Last updated at 13:43, Friday, 17 July 2009

CHAMPIONS Haltwhistle returned to winning ways in the Just Sport West Tyne League First Division on Saturday – but rejuvenated Allendale made them fight all the way.

Fresh from their demolition of Matfen in the knockout cup semi-final, Allendale were full of confidence when they entertained the league leaders and reigning champions at Riding Haugh.

The Dale are the league’s form side and knew that if they just used their brains as they should have done at Newton the previous week, then an upset was on the cards.

In the absence of both their skipper and vice captain, former despot Gareth Mews led the side and resumed his incredible talent of losing the toss.

Haltwhistle decided to make first use of what looked like and turned out to be, a batsman’s paradise.

Haltwhistle opened with birthday boy Stuart Knox and novelty helmet wearing Sconna Armstrong.

Allendale’s pace attack of Amit Sunda and Joe Mills still had their tails up from the Thursday night and they accounted for both openers in the first two overs.

This brought Halty skipper Graham Lee and Ticky Parker to the crease.

Lee got a good working over by Sunda early on but grew in confidence as he dug in, while Parker looked to run well between the wickets and was imperious throughout.

Allendale tried to vary the attack but the Halty third wicket continued to grow both in runs and confidence.

Both passed 50 in quick succession and looked to be heading further but Lee fell to a misjudged pull shot and Parker fell victim to some fine glove work by Richard Sadler off Geoff Sparke’s wobblers.

Phil Thompson looked to rotate the strike as big guns Hampshire and Jay went on the attack.

Two awesome strikes by Jay were worth the admission money alone.

Nineteen leg byes contributed to a useful 32 by extras and Haltwhistle closed on 203-7.

Maccy D’s express Amit Sunda’s 3-20 were the standout bowling figures.

Allendale are well aware that there are runs to be had on their wicket and were by no means daunted by their large target.

However, the loss of run machine Chris Rutherford for one to a surprisingly athletic catch by Hampshire put them on the back foot.

Dom Barnes played an entertaining, if unfortunately short, cameo as did Sunda, who was the first victim of two, shall we say, curious lbw decisions.

At the other end John Raglan was edging his way to 50, while Richard Sadler went on the attack.

Sadler fell to an excellent caught and bowled by former Allendale dressing room favourite Armstrong and skipper Mews got the other leg before.

When Raglan ran himself out, the win was still very much in sight but the Dale lower order lost their composure and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

This was an excellent advert for the West Tyne League, with two good sides never giving an inch in a tough but fair game that ebbed and flowed to the end.

The club would like to thank Allendale Village Shoppe for their generous sponsorship of the match ball.

HALTWHISTLE: S. Knox b Mills 1; J. Armstrong c Barnes b Sunda 0; G. Lee lbw b Rutherford 61; M. Parker st Sadler b Sparke 55; P. Thompson b Sunda 29; B. Hampshire c Sadler b Mills 7; W. Jay b Sunda 14; D. Parker not out 3; extras 32; total 203-7.

Bowling: A. Sunda 12-1-20-3; J. Mills 12-1-55-2; D. Swann 8-0-41-0; J. Crelin 3-0-21-0; G. Sparke 5-0-21-1; C. Rutherford 2-0-13-1.

ALLENDALE: C. Rutherford c Hampshire b Armstrong 1; J. Raglan run out 57; D. Barnes c Hampshire b Hepple 23; A. Sunda lbw b Thompson 23; R. Sadler c & b Armstrong 37; G. Mews lbw Thompson 9; G. Sparke b Thompson 2; C. Welch not out 9; J Crelin b Jay 3; J Mills not out 3; extras 26; total 193-8.

Bowling: R. Forster 4-1-19-0; J. Armstrong 12-1-66-2; J. Hepple 9-1-41-1; P. Thompson 12-2-36-3; W. Jay 5-0-19-1.

