MEAN bowling by Stocksfield helped them recover from a batting collapse at Whickham.

Looking in trouble at one stage when the home side neared their target of 174, Stocksfield‘s bowling attack turned the game on its head again in a topsy turvy affair to remove their visitors for 100 runs.

After a great start in bat, a mid order wobble left Stocksfield short of a formidable total which looked on the cards. And, while Whickham were flying and on their way to success, they were dismissed short as Stocksfield’s bowlers came out on top.

After skipper Dan Whiley won the boss and asked his side to bat first, Stocksfield rescued the loss of Steven Henderson (0) after the third ball to put themselves in a good position.

Opener Alex Brown (88) continued his good form and alongside Ben Archer (16) got the scoreboard ticking freely.

Brown was at his free scoring best and his final total included 12 fours and two sixes.

Sam Mannion (24) carried on the baton when Archer was bowled by Simpson (1-32), and the away side were still looking in good shape when the teenager departed with the score on 120-3.

But from there, nobody could offer any real support to Brown as they crashed to 173 all out.

Chris Patterson went for a duck, while Andrew Wood (4) and Whiley (4) didn‘t last too much longer.

Teenager Rob Thirlwell (11) dug in to make double figures, but Ben Hutton (0) and Emerson Brown (5) were back in the pavilion to leave 16-year-old James Doneathy (6no) as last man standing.

There only looked likely to be one winner in reply, Whickham’s opening pair Mick Armstrong (30) and Ian McIntyre (27) racing their side to 55 without loss in 10 overs as they saw off the opening attack of Doneathy and Hutton (0-14).

The introduction of Andy Wood (1-5) and Emerson Brown (3-38) proved crucial, and Brown accounted for both openers in his second over with catches from Whiley and Thirlwell respectively.

That brought about the decline for Whickham, keeper Whiley again with the catch to make it three wickets for Brown with Wood getting a reward from his very tight eight overs.

While Adam Ainley (19no) dug in, the bottom order were torn apart by Thirlwell (2-12) and Doneathy (4-29) whose return spell was devastating on the home batsmen.

Whickham‘s final four batsmen all went for ducks, Doneathy with three and Thirlwell the other as they ended their fight on 100.

Finishing the allotted 45 overs on 136-9, Stocksfield III lost by 25 runs at home to Consett II.

The Scandle brothers, Christopher (2-15) and Matthew (2-28), took two wickets each as they limited the away side to 161-8, Tom Hutton (1-15) and Alastair Thirlwell (1-47) with the others.

Despite great knocks from 12-year-old Luke Doneathy (34) and Thirlwell (32), Stocksfield weren’t able to overhaul their target as time ran out.