and several goalless forwards.

But, instead, Maresca was able to speak in bullish fashion about his side’s season.

“Chelsea in the last two years have never been in the Champions League spot and this season we spent the whole season there,” he said.

“Today doesn’t change my view, it is already a good season and can become very good if we finish in the Champions League spot.

“But for sure today was an important win because it is a derby and can give us a chance – it was probably also the most difficult win – because our rivals all played yesterday so it is was must-win. “

After celebrating on the touchline, Maresca went down the tunnel rather than join his players and coaching staff in soaking in an important victory with the 3,000-strong away support.

There are still some causes for concern at Chelsea after the comeback win, with struggling forward Christopher Nkunku left out due to a “technical decision”.

In addition, Maresca said that defender Malo Gusto’s muscular injury is “not a good one” and the Frenchman joins defender Wesley Fofana and striker Marc Guiu on the injured list, with winger Mykhailo Mudryk provisionally suspended following a failed drugs test.

After the match, Maresca said his decision not to celebrate with the away end was more about giving his players time in the spotlight.

He said: “I was very happy because it is a nice feeling to win the game at the end but I think it was a moment for the players because they deserve to celebrate with the fans.

“That’s the reason I left the pitch immediately. And then when we scored the second one, I celebrated and this was the reason they give me the yellow card, but it was a nice moment between the players and the fans to share that moment. I said many times, the players need to feel that support. “

There remains concern about the 16-game goal drought of Cole Palmer and Chelsea’s general lack of production from their forward line.

Jadon Sancho’s strike against Ipswich last week, ending a run of 21 games without scoring, was the first by a Chelsea forward in the league since 25 February.

Tyrique George was promoted from the academy team to the first team on 19 December in a touching moment filmed by the club’s channels.

He and defender Josh Acheampong were both given permanent first-team lockers after signing new deals in 2024, and most of their opportunities for game time have come in the Conference League.

George, who has been with Chelsea since the age of eight, made 10 Conference League appearances, scoring his first goal for the club away at Legia Warsaw in the last round.

He is the fifth youngest Premier League scorer for Chelsea and youngest since Callum Hudson-Odoi against Burnley in 2020.

“I think Tyrique, when he scored, it was a nice moment but also gave an extra energy to the players to try to win the game in the last minute,” said Maresca.

Ireland back row Aoife Wafer says Sunday’s 40-14 win in Wales in the Six Nations is “huge” but there are still things to improve.

Wafer was named player of the match as she scored two of Ireland’s six tries in Newport.

Forwards Linda Djougang and Dorothy Wall also touched down twice as Ireland ran out comfortable winners.

“It’s huge. We can take a lot out of that but we can also build on it,” Wafer told BBC Sport after the game.

“We gave Wales some really easy ins at the breakdown in the first half and that put us defending when we wanted to attack. So there’s a lot to build on. “

Ireland need just one point from their final fixture in Scotland to secure third place in the Six Nations table for the second year in a row.

While still a level below England, who ran out big winners in Cork in round three, Ireland have shown improvement against France in their opening and followed that up with a first away win in the tournament in four years when Scott Bemand’s side defeated Italy in Parma.

The victory over Wales was another step in the right direction, and Ireland will look to finish on a high away to Scotland, who are fourth in the table, as their World Cup preparations continue.

“Winning away is tough, so to do it in Parma and Wales, we can take a lot from it,” added Wafer.