Allendale 5 pts,Haltwhistle 10 pts.

HUMSHAUGH vNEWTONHumshaugh won by 61 runs

Humshaugh batted first on a warm and sunny afternoon, with a pitch that was very green in appearance and damp to the touch with an underlying hardness.

Newton had the perfect start when Gradwell was bowled in the second over for 0.

This brought Neale Arnup to the wicket and he batted steadily with Allan Murray, both holding out against the accurate bowling of Mark Newton and Clark.

Newton in particular did not allow either batsman to score easily and his first eight over spell yielded just 10 runs, with three maidens.

The 18th over broke the partnership with Clark removing Murray lbw for 27, which brought Wraith to the crease only to be sent back after two balls.

The next batsman, Parish, soon followed caught off Lawrence and at 56-4 in the 21st over Humshaugh seemed to be faltering.

Magowan was next in and struck consecutive fours to begin with.

From then on he looked comfortable, and shared the scoring with Arnup until he was dismissed for 33 in the 32nd over.

Benson joined Arnup and together they set about finishing the innings and posting a target for Newton to chase.

Arnup’s solid innings, which began in the second over and contained eight boundaries and one maximum, finally ended in the 42nd at 82 bowled by Clark and a last over flurry of wickets saw Humshaugh end on 170-8.

Clark finished with five wickets for 36 runs.

Humshaugh’s opening bowlers gave the team a good start.

But after some early boundaries, both Newton openers were dismissed inside eight overs, each lbw to Williamson and Arnup respectively.

Balkwill and Nichol, the Newton three and four were on their way back to the pavilion in the next two overs, Williamson and Arnup striking again, this time with catches to the keeper, Gradwell.

Newton were clearly in some difficulty from this point on, and it was left to Bennett and Jeffrey to steady the ship and slowly accumulate runs to get Newton back into contention.

Williamson and Arnup continued to bowl with great control, and the batsmen struggled to score freely.

Purvis and Crawford were the next Humshaugh bowlers used, and Purvis eventually broke the fifth wicket partnership at 31 overs when he removed Jeffrey for 16.

Crawford followed up with the important wicket of Bennett, and both bowlers gained another wicket before Williamson came on to finish off his 12 overs.

Williamson removed Lawrence, but Mark Newton and Wood held out for a tricky four overs to leave Newton on 109-9.

A good win for Humshaugh to follow up their performance against Haltwhistle the week before.

HUMSHAUGH: A. Murray lbw b Clark 27; J. Gradwell b Clark 0; N. Arnup b Clark 82; B. Wraith b Clark 0; T. Parish c Balkwill b Lawrence 0; F. Magowan ct Balkwill b Reynolds 33; N. Benson not out 16; M. Williamson b Clark 0; R. Witchell run out 0; extras 12; total 170-for 8.

Bowling: M. Newton 10-3-23-0; D. Clark 12-0-36-5; P. Lawrence 7-0-30-1; V. Venkates 5-0-39-0; W. Burdon-Taylor 4-0-12-2; M Reynolds 4-0-20-1.

NEWTON: D. Clark lbw b Arnup 8; M. Reynolds lbw b Williamson 10; J. Balkwill c Gradwell b Williamson 10; T. Nichol c Gradwell b Arnup 2; J. Bennett b Crawford 24; A. Jeffrey c Arnup b Purvis 16; S. Wood not out 14; W. Burdon-Taylor b Crawford 3; V Venkates b Purvis 3; P. Lawrence c Magowan b Williamson 0; M. Newton not out 1; extras 18; total 109-9.

Bowling: M. Williamson 12-5-30-3; N. Arnup 12-4-28-2; R. Purvis 12-5-21-2; A. Crawford 6-0-20-2.

Humshaugh 10 pts,Newton 4 pts.

STOCKSFIELD vHEXHAM LEAZESStocksfield won by 5 wickets

Stocksfield welcomed their skipper, Colin Walker, back into the team after a loan spell to the first XI for this close fought game.

