IT‘S been a rollercoaster few years for Haydon Bridge Cricket Club.

Close to folding in 2010, the community rallied around to keep the club going ahead of their 150th anniversary three years later.

What followed was three West Tyne League championships in the next four years as they became the team to beat locally.

Going into the start of the 2015 campaign looking for a hat-trick of titles, they started disastrously and struggled for 11 players. Yet, they managed to turn it around and just missed out on the runners-up spot after a brilliant second half of the season.

Through their ups-and-downs, captain Graeme Pigg was their main driving force and he kept the club going as he helped transform them into a dominant force.

For his undeterred dedication to his beloved Haydon Bridge and to the West Tyne League, he was bestowed with the honour of the Chairman’s Trophy at the league’s end-of-season awards evening.

Pigg was one of the most popular awards winners on a night when guest speaker, former England wicket keeper Paul Nixon, handed out more than 25 trophies.

Nixon made up for a late appearance caused by a road closure in Langwathby, Cumbria, with a humourous and interesting insight into the world of professional cricket.

The ex-Leicestershire man enterained with stories of characters within the game particularly South African Allan Donald and England’s Geoffrey Boycott.

He was on hand to present out all the prizes to the league’s movers and shakers, including Haltwhistle captain Dan Parker for spearheading his side to the Division One title. Nick Humble got up to receive the Division Two Shield on behalf of his triumphant Newcastle III side.

Parker just missed out on another award as he was runner-up in the best batting average stakes in Division One.

His average of 61.67 after scoring 740 for the season, including a high score of 114 not out, was lower than that of Wylam’s Alex Rayner who excelled with an average of 76.22 with 686 runs overall.

In third place was Matfen Hall’s Hamish Kennett, whose top score was 106 not out, with an average of 47.79 with 669 runs, but the New Zealander didn’t leave empty handed as he scooped the Waite Cup for best all-rounder.

To go with his batting performances, he took 26 wickets to finish ahead of Hexham Leazes’ Paul Newton, with 472 runs and 37 wickets, and Wylam‘s Ben Duncan with 215 runs and 54 wickets.

While Rayner topped the batting averages, his fantastic score of 137 not out against bottom club Prudhoe was pipped by Haltwhistle‘s Joe Barber who claimed the Wooding Cup for best individual batting performance with 138 not out against rivals Wylam, one of the best innings the league has ever witnessed. Hexham Leazes captain Ben Griffiths was third with 116 against Newton.

Joining his Haltwhistle teammate in the awards was Dan Kirkup who registered the best bowling display by taking seven wickets for just 12 runs when he faced old club Haydon Bridge.

Duncan, of Wylam, was second with 7-18 against Matfen Hall with Newton’s Matt Scattergood third with 6-13 against Humshaugh.

The key to Haydon Bridge‘s jump up the table towards the end of the season was their fierce bowling attack.

Leading the way in the league’s bowling averages was Tom Waugh who claimed 45 wickets at the expense of 373 runs during his 164.3 overs at an average of 8.28, just pipping teammate Jamie Taylor to the trophy who was a close runner-up with an average of 8.58, taking 43-369 from 160.1 overs.

Third was Newton, of Leazes, who finished the season with 37-332 from 150.1, at an average of 8.97.

The Alan Graham Cup for most wicketkeeping victims was shared this year with Haydon Bridge’s Chris Welton and Leazes’ Andrew Brown both accounting for 20 opponents. Welton took 11 catches and nine stumpings, with Brown claiming 15 catches and five stumpings.

A winner of the trophy several times in the past, Alex Pearse, of Matfen, was third with 13 catches and four stumpings.

The 2015 season saw plenty of young, promising cricketers break through but it was 16-year-old spinner Paul Brown, of Stocksfield II, who caught the eye most as he was named junior player of the year for taking 38 wickets and five catches.

Teammate James Watson, who scored 206 runs and also took 24 wickets, just missed out on the trophy, as did Matfen’s 14-year-old Tom Scott with 229 runs and 19 wickets to his name.

In Division Two, Belsay’s Chris Townson proved a big player and he was miles ahead in the best all rounder stakes with 847 runs and 35 wickets. Closest challenger was Mark Charlton, of Medomsley, with 433 runs and 34 wickets, while Corbridge Millers’ David Cox, 545 runs and 18 wickets, was third.

Townson was in the running for two other trophies but just missed out in the best batting performance as his 153 against Allendale II was eclipsed by Sam Dinning, of South Northumberland 1864, who hit a staggering 178, also against Allendale. Corbridge’s Cox was third with 152 not out against South North.

Cox, with an average of 59.67 after hitting 537 runs in 2015, was second in the batting averages table, one place ahead of Townson who recorded 847 runs at an average of 56.47. Leaving with the trophy was Wylam II’s Rob Bergstrand who finished with an average of 74.71 after helping himself to 523 runs, including a high score of 135 not out.

Mitford II’s Shah Hemang, with 32 wickets for 233 runs from 94.5 overs, was the division’s best bowler, with Patrick McMorran, of Newcastle, second with 30-294 from 115, and Ant White, of Haltwhistle II, was third with 21-225 from 64.4.

An impressive 9-28 against Medomsley earned Matthew Lees, of Mitford, the prize for best bowling performance. Terry Charlton, of Medomsley, finished second with 7-3 against Allendale and South Northumberland’s Richard Clifford was third with 7-9 against Haltwhistle.

Retaining the Steinburg Shield for most wicket keeping victims in the division was Stephen Horn, of Medomsley, as he took eight catches and three stumpings. Second was Prahsant Gupta, of Newcastle, with nine and one, with South North‘s Parth Manikar third with five and three.

The evening was also notable for an eloquent and well-delivered speech from Stamfordham representative Richie Gledson, especially when he revelled in the fact that he and his teammates proved the doubters wrong with a top half finish - just months after being labelled perennial strugglers by the Courant !