A MAIDEN century from Sam Beedle put league leaders Stocksfield II firmly in the driving seat.

The in-form teenager hit his first 100 in either junior or senior cricket to guide his side to a comfortable 100 plus victory over Newton , making the most of their game in hand over the idle Haltwhistle to forge 16 points clear.

Stocksfield travel to Haltwhistle on Saturday in a potential title decider, and go there brimming in confidence after the high scoring encounter with Newton.

It was wicketkeeper Beedle who stole the show as he batted brilliantly when coming in at number four, 13 fours helping him to triple figures as he carried his bat throughout.

He came in after some good work from openers Jonny Tobin and Adrian Marrison who put on 21 after the opening two overs, and made a 50 run partnership.

A mini wobble caused by some good deliveries from Matt Scattergood was rescued by young Beedle, and he was assisted by good knocks from Alistair Thirlwell and Paul Brown.

Stocksfield’s opening bowlers Ant Allen and Chris Scandle had Newton in real trouble at 6-3 as they made light work of the top order.

Good knocks from Scattergood and Andy Jones saw Newton recover, but it was not enough as they were all out for 119.

Stocksfield were indebted to Humshaugh for their big part in the title race, inflicting a seven wicket defeat on third placed Benwell Hill III .

With Benwell limited to 138 as they opened the batting, a half century from Allan Murray guided Humshaugh to 12 points which moved them back into the top half of the table.

Hexham Leazes are off the bottom for the first time this season following a crucial victory on their travels to Newcastle III .

Seizing their opportunity with fellow relegation candidates Stamfordham out of action, the six wicket success puts them six points clear of their rivals.

While Stamfordham have won three games to Hexham’s two, accruing bonus points along the way has helped Leazes stay in contention and they again picked up the extras in this maximum points success.

Hexham cranked the pressure up immediately as opening bowlers Dan Toward and Alex Brown made life difficult, Brown bowling well without taking a wicket but Toward claiming three as Newcastle limped to 15-3.

The situation could have been a lot worse for the hosts though but for a number of dropped catches by the Leazes fielders. Newcastle captain Ali Poll rescued the innings with a fantastic spell of sensible batting, guiding his side to a good score of 156 against some good bowling.

Fourteen-year-old Lucas Holmes was particularly impressive, claiming the wicket of opener Robert Walker with his first ball and then quickly following it up to leave Newcastle with a lot to do.

With Hexham scoring at a rate of five an over, their run chase was a slow one with Andrew Webster opting to be patient and picking his shots wisely.

Andrew Whitaker and Ben Thompson were happy to see off Newcastle’s opening pair of Finlay Pearce and Sam Warwick, but Warwick took Thompson and a couple of quick wickets followed.

However, Trevor Holmes came in and steadied the ship along with Webster and they crossed the line in the 40th over to see them to 11th place.

Allendale moved up to third spot after a thumping nine wicket win over Haydon Bridge , who dropped down two places to seventh as a result.

Fielding a scratch team without the services of big players Jamie Taylor, Tom Waugh and Chris Welton, Bridge were unable to make a game of it.

Allendale’s bowlers showed little mercy and ripped through the order to remove them for just 60 runs, Ross Laidlaw and skipper Tim Raglan striking early to put Bridge in trouble.

Robert Gibson showed the most resistance before falling to Laidlaw, but captain Graeme Pigg was the only other batsman to reach double figures.

Dylan Griffin came in and enjoyed success, as did Allendale stalwart Geoff Sparke who was the pick of the bowlers with 3-5 from his four overs.

While Richard Sadler was an early lbw victim to youngster Liam Stephenson, his departure only brought Kiwi Laidlaw into the crease.

And he fired his side to a quick victory within 11 overs, coming close to his half century as Sparke was happy for him to take the plaudits.

It was a tough day for Matfen Hall as they watched Wylam’s opening batsmen Graeme Raffell and Alex Rayner slam their side to 12 points.

Matfen captain Alex Pearse won the toss and elected to bat, but they started disastrously as they lost both Ian Pilkington and Liam McWilliam, both to Paul Robinson, without a run on the board.

Robinson took a third wicket in a tidy spell as he caught Callum Curnow off his own bowling, the wicket coming soon after Andy Paton had ended the 42 run partnership between Jock MacDonald and Curnow.

There were good knocks form Max Stephens, Mark Hogg, Paul Irving and Hugh Blackett, but Tony Parker cleaned up the tail with a sensational diving catch while running backwards from David Teasdale to remove Ross Colesky the highlight of his three wickets.

Wylam opened with Raffell and Rayner and they rarely looked trouble as they faced the spin of McWilliam and medium deliveries from Curnow.

Once the pair reached 50, Pearse realised the game was out of their hands and he took the opportunity to give all 11 players a bowl.

Usually behind the stumps at keeper, he even gave himself a bowl as he sent down the last ball of the game for his first ever delivery in the West Tyne League!