IT may have been a foregone conclusion for many months, but the championship has been wrapped up by Haltwhistle with two games remaining.

The long time leaders can no longer be caught by the chasing pack, and they secured the title in style as they racked up a score of 250 plus in their victory over Stamfordham .

Joe Barber and captain Dan Parker had got them off to a good start, with Parker going on to hit a fantastic 91 before dismissed by Gray.

He was partnered by Graeme Lee following Barber‘s removal, and his partner continued his excellent form after recently being promoted from the second team to help Haltwhistle to an imposing score.

Stamfordham made a good game of it and opener Gray again impressed with a brilliant display, unlucky not to reach his century after batting through.

But Haltwhistle’s bowlers stuck to the task well to win it by 99 runs, guaranteeing a first league title in five years.

Skipper Parker said: “The last time Haltwhistle won it was in 2009 and Haydon Bridge have dominated in the last three years, so everybody is chuffed we have won it It‘s been a good year especially for me personally as captain, and we built strongly by bringing in Dan Kirkup, Mark Rowell and Joe Barber.

“We want to win it again next year, and we got to the cup semi-finals last year so we want to go better and win it next time. With Haltwhistle Jubilee dominating the Hexham and District Sunday League, it has been a great year for the town and hopefully both teams can keep up the winning run.“

Wylam remain favourites to clinch the runners-up spot after they edged out challenging Stocksfield II in a tightly contested affair.

They had to recover from a dismal start as they lost both Mark Wilson and Marc Heslop without a run on the board, Stocksfield opener Ant Allen cranking the pressure up. Alex Rayner and David Teasdale steadied the ship as they put on 60, but a string of wickets fell to leave them on 79-5.

In came Ben Duncan to keep the score ticking along nicely, although young Paul Brown weighed in with the next four wickets to limit Wylam to 140.

In reply, Duncan was his usual ruthless self and had Stocksfield teenagers Jonny Tobin and Luke Doneathy both back in the pavilion for ducks to put them to 14-2.

Duncan was on a mission and had Adrian Marrison bowled, with opener Chris Patterson going to Paul Robinson with the score on 46-4.

Phill Bewick and Alastair Thirlwell offered some mid order resistance, but Robinson struck with a further four wickets to put Wylam in the driving seat with two weekends remaining.

Captain Ben Griffiths ensured Hexham Leazes remain in hunt for second spot as his century saw his side inflict a heavy defeat on Newton .

He looked like he could bat all day and a league top score was in his sights until he missed a delivery from Chris Telfer with just eight overs remaining.

Griffiths and Ben Thompson got the team off to a solid start, with Paul Newton carrying on the good work.

He departed when partnering Andrew Webster, who, together with Stephen Donnison, fired them to a big score of 250 despite wickets tumbling.

Newton were missing a couple of batsmen and it showed as they were always behind the required run rate.

Chris Wilkie scored seven off the first over and looked like being key in the reply, but he was run out early and Newton were unable to recover.

Dinak Rawlley and Andy Jones batted well, as did Telfer later in the order, but it was the slow pair of Newton and Andrew McCormick who again caused havoc to the opposition after some tight bowling from Scott Ferguson earned him little reward.

Form team Haydon Bridge are up to third - but they had to see off the challenge of Prudhoe who eyed a first win of the season.

The already-relegated side had their guests reeling on 12-3 as Bridge‘s top three of Chirs Welton, Ian Watson and Mick Cunningham departed cheaply.

Graeme Pigg and Jamie Taylor rebuilt the innings, but it was the introduction of Tom Waugh at number seven which accelerated the scoring and his quick fire 31 put his side in control.

Feeling let off the hook, Bridge targeted an early breakthrough with in-form openers Jamie Taylor and Waugh but Prudhoe’s opening pair of Gavin Howdon and Gary Chamberlain looked happy to try and see out the overs as they scored just 12 off the opening 12 overs.

Change bowlers Ian Watson and Liam Stephenson brought about the downfall of the home innings, with Taylor and Waugh returning to finish things off.

The Raglan trio were all in the runs as they helped Allendale leapfrog visitors Matfen Hall .

It was Jack Raglan who top scored with an impressive 73, with elder brother Tim and father John getting the hosts off to a good start.

Scoring became harder as the opening two were dismissed, although Jack kept things ticking along nicely as they finished on 178.

Matfen‘s New Zealanders Hamish Kennett and James D’Arcy were steady away in reply, but the team were always shy of the run rate as they fell 100 runs short. There were good contributions from Tom Scott and Ian Pilkington also, but Allendale‘s bowlers kept on top of things to get the 10 points which lifted them one place to 10th.

Local cricket legend Dickie Purvis was denied one final outing for Humshaugh as opponents Benwell Hill III were unable to field a side.

Missing the final two games to catch a tan in Corfu, the popular 66-year-old was looking to bring a 50-year playing career in the league to a close at the weekend.

But he was frustrated by Benwell‘s no-show, not able to have one final hurrah at a club he has played for the past 22 years.

However, there will be a game celebrating Purvis’s involvement in the league, which started with Hexham Post Office in 1963, at Tynedale Cricket Club on Sunday, September 20. Tynedale are putting together a select XI while Purvis too will pick 11 players with a link to the West Tyne League. The game starts at 1pm.