FREE scoring Haltwhistle extended their lead at the top by two points as they claimed maximum in their comfortable victory over Humshaugh .

With Ryan Bell coming close to his first century since re-signing from Ryton, the hosts were in excellent form as they posted a formidable 260 for their hosts to chase.

With captain Dan Parker missing, father Michael stepped in to open and he and Bell set the platform for a solid innings as they put on 98 without loss.

The introduction of stalwart Dickie Purvis brought about the breakthrough for Humshaugh, while Ben Lloyd fell for a duck to former teammate Will Forster.

Bell and Phil Thompson put on a great partnership until Bell finally met his match four runs shy of his ton, but he had already wrought havoc as his side were to finish on a daunting total.

And their pursuit of the high score suffered an instant setback when Matt Williamson was caught behind, Carl Bell’s early spell making scoring difficult.

The impressive Hedley Renton again proved the mainstay of Humshaugh‘s innings and it may have been closer had he not been bowled by Dan Kirkup.

However, his dismissal spelled game over for Humshaugh as Kirkup ripped through the tail to end with six wickets to his name with the away side slumping to 91 all out.

Second placed Stocksfield II lost ground despite a great eight wicket victory against the ever-improving Stamfordham , failing to pick up all 12 points by not bowling their guests all out.

They were off to a flyer when Ant Allen had danger man Alex Gray out first ball to a catch to Matt Bewick, and he carried on his good form to see off fellow opener Tim Anderson too.

Benn Horncastle batted really well to put Stamfordham back in it, and he formed a good partnership with Aamir Riaz until Allen returned to make it three wickets for the day by removing the latter.

While losing wickets along the way, Stamfordham, guided by Horncastle, refused to give in and ended their innings with two wickets in hand.

Chasing a good score, Stocksfield were off to a great start through openers Bewick and century making Chris Patterson.

With Bewick providing good assistance, Patterson was in great form as he made his first senior century to fire his side within touching distance.

Bewick and Graeme Tolchard were dismissed to see teenager Sam Beedle join Patterson at the crease and earn his side a sixth victory of the campaign.

They are now level on points with Wylam who breezed to 12 points against a Prudhoe team only able to field 10 players.

Former captain Alex Rayner was the destroyer in chief, following up 157 not out with two fantastic catches and four wickets at the cost of as many runs in his first bowl of the season.

Prudhoe won the toss but asked their neighbours to bat first, a decision which rebounded on captain Ryan Chamberlain as Wylam whacked their way to 268.

It was a Rayner masterclass which got them there along with good contributions from elsewhere, the stand-out of Prudhoe‘s fielding provided by Alice Sargeant’s strong arm on the boundary.

Prudhoe were proving to be their stubborn selves as Wylam targeted maximum points, a middle order partnership from Shaun Sagar and Gavin Howdon stopping the fall of wickets.

Captain Mark Wilson turned to Rayner for the first time and it brought instant success, his removal of Sagar ultimately spelling the end for Prudhoe as they fell 154 runs short.

It was a similar story for Hexham Leazes as they were largely untroubled in their 12 point romp against 10-man Allendale .

With Dale opening, the removal of danger man Corey Hyde by Leazes captain Ben Griffiths proved decisive as the visitors couldn’t pass 112.

Griffiths and fellow opening bowler Dan Toward both claimed two wickets but John Raglan batted through for Allendale to give them some hope.

Turning to the slow pairing of Paul Newton and Andrew McCormick then saw the Allendale tail ripped through, the two combining to take the final five wickets and put Hexham firmly in the driving seat.

With Amit Sunda sniffing a shock, he removed Matt Joyce early in the reply. However, Griffiths and Newton were happy to see him off and score at the other end to get the team on the right path.

After Grifiths went to opposite skipper Geoff Sparke, Newton and Ben Thompson steered them home in the 22nd over to move them one point off second spot.

Despite the best efforts of New Zealander Hamish Kennett, Matfen Hall fell to defeat to a good all-round display from Haydon Bridge .

The opener continued his eye catching start to the 2015 season by making his way to 99 not out, frustrated to be denied his century as he was unable to get something on two byes at the death.

He started the day in patient mood and it took until the 32nd over for him to pass his 50, before he upped the ante and smashed the following runs in the final 10 overs.

Chipping in with good contributions later in the order were youngsters Tom Scott and Louis Charlton as they finished on 186, Jamie Taylor the pick of the Bridge bowlers.

The visitors were off to a flyer as Chris Welton and Ian Watson were scoring nine runs an over, and captain Graeme Pigg kept the scoreboard ticking along when he replaced Welton.

The good work continued when both Welton and Pigg fell, good knocks from Taylor and Mick Cunningham seeing them to victory.

Shaun Rushton‘s tight opening spell helped Benwell Hill III to a success at Newton in an entertaining fixture.

Hosts Newton found scoring difficulty early on against Rushton, and it wasn’t until Matt Scattergood and Andrew Jones were at the crease that they got the scoreboard ticking.

They recovered well as they kept their innings intact, asking Hill to chase down 133.

Benwell were steady away as they started their reply despite some good lines from Jones, and it was number seven Andy Dawson who wrapped it up with a rapid half century.

l The West Tyne League representative XI were well beaten by Northumberland Premier Division as they met at Stocksfield.

With a few debatable lbw decisions going against them, Tyne were all out for 122 after 40 overs with captain Ben Griffiths, from Hexham Leazes, returning to bat after a toe injury to finish on 21 not out. Providing good assistance was Stamfordham‘s Alex Gray with 35 and Stocksfield II’s Sam Beedle with 24.

Northumberland were fierce in their reply as they smashed their way to 52-1 in three overs, finishing the game in the 17th over at the loss of just two wickets.