His first contribution was to win the toss and invite the Leazes to bat.

Leazes started well through Griffiths and Kingman Junior, both punishing anything short off Henderson and Marshall.

Griffiths tried once too often and fell to a Marshall slower ball, caught at square leg.

Webster came and went without troubling the scorers, caught well by Marshall after the introduction of Allen.

Two good catches by Colin Walker saw Kingman and Hubbick depart and the run rate slow.

Andrew Brown and Billy Kingman reignited the innings with several boundaries, but when Brown was well caught on the boundary by Reid and Kingman was bowled by Marshall the innings slowed again.

With some excellent fielding throughout, the Leazes were restricted to 141-8 off their 42 overs.

Marshall and Allen both claimed three wickets, well supported by the teenage trio of Henderson (14), Patterson (16) and Reid (17).

Stocksfield started well before losing Bewick to the bowling of Toward.

This brought two more of Stocksfield’s talented juniors together, with Richie Mannion and Matty Thompson sharing a 45 run partnership at a steady rate to frustrate the Leazes bowlers, as they had the Haydon Bridge bowlers the week before.

Mannion departed for 36, caught by Toward of McCormick.

Walker added a quick 22 to give the innings momentum, but when he and Thompson were both dismissed by Billy Kingman, the game was in the balance.

Enter another Stocksfield teenager, Nick Reid, who with Alex Pearse saw Stocksfield home with seven balls to spare with an unbroken partnership of 32 runs, despite Billy Kingman’s best efforts, bowling his 12 overs for just 20 runs and taking two wickets.

This was an excellent game of cricket played in a tremendous spirit between two competitive sides provided an ideal environment for Stocksfield’s youngsters to blossom.

HEXHAM LEAZES: B. Griffiths c Mannion b Marshall 18; R. Kingman c Walker b Allen 31; A. Webster c Marshall b Allen 0; A. Stobbs b Reid 7; J. Hubbuck c Walker b Allen 12; A. Brown c Reid b Patterson 26; B. Kingman b Marshall 17; P. Cawthorn b Marshall 2; D. Toward not out 9; A. McCormick not out 5; extras 14; total 141-8.

Bowling: S. Henderson 7-0-33-0; K. Marshall 12-3-29-3; A. Allen 11-4-32-3; N. Reid 7-0-18-1; C. Patterson 5-0-15-1.

STOCKSFIELD: P. Bewick c McCormick b Toward 9; M Thompson c Ferguson b Kingman 25; C. Walker c Cawthorn b Kingman 22; J. Alnwick lbw b Griffiths 1; N. Reid not out 15; A. Pearse not out 19; extras 15; total 142-5.

Bowling: B. Toward 10-0-44-1; S. Ferguson 6-0-23-0; B. Kingman 12-5-20-2; A. McCormick 7-1-18-1; B. Griffiths 5.5-1-15-1.

Stocksfield 10 pts,Hexham Leazes 4 pts.

Second Division

HALTWHISTLE II vALLENDALE IIAllendale won by 1 wicket

On a brilliant day in Haltwhistle the home side won the toss and elected to bat on a hard, flat track.

Haltwhistle got off to a flyer. Even though White’s quick bowling and a superb yorker got Nixon early, they found themselves on 62-2 after 10 overs – a massive improvement on the previous week.

Wallace and Thirtle showed their class with shots all round the wicket. Wallace’s straight drive off Ant White among the best seen in this division.

Then when things were looking rosy for Halty, the inevitable collapse happened, thanks to a combination of some awful shot selection and good bowling.

Haltwhistle were now looking at trying to save face on what was a good track.

Kennedy and Sheldon then put on 54 run partnership to turn it back in Halty’s favour.

Sheldon’s knock was superb, hitting balls all round the wicket, ending up on 46 not out and Haltwhistle ended up on a season best 150 all out.

