Woodford Wells moved into the Shepherd Neame Essex League Division One promotion places after beating Fives & Heronians in their derby contest.
But Shenfield saw their hopes hit by a loss against leaders Colchester, which left them 10 points outside the top two, while Harold Wood lost to Loughton and Hutton were held to a draw by lowly Upminster as Gidea Park & Romford drew with bottom club Southend.
Fives chose to bat after winning the toss but Nabel Shaikh (2-31) removed both openers and Rehan Iqbal also got in on the act as the hosts slipped to 39-4.
Terry Ballard hit six fours in a quick 31 off 20 balls, while Naseer Ud Din (38) put on 56 with captain Jake Poulter.
Alexander Gilbert ran through the middle and lower order to finish with 6-42, dismissing Poulter (46) along the way as Fives were all out for 165.
Wells lost Connor Caplan cheaply in reply, but Joe Johnson made a quick 22 off 25 balls before falling to Abdul Ameer.
Captain Mitchell Todd scored 59 and put on 53 for the fourth wicket with Hugo Blogg (37), who took Wells to the brink of success.
Iqbal was unbeaten on 21 as they clinched a five-wicket win in the 34th over to leapfrog their rivals in the promotion race.
Shenfield were put into bat by Colchester and lost Jack Kliber to a second-ball duck.
Max Bear followed soon after to make it 12-2 but Jack Potticary put on 61 with Ollie Ekers.
Captain Roy Smith and Tom Ballington fell in quick succession, with Ekers eventually dismissed for 72 to leave the hosts 128-6.
Tom Austin (32), Khail Muhammad (44 not out) and Rob Petchey (20 not out) scored quick runs late on to lift the total to 224-7 but Colchester got off to a flying start as Feroze Ahmed hit 35 off 17 balls, including eight fours.
Monty Panesar made the breakthrough, but Joe MacGregor (40) then put on 91 with Guy Haines before falling to Ballington.
Panesar (2-72) picked up a second scalp, with Muhammad (2-46) also nabbing a brace, but the visitors reached their target in the 44th over of their reply with three wickets in hand.
Loughton chose to bat against Harold Wood and saw Raihan Hussain (57) top score in their 252-7, as Mohammed Hasan (3-65) had most success with the ball.
Wood looked in a good position at 115-2, but Craig Perrin departed for 38 and wickets fell at regular intervals as Bilal Butt (4-56) and Abdul Nasir made inroads.
Shahbaz Khan held firm at one end and hit four sixes and nine fours in his 91 from 100 balls before he was ninth man out, dismissed by Nasir (6-51), who sealed Loughton's 44-run win soon after.
Hutton chose to bat first against Upminster and saw Adam Holdgate dismissed by Louis Pickering with the score on 36.
Alex Tredgett (41) added 101 with Vivian Paver, who had further support from captain Julian Whetstone (29) and Joseph Parry (24) in stands of 80 and 68 respectively.
Oliver Peck (2-77) and John Curtis had some success with the ball for Upminster, but Australian all-rounder Paver finished unbeaten on 187 from 142 balls, having hit six sixes and 21 fours as Hutton closed on 313-4.
Tom Patterson removed Shafiq Rahman and James Evans cheaply in reply, with Parry accounting for Frankie Hazle and Pickering to leave them floundering at 15-4.
Tom Daniels fell to Stephen Heywood with the total on 43 to leave Upminster staring at defeat, but Farid Butt (24) shared 60 runs for the sixth wicket with Shahbaz Butt to steady the innings.
Nicky Ison added another 45 with Shahbaz Butt, who went on to score 112 off 111 balls, with one six and 21 fours, before falling to Patterson (4-35).
James Aggio-Brewe (27 not out) and Curtis saw Upminster to the close on 213-8 to earn a draw, but they dropped into the relegation zone with two games remaining.
Gidea Park & Romford also drew, but were given a fright by bottom club Southend at Gallows Corner.
Michael Pegram (24) put on 63 with Umar Ayub for the first wicket, with captain George Rogers (21) adding 50 for the third wicket.
Ayub fell for 76 to leave Park 148-4, with Matthew Tarr (20), James Pegram (23 not out) and Aditya Kumar (22 not out) chipping in to lift the total to 230-6.
Umaad Sultan and Muhammad Hasan Ali struck early in Southend's reply to leave them 37-2, before a 92-run stand for the third wicket.
Kumar dismissed Carl Lees for 40, while Numan Khan was run out for 83 to make it 153-5.
Sultan (3-48) claimed the key wicket of Joe Robbins (52) and struck again as Southend came up short on 221-6.
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