Last updated 13:36, Thursday, 31 July 2008

MATFEN Hall consolidated their second place in the Dickinson Dees West Tyne League first division with a good win over Wylam.

In welcome contradiction to a forecast predicting indifferent weather, Matfen Hall entertained Wylam on an afternoon of warm, unbroken sunshine.

Happy to be asked to bat first, openers Simon Buckton and Liam Bartholomuesz settled comfortably into a productive groove with the Kiwi showing no signs of fatigue following a week’s total immersion in the earthy pleasures and delights of Amsterdam.

Matfen were in the ascendancy at this stage with runs flowing freely from both batsmen on a wicket that was well behaved, if a little dry.

A back problem which forced skipper Simon Buckton to retire from the wicket, playing no further part in the game, interrupted the progress of the batting.

In settling at the crease, incoming batsman, Peter Younghusband played a minor role, allowing his countryman Bartholomuesz to continue his assault on the visitors’ bowling.

The loss of “Barti” to Tony Parker in the 30th over for an aggressive 65 with the score on 110 gave encouragement to a Wylam outfit never short of enthusiasm.

Succeeding batsmen never quite regained the initiative as Matfen sought to build on their impressive start although cameo performances from lan Pilkington with 19 and Mark Hogg with I5 kept the score moving along.

A first inning total of 161 for 8, although reasonable enough was well short of the potential that seemed available from the fluency of the first quarter, and as a target, certainly not impossible.

The committed attitude of the fielding side was instrumental in that, including a fine bowling performance from M. Carr, taking two wickets for 10 runs in an eight over spell.

In reply, Wylam openers, Andy Mackay and Bob Buckle applied themselves diligently, with Buckle the more expansive against the attack of Jimmy Maughan and Paul Irving.

The loss of Mackay with the score on 33 to Irving, however, was a blow to a weakened batting line up.

Bringing the skilful spin of Peter Younghusband into the bowling attack proved decisive.

The first of six victims, Bob Buckle for an accomplished 30, fell soon after as the batting side struggled to master the accuracy and technique of the young Kiwi.

Despite strong resistance from Steve Wilson on 12 and Chris Japes on 19, the youthful Wylam side struggled to make much headway and the game was over in the 38th over.

All the Matfen Hall bowlers performed admirably with Younghusband, aided by some smart work from Eddie "Bear" Charlton behind the stumps, taking 6-30 in his 12 over spell.

MATFEN HALL: L. Bartholomuesz lbw b Parker 65; S. Buckton ret hurt 20; P. Younghusband b Robinson 15; P. Wright b Parker 2; I Pilkington c Robinson b Parker 19; M. Hogg b Wilson 15; H. Blackett c Teesdale b Wilson 6; T. Walling b Carr 3; P. Irving c Carr 0; E. Charlton not out 0; J. Maughan not out 0; extras 11; total (for 8 wickets) 161.

Bowling: P. Robinson 12-0-39-1; S. Wilson 12-2-38-2; M. Carr 8-3-10-2; A. Robson 6-0-35-0; T. Parker 4-0-29-3.

WYLAM: A. Mackay v Irving 5; B. Buckle c Pilkington b Younghusband 30; S. WIlson b Younghusband 12’ P. Robinson c Charlton b Younghusband 0; C. Japes b Younghusband 19; J. Teesdale st Charlton b Younghusband 9; M. Carr c Blackett b Bartholomuesz 5; A. Robson b Younghusband 3; B. Smith not out 0; D. Teesdale b Maughan 0; T. Parker c Charlton b Bartholomuesz 2; extras 13; total 98.

Bowling: J. Maughan 5.5-1-8-1; P. Irving 6-2-20-1; L. Bartholomuesz 10-1-18-2; P. Younghusband 12-3-30-6; T. Walling 4-0-10-0.

Matfen Hall 12 pts, Wylam 4.

NEWTON v HEXHAM LEAZES

Hexham Leazes won by 4 wickets

On a fantastic looking track, Newton won the toss and chose to bat.

It proved a good decision as Reynolds and Bowery made a solid start, but a good slip catch by Webster removed Bowery.

The middle order then flattered to deceive, before Bennett with 21 and Burdon-Taylor with 33 helped make the score respectable.

All the Leazes attack bowled well, but the spin of Kingman and McCormack proved telling, with seven wickets between them.

In reply, young Chris Taylor removed Ben Griffiths early, but good partnerships between Thompson and Webster and Hubbuck proved crucial.

Webster finished on 77 in a very good, chanceless innings.

