Wednesday 14th December 2011

Club Draw

The new Club draw is reaching its 1st birthday. At the request of members the winners will be posted on the website. If you want to join please contact us for more details, when we have a few more members then we can increase the number of prizes. There are no limits to the number of people who can be in the draw and anyone can enter, supporters, friends, parents and players.

The last 2 months winners of the £50 prize are

September: Peter Sowler
October: Tom Seymour

and picked out of the bag last night by Claire Morgan the winner of November is Simon Edmondson.

Wednesday 23rd November 2011

Quiz Morgan and the The Moff present "The Winter Quiz"

Friday 20th January, venue Pont Club (on Merton Way), 7.30pm start time with usual fish and chips supper.
Price £7.00
Please can you start thinking about putting your teams of 6 together

Tuesday 15th November 2011

Double Winners

The 2XI's title clinching win at Seaton Burn got the resident statto's mind working. By winning the 2XI title Andy Morgan and Duncan McGregor joined a select group of Ponteland players to have won league titles with both the 1XI and the 2XI.

Andy also joined an even more select group to have won titles with the three league sides at the Club, the Eagles only starting in 2011. The list is ordered based on when the 2nd title from the 1XI or 2XI was won.

Before the inevitable queries several players came close to joining this list having made 1 or 2 appearances in a title winning season. The qualification for the above table is playing half the fixtures in the winning season.

Roger Bell won the 1XI title in 1998 but in the 2XI title winning sides in the 1980s only made a maximum of 3 appearances in any one season, and is a 3 time Midweek League winner. Jeff Oliver won the 1XI title in 1990 & 1998 but made only 2 appearances in the 2011 season

Both Mike Barlow and Geoff Appleby appeared in the Midweek Season of 1973 making 4 appearances each, Geoff also played one in 1999

Friday 11th November 2011

2012 Fixtures

Next season's fixtures are already starting to arrive, the 1XI start away at Backworth on 21st April having only beaten them once since 2004, then follow up against Ryton at home and Benwell & Walbottle away. There is also early season cup action this year with Morpeth visiting on 25th April in the A division cup. Full Fixtures

The 2XI start life in the B1 division with a home game against Percy Main before a visit to champions Sacriston and a home match against Benwell & Walbottle. The B division cup starts on the 2nd May with a trip to Percy Main. Full fixtures

The 3XI start away at Benwell & Walbottle on 19th April then face Humshaugh at home. The cup defence starts with a tricky tie against Benwell Hill. Full fixtures

Eagles fixtures will be available in February and the Sunday matches are being organised now. U13 & U11 fixtures are normally available in early March.

The future of U18 cricket in Northumberland has been thrown into doubt following last season where Ponteland fulfilled more of their fixtures than any other club with 10 matches conceded in the league by other teams, Tynedale finished third without recording a single on-field victory! Discussions are underway as to how best to proceed with junior cricket in the area. Cramlington have already to enter the Eagles' league in Division V with the intention to play their U-18s in there instead.

U15 fixtures are already available and will also feature a cup to replace the league split at the end of the season. Fixtures

Thursday 10th November 2011

AGM

The Annual General Meeting took place last night at the Leisure Centre. The Chairman reviewed the highly successful year the club has had with three of the sides winning tophies. He thanked the outgoing post holders; Secretary John Kirton, Fixture Secretary Chris Barlow, Club Captain James Ealey and Eagles Captain Craig Moffat for their work for the Club in these roles. The Captain's all made a brief report on the respective seasons as for the second year in a row all five teams won more games than they lost, although the Sunday side managed to lose more games to the weather than they played !

Nominations to replace most of the outgoing post holders had been received and James Ealey becomes the new Secretary, while Wayne Ritzema is the new Club Captain. Ashley Parker and Dave Waters will co-captain the Eagles and Howard Wright stood down as 2XI Vice Captain to be replaced by John Gardner. Despite standing down from posts that hold automatic committee places there was no escape for John Kirton or Howard Wright as they were promptly re-elected to the committee as additional members !

Peter Sowler unveiled this winter's project as an upgrade to an electronic scorebox with investigations into grant money already underway. Andy Morgan also highlighted the need for the Sports Centre to replace its outfield mower as everyone who played or watched cricket at Ponteland in 2011 already knows the current one no longer does a good enough job, discussions were underway.

It was also announced that new skipper Wayne is keen to enter the 1XI into an additional cup, as league chairman Andy is investigating how we enter the cup run by Annfield Plain in memory of John Armin, this is a regionally based cup with a group stage on a Friday night, 15 overs per side.

A brief presentation then took place as John Hill, Keith Crerar and Phil Hall on behalf of Robert were awarded their winners medals from the 2XI, Eagles and 3XI Cup wins.

IMPORTANT: No-one has stood for the Fixture Secretay position and one is required. The Fixture Secretary's main role now is outside of the season, collating all of the fixtures into the fixture booklet from now until March and getting it to the printers. During the season itself any cup match re-arranging is done by the Captain's the secretary may have to forward on a club's initial contact to the relevant skipper. The Eagles captain handles any fixture re-arranging in the event of bad weather, the fixture secretary would be the third contact after Ashley & Dave. Anyone willing to consider the post please contact Andy Morgan.

Wednesday 2nd November 2011

Presentation Evening & Player of the Year Results

The Awards Evening at Newcastle Falcons saw the trophies for 2011 presented by Callum Thorp of Durham CC after the original guest, Phil Mustard, opted to go on holiday instead with our very own Duncan McGregor! As well as the individual awards it was a trophy packed season with medal presentations to the title winning 2XI and Eagles sides and also the 3XI Ian Appleby cup winners. The evening was hosted by Club Captain James Ealey with over 70 in attendance. Thanks to James, 2XI skipper Chris Morgan and Eagles Captain Craig Moffat for their work on the evening and quiz.

Sunday Team: Batsman of the Year - Peter Nesbitt, Bowler - Sam Wood
Eagles: Batsman of the Year - Stuart Taylor, Bowler - Dominic Smith
3XI: Batsman of the Year - Jeff Oliver, Bowler - Andy Denyer
2XI: Batsman of the Year - Matty Bell, Bowler - John Gardner
1XI: Batsman of the Year - James Ritzema, Bowler - Craig Moffat
Roy Storer Fielding Trophy: Dan Wright breaking 1XI league wicket keeper record for dismissals in season JW Parker Trophy for Best Junior: Mark Waters
Tom Barlow 3XI Trophy: Andy Denyer, 6-21 in cup final v Tynemouth
Mike Bowyer Memorial Trophy for best 2XI performance: Jack Schofield 4-50 and 15* in 3 wicket win against Leadgate
Lawson Rosebowl for best 1XI performance: Craig Moffat 14-5-37-6 against league champions Leadgate
Jameson Trophy for contribution to the club: Howard Wright

Jonny Appleby also became the first player in the 7 year history of the Duck to be present on the night to receive the award with two first ballers in his 4 ducks proving decisive after Chris Barlow recorded 4 ducks in his last 6 innings of the season to nearly win it.

The website players of the year as voted for by the players and followers of Pont CC were also announced. The results are listed below. 38 votes were cast with 40 in the Sunday side. Thank you to all who voted.

Sunday XI. Winner Sam Wood 42.50%, 2nd Peter Nesbitt 37.50%, 3rd Oli Parker 17.50%
Eagles. Winner Stuart Taylor 47.37%, 2nd = Jonny Appleby & Dave Waters 23.68%
3rd XI. Winner Andy Denyer 63.16%, 2nd Xavier Taylor 23.68%, 3rd Jeff Oliver 10.53%
2nd XI. Winner Matty Bell 63.16%, 2nd John Gardner 26.32%, 3rd Jack Schofield 10.53%
1st XI. Winner Dan Wright 42.11%, 2nd Howard Wright 34.21%, 3rd Craig Moffat 18.42%

Tuesday 1st November 2011

Secretaries stand down

John Kirton (Secretary) and Chris Barlow (Fixture Secretary) are both standing down from their posts at the AGM after 5 and 11 years in their respective posts. Their efforts in these behind the scenes roles are greatly appreciated and replacements are sought at the AGM.

Thursday 13th October 2011

Moff's Eagles Exit

Eagles skipper Craig Moffat is also to stand down at the AGM in November. After we joined the North East Midweek League in 2010 Craig nicknamed the side the Eagles, in homage to the local press' inability to spell Club Captain James Ealey's name correctly - although this may have had more to do with Stuart Taylor submitting the results. The name was adopted officially for 2011. He oversaw promotion as runners-up from Division V but injury and unavailability restricted him to just 4 of 14 games in the Division IV title win this year. The self professed 'most successful captain the club has ever had' finishes with 13 wins and 3 defeats in his 16 games in charge. We thank him for his efforts as Captain.

Craig's win percentage of 81.25 is actually just surpassed by Derek Younger who captained the 2XI 76 times from 1980 to 1982, winning 62 of those games with just 14 defeats (7 of those in 1982), a record of 81.58% wins. Derek's side won the 2XI title twice in 1980 & 1981 and during that period oversaw the 12 match winning streak that the Eagles passed in 2011 and a team and club record undefeated streak of 24 games split only by 2 abandoned matches.

League Captains (50 matches minimum)

Wednesday 5th October 2011

The 'Skipp-age' era ends

Club Captain James Ealey has announced he is standing down from the role at the November AGM after 3 seasons. James is only the fifth captain for the 1XI since we entered the leagues in 1959 to Captain the side in 50 league games and his win percentage of 56% puts him third in the list behind Andy Morgan and Mike Watts.

In the 3 seasons the side have made steady progress, finishing 7th in 2009 before two 4th placed finishes when a combination of wet weather and a couple of poor performances left the side just outside the promotion places.

Wednesday 28th September 2011

Howard zips it for Toma

Howard Wright wants to thank everyone who sponsored him for the zip slide for the Toma fund which has raised £300

Friday 23rd September 2011

League Averages

All the results are now completed on play cricket (bar Whickham v Chopwell in the 2nds league which we know was rained off).

1XI finished 4th, Leadgate and Lintz were promoted, in the Northumberland League Blue Flame were pipped to the title by a single point meaning Cowgate avoid relegation. Ashington and Newcastle City are relegated from A1

The 2XI are champions and go up with Whickham replacing Burnopfield and Tynedale in B1

The 3XI finished 4th behind Newcastle City, Benwell Hill and Tynemouth.

In the league averages the 1sts had two players in the top 10 with Craig Moffat in second place, just ousted from the top spot by Gareth Breese of Consett (and Durham) who took 6 for 4 on the final day while Howard Wright finished 6th. The wet weather saw just one Ponteland batsman reach 300 runs for the season and Wayne Ritzema finished 18th in the averages. Dan Wright's 25 dismissals was the best in A2 and only Sacriston's keeper with 27 in A1 had a better season.

The 2nds saw Matty Bell finish as the league's leading runscorer (and 10th in the averages) with Parag Chauhan 9th and Andy Morgan 13th. In the bowling John Gardner, despite 6 matches in the 1s finished as the 2nd highest wicket taker and 4th in the averages overall.

In the 3rds the returning Jeff Oliver finished second in the averages with Will Urwin 13th and Mark MacKenzie-Crooks 15th. Alan Varley and Andy Denyer both finished as joint 2nd highest wicket takers with 17, finishing 7th & 8th respectively in the averages. Andy also took 12 wickets in the cup run. Xavier Taylor's 7 league stumpings was double anyone else in the C Division and he also took 6 more in the cup.

Don't forget to vote for your players of the year

Monday 19th September 2011

2XI reign supreme at the end of the rainy season

With news coming through that first placed Whickham’s game away to Chopwell had fallen foul of the weather, Ponteland 2nd XI travelled to local rivals Seaton Burn safe in the knowledge that victory would secure the league title in dramatic fashion, on a tense final day.

With clouds overhead and rain falling, the pitch at the Burn had taken a little bit of a hit, but after some quick work with some bits of old carpet and a heavy roller, played started at 1pm for a 40 over match. Skipper Chris Morgan continued his good run with the coin and had little hesitation in bowling first on a damp green track. And it didn’t take long for Pont to make the breakthrough as Morgan caught John Dixon behind from Gardner’s bowling. Weldon soon followed as Jimmy Ottaway took a smart catch from Duncan McGregor’s bowling and when Ottaway repeated the feat to dismiss the ever dangerous Darren Carr, Seaton Burn were on the ropes.

Richard Kyle was then trapped LBW by Gardner but in this onslaught, Pont had failed to dismiss opener Jonathan Whetzel and along with number 6 Ross Hindson they set about rebuilding the Burn innings. Andy Denyer was frustrated as he failed to make the breakthrough in his short spell and it was up to Dave Waters to take the crucial wicket as Hindson holed out to Peter Nesbitt before Denyer caught Barnes in the same over.The returning McGregor was then able to take 3 of the 4 remaining wickets as he got the rewards his luckless spell earlier deserved and Seaton Burn finished on 112-9.

In reply, Matty Bell and Peter Nesbitt got the side off to a solid start before Bell was dismissed for 15. Parag Chauhan then joined Nesbitt at the crease and the pair took the attack to Seaton Burn. From here on in, the game and the league title was never in doubt as the pair pummelled the Burn bowling to all parts, with Parag’s dismissal with the scores level the only downer for Pont. The celebrations were only temporarily cut short though as Nesbitt hit the winning runs as Pont marched to the league title.

Nesbitt played particularly impressively and can take great pride in reaching his maiden second eleven 50 for the club with an excellent and mature knock.

After the game, skipper Chris Morgan said: “I’ve paid my dues, time after time, I’ve done my sentence, but committed no crime. And bad mistakes, I’ve made a few, I’ve had my share of sand kicked in my face but we’ve come through.” On a serious note though, this has been an excellent season for the team with only two defeats in the entire season in all competitions. That those were by one wicket in the league and the other in the cup final against the Division 1 champions make the achievement even more remarkable.

A really fantastic effort by all players. Thanks to all and roll on 2012 for a new league and a new challenge. Well done lads! Full report for the season to follow at AGM!

Sunday 18th September 2011

Surprise surprise, rain ends the Sunday season

A heavy 5 minute rain shower at noon flooded the square but with the sun following and it being the final game of the season the Sunday side attempted to play their game against Mitford, using the wicket the 1XI had used yesterday rather than the wicket we were supposed to use which had standing water in the wicket ends.

Bowling first after losing the toss, Ponteland's bowlers after a slippery start from Ross Harrington who had to switch to round the wicket were able to keep the scoring under control and once again it was Sam Wood who made the breakthrough with a fantastic one handed catch off a powerfull drive from his own bowling. Thomas Oliver (1-12) then followed up his last performance against Ovingham conceding just 3 runs in his six over spell and Ben Lott at gully took a good low catch for the second wicket. Mani Ragbir (2-20) chipped in with two wickets but a further quick shower saw standing water on the square again but with the sun poking through once more we tried to continue. George Hunter (1-10) bowled the number 3 on 37 and Harrington (1-31) returned with a catch by Faizal Padikaran, then the final wicket of 2011 fell as Sam Wood despite slipping and falling over managed a direct hit run out. Another shower saw the teams head for tea with Mitford on 117-7 off 38 overs but it was an easy decision to make after tea to pull the stumps on the 2011 season and the outfield was left to the Gulls from the nearby ploughed fields.

Saturday 17th September 2011

1XI finish on a high as Wright becomes record breaker

The 1XI faced Seaton Burn today looking to go into the winter with a positive finish, the covers enabling the game to be played after yet more rain during last night. Batting first skipper James Ealey's pep talk to do nothing stupid was obviouly missed by James Ritzema who was stumped fifth ball for 0 trying to hamer one down the ground. After 9 overs the Ponteland score sat on 1 for 1 as tight fielding and accurate bowling gave nothing away. Wayne Ritzema and Matt Darwood battled hard as conditions continued to favour the bowlers and Darwood was the next to go for 11. When Ritzema was then caught behind for 30 the innings sat on 52 for 3 off 28 overs. Skipper James Ealey dug in and Tom Seymour provided more aggression from the other end as Pont moved towards a competitive score, Seymour's first two scoring shots both being sixes. Seymour reached his fifty in 55 balls before being stumped for a season's best 54 and then despite the unintentional best efforts of Will Urwin, Ealey reached his only fifty of the season with the final ball of the innings as Ponteland reached 156 for 4 off the fifty overs. Ealey finishing unbeaten on 51 from 104 balls.

In reply Ponteland struck in the second over as Ifty Fazal bowled Brown for 3. Despite struggling with over stepping Craig Moffat then chipped in with the next two wickets as Wayne Ritzema caught Wright at second slip then Fazal managed to get to a looping catch at mid-on. The next wicket fell to Howard Wright in his opening over as his son Dan standing up held onto a catch to dismiss Redpath, a dismissal which took Dan into the 1XI record books as he broke the long standing record for dismissals in a season (23) set back in 1973 by Ian Park. Howard followed up in his next when Lyall was LBW for 8 then bowled Carr shortly after to leave the Burn on 50 for 6. Fazal (2-9) then replaced Wright (3-10) in the attack and Dan took another catch when White edged behind. Two further wickets followed for Ealey (2-8). It then fell to Moffat (3-23) to take the final wicket of the season which took just 3 balls of his first over back, as the innings ended on 67 and an 89 run win.

Monday 12th September 2011

2nds moving on Up. 1XI slump

The 2XI clinched their promotion to B1 with a six wicket win over Backworth. Dave Waters (4 for 35) and Mark Waters (2 for 12) to the fore as our hosts were dismissed for 108. The chase saw Parag Chauhan top scored with the bat with 28 but extras overtook him with 30 ! Neil Pinnock scored the promotion clinching runs with two fours (his 1st innings of the season in the seconds) to take the side past 100 before the game was won with a wide ! Full report to follow

The 1XI's slump from the top of the table saw them defeated at home by Backworth, the win ensuring they avoid relegation. Set a target of 161 (Tom Seymour 3 for 33) Ponteland slumped to 75 all out in 34 overs. Full report to follow

As predicted after last weekends sunshine the Sunday team were rained off as the storm force winds and rain battered the Scottish borders preventing our trip to Hawick.

Sunday 4th September 2011

A cricket match in the sunshine !

With the pitch managing to survive the downpour on Saturday night the Sunday team was able to take on Ovingham in their first outing since 31st July and only the 9th game of the 18 supposed to have been played so far this season.

Winning the toss skipper Neil Pinnock had no hesitation fielding and the opening bowling attack of John Hill (his first friendly appearance in 19 years) and Ross Harrington gave nothing away in the opening overs. Sam Wood (3-12) took over from Harrington and as is often the way the first loose ball of the innings, a low full toss, was smashed to midwicket where Chris Barlow took the catch. Wood then had Hall lbw 2nd ball and bowled Wallbank to finish with a triple wicket maiden. Ovingham continued to battle as the bowlers continued to bowl with accuracy and the next wicket fell to Pinnock's first ball, a skier caught by Jeff Oliver at mid off. Under 15 Jack McHugh bowled his first overs for the club and returned excellent figures of 5 overs for 6 runs and claimed the wicket of opener Drake for 40 with another mid wicket catch by Barlow. The father and son partnership of Jeff (2-13) and Thomas Oliver (2-14) then shared the final four wickets, all bowled to set the Pont batsmen a target of 90 to win. Ponteland's bowling performance the best of the season so far.

In reply Faizal Padikaran, back from his overseas venture to New York, was the first to fall for 12 and Chris Barlow then resumed his annual challenge for the duck cup two balls later. Dave Waters added 10 before a mix-up with remaining opener Nesbitt saw both of them at the same end. Nesbitt and Jeff Oliver saw the side through to a comfortable 7 wicket victory with Nesbitt unbeaten on 46 and Oliver 15.

Saturday 3rd September 2011

Record breaker Gardner takes 2nds to the verge of promotion

With the inevitable rain forecast to reach Ponteland around 3pm the 2XI set about Cowgate in determined fashion, Duncan McGregor and John Gardner quickly reducing them to 11 for 4 in the 6th over. The next two batsmen dug in but when McGregor's 10 over spell was finished the score still sat on just 22 with Duncan having conceded just 15 runs. The switch to Andy Denyer though got the breakthrough with an lbw in his opening over. Gardner then cashed in with two more wickets to complete his record breaking 20th second eleven 'five for' with his 13 over spell costing just 11 runs. The remaining two wickets fell to careless running as Paul Higginbottom n Duncan McGregor both claimed run outs to see Cowgate dismissed for just 49.

With only 30 overs bowled tea was not ready so the Ponteland innings started straight away with Matty Bell accompanied to the wicket by Dave Waters with the aim to try to chase the total as quickly as possible with the clouds already looming. Waters was unable to hit the ball off the square early on though as Ponteland were forced to graft, Bell not looking too impressed when Waters ran one short ! Waters finally got a couple of boundaries away before being bowled for 13 and Jon Varley helped get the score into the thirties before the drizzle started. Varley (4), James Ottaway (0) and Bell (17) all fell in quick succession as the rain got harder but the umpire kept the teams out in the middle with just 10 needed, even when John Gardner lost his grip on the bat first ball he faced, running 2 without it. He then made sure the umpire no longer had an awkward decision to make as the next two balls were despatched for 4 and a vital 20 point victory that at the very least keeps us in the top two, still two points behind Whickham who also won in similar quick fashion !

The 1XI had Cowgate 132-6 when the rain arrived. 4 wickets for Craig Moffat and 2 for Ifty Fazal.

Saturday 27th August 2011

Guess what?

A miserable August was completed with the rain offs of the league matches against Ryton and the friendly against Rothbury. Out of 14 other matches in August only 2 on a single Saturdayand the 2XI Cup Final were played. As if to prove the rain only came at weekends (once the 3rds were finished) the Eagles managed all 5 fixtures although often by playing on the only nights where it didn't rain.

Friday 26th August 2011

Eagles win Division IV title

The gamble of fielding two sides on Thursday 18th has paid off for the Eagles as a combination of bad weather on Tuesday for Spitfires and two defeats for Kings by F.H.C.C prevented either of our rivals from overtaking us at the top of the table. The eight points from the game against F.H.C.C which would otherwise have been a 1 point rain off saw us complete our fixtures and win the title by just 3 points.

Thanks to the 22 players who turned out on that Thursday night and the 42 who played during the season, a great club effort.

Skipper Craig Moffat has announced he will step down at this year's AGM as the Eagles skipper. This season's fill-in for 9 of the 14 games, Chris Barlow, will not be standing either so there is a Captaincy vacancy for 2012.

Monday 22nd August 2011

9 eventually 10 Man Eagles go top, but for how long?

With Captain Moffat once again absent it fell to the Chris's to turn 8 into 11 for the final game of the season with Barlow recruiting George Hunter and Jack McHugh from the juniors and a masterstroke from Morgan with James Ritzema answering the SOS to give us 11 - or so we thought. As 6pm came and went a text to the two missing players revealed that although selected they hadn't actually been told they were playing so the Eagles took to the field with just 9 players as Procter and Gamble opted to bat.

With large gaps in the field and some wayward early bowling their openers accumulated runs steadily although boundaries were few and far between with 13 year old Hunter exemplifying the determination in the field to cover the gaps. Dave Waters (0-21) bowled a luckless spell as several difficult catches went down as the ball followed the unfortunate McHugh around with none of them easy chances. Then as the 7th over began a figure in white appeared round the corner as Sam Wood, one of the aforementioned missing players appeared to boost our numbers to 10 having rushed across town to join us. The breakthrough came from an unlikely source as Ritzema (1-21) bowled Bridge for 18, his first wicket for the club in his first spell With run scoring continuing to be restricted by Pinnock (0-21 off 3 overs) as Creighton reached his fifty. Wood, bowling the final over then took the second wicket with a comfortable stumping for Morgan as we held their innings to 98-2 off the 14 overs.

In reply Ponteland set off determinedly to try to reach the target inside the 10 overs, Ritzema dominant early on, scoring 32 of the first 33 runs and reached fifty in the 5th over before being caught for 55. Jonny Appleby (33*) and skipper Chris Barlow (9*) then continued to push on and reached the target with 2 balls to spare in the 10th over.

The Eagles climb to the top of the table and have now completed their fixtures for this season and await the results from the Spitfires match on Tuesday and King's 3 games on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday to see if promotion to Division III has been attained.

Sunday 21st August 2011

2XI beaten in the final

The sun was out at Consett for much of the afternoon for the postponed 2XI cup final against Sacristion. Batting first our opponents were dismissed for 94, John Gardner's five overs conceding just 7 runs and taking 2 wickets. Andy Denyer with 3 for 28 and 3 run outs.

As expected from the team topping the division above us some accurate bowling and tight fielding saw Ponteland struggle to work the ball and only Stephen Edwards with 27 managed to score consistently as the side were dismissed for 71.

Full report to follow

Saturday 20th August 2011

Quick wins against Greenside

The 1XI dismissed Greenside for 86 and won by 9 wickets, Howard Wright's 5-27 off 10 taking him to the top of the league bowling averages (anyone with 25 wickets). Wayne Ritzema 44* and James Ritzema 41 guiding the team to a 9 wicket win and back to just 6 points of the promotion slots.

The 2XI won even quicker bowling the same opponents out for 80, John Gardner 4-28, Andy Denyer 2-5. In reply for the second game in a row the victory was achieved by 10 wickets, Matty Bell 40* and Mark MacKenzie-Crooks 34*.

Full reports to follow

Thursday 18th August 2011

Eagles bowlers down FHCC but Civil Service prevent a double

The Eagles lost the toss against FHCC and were asked to bat on a soft tricky wicket with a side containing 3 Eagles debutants and 2 more making their first appearances of the season. One of the latter, Matty Bell was dismissed off the first ball of the innings and by the end of the opening over had been joined by Jon Varley, dismissed by the next delivery and Jonny Appleby; 0-3 off 1 over ! Having watched the carnage in the opening over from Maxwell John Gardner still approached it in typical fashion taking 12 off his next before becoming Maxwell's fourth victim with the score on 24 when he was caught on the midwicket boundary for 13. Andy Morgan (9) and another Eagle's debutant Jeff Oliver took the score to 39 before Morgan was caught behind. 13 year old George Hunter showed considerable composure partnering Oliver for the sixth wicket as they added 32 before Oliver was caught for 32. Dave Waters with (6) helped by some willing and risky running by Hunter squeezed the score up to 78 before being dismissed off the penultimate ball of the 14th and final over, Hunter finishing unbeaten on 5.

The innings was rapidly put into context by the Eagles openers though as John Gardner and Jack Schofield tore through the top order with some accurate bowling. Gardner got the crucial wicket of Rory Cook when he bowled him for just 5 and followed up with a catch byu Morgan at mid-off. Schofield then took over with a catch behind for Jonny Appleby who was keeping wicket, then Jeff Oliver took a swirling catch at point before Schofield got his radar honed in and hit the stumps twice. At the end of the first eight overs they were reeling on 22 for 6, Gardner finishing with 2-10 and Schofield 4-12. Numbers 6 and 8 put on a determined stand to edge F.H.C.C back into contention before Matty Bell took an excellent catch off Dave Waters (1-21) to dismiss Benjamin for 21. Appleby then stumped Sutcliffe for 17 off Bell (1-15) before the innings was ended next ball on 61 with an attempted single causing chaos, with a misfield and some 'yes / no' calling resulting in both batsmen at the same end as Appleby finished the innings.

Schofield's 4-12 are the best figures for the Eagles whil John Gardners's 4 overs for 10 are a new mark for the most economic spell.

The second match saw the Eagles narrowly defeated by Civil Service. Batting first they reached 112-4 while the Eagles only managed 104-7.

The final game is on Monday against Procter & Gamble at Blue Flames. The Eagles need to win the match and then will wait on the other results of Kings Old Boys and Spitfires to see if they have achieved promotion to Division III.

Thursday 18th August 2011

Eagles to double up to finish the season

With rain-offs continuing to dominate the season the Eagles will tonight field two sides to try to catch up on the fixtures. We take on Civil Service at Blue Flames and F.H.C.C at Bullocksteads. Thanks to all players who have stepped forward to play tonight. Midweek and Weekend Teams

Monday 15th August 2011

A dry weekend arrives too late

The ultimate frustration this past weekend as the continuing heavy rain during Thursday and Friday ensured that the ground was unplayable for both days of the weekend as Geoff and Jonny were unable to get on the square to prepare any wickets as the square remained waterlogged. With only 4 of the last 10 weeks played the frustrations continue. The 1XI sit in 5th place, 20 points off the top while the 2nds remain in second place just 2 points adrift of Whickham with 5 matches remaining.

Thursday 11th August 2011

More rain last weekend but Eagles dodge the showers

The weekend fixtures against Whickham on 6th fell victim to the rain as did the Friendly against Victorians.

The Eagles managed to play on Monday and Tuesday and recorded crucial victories against Kings Old Boys and Procter & Gamble. With 1 game to go against Civil Service and 2 fixtures still to be re-arranged the promotion hopes depend on the getting the two games played by Friday 26th otherwise 1 point for each could still see the Eagles miss out on the promotion places in Division IV if other games get played.

Thursday 4th August 2011

Another team's season ends with a rain off

The miserable conditions continue in the North East, this time the Midweek 3XI's season ended with rain, the final game against Tynemouth, which could have seen Ponteland leapfrog their opponents into 3rd with a win was an inevitable casualty. An outstanding season led by Simon Raw, James Ottaway (and once by Chris Barlow) saw the team equal its best finish with 4th and claim the cup for the first time ever.

Tuesday 2nd August 2011

Mid Afternoon Storm Grounds the Eagles

The game away at F.H.C.C was due to saw the return, at last, of skipper Craig Moffat. A storm at 2pm put paid to his return which will now be the crucial 2nd v 3rd match with Kings Old Boys on Monday the 8th.

Two games are still to be-rearranged against Procter & Gamble & now F.H.C.C and both must be played in the next 2 weeks, otherwise they are classified as cancelled which will result in just 1 point per game.

Monday 1st August 2011

Rain ends the U18s season

The game against Newcastle City was only just underway when it had to be abandoned due to the start of some heavy rain.

Monday 1st August 2011

2 hour special from the 2s

Ponteland 2nd XI made another step forward in the promotion race as they eased past struggling Leadgate in a match that lasted barely two hours.

Having lost the toss, Ponteland were asked to field but the away skipper's decision to bat first looked to have backfired on him as his side collapsed for 68 all out in just 19.2 overs.

Despite Leadgate being under strength and only being able to field ten men, the collapse was more down to some excellent bowling from Duncan McGregor, Jack Schofield and John Gardner who skittled the visitors with ease. McGregor was unlucky not to have claimed a 'five-for' as he took 4-23 in his 10 over spell, while Schofield claimed two before coming off for injury to be replaced by Gardner - back in the 2nd XI for the first time in a couple of months - whose accurate bowling earned him three wickets. They were aided by a couple of smart catches - firstly by Andy Morgan who made up good ground to remove Stokoe - the only Leadgate batsman with 21 to offer resistance and then an excellent one handed effort in the slips by Gardner to dismiss youngster McCabe.

With such a short first innings, the teams swapped straight around without taking tea and the Ponteland openers Mark McKenzie-Crooks and Matty Bell made hay as they punished the Leadgate bowlers. The pair took just 11 overs to knock off the runs with McKenzie Crooks finishing on 28 not out and Bell unbeaten on 26. Bell has now surpassed 300 runs for the season and is the second highest run scorer in the league - just one run behind I. Reid of Ryton.

The side now go into a crucial stage of the season with the next three weeks sure to provide more testing challenges. Table topping Whickham visit Ponteland this coming Saturday for a highly important promotion clash and then a visit to Chopwell is followed by a game against Greenside - the only team to beat Ponteland this season. If the team is able to go through that period unscathed then promotion would surely beckon.

Report by Chris Morgan

Sunday 31st July 2011

What a difference a year makes

A year ago the Sunday side sat in the dressing rooms of Riding Mill having been dismissed for 74 and several of that side were back to try to put in a much better performance this time round. Batting first the Mill were soon in trouble as Ashley Parker took a return catch to dismiss Brown (9) and then tore through their top order as Haney (0) was bowled then N.Reid (0) powerfully flicked one off his legs only for Dominic Smith to take an excellent catch at square leg, again off Ash (3 for 24). From 21 for 3 the remaining opener, Michael Cairns, saw off the Parker brothers and first change bowler Mark Drape but as soon as Smith came onto bowl his spin charged him first ball, mistimed the drive and was well caught by Peter Nesbitt for 28. Skipper Neil Pinnock then made the double switch to spin and the innings slowed down with 49 off the 16 overs as Beeching accumulated most of those runs. With the partnership having doubled the score to 104 Keith Crerar ran out Walker (4) and Beeching went on the attack reaching his fifty before with the score on 122 Jeff Oliver bowled Nitch (1). Beeching and Esh then pushed the score past 153 before in his second spell Oli Parker (1 for 31) had Beeching dismissed for 84, to another good catch by Smith. In the last three overs Ponteland then conceded just 3 more runs as Oliver (2 for 11) had Esh caught at midwicket by a diving Pinnock before in the final over Chris Barlow had a direct hit run out to end the innings on 157 as they tried to steal a single.

In reply Urwin started confidently and raced to 18 before, in the 6th over, he picked out the only fielder in the leg side on the boundary, Haney for an excellent catch. Peter Nesbitt and Keith Crerar slowly accumulated the runs to set a platform for Ponteland with Nesbitt the dominant partner, reaching his second fifty of the season and then having reached a new personal best of 61 was also caught by Haney. Jeff Oliver then unintentionally ran out Crerar for a battling 40 before Oliver (15*) and Phil Barlow with a run a ball 18* saw Ponteland to a 7 wicket win in the 36th over to give Pinnock his first win of the season and take the side to 4 wins in a row.

Saturday 30th July 2011

1XI lose, 2XI Charge through the Gate

The 1XI lost for the second week in a row against a promotion rival as second placed Leadgate created a gap between us and the two promotion slots. Leadgate scored 221-9, restricted only by 6 wickets for Craig Moffat. In reply Will Urwin with a 1XI best of 44 and Tom Seymour (30) were the only significant run scorers. Full report awaited.

Meanwhile the 2XI maintained their own push for promotion with an emphatic 10 wicket win over Leadgate in less than two hours. Leadgate were dismissed for 68, Duncan McGregor 4 for 23, John Gardner 3 for 16 and Jack Schofield 2 for 12. The target was chased in less than 10 overs with Mark MacKenzie-Crooks unbeaten on 38 and Matty Bell on 26 in a 10 wicket victory. Full Report to come

Thursday 28th July 2011

Frustrating end to a fantastic season

With sunshine beating down on Ponteland the U15s game against Percy Main should have gone ahead today. The only problem being our opponents had conceded the game. The 6 points from the concession scant consolation for the boys missing out on their final game of what has been an excellent season. The side finish 6th having won all their games in the second half of the year and top their 'mini division' after the league split. A season review will appear at the end of the season.

Thursday 28th July 2011

The Day after the night before for 3rds but another Taylor record

The 3XI had to go straight back into league action today with the trip to Benwell Hill to take on a team determined to win the title, sitting joint top. Winning the toss under the now returned grey skies the Hill opted to bat and the openers were quickly into their stride with Frisken opening up after Andy Denyer missed a difficult running catch in the 3rd over. The other opener Ladd took longer to get underway and started to score freely but with the score on 56 when he was smartly stumped by Xav Taylor off Alan Varley (1 for 18). Frisken and Robertson then rapidly put on 60 before Mark MacKenzie-Crooks took an excellent catch at long-off to dismiss Frisken for 62. Ben O'Brien hit a quick 12 taking 2 consecutive fours off Denyer (2 for 43) before he bowled a deliberate legside wide to defeat the on rushing batsman and Taylor completed the job behind the stumps. Taylor then took his third stumping with a smart finish standing up to Jack Schofield (1 for 44) but Robertson completed his fifty as the Hill posted an imposing 156 for 4.

In reply Ponteland got off to the worst possible start as Taylor (4) clipped his second ball to short midwicket off the spinner Sweeney. Will Urwin (23) was the next to go caught at long on and then MacKenzie-Crooks (14) was run out as Ponteland slipped behind the rate. With darkness descending the Hill switched to slower bowlers and a period of quick run scoring ensued whith their fielders struggling to pick up where the ball had gone. Mason then had James Ottaway (19) stumped, Faizal Padikaran (30) was bowled by Marley and Chris Morgan (1) was run out trying for a second. With Neil Pinnock (4) and Denyer (2) also dismissed the innings petered out to 124 for 8 with Schofield unbeaten on 19.

Xav Taylor has now broken the record for dismissals in a Midweek season which was 12 held by Chris Morgan from 2008 and has 14 with 1 match to go. He has also now taken 3 stumpings in a match 3 times in 5 games. His 13 stumpings as mentioned previously is also a record having nearly doubled the previous record of 7.

Wednesday 27th July 2011

Taylor and Denyer lead 3rds to cup glory

The leaden skies relented during the afternoon and the Ian Appleby Cup Final took place in sunshine at Ponteland in front of some excellent support from the rest of the club. Batting first Ponteland started strongly with Under 18s Will Urwin and Xavier Taylor punishing anything short in the opening overs and the score reached 29 in the fifth over before Urwin (15) was bowled round his legs by Snelders. Parag Chauhan (1) was then bowled shortly after off the first ball by Hay and a catch at square leg went down next ball from skipper James Ottaway. Unfazed by his let-off he clipped the next ball for four, clearing the same fielder comfortably. Taylor joined in as Hay continued to be punished for anything short, 26 coming off his two overs. Ottaway and Taylor's partnership had reached 60, aided by some loose fielding when first Ottaway (25) was caught at long-off as Storey returned to the attack then two balls later Taylor came down the track and bottom edged the ball onto his stumps to be dismissed for 45.

Tynemouth's bowlers then fought back as having posted 100 in the 14th over Storey claimed his third when Peter Nesbitt (7) was bowled and Jack Schofield was unable to get the ball away as he scored 7, but benefitted from a further fielding lapse as having inside edged one down to fine leg the two fielders both managed to miss it, the second accidentally kicking it for four! Faizal Padikaran (10) helped take the total up to 128 before being run out off the final delivery taking on the fielders arm trying for a second.

In reply Jack Schofield (1-18) struck early bowling Stenhouse, but Whiting and Simpson took the score steadily up to 60 in the twelfth over before Whiting (36) was caught behind by Xav Taylor off Andy Denyer. Simpson then took on Denyer in the next over but was unable to find the boundaries before having sneaked a single attempted a second following a shy at the stumps but Chauhan was alert and gave Ashley Parker the simple task of taking the bails off to dismiss Simpson for 38. Brown then survived a stumping appeal with Taylor standing up to Parker but he only survived until Denyer's next over when more smart work from Taylor saw the stumping this time and Parker (1-28) bowled Reed (1) to leave the innings on 82 for 5 in the 17th over. Denyer then took centre stage with Packham (2) stumped and Straughan bowled and in the final over of the game a third stumping for Taylor and another bowled as the innings ended on 100 for 9. Denyer with the outstanding figures of 5 overs for 21 with 6 wickets.

The 3rd win the cup for the first time ever. Skipper James Ottaway collected the cup from the League Chairman Andy Morgan as the sun disappeared for the evening.

Andy Denyer's 6 for 21 is a personal best and now has 14 wickets in his three cup final appearances ! Xavier Taylor matched his 3 stumpings from the Cup Semi Final and has broken the 3XI record for stumpings in a season and now has 10 from just 4 games.

Thank You to all who came to support the final

Photo Gallery
Scorecard

Ponteland 128-7 (X.Taylor 45, J.Ottaway 25, D.Storey 3-31) Tynemouth 100-9 (J.Simpson 38, T.Whiting 36, A.Denyer 6-21)

Tuesday 26th July 2011

Eagles bare their talons on the Spitfires

The Eagles went into their must win top of the table match with the Spitfires determined to gain the ground lost by our defeat by the same opponents earlier in the season. Spitfires won the toss and opted to field and after a watchful first over Stuart Taylor launched into the other opening bowler with two fours and two sixes. After four overs the score had raced up to 54 with Hiles withdrawn from the attack having conceded 42 from his two overs. The runs continued to flow as Will Urwin also started to score more freely after he stopped trying to bat like Stu and stuck to his own game. The innings continued to rattle along at more than 10 runs per over and Taylor ruined the other opening bowlers figures with two back to back sixes in his final over before hitting a four to reach his fifty off 39 balls with 5 sixes in total. Two balls later though he missed a straight delivery and was bowled, ending the partnership on 101. James Ealey (8) launched a six which bounced off the top of the nets before being dismissed lbw and Xav Taylor was the third to go for just 4 when he was stumped. Urwin (52) then reached his fifty off 40 balls before he was also bowled with 4 fours and 2 sixes. Neil Pinnock with another six finished unbeaten on 12 and Jonny Appleby 2 as the Eagles ended their 14 overs on 156-4.

In reply Under 15 Mark Waters took up the opening bowling mantle in the absence of Moffat and Fazal and bowled an outstanding spell of four overs for just 16 runs and claimed the first wicket with Hiles lbw for 19. With runs hard to come by from Waters end Andy Denyer's spin proved the difference in the attacks as the next three batsmen fell in a rush with an excellent catch off a skier to deep midwicket to Xav Taylor and then Dom Smith taking another up and under off Holden before Denyer (4 for 34) bowled both Carey and Appleton (20) to leave them 56 for 5 off 8 overs. Pennels hit a quick 33 but Spitfires were now behind the rate and he was bowled by Smith, who finished with 2 for 23 when he then bowled Moses (11). In between Appleby finished his spell with 1 for 35 as they ended 41 runs short and the Eagles are right back in the centre of the promotion race.

Tuesday 26th July 2011

Rearranged Games

The 2XI Cup Final will now take place on Sunday 21st August at Consett with a noon start.

The Eagles fixture against Kings Old Boys will be played on Monday 8th August at Ponteland.

Monday 25th July 2011

U18s at last !

The Under 18s travelled to Benwell Hill desperately looking to end their losing run against one of the leading sides in the Division. batting first Will Urwin and Xavier Taylor set about the opening bowlers determined to get off to a good start. The runs came quickly and in the fifth over Taylor (11) got a leading edge and was caught but 46 had already been posted. Dominic Smith only lasted a ball though and then a mix-up in calling from the new batsman Marc Dixon saw Urwin run out for 28. From 52-3 though the Under 15 batsmen were undeterred and Dixon (20) and Mark Waters (15) kept the runs coming before they were both dismissed and Jonny Forster (3) and Oli Parker (1) followed soon after. Jack McHugh (4*) and Tom Hutchinson (3*) saw the score up to 105 off the 20 overs.

In reply Urwin seemed intent on injuring himself with some hostile pace and was able to beat the bat regularly but the breakthrough came from the outstanding Mark Waters whose opening three overs cost just 10 runs with Smith catching Brown. Smith replacing Urwin after 4 overs took the next wicket bowling Shinwari (8) and a tidy bowling spell of 5 overs only costing him 30 runs. Oli Parker conceded just 13 from his three overs but the breakthrough came from an unlikely source when Taylor (1-16), normally a wicket keeper, bowled Hopper for 31 off the last ball of his first over. With Waters contributing a run out the teams seemed to be on level pegging with 6 an over required from the last three. It was Waters again though with an over that cost just 1 and claimed another wicket, well caught by Hutchinson that swung the game towards Pont. Urwin returned to concede just 4 off his last over, then Waters once again with 7 needed bowled an outstanding over that saw just four scored and despite a couple of wobbles in the field with dropped catches Ponteland clinched a morale boosting two run win.

Sunday 24th July 2011

Paddy power sees Pont scrap to Sunday win

Losing the toss against Ovingham it was no surprise that Ponteland were put into bat. After the early dismissal of Chris Morgan it was what proved to be a crucial second wicket stand of 46 between Faizal Padikaran and Mani Ragbir that put Ponteland into what seemed like a strong position. Once Ragbir (22) was caught though the Pont innings disintegrated as Padikaran stood at the non-strikers end as three quick wickets fell. On 49 Padikaran was then caught behind and bar 10 from Dave Waters no other batsmen reached double figures as the side were dismissed for 107 with nearly 7 overs unused.

In reply Jack Schofield conceded 2 fours in his opening over, but Lee (8) was then brilliantly caught with a one handed diving catch off his own bowling by Sam Wood. The runs then dried up completely as Schofield (1 for 9) only conceded 1 more run and bowled the remaining opener and then Ragbir produced another good low diving catch at point off Wood (2 for 8). With Harrington (1 for 20) claiming the next, another low one handed catch at mid-wicket by Chris Barlow, Ponteland were fighting back. Hall then launched a counter attack with Oli Parker (1 for 12) struggling with his lines able taking the 5th wicket with another catch to Wood. With Ronnie Hall batting increasingly confidently and Harvey Mahon playing some good cover drives Ovingham inched towards their target before Dave Waters, replacing Parker bowled Mahon (19). Jack McHugh, on his senior debut, then ran out new batsman Burt without facing and Jordan (0) was bowled by Waters (2 for 25). Ragbir, extracted significant turn from the wicket and Hall on 41 tried to hit him down the ground and skied it to Harrington at mid-off who held his nerve to claim the catch and leave them 9 down with 18 needed off 4 overs. Marley inched them steadily closer and took the game into the final over with 8 needed then hit the second ball of the over for 4 to reduce the deficit to 4. Ragbir (2 for 14) though found the edge of youngster Perry Hall's bat off the fifth ball of the final over and Waters took the catch to record a 2 run victory in a match where both teams held all the catches.

Saturday 23rd July 2011

Seymour Fifty but Lintz double up on firsts

Ponteland 1XI batted first and scored 169, Tom Seymour 51 but Lintz cruised past the total by 8 wickets, with the opener Gohery scoring an unbeaten 100.

Swalwell go slow but Urwin powers 2nds to victory

The vital promotion battle at Swalwell saw our unbeaten opponents score just 113-8 off their 45 overs, Jack Schofield 3 for 48 off 13 overs while Duncan McGregor took an impressive 2 for 13 off his 13 overs. In reply Will Urwin with an unbeaten 53 and Parag Chauhan (33*) saw Ponteland romp to a 9 wicket win.

Friday 22nd July 2011

Jonny to the For as Backworth go West

With the weather finally relenting the Under 15s looked to continue their impressive season against Backworth. Our hosts batted first on a green wicket and were soon in trouble as Oli Parker (2 for 12) and Mark Waters (1 for 5) claimed 3 wickets in the opening burst. Thomas Oliver (1 for 7) claimed another before Jonny Forster with 3 for 10 took the next 3 wickets to leave Backworth reeling on 44 for 7. Courtney West (3 for 3) then wrapped up the innings for just 55.

In reply Ponteland's batsmen were cautious early on but batted with increasing fluency and Marc Dixon passed 200 runs for the season.. Jack McHugh, opening for the first time this season had reached 26 when a ball lifted on him and he was caught and bowled for 26 with the score on 45. Dixon (22*) finished the game off with a four off the first ball of the14th over to take the side to 7 wins.

Wednesday 20th July 2011

Double Rollover

Hot on the heels of the 2XI cup final postponment comes the news that tonights 3XI final is now cancelled due to the constant rain and our hard working groundsman Geoff Appleby is now unable to get onto the square to do any pitch preparation work. With more heavy rain falling as this is typed and the forecast for the remainder of Wednesday being more of the same the weekend games must already be in doubt.

Tuesday 19th July 2011

Eagles grounded

Despite most of Tuesday being dry the Eagles match was an early casualty to the recent weather. With the pitch looking more like a swamp than a sports field it was the only decision and the heavy rain returned at 3pm to provide further frustration especially with the cup final scheduled for tomorrow.

Monday 18th July 2011

Rainy days

The never ending downpours of Sunday and Monday added the 2XI Cup Final, the Sunday Friendly against KSTOB and the U18 fixture against Ashington tonight to the list of fixture washouts.

The 2XI Cup final will not be replayed until the end of August at the earliest due to fixture commitments by the 4 finalists.

Saturday 16th July 2011

Rain again (Noah expected shortly)

The arrival of the weekend as with recent weeks resulted in the appearance of heavy rain so for the fourth time in the last 6 weeks neither league side are in Saturday action. The forecast also casts doubt on the 2XI Cup Final going ahead tomorrow at Consett. As soon as we have any news in the morning the website will be updated. Both teams remain at the top of their respective tables with both sides heading into 3 weeks of crucial fixtures against promotion rivals.

Friday 15th July 2011

Seaton Burn get Parked

The Under 15s took on Seaton Burn today looking to extend their winning season. With regular captain Mark Waters away and several others unavailable our sizeable squad of players was tested to the limits with Oli Parker handed the captaincy. Parker seemed inspired bowling the opener in his first over and Thomas Oliver followed up with the second wicket falling in the second over. Parker's second over started with a single to take the score to 9 before he created Under 15 history as he despatched three consecutive batsmen bowled to take an excellent hat-trick, then followed up by claiming a fourth in four balls, again bowled. The final ball of his over was not quite so accurate as he was hit for four. Parker wasn't done though and in his fourth over claimed his fifth of the game, again bowled to finish with outstanding figures of 5 for 18. Oliver claimed a further wicket to finish with 2 for 25, Parker once again involved with a comfortable catch at square leg. A spirited stand followed from the Burn's lower order as they dragged the score past fifty before Jonny Mole claimed the next wicket of the opener, McCalley, who had survived the top order carnage when Marc Dixon took a brilliant one handed catch behind the stumps to dismiss him for 29. Shoaib Ali (1 for 2) and Hamza Ahmed (1 for 0) then wrapped the innings up for 69.

In reply Ponteland started strongly, one Seaton Burn parent wryly commenting that without the recovery from 9-6 Ponteland would have won after 5 balls as Tom Morgan hit two fours in the over. The opening partnership between Morgan and Dixon had reached 38 before Dixon was bowled but Morgan continued to bat positively and reached 25 before being caught. Parker added 4 before being dismissed but Courtney West (10*) and Jonny Mole (6*) completed a 7 wicket win with over 5 overs to spare.

Parker's 4 wickets in 4 balls is likely to be an Under 15 record for the club. It may also be the first Under 15 hat-trick unless anyone knows different !

Thursday 14th July 2011

Late Newcastle charge leaves 3rds tied up

After posting an imposing 144-7 off their 20 overs the 3rds looked well set to record another victory this season, Will Urwin (37), James Ottaway (23) and Faizal Padikaran (21) the main contributors. Some tight bowling from Jack Schofield, Dave Waters and Alan Varley left our premier league opponents needing 35 off the last two overs with 6 wickets down. Numbers 7 & 8 though had other ideas, Schofield's final over going for 20 and then after 3 singles from the first 3 balls of Varley's final over a six and a two set up 4 to tie, 6 to win. Covell launched the ball to the extra cover boundary but the outstretched hand of Ottaway managed to palm the ball down and prevent the six but the ball dribbled over the line for the tying four. Varley with 4 for 46 the best bowler.

Calm Waters gives Eagles plain sailing

The Eagles head into their vital fortnight against the top two with a comfortable victory over Merz & McLellan at Backworth on Tuesday. Batting first Marc Dixon (4) was the only batsman dismissed to a delivery that lifted on him, the only ball to misbehave all night. Waters batted through and by the end was walking singles through exhaustion and scored his Eagles best of 62 not out. Jonny Appleby maintained his impressive Eagles form with an unbeaten 45 as the Eagles reached 112-1 to claim two batting points. Ifty Fazal's pace proved too much for the opposition batsmen conceding just 15 runs in his 4 overs and claimed the first wicket caught by Waters at slip. Fazal though was outbowled by Andy Denyer though at the other end as he picked up 2 for 13. The two under 15 bowlers then kept a lid on the scoring with Mark Waters bowling his best Eagles spell of the season with 0 for 18 off 3 overs and Oli Parker 0 for 26 off 3 saw the Eagles to a 40 run victory.

U18s rained off at Tynedale

Mondays Under 15 (sorry U18 game but we had no Under 18s available !) at Tynedale was rained off.

Sunday 10th July 2011

Barlow leads the way to Sunday victory

After the heavy rain of the previous day a sunny morning raised hopes that the Sunday friendly up at Chatton would go ahead. Ponteland lost the toss and were asked to bat on a green surface that, given the limited preparation time after the rain played well. Chris Morgan set off in test match mode, resolute in defence while Peter Nesbitt was much more fluent to the extent that the sweepstake that was in the process of discussion was which would come first Nesbitt's fifty runs or Morgan's fiftieth ball faced. Morgan unaware of the raging debate though was caught for 10 off his 39th (Nesbitt was on 32). Howard Wright, batting left handed added 13 before being the second wicket to fall on 63. Chris Barlow joined Nesbitt in the middle and was soon in his stride, his seventh delivery was despatched for 6 as he dominated a stand of 46 before Nesbitt who contributed 12 to the partenrship was the next to go, caught on 46. Barlow, on 34 was now dealing exclusively in boundaries and after 3 fours launched a huge six over mid-on to reach his first fifty since 2007 off just his 36th ball and retired on 52. Dave Waters (21) and Will Urwin added 20 in the next two overs before Waters was caught for 21. After Mark Drape (3) became the fifth wicket Urwin then dominated a stand of 56 with Sam Wood as the 7th bowler Lodh dropped a few short that Urwin peppered the road with as he took 34 off his 2 overs. Urwin reached his fifty with consecutive fours off the first two balls of the final over to leave Wood (11*) and Thomas Oliver (1*) to finish the innings at 222-5.

Opening the bowling Oli Parker made the first breakthrough in the opening over, bowling the opener for a duck, well caught at 3rd slip by Urwin then followed up in his third by bowling Harvey (8) but both he and Oliver struggled for consistency as Lodh and J.Dodds built a partnership and batted with increasing fluency. Wood and Ross Harrington were also unable to get the breakthrough as the score raced up to 104 before Wood got the crucial breakthrough with a good catch by Nesbitt dismissed Dodds for 43. Lodh reached his fifty and retired and Harrington (2-37) then took two wickets in 2 balls to catches from Urwin and Nesbitt. Wood (2-43) claimed another as Ponteland took control. A heavy rainshower sent the teams from the field for 10 minutes and Parker (3-33) claimed his third bowling Renwick for 15. Mark Drape (2-7) then claimed his first two wickets for the club, the first despite falling over while bowling, which distracted the batsman who played onto his stumps, the second, also bowled was more asthetically pleasing ! Working up the batting order it was Urwin (1-1) who took the last wicket, caught by Dave Waters who then realised if he hadn't caught it he was next on to bowl as they finished on 159, Lodh unbeaten on 53. A game enjoyed by both sides ended as Sundays should - in the local pub. Photo Gallery (the match not the pub!)

Chris Barlow became the first player to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in the Sunday side when he reached 11 during his innings.

Thursday 7th July 2011

1XI Match report

The first XI maintained their good run of form in a potentially tricky encounter at Seaton Burn. With skipper James Ealey unavailable, Jonny Appleby took the reigns and started positively winning the toss and electing to bat. Both openers, Wayne Ritzema and Dan Wright, found batting hard early on against some accurate bowling from the Seaton Burn openers; after 17 overs the score was 17-0. Ritzema (12) and Wright (3) were then dismissed in consecutive overs leaving Ponteland 20-2 and in real trouble with two new batsmen at the crease. Matt Darwood and Tom Seymour went on the attack and brought some momentum to the innings before Seymour was smartly caught for 11. Stuart Taylor picked up where Seymour left off and took the attack to the opposition combining in a quick fire partnership of 85 with Matt Darwood. Matt reached a well deserved 50 but was dismissed shortly afterwards for 57 with the score on 131-4. Jonny Appleby joined Taylor at the crease and the pair combined with some aggressive hitting from Taylor, taking him past fifty, and a useful cameo from Appleby to add an unbroken stand of 69 in the final 12 overs posting at total of 200-4. Taylor finished unbeaten on 82 and Appleby on 28.

Ponteland made a strong start with Ifty Fazal (1-30) having the opener caught by Taylor in the 2nd over. Seaton Burn rebuilt with a useful 2 nd wicket partnership as Gardner and Fazal were unable to make further inroads. Fazal thought he had broken the stand with a catch by Darwood in the Gully only for the umpire to call a no-ball. John Gardner was rewarded for a patient opening spell dismissing the number 3, Alderson for 10. In his next over the new batsmen was on his way back without scoring as Andy Morgan pouched a simple catch at short leg from a lifting Gardner delivery. Seaton Burn’s number 5, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was next in, didn’t even have his pads on when the 3 rd wicket fell and trudged on the pitch all of 3 minutes late to find out he had been timed out! Gardner continued to cause problems for the Seaton Burn batsmen on “friendly” surface and, aided by sharp catches from Peter Nesbitt, Dan Wright and Stuart Taylor, claimed a 2nd 5 wicket haul in as many weeks finishing with figures of 6-37 off 13.4 overs. Howard Wright provided support from the other end with a tidy spell of 7 overs 1-22. The other wicket to fall was a run out by Jonny Appleby, helped by more sharp glovework from Dan.

The 1XI reach the halfway stage in the season at the top of the league.

Report by Jonny Appleby

Update: Stuart Taylor has suffered a re-occurrence of his back injury that has affected his last two seasons. We wait to find out how long he will be out of action for.

Wednesday 6th July 2011

Gardner guides 2s to finals day

Ponteland 2nd XI became the second Ponteland XI to make it into a Cup final in the space of a week as they beat a potentially tricky Whickham side by six wickets in an excellent performance in the semi final at the Glebe on Wednesday night.

With showers lurking all day, the match was in doubt for the second time right up until the start but as the sun started to come out about 4.30, the ground was passed fit and the game took place. With a green and soft wicket, Ponteland skipper Chris Morgan won the toss and had no hesitation in inviting Whickham to bat.

And that decision soon proved to be correct as some awkward bounces off the pitch caused the Whickham batsmen some problems, leading to the ever dangerous McIntyre playing a shot too early only to hit the ball in the air to Jon Varley from the bowling of John Gardner to give Ponteland a crucial early breakthrough. Jack Schofield was also bowling well at the other end and dismissed the equally destructive Ruddick for 11, well caught by Dave Waters and when Nunn became a victim of the pitch copping a nasty blow in the mouth from a ball that skipped up off the surface, Whickham were in trouble.

Whickham skipper Cameron and Roberts set about rebuilding the innings and when Cameron was dropped by Parag Chauhan before Chris Morgan put down a chance standing up to save Roberts, Whickham were back in the match. Cameron was soon on his way though as the slow bowling of Andy Denyer proved too tempting and he holed out to a fine catch by Richard Moller in the deep. From there, the Whickham innings crumbled. Morgan made up for his earlier error holding on to a catch standing up to Dave Waters before Andy Morgan caught Levey from Denyer's bowling. When Roberts was stumped by Chris Morgan from Waters' bowling, the crucial breakthrough was made as Denyer and the returning Schofield took the final three wickets to dismiss Whickham for 95.

In reply, Ponteland got off to a steady start with Matty Bell and Steve Edwards opening the innings, but when Bell was caught and bowled by King and then Parag Chauhan soon followed the innings was on the brink of collapse. King was bowling extremely tightly and despite Ponteland being able to target the spin of Davison and Cameron, runs were hard to come by.

The pressure proved to be too much as Edwards was run out shortly after and then Richard Moller followed to leave Whickham on top at 40-4. However, Pont had an ace card up their sleeve in the form of John Gardner who set about bringing Ponteland back in the game in his usual fashion with some huge hits off the bowling of Robinson and Levey. Sixteen balls later and ably supported by Jon Varley who finished unbeaten on 24, 'Decker' had 38 runs on the board and his superb innings sent Whickham crashing out and Ponteland marching on to the final.

The final will take place next Sunday July 17 at Consett, with start time and opposition to be confirmed. B1 clubs Shotley Bridge and Sacriston contest the other semi final on Friday night.

Report by Chris Morgan

We urge all players and supporters to come and watch the final. As soon as we have the start time this will be posted online. The Sunday Friendly will either have a delayed start or be cancelled depending on the start time for the final, the A division cup is played on the same day and the same venue so the assumption currently is that the B division final will have an early start time.

Tuesday 5th July 2011

Deja Vu strikes but the Eagles recover to victory

The Eagles faced Belmonte tonight as the second half of the season began. The fixture, meant to be at Belmont was played at Ponteland due to their ground being unavailable. The rain stayed away and the match started on time and the Eagles batsmen were soon making tracks to the middle and back again as the opening bowler Craig Thompson sent Will Urwin (0), Tom Seymour (5), Peter Nesbitt (0) and Jonny Appleby (1) on the return journey to the pavilion. Throw in Marc Dixon (0) from the other end the side was left on 18 for 5 and in a deep hole. The counter attack was led by Faizal Padikaran with 25 but when he was bowled and Chris Morgan (3) also dismissed 46-7 was not a good scoreline to be on in the 9th over. Iftikhar Fazal and Keith Crerar set about giving the team something to bowl at and the next four overs went at 10 an over as both looked to be aggressive. The 14th and final over provided a huge boost as both players cleared the boundary and with 20 scored off the 8 balls a total of 113-7 looked a lot healthier with Crerar unbeaten on 33 and Fazal 39.

In reply the Eagles bowlers quickly built up a stranglehold on the Belmonte batsmen with Appleby claiming the first, caught by Nesbitt at Midwicket and Fazal conceding 12 runs in his four overs claiming the next two batsmen. With Appleby only conceding 14 runs the score sat at 20 for 3 off the first 8 overs. Tom Seymour (1 for 15) with a catch behind and some football skills to run out Heslop for 29 helped claim two further wickets and then Morgan after taking several blows behind the stumps was rewarded with a stumping off the final ball of the game from Mark Water's bowling as he finished with 1 for 25, the Eagles winning by 37 runs.

You may ask what was the Deja Vu? Its exactly a year since the Eagles found themselves in an identical situation when Matrics Barbarians reduced them to 8 for 5 only to recover to record victory. Hopefully in 2012 the top order will be able to perform in the first week of July !

Monday 4th July 2011

Urwin's got the runs but another 18s defeat

Once again the Under 18 team failed to defend a sizeable score tonight in a disappointing defeat to Seaton Burn. Batting first Ponteland scored what should have been an imposing total of 133 with Will Urwin (53*), Dan Gallacher (22*), Mark Waters (16) and Jonny Forster (16) also contributing. An early wicket for Mark Waters (1 for 17 off 3 overs) was not however backed up from the other end with all the other bowlers expensive, an issue compounded by an over attacking field and some sloppy fielding gifting the opposition boundary after boundary to the extent that Redpath retired having reached his fifty in the seventh over. With Oli Parker replacing Waters at the other end the same problems continued as despite bowling the number five his 3 overs went for forty as in stark contrast to the day before he struggled for line and direction and again with the field staying up the fours continued to flow. Dom Smith (0 for 23 off 2) and Urwin (2 for 47 off 5) failed to make any further impact as Seaton Burn cruised to 136 and a seven wicket win in just 13 overs and a very quiet dressing room were left to reflect on an emphatic defeat.

Monday 4th July 2011

Sunshine brings a run feast as Pont record 3 100 run wins

With the first weekend in July bringing the sunshine Ponteland's batsmen appeared to be inspired over the weekend. The 1XI from 22 off 22 overs reached 200-4 against Seaton Burn, Stuart Taylor's unbeaten 82 off 67 balls including 6 sixes. Matt Darwood with 57 and Jonny Appleby an unbeaten 28 the other contributors. In reply the Burn were demolished as John Gardner made it back to back '5 fors' with 6 for 37 as they were dismissed for around 80. Full match report awaited.

The Second XI posted an imposing 263-5 in their 45 overs with a Ponteland best 77 from Matty Bell. Parag Chauhan once again avoided fifty with 48 and Richard Moller chipped in with 37. Again Seaton Burn's batsmen had no answer as the 2nds also maintained their lead at the top of the table with a 203 run victory with Duncan McGregor 4 for 16 and Jack Schofield 4 for 11. The largest winning margin by the side is 228 against Stobswood in 1989. Full match report awaited.

The Sunday team made it 3 out of 3 with a comfortable victory over Rothbury. Put into bat their was a first ever Sunday fifty for Peter Nesbitt, 39 from Keith Crerar and despite the efforts to let him know he was on 48 with two balls to go an unbeaten 49 for Mani Ragbir as Ponteland posted 210-4 off 35 overs as Rothbury maintained attacking fields throughout, enabling the batsmen to find the boundaries regularly, Ragbir and Mike Barlow putting on an unbeaten 60 in the last 8 overs. Under 13 George Hunter, who came into the side less than an hour before the start, also impressed with a confident 15. In reply after a wayward start from Chris Barlow the Rothbury batting had no answer to the accuracy of Sam Wood (2 for 10) and Oli Parker hit the stumps four times in his first three overs to finish with 4 for 12. Ross Harrington then chipped in with a personal best 4 for 23 including a catch by Ragbir and Hunter then got his first senior wicket with a catch at square leg by Chris Barlow to finish with 1 for 2 off 2.2 overs. (They had 12 players).

Weekend stats Ponteland 673-13, Opponents 223-31

The Under 11s also won on Sunday morning defeating Tynedale

Friday 1st July 2011

High Five for Jack as U15s win again

After two poor batting performances had resulted in narrowly missing out by 1 point on a top half finish the Under 15s faced off against Benwell & Walbottle in the bottom five play-offs tonight. Winning the toss Ponteland opted to bat first and after a steady start had reached 19 before a tight call for a single saw Jonny Mole run out for 5. Mark Waters was then bowled shortly after for 1 but from 25 for 2 Marc Dixon and Jonny Forster put on 42 for the next wicket as both found some fluency against the swinging pink cricket ball. Having reached 30 Dixon was the first to go then without another run added Forster followed for 21. Tom Oliver (9), Jack Heslop (4), James Mole (0), Shoaib Ali (2) and off the last ball of the innings Simon Hirst (4) all followed leaving Joe Hicks unbeaten on 6 and Callum Cree the only player not to bat with a score of 102-9 off the 20 overs.

In reply Waters dismissed the Walbottle opener with the opening delivery as he also extracted some significant swing with the pink ball, tv commentators would have been taking about jaffas. The batsman through some luck with inside edges and the ability to get the ball over the fielders heads took the score up to 40 before Forster (1 for 21) took a wicket with a good catch by Hicks. Ali replaced Waters (1 for 15 off 5 overs) and with his 3rd ball was successful with an lbw appeal with the batsman playing across the line. The other change bowler Tom Oliver struggled a little, his over costing 13 but he did also hold onto a tricky caught and bowled for the 4th wicket. Jack Heslop then replaced Oliver and took the second caught and bowled of the innings when he held onto a powerful drive off his third ball. It was Heslop's second over though that swung the game irreversibly Ponteland's way, his second ball was caught by keeper Dixon then next ball the new batsman was lbw. After avoiding the hat-trick though the next batsman only survived two deliveries before edging the last of the over to Dixon for a triple wicket maiden. Ali (2 for 12) then got his second lbw of the game but the number 11 survived the remainder of the over but it was Heslop with the first ball of his third over who ended the innings with a catch by Waters. Jack Heslop finished with the outstanding figures of 2.1 overs 1 maiden 5 wickets for just 2 runs to record the fifth win of the season.

Thursday 30th June 2011

Top 6 play-offs for the 3rds as Pont give Ashington the spin

After a lovely sunny day and a must win fixture for the 3rds the unwelcome arrival of a heavy rainstorm at 5.40 but was tempered when the sun burst out at 6pm and a damp but firm pitch had survived the onslaught. Ashington batted first and in Andy Denyer's opening over the batsman managed to launch one straight up and as James Ottaway stood ready underneath it at extra cover everyone heard the cry of "Simon's !" fortunately the nervous glances at our skipper were rewarded with a catch as Ottaway move out of the way of the on-rushing midoff. Robert Hall (1 for 12) then claimed the next by bowling the remaining opener. After 8 overs and the score on just 29 the attack switched to Alan Varley and Dominic Smith and the outstanding catches continued as Faisal Padikaran and Jeff Oliver both held onto catches on the boundary off Smith. Xavier Taylor then completed a smart stumping off Alan Varley which square leg looked like not giving until Xav pointed out the batsman was still out of his ground ! Wickets continued to tumble with Denyer the next catcher out by the scorebox off Varley, although his chest was nearly as heavily involved as his hands. Taylor then completed his second stumping off Smith (4 for 30) and the innings ended on 92 when Varley (4 for 32) took a caught and bowled off the number 10.

In reply the turn round in the innings saw another bank of rain swept across the ground but the sun returned and to the backdrop of a vivid rainbow the match resumed. Another rain shower passed over as Raw and Mark MacKenzie-Crooks got off to a steady start with an early all run four to MacKenzie-Crooks marked down as a three to Raw by the scorer who was distracted and busy taking pictures of the sky ! The scores were corrected later. After an opening stand of 59 Raw was caught behind for 22 and the departure of James Ottaway (3) and Peter Nesbitt (1) were followed by MacKenzie-Crooks for a patient 35 as boundaries remained hard to come by. Jeff Oliver then smashed a six to the nets to ease the pressure and Padikaran clipped his first ball for 2 to set up 4 required from the final over. Oliver then square cut the first ball of the opening over for 4 to finish unbeaten on 17 and a 6 wicket win.

The team has now been confirmed as finishing 4th and compete in the top 6 round robin for the second half of the season.

Xavier Taylor, in just his third game for the side equalled the record for number of stumpings in an entire season with his 6th & 7th

Tuesday 28th June 2011

Denyer, Waters and Xav stump Humshaugh as Pont 3rds get to the final

The 3rd xi travelled to Humshaugh for the semi final of the Midweek Cup. Having won the toss stand in skipper James Ottaway decided to bat first on a green wicket. Ponteland got off to an excellent start with some good hits from Will Urwin and some sub standard fielding from the hosts, including 4 overthrows. Xavier Taylor was bowled by Crawford for 7 and was soon followed by Parag Chauhan for 8 as Pont looked to post a formidable total. However following the departure of Will Urwin for 27, Ponts batsmen began to get bogged down with just 10 runs coming from 5 overs in the middle overs leaving Ponteland with 55 from 12 overs. Jeff Oliver departed for 11 and the lower order charge ensued with Jon Varley scoring 17, James Ottaway 20, Dave Waters 7 and Jack Schofield 13 not out after some good hitting and excellent running between the wickets leaving Pont with 121 from 20 overs.
 
Humshaugh got off to a flyer thanks to some big hitting from Gradwell leaving Humshaugh on 31 from 4 overs before Jack Schofield had Gradwell caught on the chest on the boundary by Andy Denyer for 28. Regular wickets began to fall as Humshaugh battted aggressively to try to reach the total and Ponteland holding their catches with catches from Denyer and Ottaway. After 10 overs Humshaugh were 59-4 with Jack Schofield taking 2 for 29 from 5 and Alan varley taking 2-25 from 5. Humshaugh's captain then started to bat well with Mcgowan before Parker had McGowan caught at cover by Ottaway. Humshaugh continued to chase the total down and were 95-5 off 16 when Dave Waters was introduced and bowled tidily under pressure. Denyer got the crucial breakthrough having Reid caught by Jeff Oliver from a skier that seemed to stay in the air forever. The dangerman Atkin was them removed in the 19th over run out at the non strikers end for 27 after Dave Waters palmed a drive onto the stumps and then had Crawford stumped off the next ball. An excellent last over by Denyer against the final pair only conceded 6 runs leaving Humshaugh on 114 with Taylor claiming his third stumping of the innings off the final ball. 

Overall this was an excellent team performance with everybody playing their part and putting a top effort into the fielding which was the difference between the two sides.

Report by James Ottaway

The second semi final between Newcastle City and Tynemouth is being played next week. Ponteland will host the final.

Its Sixy Taylor but Eagles need Appleby bail out

After being left to stew on two consecutive defeats for a fortnight following rain the Eagles were looking to get back to winning ways against Civil Service as the season gets to the halfway point. The Service won the toss and chose to bat and Ifty Fazal quickly claimed his first Ponteland wicket bowling the opener off the last ball of his first over. Both Fazal and Jonny Appleby bowled tidily and as the pressure mounted the next wicket came via run out as the non-striker drifted out of his ground looking for a single only to be stranded as the ball went straight to Stuart Taylor at short mid-wicket who clinically threw the stumps down. The next wicket also came via run out as Under 15 debutant Marc Dixon ran out the number 4 from point. Fazal (2 for 21) then dismissed Marshall for 25 with the last ball of his 4 over spell and Appleby (1 for 24) got a deserved wicket Taylor this time with a low catch at extra cover. Adimulam batting low down produced some powerful hitting but received little support from the other end as Duncan McGregor (2 for 27) claimed two wickets bowled and lbw. Mark Waters with the second ball of the last over then bowled Adimulam for 40 and the last two wickets fell with some suicidal running, Chris Barlow with a direct hit and Marc Dixon a second run out to end the innings on 105.

In reply the Eagles got off to a flying start as Taylor set about the opening bowlers while Dixon showed little nerves on his debut with two drives for 4. Dixon was the first wicket to fall bowled for 12 and Keith Crerar (2) was lbw shortly after. Taylor with 4 sixes and 4 fours quickly reached a 27 ball fifty and with the score on 69-2 a comfortable win was looking likely. Taylor was then caught one handed on the boundary for 51, the fielder and his team seemed extremely surprised and the Eagles innings collapsed as another debutant, Jonny Forster (0), Dominic Smith (2), Chris Morgan (5), Ifty Fazal (2) and Chris Barlow (0) were all sent packing and at 81-8 the game was in the balance. Appleby and McGregor though had other ideas and settled the innings down with some determined running to set up a final over with 14 needed. A single for McGregor was followed by a couple of twos for Appleby and two more singles before Appleby launched a straight drive down the ground, clearing the fielder at mid off and the boundary for six and setting up two from the final two balls. With the field then coming up he clipped the next ball over the head of mid on for a four to finish unbeaten on 20 and a 2 wicket victory.

Marc Dixon's two runouts is the most by a single player in an innings for the Eagles.

Monday 27th June 2011

More Urwin runs but 18s lose again

Once more U18 skipper Will Urwin led from the front as his young side, predominantly made up of U15s battled hard against a strong Percy Main side. Batting first Marc Dixon (2) was an early dismissal before Urwin and Dominic Smith (24) put on a solid stand before Smith was caught. Urwin for the second time in 3 games reached his fifty (54*) before having to retire, the speed the spinner was bowling his overs he'd already bowled his next delivery that Urwin hit for 4 before the scorers had a chance to let the ground know he'd reached his fifty. Further contributions from Pete Newbigin (17), Mark Waters (11) and Oli Parker (10*) saw Ponteland post 123-7.

In reply Mark Waters, despite a few legside wides, and Will Urwin kept the scoring under wraps, Mark taking the first wicket with an excellent low catch in the covers by Dan Gallacher. The second came through Dom Smith caught by Mark Waters followed quickly by a direct hit run out by keeper Marc Dixon throwing to the bowlers end when they tried to sneak a single. Oli Parker claimed a fourth shortly after caught by Will Urwin but Parker and Smith's 7 overs cost 59 between them as they ultimately coasted to a 6 wicket win with 3 overs to spare. There were still plenty of positives though from a side where the majority of the players were 3 years younger than their opponents.

Monday 27th June 2011

Denyer spins it up as Backworth crumble

Ponteland 2nd XI maintained their position at the top of Division B2 but they had to survive a major scare as they crawled over the line by three wickets to beat Backworth, despite having dismissed them for just 100 earlier on.
 
Having won the toss and elected to field first, Ponteland made regular inroads into the Backworth top order as Wayne Denham picked up the wicket of Rudd before his replacement in the attack Ashley Parker stamped Ponteland's authority on the game taking two wickets in an over before dismissing the ever dangerous Charlton to leave Backworth reeling.
 
At the other end, the luckless Duncan McGregor was beating the bat on several occasions and also had a couple of good shouts for LBW turned down as Pont piled on the pressure. Andy Denyer and Dave Waters were able to take advantage of this and despite some middle order resistance from Collins and Clarke, had Backworth out for exactly 100, with Denyer taking an impressive 4-8.
 
In reply, with Ponteland confident of chasing down the total, they got off to a solid start with openers Ben Lott and Matty Bell putting on 20 before Lott went for a walk outside his crease and was stumped with the keeper standing back. A couple of overs later Bell was dismissed and when Andy Morgan was sent packing LBW, Pont found themselves in a sticky situation.
 
Jon Varley soon followed as he left one on to his stumps and Pont were in trouble at 47-4. James Ottaway and Chris Morgan steadied the ship, but when Morgan became the second left handed Morgan to be dismissed LBW in the day, the innings looked set for disaster, particularly when Ottaway soon followed caught behind, as Pont struggled against the tight bowling of McLean and Richardson.
 
However, with such a small total to chase, all it was going to take was few lusty blows to swing the game back into Pont's favour, and true to form Dave Waters provided them, hitting two fours from James Morgan to put Pont in the driving seat. His dismissal with the score on 89 did leave for a few nervous moments but the experienced pair of Denyer and McGregor were able to guide Ponteland over the line to an ugly but potentially crucial three wicket victory.

Report by Chris Morgan

Sunday 26th June 2011

Pinnock's PB can't rescue Sunday side

As the season reaches its midway point the Sunday team played two weeks in a row for the first time this season today! Davipart won the toss and put Ponteland in to bat and soon had the innings in tatters as Mark Drape (0), Keith Crerar (3), Jeff Oliver (7), Phil Barlow (6) and Chris Barlow (3) were all dismissed by an opening bowling attack that gave nothing away. At 23-5 a very early finish was in the offing but Mani Ragbir was joined in the middle by skipper Neil Pinnock who was coming off the back of two first ballers. Both batted solidly against the change bowlers and Ragbir in particular was scoring comfortably early in his innings. With the partnership on 103 though Ragbir was caught for 47 but Pinnock was able to bat through to the end to finish unbeaten on a career best 81 in a total of 173-8.

