MATT Joyce answered the call from Hexham Leazes’ first team, guiding his side to an eye-catching victory over leaders Allendale .

Promoted from the seconds with Hexham missing players, Joyce’s performance with the bat saw the hosts pass Allendale’s total of 171 with five wickets in hand.

After running out fellow opener Andrew Whitaker, Joyce took his opportunity and his final score of 74 proved vital in the run chase.

Allendale were without the services of players who have proven key this season, and they struggled to find their stride as Hexham captain removed Rhys Scott and John Raglan for ducks early into the game.

But the introduction of teenager Matty Scott midway through the innings settled things down, with opener John Welch also finding some runs. It was the youngster who was the stand-out batsman for the visitors, remaining unbeaten as he passed his 50 to prevent Allendale from being bowled out.

Leazes started their reply well through Whitaker and Joyce, with the former unfortunate to fall to a miscommunication.

Joyce was joined at the crease by Andrew Webster, and he was his typical aggressive self as he made a quick 40.

Partners came and went, but it was Joyce who looked like he could bat all day before he was finally sent on his way by Matty Scott. The damage had been done by that point, though, and Toward found the runs needed for a win which makes the challenge at the top of the table exciting again.

Stocksfield reduced the advantage to 13 points as they were comfortable victors over an out-of-sorts Wylam . A good all-round performance saw them inflict a heavy defeat by 127 runs on their guests, who are still looking for a second win of the season.

It was a good toss to win for Stocksfield captain Ali Thirlwell, and openers Jonny Tobin and Adrian Marrison fired to all corners of the ground for a great start.

Tobin’s performance spearheaded the innings as he looked to reach triple figures, earning him a return to the club’s first team this weekend. The rest of the order batted well too with Chris Patterson, Graeme Tolchard and Thirlwell all moving the score on.

Wylam openers James Teasdale and Neil Wells provided a stubborn resistance, with Stocksfield’s bowlers failing to make a breakthrough despite some good deliveries. But once Matty Scandle broke Teasdale’s resistance, it was game over with Wylam all out for just 72 runs.

Scandle finished with four wickets, while fellow teen Paul Brown continued his excellent form this season by claiming five as the two ripped through the order.

Haltwhistle bounced back from last week’s disappointing loss to South Northumberland by thrashing a struggling Benwell Hill III side by 10 wickets.

Benwell welcomed Haltwhistle to Riding Mill, and the hosts were put in on a bad wicket.

And they quickly found themselves in trouble as Halty’s bowlers turned the screw, Joe Barber’s quick bowling seeing him to three wickets and Phil Thompson’s brilliant line meaning playing him was tricky, and he struck for two wickets.

Zain Ahmed, Shay Stobbart and Matthew Lockey reached double figures for Benwell but that is as good as it got as Jonny Wallace’s economical spell of 3-7 saw the team out on 74. The low target was no problem for Haltwhistle openers Barber and Dan Parker as they made the wicket look in good nick by quickly going after the score, achieving their goal after eight overs.

Being two men down didn’t prevent Haydon Bridge gaining maximum points, their nine players whacking their way to a high margin victory over bottom club Newcastle III .

The bowling performance from Newcastle’s youngsters didn’t trouble the visitors, and the frequent bad balls were punished by Bridge’s experienced batsmen.

Robert Gibson was in fluent form and breezed his way to 50, but that he tried playing a daft shot and was bowled as a result.

Mark Elliott marked his first game for a while with a quick fire 40, while Jamie Taylor accelerated the rate by finding the boundary regularly. Unfortunately for him, the overs ran out as he geared towards his century.

Teenager Liam Stephenson also performed well as Bridge reached an imposing total of 241.

It looked like it was going to be an early afternoon as Newcastle couldn’t live with the deliveries from Taylor and Stephenson seeing the hosts limping to 10-5.

However, mid-order resistance from Sam Crampton and Kelly frustrated the away side as their partnership lasted 15 overs.

They were finally broken up and Bridge captain Graeme Pigg wrapped the game up with a rare bowl, taking the final three wickets in just five balls.

Matfen Hall moved above Humshaugh into fifth spot as a result of their four wicket victory.

Kiwi Alex Tait batted well to cap a good team performance, his final score of 71 not out including 10 fours a six.

Humshaugh chose to bat first but were restricted to 11-1 after nine overs, Matfen openers Tait and Aaron Tiffin bowling tight lines.

Kelly Withycombe kept the pressure on with three maidens from her opening four overs, with Will O’Brien starting with a double wicket maiden to put Humshaugh on 17-3.

They fought back with Allan Murray and Jack Garrett putting on nearly 60 runs for the fourth wicket, but Tait and Tiffin returned to remove them.

Wickets fell at regular intervals after that, Tait and Tom Scott, who took three wickets, credited with excellent catches in the field.

O’Brien got Matfen’s reply off to a good start with three fours, but Matt Williamson’s straight bowling had the visitors in trouble as he took three wickets to put the score on 47-4.

Tait moved Matfen on, though, as he and Paul Irving doubled the score at 94 before the latter went to a delivery from Nathan Byerley. But the New Zealander timed the ball well, and his knock saw his side to all 20 points.

Matfen are one point off fourth placed Newton , who continued their improvement with a six wicket win over South Northumberland 1864 .

Jonathan Bennett hit his side to the 19 points after a slow and steady start, rapidly moving the score on as he joined captain Andrew Jones at the crease.

South Northumberland made a decent start to their innings, and they remained largely untroubled by Newton’s opening bowlers.

But the introduction of Andy Goulding and Zack Brown proved their downfall, the latter particularly impressing with four wickets.

After two quick wickets, Newton quickly found themselves on 59-4 but Chris Telfer’s departure brought in Bennett who batted his way to victory.