The Newton bowlers stuck to their task well, with young Telfer impressive, but even a late flurry of wickets couldn’t stop Leazes winning with seven balls to spare.

NEWTON: M. Reynolds c R. Kingman b B. Kingman 28; A. Bowery c Webster b Toward 18; J. Balkwill c Thompson b B. Kingman 15; E. Tate c McCormack b B. Kingman 6; A. Jeffrey b Toward 7; J, Bennett c Griffiths b McCormack 26; W. Burdon-Taylor st Brown b McCormack 33; D. Robson b McCormack 8; C. Telfer c Joyce b McCormack 15; S. Taylor c Ferguson 3; M. Newton not out 0; extras 9; total 168.

Bowling: D. Toward 12-4-31-2; S. Ferguson 11.2-0-49-1; B. Kingman 9-0-46-3; D. McCormack 9-0-37-4.

HEXHAM LEAZES: B. Thompson c and b Robson 16’ B. Griffiths c Balkwill b Telfer 4; A. Webster b Telfer 77; J. Hubbuck c and b Robson 23; A. Brown c Newton 5; M. Joyce not out 14; R. Kingman c and b Telfer 0; B. Kingman not out 10; extras 19; total (for 6 wickets) 169.

Bowling: M. Newton 12-2-45-1; C. Telfer 10-1-27-3; D. Robson 10.5-4-41-2; E. Tate 8-0-32-0; A. Jeffrey 1-0-7-0.

Newton 5 pts, Hexham Leazes 12.

STOCKSFIELD v HUMSHAUGH

Humshaugh won by 3 wickets

Batting first, Stocksfield lost the early wicket of Balmbra, caught behind off Wilkinson for 10.

Trevor Walker and Adrian Marrison then dominated the bowling, scoring 83 of the next 16 overs before Walker was dismissed with the re-introduction of Neale Arnup.

With clouds gathering Arnup and the ever dependable Jarvis took control and at 111-5, Stocksfield were struggling.

A good partnership between Page and the up-and-coming Matty Thompson, along with contributions from the lower order, saw Stocksfield close on 165 for 8 with Thompson 31 not out.

All four of the Humshaugh bowlers picked up two wickets, with Dickie Purvis’s 11 overs costing just 24.

Humshaugh started well and were up with the run rate from the start.

After losing both Heslop and Wraith with the score in the 30s the game was in the balance.

A partnership was needed and Allan Murray and Cameron McKenna provided it , taking the score to 103 before McKenna was dismissed by Gary Todd for 33.

Murray continued to accumulate runs before being “run out” for a well-deserved 54.

Three more wickets for Stocksfield left Humshaugh needing 28 runs off the final six overs.

Neale Arnup’s six in the 41st over left only three to win off the final over.

A single off the first ball left John Weeks on strike needing two to win.

Three dot balls followed, including two huge lbw shouts.

Two runs were needed off two balls when Weeks made contact and paddled the ball behind square for the winning runs for a well fought victory in a well played game of cricket.

STOCKSFIELD III: M. Balmbra c Mckenna b Williamson 10; T. Walker c Walton v Arnup 36; A. M arrison c Armstrong b Purvis 50’; C. Walker c Murray b Purvis 6; P. Wood c Purvis b Arnup 4; M. Thompson not out 31; S. Page b Williamson 20; D. Shaw b Armstrong 4; K. Marshall c Witchell b Armstrong 1; A. Allen not out 0; extras 4; total (for 8 wickets) 165.

Bowling: R. Armstrong 8-1-25-2; M. Williamson 11-1-66-2; N. Arnup 12-1-43-2; R. Purvis 11-2-27-1.

HUMSHAUGH II: M. Heslop c Balmbra b Allen 17; A. Murray run out 54; B.Wraith b Marshall 0; C. McKenna lbw Todd 33; J. Walton b Shaw 17; M. Williamson lbw b Marshall 4; N. Arnup not out 24; R. Witchell c Balmbra b Shaw 0; J. Week not out 7; extras 12; total (for 7 wickets) 168.

Bowling: A. Allen 9,5-1-38-1; K. Marshall 12-2-41-2; D. shaw 7-0-36-2; G. Todd 6-0-26-1; C. Walker 7-0-24-0.

Stocksfield 5 pts,

Humshaugh 10.

DIVISION TWO

Humshaugh II v Stocksfield III

Humshaugh won by 7 wickets

Humshaugh welcomed Stocksfield to the Chollerford Rose Bowl on a rare hot sunny day on Saturday.

