Team spirit shines as Stocksfield earn first championship in 12 years

For a great catch from James Doneathy to give fellow teenager Paul Brown his third wicket to remove Haydon Bridge’s youngster Liam Stephenson meant the table toppers had earned the required three points to earn their first title for 12 years.

With the exception of captain Phill Bewick, Graeme Tolchard and the absent Ali Thirlwell, the average age of the team throughout the season has been just 20 and the youngsters earned their stripes with great displays.

Stocksfield were off to a flyer by winning their opening nine fixtures, and it held them in good stead as they finished 10 points clear of runners-up Allendale, who were hotly tipped to challenge for top honours alongside last year’s champions Haltwhistle.

Bewick said: “We were never in the frame according to the other sides, but, with the season we had last year, I expected us to challenge.

“Going nine games unbeaten set us up for the season really, and we have a great bunch of young lads coming through the club and it has been a pleasure to captain them.

“Getting to the cup semi-finals and just losing out in a game which could have been totally different, and then going on to win the league, I’m very pleased with how this year has gone!”

Knowing they needed three points to make sure of the title, they got off to the best possible start when Chris Welton was caught first ball of the game off Ant Allen. And it was the stand-out moment of the game, David Tyrrell somehow pulling off an unbelievable diving catch at gully.

Neil Kendrew and Robert Gibson then took it to Stocksfield with the latter batting really well, Bridge making sure they had to work hard for to sign off in style.

The running out of Kendrew with Allen proved a big moment, and Brown and Doneathy came in to start the wickets tumbling even if they did face some strong resistance from Gibson and Graeme Pigg.

The wicket of Stephenson, though, sparked wild celebrations ahead of Stocksfield’s innings.

Whether they became complacent knowing the league was in the bag, Stocksfield got off to a slow start with Gavin Boyd accounted for both openers Adrian Marrison and Tolchard.

However, Chris Patterson and Sam Beedle came in and batted brilliantly to put the hosts in a commanding position.

Vice-captain James Watson then took over the mantle and fired his way to an unbeaten half century, joined by his skipper Bewick at the end as the two were at the crease by the time the team found the required runs.

Allendale won the race to finish second as they were big winners over rivals Haltwhistle , who settled for third place.

Their captain Tim Raglan led the way as he hit four fours and seven sixes on his way to a top score of 81, helping the hosts pass 200 and put the pressure on their guests.

They recovered from a shaky start though as Dylan Griffin and Luke Watson departed early on, Ross Laidlaw and Sam Peter steadying the ship. Eliot Corbel carried on the good work, but the arrival to the crease of Raglan upped the run rate and guided his side to a big score.

Haltwhistle started their reply slowly with Laidlaw claiming the wickets of Ben Lloyd and Ryan Bell, but a good mid-order partnership between the experienced pair of Phil Thompson and Graeme Lee put them back in with a shout.

Yet the ending of the stand ended their hopes of sneaking second spot, Allendale restricting the chase for a crucial 10 points.

A third victory of the season for Stamfordham came too late as maximum points in a good win at in-form Matfen Hall couldn’t save them from the drop.

Matfen skipper Alex Pearse chose to bat first but watched as Tom Scott and Ian Pilkington lost their wickets early. Liam McWilliam and Calum Curnow looked to repair the damage, the latter becoming the first victim to Joe Lonsdale.

The bowler was in fine form and, when he had half century making McWilliam caught by Graham Adamson, he had four wickets to his name as Matfen slipped to 96-6.

Eddie Scott batted well and Jock MacDonald weighed in with a few lusty blows at the death, but Stamfordham’s bowlers were on top with Lonsdale adding another for his five-fer.

Angus Patterson showed good sportsmanship to walk after being caught behind to an Aaron Tiffin delivery early in reply, but stalwart Ian Donkin geared Stamfordham towards glory with a great knock.

Ollie Bracher hit some big blows and Richard Gardener dug in well to edge Stamfordham close to victory despite some good deliveries from McWilliam, and it was over to Mike Smith to win it for the relegated side with a quick 23 not out.

Newton finished ahead of second bottom Hexham Leazes as they removed their rivals for a low score.

Results have picked up dramatically for Hexham in recent months but they couldn’t cope with some fantastic spells from the home bowlers, denying them triple figures.

Openers Chris Wilkie and Matt Scattergood caused problems from the start, and that work was carried on through some good spells from Amila Prabandhika and Andrew Jones. Leazes opener Andrew Whitaker dug in to boost the score, but he lacked any real partners at the other end.

Newton were in trouble as they lost early wickets, Hexham skipper Dan Toward taking openers Wilkie and opposite number Jonathan Bennett, with Alex Brown accounting for Dan Taylor to crank the pressure up.

Yet Scattergood proved the difference with a great knock, putting on a great fourth wicket stand with Jim Balkwill to earn the points which allowed them to leapfrog their guests.

Humshaugh claimed a top half finish with a fantastic win over fourth placed Wylam .

Winning a crucial toss, captain Andy Crawford asked Wylam to bat first and Humshaugh’s bowlers were on top form as they were led by the experienced Matt Williamson.

Graeme Raffell and Alex Rayner started well but the constant nagging of Williamson’s quality deliveries saw them both edge balls behind to the grateful stand-in keeper Crawford.

Wickets continued to fall with the safe hands of Allan Murray seeing off the threat of Andy Paton, Murray pulling off a spectacular catch at long on. Wylam’s lower order was soon cleaned up by Nathan Byerley, Ed Crawford and Simon Thompson as the usual hard hitters of Wylam were out for just 59 within 29 overs.

Ben Duncan and Paul Robinson made it difficult for Humshaugh’s openers but the resilient Murray and Andy Crawford were able to frustrate the bowlers while picking up runs when possible.

Their first wicket stand of 22 ended when Crawford became Duncan’s first victim, but Rob Forster came in and picked up the run rate before he too fell to the Wylam captain with the score on 55.

A Humshaugh wobble followed as Duncan doubled his wicket tally with two more, but young Owen Murtough guided his side over the line for all 12 points which pushed them two ahead of Haydon Bridge.