Batting first, Sleaford were indebted to a fine knock of 72 by opener Richard Tomlin as they went on to score 200 for the loss of six wickets.
It was a total well beyond Messingham, as the home side struggled to get to grips with the intelligent b
owling of Steve Bradford. In a remarkably tight and economical spell, the Sleaford all rounder picked up four wickets at a cost of just 12 runs off 17 overs.
Messingham somehow held on and at the close were 110 for 9, with the visitors having much the better of a winning draw to pick up 17 valuable points.
Sleaford remain third from bottom in the table but eased a little further clear of Caistor and Haxey below them, who both look doomed to relegation.
*At the other end of the table, defending champions Bracebridge Heath increased their lead at the top as both they and nearest rivals Woodhall Spa were involved in drawn games.
The league leaders failed to bowl out Louth but came away with 16 points, while second placed Woodhall were on the losing end of a draw at Bourne and could only finish with six points.
Bottom markers Haxey could manage only two points against Lindum, while second from bottom Caistor came away empty handed after going down to Nettleham by eight wickets.
Lindum made the biggest leap up the table, going from ninth to seventh and are now threatening Louth for a place in the top half. But Grimsby's slide continued when they went down by five wickets at home to Market Deeping.
Will Clough hit the day's only century, making an unbeaten 115 as Bourne made 266 for six against Woodhall
Mark Fell's innings of 77 for Bracebridge brought his total to 998 runs for the season and, as well as closing in on 1,000, the Bracebridge skipper is now within sight of the league individual record of 1085.
Results: Caistor 91, Nettleham 95-2; Grimsby 177-7, Market Deeping 178-5 (Wright 53); Bracebridge Heath 274-4 (Fell 77, Morgan 60, Atri 87no), Louth 108-6; Sleaford 200-6 (Tomlin 73); Messingham 110-9; Bourne 266-6 (Clough 115no, Christmas 56), Woodhall Spa 177-7; Lindum 220-8 (Brodie 82, Christie 65) Haxey 124 (Rutherford 5-13)
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