In reply, Allendale got off to a good start despite losing Lee early.

Welch played some good hook shots and continued to be positive until partner Ford was clean bowled by a hostile Nixon, who bowled with pace and aggression.

Ant White entered next, a man Halty knew they had to get early.

He struggled against Nixon and looked scratchy but just when he seemed to have found his touch, he was caught to a good catch off Wallace.

Welch went soon after to a spectacular catch by Kennedy.

Haltwhistle then turned up the heat getting quick wickets until the veteran Waller came in and used all his experience to halt the Haltwhistle onslaught.

Nixon bowled him and Halty were closing in on victory with Allendale on 134-9.

But a heroic innings by Currah his 14 not out won the game.

It really was a great game played hard but fair by two even sides.

HALTWHISTLE II: (R. Thirtle 23, J. Wallace 34, P. Sheldon 46; A. White 6-41) total 150.

ALLENDALE II: (J. Welch 38, P. Ford 17, G. Nevin 22; P. Nixon 3-32, G. Flemming 3-28) total 151-9.

Haltwhistle II 5 pts,Allendale II 12 pts.

SOUTH NORTHUMBERLAND vHUMSHAUGH IISouth Northumberland won by 7 wickets

HUMSHAUGH II: T. Gradwell b Cook 41; P. Lishman c Cook b Clifford 2; H. Renton b Davidson 1; C. Heslop b Davidson 0; G. Howard b Asif Mohammed 2; 2; G. Scott b Mackay 16; J. Weeks not out 13; F. McKenna c Davidson b Cook 6; S. Arnup b Clifford 0; T. Gray b Clifford 5; G. Craig not out 4; extras 14; total 104-9.

Bowling: A. Davidson 6-5-1-2; R. Clifford 10-3-12-3; Asif Mohammed 9-1-31-1; C. Mackay 5-2-13-1; T. Gallagher 6-1-16-0; B. Cook 6-1-22-2.

SOUTH NORTHUMBERLAND: I. Fazal lbw b Craig 12; D. Jacques c Renton b Heslop 37; Assad Mohammed c Arnup b Craig 10; J. Ozman not out 24; A. Campbell not out 12; extras 10; total 105-3.

Bowling: G. Craig 12-3-37-2; C. Heslop 10.2-3-30-1; H. Renton 6-2-10-0; S. Arnup 5-1-21-0.

South Northumberland 10 pts,Humshaugh II 3 pts.

BELLINGHAM RIVERDALE vPRUDHOEPrudhoe won by 12 runs

PRUDHOE: G. Howden lbw b Gray 94; B. Frazer b Suckling 38; Prabudda lbw b Stephenson 24; S. Knight not out 27; R. Mitchell not out 7; extras 17; total 207-3.

Bowling: N. Dagg 12-5-27-0; G. Hutton 12-1-46-0; J. Blackith 4-0-34-0; P. Suckling 3-0-13-1; G. Stephenson 8-0-61-1; A. Gray 3-0-18-1.

BELLINGHAM RIVERDALE: G. McConnell c Chamberlain b Prabudda 66; N. Dagg c Mitchell b McGuiness 27; G. Stephenson b Bell 26; R. Walton c Scott b Bell 25; J. Blackith c Prabudda b Bell 0; A. Gray c Coulson b Prabudda 2; P. Suckling not out 25; M. Turner not out 13; extras 11; total 195-7.

Bellingham Riverdale 5 pts,Prudhoe 10 pts.

West Tyne U18 League

BENWELL & WALBOTTLE vBENWELL HILLBenwell & Walbottle won by 20 runs

BENWELL & WALBOTTLE: (R. Wake 52, J. Carr 27, L. Birrell 23) total 120-2

BENWELL HILL: (T. Denham 50, M. Rahman 16) total 100-5.

Division One

Division Two

Junior league

First published at 09:45, Friday, 17 July 2009
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk