NEW leaders sit atop the West Tyne league after they recorded a third win in a row.

Newton defeated Benwell Hill by four wickets after being elected to bowl by the away side.

The Tyne Valley side used their match-winning momentum to their advantage, and bowled the visitors out for 80 in 27.4 overs.

Chris Wilkie shone with the ball for Newton by posting figures of 4-8 off seven overs including four maidens.

Wilkie’s impressive bowling removed two of the Benwell Hill top order before combining with Dan Taylor’s three wickets to stifle the away side’s middle and lower order.

In reply, Newton reached the 81 target in 32 overs and added two extra runs to finish on 83-6.

James Brown was certainly feeling good with the bat as his top score of 20 provided the perfect springboard for the home side’s middle order to build on and reach the total.

Newton were awarded 20 points while Benwell Hill received four.

Robert Gibson’s 52 steered Haydon Bridge towards victory against Humshaugh as the Bridge were put into bat by the home side.

After losing openers Kendrew and Cunningham early on, Gibson took to the crease in an assured manner to post a high score for the second placed side.

Elliot’s 32 late on in the innings added extra impetus to the opening score, which proved a bridge too far for Humshaugh.

Bridge were bowled out for 132 thanks to three wickets from Adam Murphy.

Humshaugh raced out the blocks in their run chase with Straker (40) and captain Crawford (35) in positive hitting mode.

However it was Elliot who made a breakthrough on both openers to stifle the home side’s run chase.

Humshaugh’s middle order struggled to post a score above nine and were bowled all out on 116.

Five wickets from Elliot ensured a man of the match performance with both bat and ball.

Haydon Bridge were awarded 20 points while Humshaugh received seven.

Stamfordham moved to fourth in the table after a quickfire convincing victory over Belsay.

The away side bowled Belsay out for 46 in 16 overs and spent only eight overs chasing down the score to finish on 47-5.

Stamfordham were awarded 20 pits and Belsay received two.

An impressive 75 not out (retired) from Matfen Hall’s Ian Pilkington was not enough for the away side as Mitford eased to victory by reaching the 171 required run total in 27.1 overs, losing only two wickets.