HAYDON Bridge are in the driving seat for the Division One crown after thumping their fierce rivals, reigning champions Haltwhistle.

The 10-wicket victory boosted Bridge's chances of claiming the top prize in the West Tyne, setting up a tight finish with three games remaining.

Haltwhistle were put into bat first and made 113-8 from their 35 overs, Richard Byerley leading the way with 46.

He was well assisted by John Armstrong with 23, with Dan Hepple the next highest scorer with nine.

Bridge's bowlers made things tough for the batting order, with Tom Waugh (3-18), Liam Stephenson (2-13) and Gavin Boyd (1-10) leading the way.

Haydon Bridge's opening batsmen Neil Kendrew and Ian Watson were the only ones needed as they spearheaded the charge.

They both finished on 49 not out as they finished the game within 25 overs.

Stamfordham were big winners on the day too as they thumped Newton by 109 runs remain in the mix at the top.

They finished on 172 with Nick Schofield in particularly impressive form by remaining undefeated on 89.

It was more than their opponents could muster collectively as they finished on just 68, Dan Taylor (18) and Mark Davison (14) their top scorers.

Hexham Leazes are still in the hunt too after their 23 run success at Belsay.

With Billy Kingman (44), Lucas Holmes (39) and Alex Brown (25) starring, they made 154-8 from their innings.

Belsay were all out for 131 despite good knocks from James Davis (32), Allan Johnson (29) and Felix Keene (22). Tom Mawson (3-19) and Ben Teasdale (3-22) claimed six wickets between them.

Humshaugh were beaten by 37 runs by Benwell Hill, who had openers David Ladd (40) and John Chambers (30) largely to thank. Brothers Robert (28) and Will Forster (26) led the chase for Humshaugh but they fell short of the 154-7 set by Hill.

Despite knocks of 24 and 21 from James Teasdale and Neil Prince respectively, Wylam were all out for 99 as Danny Gilchrist starred with the ball for Matfen Hall with figures of 4-7 from his four overs.

Matfen had seven wickets in hand when they reached their target, Ian Pilkington (58no) and Justin Dempsey (30) guiding them to a 19- point victory.

With victory in an incredibly low scoring game, Humshaugh II were crowned champions of Division Two.

They cannot be caught with just one game left to play, and they weren't at their best as they were all out for just 87 runs against Medomsley, with Ted Fletcher contributing 39 of them.

That matched the score of Medomsley's entire order with Humshaugh's opening bowlers Adam Murphy (3-9) and Glen Tweddle (2-4) making life tough for the away side.

Haltwhistle II blew their chances as they lost heavily to Allendale.

With Howard Robson top scoring with 30, Allendale made 118. But Halty were all out for just 52 runs with Andy Mason (3-7) the pick of the bowlers.

Mitford II were five wicket victors over Hexham Leazes II, who finished on 148-9 after good knocks of 41 by captain Matt Joyce and Matt Barrick. A knock of 70 from wicketkeeper Tony Cook guided Mitford to victory, with Tony Carmichael weighing in with 36.