Stocksfield won the toss and decided that Humshaugh should sweat it out and bowl. Both teams had very young-looking squads with juniors a plenty.

The Stocksfield openers of Smith (27) and Patterson rode their luck in the initial exchanges with both Chris ‘Buster’ Heslop and King of swing George Craig beating the bat without reward.

The batsmen then started to open their shoulders and punish the bad ball.

Patterson was the first wicket to fall after he had scored a fine 20, Craig’s slow ball doing the damage.

Captain Catnach entered the fray but fell to ‘Deadly’ Hedley Renton for seven, Benson taking the catch.

Left hander Reid (18) came to the crease and showed his fine array of shots pushing the score quickly on to 73 for two.

Renton then slipped one down the leg side for Jack Gradwell to take an excellent stumping.

Newton, Scoyles and White fell to a mixture of the Craig family bowling. Marrison followed shortly after falling LBW to Heslop.

Castelow came to the crease with determination and resolve batting for an excellent 21, taking the Stocksfield score to 126 before losing his wicket in the last over.

Although dropping a few catches Humshaugh kept the pressure on and pulled the score back with only 50 runs being scored by the last eight wickets.

The pick of the bowlers were Renton with 3-16 and Will ‘Popeye’ Craig with 3-25.

Despite the number of juniors playing, the tea contained a wide variety of home baking and even some sandwiches, with a welcome return of Mrs McKenna’s scones.

Stephen Arnup provided a nice assortment from the Bellingham Bakery. Oh what you missed, Paul Lishman and Tony Gradwell.

Humshaugh’s innings started slowly with the miserly Reid and Castelow bowling a tight line.

Watson was the first wicket to fall to an unlucky rebound off his pad.

Renton joined Gradwell and the juniors started to plunder runs, with some super drives to the boundary.

Gradwell once again got into the forties being caught five short of his half-century.

Renton was the next to go after hitting 32 off just 40 balls.

Benson (10) and Heslop finished the game off in the 28th over, Heslop scoring 17, all amazingly through the offside.

Castelow took all three Humshaugh wickets finishing with 3-35.

The game was played in an excellent spirit, thanks to Stocksfield’s umpire par excellence Michael Haywood for umpiring both innings.

The match ball was sponsored by M.A. Lynn of Belsay.

Humshaugh II 12 pts, Stocksfield III 4pts

ALLENDALE II v STAMFORDHAM

Stamfordham won by 140 runs

After missing the last four Saturdays due to bad weather, Allendale’s bowlers looked well out of sorts against a strong Stamfordham batting line-up.

Ian Donkin in particular punished anything wayward on his way to an excellent 84.

This was well supported down the line to leave Stamfordham on a formidable 267-6 at tea.

Allendale started their reply brightly through Sparke and Welch, but once they had gone, the day belonged to Stamfordham’s Jamie Urwin.

He claimed the next eight Dale wickets for just 43 runs, putting the entire side back in the hutch for a modest 127.

The game was kindly sponsored by Lorna and Darren, purveyors of fine wines and spirits at the Elk’s Head, Whitfield, where they also pull a canny pint of John Smith’s.

STAMFORDHAM: I. Donkin b Lee 84; N. Weller b G. Sparke 40; D. Bell b G. Sparke 30; J. Urwin st M. Lee b S. Lee 45; J. Schofield c Sparke b Dillan 6; I. Sutcliffe run out 8; W. Urwin not out 27; T. Sharpe not out 1; total (for 6 wickets) 267.

Bowling: J. Welch b Donkin 39; M. Dillan lbw b Schofield 1; G. Sparke b Urwin 46; B. Waller st Weller b Urwin 4; S. Bell b Urwin 9; T. Sparke b Urwin 1; S. Lee b Urwin 0; J. Mews b Urwin 5; M. Lee b Urwin 0 ; J. Currah c and b Urwin 6; I. Dunn not out 2; total 127.

Bowling: J. Schofield 6-0-22-1; I. Donkin 12-0-41-1; J. Urwin 11.2-2-43-8; R. Gardner 5-0-8-0.

Allendale 4 pts, Stamfordham 12

NEWBROUGH v HEXHAM LEAZES

Newbrough won by 8 runs

On a glorious and hot Saturday, both teams turned up with high expectations and missing players.

Newbrough only had nine and Hexham had eleven but two of them were late stand ins.

Newbrough won the toss and batted first.

Making his bowling debut for the second team was Steven Hunt. He took an over to get used to running up the slope at Hexham but once he did, he bowled with good pace and movement.

Nevin and Telfer were scoring quite well because of the fast outfield and some deft shots.

Telfer was the first wicket to go when he whipped a good ball from Hunt off his legs straight to the fielder at square leg where Crosby took a sharp catch.

Nevin soon followed when he played on, also from Hunt.

Aidan Murphy came to the wicket and watched Johnson get caught by Norman Griffiths off Trevor Cessford and then Walton was caught behind off the bowling of Hunt again.

Chomse came in and played carefully for a couple of overs before opening his shoulders when the ball allowed, before being caught off the bowling of Jerry Taylor for 32.

Annan came in and made 10, while A. A. Murphy smacked a couple of good fours on his way to an unbeaten 13.

Newbrough captain Aidan Murphy lost his wicket to Hexham's captain Holder who had him caught at square leg for his customary solitary wicket for the season, yet again against Newbrough.

Steven Hunt finished with figures of 5-46, as Newbrough were all out for 121 in just 26 overs.

Smedley and Crosby opened for Hexham and initially approached the task with care, and after three overs, only three runs had been scored.

Smedley then started to produce some good shots and clipped singles around the field before being given out LBW for 13.

Craig Davies has been the mainstay of Hexham's batting all season, scoring 108 in his last knock.

As luck would have it, he edged a ball that was snapped up by Murphy behind the stumps for nought.

Tomlinson and Stevenson came and left t without troubling the scorers.

A change of bowling occurred when both openers were changed due to age regulations.

Gary Scott then bowled a ball so wide and slow to Crosby that his eyes lit up.

Unfortunately, he played on to the stumps and was out to the worst ball of the day.

Late call up Norman Griffiths’s reputation had preceded him, and all the fielders were on the boundary.

He hit one mighty six through mid wicket but was bowled by Scott shortly after for nine.

At 62 - 6 Hexham's batting had reached a point where sensible batting was called for as there were still plenty of overs left.

At this stage the Leazes captain Holder was joined by Taylor the vice captain and their partnership of 21 seemed likely to take them over the line.

Holder again played well until he got frustrated at being too watchful and nicked one to Murphy.

Richardson came in next and yet again must wonder why he paid so much for his new bat as he too failed to trouble the scorers – the fourth duck of the Hexham innings!

Jerry Taylor was joined by Hunt and together they added a further 19 runs before Taylor top edged a catch for 18.

With Hexham needing 18 to win and Newbrough one wicket, Steve Hunt, now joined by Cessford, was almost a hero at the end.

The final pair almost made the runs but when Hunt was bowled Hexham were still eight runs short.

Newbrough defended a low score and played well with Gary Scott's 5-25 ripping the heart out of Hexham who with all of their resources failed to.do the job properly.

Newbrough showed great team spirit to win this game with only nine men, and if the rumours are true about them not being part of the league next season, this will be a great shame.

PRUDHOE v HALTWHISTLE II

Haltwhistle won by 5 wickets

After a bright start through Chamberlain and Mitchell, Prudhoe fell away, with the notable exceptions of Walker and McGuinness,

Only the 20 extras took the home side into three figures,as Bell and Jay both claimed three wickets.

Parker, coming in at number three following the early loss of Forster, was the mainstay of the Haltwhistle reply, with an unbeaten 43.

Jay and Graham also batted well to see Halty home with five wickets in hand.

PRUDHOE: G. Chamberlain b Graham 29; B.Mitchell c Forster b Jay 11; D. Crossman lbw b Parker 1; R. Mitchell b Graham 8; N. Walker b Bell 18; C. Coulson b Jay 8; D. Knight b Bell 2; J. Duncan b Jay 0; I. Scott lbw b Bell 4; S. McGuinness not out 17; J. Fletcher not out 0; extras 20; total (for nine wickets) 118.

Bowling: A. Kennedy 9-2-31-0; R. Bell 11-3-23-3; V. Jay 12-5-26-3; D. Parker 5-2-9-1; R. Graham 5-1-22-2.

HALTWHISTLE II: D. Swallow c Mitchell b Walker 19; W. Forster b McGuinness 1; D. Parker not out 43; V. Jay lbw b Mitchell 15; A. Kennedy b Fletcher 9; R. Bell c Scott b Coulson 2; R. Graham not out 16; extras 15; total (for 5 wickets) 120.

Bowling: R. Mitchell 9-1-20-1; S. McGuinness 3-0-22-1; J. Walker 4-0-15-1; J. Fletcher 7-0-22-1; J. Duncan 2-0-13-0; C. Coulson 3-0-22-1.

Prudhoe 3 pts, Haltwhistle 10.