ALLENDALE are eyeing the double after getting their hands on the West Tyne League Cup.

It was comfortable in the end as their excellent bowling and fielding displays limited Matfen Hall's scoring, but there were bumps along the way as they too faced some tight bowling.

Inspired by a 37-run partnership between Ross Laidlaw and man of the match Ali Stobbs, they recovered from losing Raglan brothers Tim and Jack early to post a challenging 127, the total proving well out of reach of the Matfen batsmen.

With Allendale's opening three bowlers particularly giving little away, Matfen were never realistically in the chase and any slight hopes of an unlikely victory were dashed when danger man Will O'Brien was bowled in the 12th over.

Allendale opened the batting but suffered early setbacks when the in-form Tim Raglan was trapped lbw by left-armer Aaron Tiffin, with Jack Raglan clean bowled by O'Brien in the next over with the score on 20-2.

Stobbs came in to partner Laidlaw and they rebuilt the innings, Laidlaw hitting the only six of the innings off Tiffin as they ticked the score to 57.

Time was up for Laidlaw, who had been let off the hook on two occasions, at the midway stage when Tiffin held on to give O'Brien his second wicket.

It was Lloyd's turn to partner Stobbs to good effect as they added 32 until Stobbs' pivotal role came to an end as he was bowled by Tait, but not after registering five fours.

Lloyd and John Welch took the score past 100 with the former departing when Tiffin was reintroduced to the bowling attack.

With the score on 111, Welch became the sixth wicket when he was bowled by Tait.

Teenager Matty Scott and Liam Pringle saw out the remaining over-and-a bit to add a quick 15, Scott surviving a run out chance as Ellie Tiffin just missed his stumps.

Pringle and Laidlaw caused havoc to the Matfen order as they got off to a disastrous start in reply, Pringle's spin resulting in a wicket off the second ball of the innings with Tom Scott departing for a duck.

Laidlaw got in on the act in his first over too, his bowling sending Tait's bails flying.

Pringle and Laidlaw remained in control and restricted the scoring to 10 after five overs, before Ben Brown became Pringle's second victim without scoring after 10 balls faced.

O'Brien was Matfen's main hope and he was slowly moving the scoreboard on, a six in the ninth over taking Matfen to 30 and getting the crowd going.

After Max Stephens was run out by Stobbs with the score on 31-4, O'Brien was sent packing by a furious delivery from Tim Raglan. Although a Matfen win seemed improbable from the opening over, it looked an impossibility at 39-5.

In the 14th over, Paul Irving creamed a six but, next ball, was caught by Geoff Sparke to give Raglan his second wicket.

With the game ultimately out of reach, the pressure was off Tiffin and Sam Brown who formed Matfen's most productive partnership with 43 for the seventh wicket.

Good batting from both brought a bit more respectability to the scorecard, and it was fitting that Tiffin ended the innings by opening his body and finishing with a maximum.

ALLENDALE: T. Raglan lbw b A. Tiffin 7; J. Raglan b O'Brien 5; R. Laidlaw c A. Tiffin b O'Brien 25; A. Stobbs b Tait 33; B. Lloyd b A. Tiffin 15; J. Welch b Tait 11; M. Scott not out 9; L. Pringle not out 6. Extras: 16. Total: 127-6. Bowling: A. Tiffin 6-0-42-2; W. O'Brien 6-0-23-2; A. Tait 6-0-33-2; K. Withycombe 2-0-19-0.

MATFEN HALL: W. O'Brien b T. Raglan 28; T. Scott lbw Pringle 0; A. Tait b Laidlaw 1; B. Brown b Pringle 0; M. Stephens run out Stobbs 7; A. Tiffin not out 25; P. Irving c Sparke b T. Raglan 7; S. Brown not out 15. Extras: 7. Total: 90-6. Bowling: L. Pringle 6-0-24-2; R. Laidlaw 3-1-4-1; T. Raglan 4-0-19-2; B. Lloyd 2-1-6-0; R. Scott 3-0-22-0; M. Scott 2-0-12-0.

Allendale won by 37 runs