The Davipart innings was a mirror of the Ponteland one with Oli Parker (1 for 15) taking a wicket in his opening over before Sam Wood with 3 and Thomas Oliver on debut from the Under 15s getting his first senior wicket caught at slip by Pinnock, his four overs costing just fifteen leabing their innings 50-5. A stand of 20 followed before Ross Harrington (1-16) bowled the number 4. Their numbers 7 & 8 though proved to be much better batsmen than their positions in the order suggested as the next 8 overs conceded 70, Sam Wood finishing with 3 for 29 from his 8 overs after an unsuccessful second spell. Jeff Oliver though in his third over got his lines right, bowling the number 8 for 37, then followed up with 2 further wickets without conceding a run to take them to 9 wickets down, but Srkanth with an excellent innings of 74 saw them to the victory with 2.3 overs to spare.

Jeff Oliver's first wicket of the day saw him became only the 4th player to take 100 wickets for the side, 15 years after he took his 99th ! The others are Tommy Oliver (168), Chris Barlow (167) and Ron Fairweather (118)

Saturday 25th June 2011

Gardner's 200th batters Backworth

After two consecutive washouts Ponteland's 1XI faced Backworth looking to maintain their place in the top two. Batting first Ponteland got off to a steady start with Wayne Ritzema and Dan Wright opening the innings. With the score on 31 Wright (16) was the first to go in the 11th over, caught behind. Matt Darwood joined Ritzema in the middle but runs continued to be hard to come by and two balls after the drinks break, with the score on 69, Ritzema was the second to go top edging to mid-wicket for 35. One run later Matt Darwood was dismissed for 11 and the game was in the balance. Tom Seymour and James Ealey continued to grind out the runs putting together a partnership of 85 before Seymour (38) was caught off the 2nd ball of he final over. Ealey (37*) and Jonny Appleby (2*) saw Ponteland reach 158-4, an innning boosted by nine dropped catches !

In reply Backworth scored 19 off the first 6 overs as John Gardner gave nothing away in his opening overs while debutant Iftikar Fazal struggled for consistency at the other end. A confident lbw appeal from Gardner saw Robson (9) dismissed, giving Gardner his 200th wicket for the 1XI in the NTSL. Number 201 followed four balls later when Will Urwin caught Race for a duck. Gardner continued to dominate the Backworth batsmen and with the score on 30 he bowled opener Finchen (10) and off the first ball of his 7th over Dan Wright took yet another excellent catch behind the stumps to remove Walker for 8. 3 consecutive maidens from Gardner built pressure and off the 1st ball of his 10th over he was rewarded with his fifth wicket with a caught and bowled. 3 balls later though he pulled up with a leg injury and his bowling spell finished with the outstanding figures of 10-6-11-5. Howard Wright replaced him in the bowling attack and his first delivery was despatched for six by Stubbs but Wright immediately struck back, bowling him next ball. In his second over he was then hit for four but again dismissed the batsman next ball with a slip catch to Gardner. A third wicket then followed for Wright in his 3rd over when Seymour clung onto a slip catch, the watching fines convenor Craig Moffat promptly fining Tom for over celebrating! It was Seymour himself who took the next wicket this time a catch to Appleby and next ball found both batsmen mid pitch after a calling mix up and Peter Nesbitt had time to measure his throw to keeper Wright for the run out and complete an emphatic 86 run victory.

John Gardner is the 2nd bowler to take 200 wickets for Ponteland in the NTSL after Duncan McGregor (216) and now holds both the 1XI (9) & 2XI (5) records for '5 fors' in the NTSL.

Ponteland 158-4 (T.Seymour 38, J.Ealey 37*, W.Ritzema 35) Backworth 72 (J.Gardner 10-6-11-2, H.Wright 3-1-12-3)
Points Ponteland 20, Backworth 2

Friday 24th June 2011

The rain finally eases off enough this week to allow the Under 15s the opportunity to clinch a place in the top half of the division ahead of the league split against Benwell & Walbottle. Winning the toss and batting first Ponteland lost an early wicket when Oli Parker was bowled for a duck. Marc Dixon and Mark Waters then put on 52 before Waters mistimed a pull and was caught for 12. Next man in Dan Gallacher then produced a cameo run a ball 13 as Ponteland continued scoring freely. Jonny Forster then joined Dixon in the middle and a few quick singles took Ponteland to 100 and Dixon to his fifty, when as per league rules he had to retire. Courtney West (5), Thomas Oliver (1) and Tom Hutchinson (1*) helped Forster (18*) scramble some quick runs to boost the score to 122-5 off the 20 overs.

In the field Ponteland were rapidly in charge with Mark Waters taking 4 wickets in his opening four overs, 3 bowled and 1 caught behind by Dixon. Waters failed to claim his 5th in his final over but still returned the outstanding figures of 5-1-9-4. Oli Parker then struck in his final over for equally impressive figures of 5-1-10-1 to leave Benwell & Walbottle on 20 for 5 off 10. Jack McHugh (1 for 8) and Dan Gallacher (2 for 3) claimed a further 3 wickets in the next four overs, with another catch for Dixon and one for Jack McHugh. Thomas Oliver (1 for 7) took the next during his 2 over spell before the final wicket fell to Adam Lawson (1 for 5) was caught by Forster for an emphatic 72 run win as the innings ended on 50.

Ponteland will now face the top 4 in the remainder of the season. Marc Dixon's 52 ball fifty contained 8 fours was the first fifty since Mark Gillespie's 57* in 2007 against Percy Main away, Will Urwin scored 49 in 2008 against the same opposition and Pete Newbigin 46 against Benwell & Walbottle in 2009.

Thursday 23rd June 2011

Wet conditions continue to dominate June with the 3XI match against league leaders Newcastle City rained off. Ponteland must now win their final game next week and hope none of the other sides play tonight to maintain their hopes of finishing in the top 6 ahead of the league split to 2 divisions. We currently sit 6th but only 4 points separate 4th and 8th.

Wednesday 22nd June 2011

The 2XI Cup Semi Final against Whickham and the Eagles match against Procter & Gamble have both been rained off. The cup match will be played on Wednesday 6th July. No date has been arranged for the Eagles match as yet.

Monday 20th June 2011

Humshaugh defeated South Northumberland in the Ian Appleby Cup, Ponteland will travel to Humshaugh on a date to be decided for the Semi-Final

Sunday 19th June 2011

Its W-day as the Victorians fall

With the cover on since Thursday skipper Chris Barlow was at the ground before 8am this morning to see if there was any chance of play in the Sunday Friendly against Victorians. 19 trips to the boundary later with the BowDry (about 950 litres of water !) the cover was removed revealing an unsurprisingly green but dry and firm wicket. By 2pm the outfield was also dry and the enormous storm that hit Newcastle bypassed the ground and a 30 over game was on.

Ponteland won the toss and put the opposition in and Ashley Parker and Sam Wood made early inroads in the opening 8 overs as the opener was stumped by Chris Morgan off Sam Wood and Oli Parker held on to one at mid-off from his brother. When Wood struck again in his fourth over he had 2 for 2 and Victorians were 9 for 3. Number 5 Raheel proved to be unorthodox to the extreme, marching down the wicket and using switch hits and Ponteland missed several opportunities to dismiss him. At the other end after Ross Harrington (1 for 11) held onto a caught and bowled he also found a much more othodox partner and the pair put on nearly 100 before the returning Wood had Raheel caught by Dan Wright for 53. Murili then followed, stumped by Morgan off debutant Mani Ragbir, who bowled his 6 overs for 27. The final wicket fell after yet another no-ball called by Victorians, who seemed to work on the principle that if it was a full-toss it was a no-ball ignoring the rule about waist high. Dan Wright took the catch and then ran the batsman out who was stood in mid pitch having started to walk off. Victorians finished on 148-7, Sam Wood the stand out bowler with 3 for 11 in his 6 overs.

In reply Ponteland got off to a strong start with Wright and Morgan batting fairly comfortably in the face of an excitable bowling attack who seemed to feel anything that hit the pads had to be lbw, ignoring basic rules like pitching outside leg stump. Morgan was the first to go on 24 but the 64 run partnership had set up the chase. Mark Drape accompanied Wright to his first fifty of the season before being caught for 15 with the score on 120. Phil Barlow then struck a couple of powerful fours early in his innings and the win was completed from the final ball of the 25th over, Wright unbeaten on 74 and Barlow 13 to give the team its first win of the season.

Saturday 18th June 2011

More rain frustration for 1s and 2s

The persistant rain on Saturday prevented any chance of play for either sides.

Friday 17th June 2011

The U15s were defeated by Tynemouth today. Tynemouth lost 2 early wickets to Mark Waters and Oli Parker but rebuilt their innings to post 114-4, Mark Dixon finishing with 2 for 27 off his 5 overs. Ponteland in reply lost 3 quick wickets and slumped to just 58 all out with only Marc Dixon 12 and Mark Waters 10 into double figures.

Wednesday 15th June 2011

3rds improve chances of top six finish

With a much changed team after Tuesday's cup tie the thirds travelled to Morpeth today to find a pitch mix-up saw them playing on the main pitch at Longhirst rather than the more usual golf club ground. James Ottaway won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first on an excellent wicket and Will Urwin quickly set about the opening bowlers accompanied by some positive running with Simon Raw. Urwin dominated the strike in the first 10 overs and raced to his first 3rd team fifty before being caught on 61 off 41 balls in the 11th over. After his dismissal the run rate inevitably dropped a little but Raw and Jeff Oliver were able to score at around 7 an over across the final 9 overs to reach a season best score of 161-1 off the 20 overs. Raw unbeaten on 42 and Oliver 35.

Morpeth set out aggressively but the game swung Ponteland's way in the opening 4 overs as Alan Varley had the opener Ingram (5) charging down the wicket to his second ball to give Xavier Taylor his first stumping for Ponteland then Jones (3) was lbw in his next over, with Dave Waters also bowling tidily at the other end. Varley )3 for 15) then picked up a third with a second stumping for Taylor. Oli Parker (0 for 28) and Robert Hall (0 for 29) bowled the next 8 overs between them with little success as Wonders and Forster put on 80 but always behind the run rate. Neil Pinnock (0 for 16) and Dave Waters (0 for 28 off 5) bowled the next four before Chris Barlow bowling the final over broke the partnership with his first ball when Wonders (63) was caught at extra cover by Raw. Morpeth finished on 126 for 4 as despite the pitch and fast outfield Ponteland restricted them to just 8 fours compared to Pont's 16.

Tuesday 14th June 2011

Mark M-C and Schofield lead 3rd to cup semis

Ponteland's midweek 3XI faced Premier League side Newcastle in the Ian Appleby cup quarter final at Ponteland today. Winning the toss James Ottaway chose to bat and Mark MacKenzie-Crooks and Will Urwin opened the batting in positive fashion Urwin in particular racing to 22, before after being dropped the previous ball was brilliantly caught at short fine leg from a powerful leg glance. Jon Varley and Mark maintained the run-rate with a partnership of 74 before Varley was caught for 37. Mark then reached his fifty and James Ottaway chipped in with an unbeaten 12 as Ponteland posted a strong 132-2.

In reply Jack Schofield soon had the innings in trouble, first with an outstanding caught and bowled in his opening over which had the spectators looking down the ground for the boundary ! He then followed up by bowling Sinclair (9) and Jason Clark (19) in his 4th over. Stafford after hitting him for a huge 6 followed shortly after lbw for 8. Schofield then completed his first five wicket innings for Ponteland in his final over bowling Wright for 13 to finish with outstanding figures of 5 for 29 off 6 overs. Ponteland's change bowlers kept runs off the bat to a minimum but both were generous with their wides, Robert Hall unusually wayward with 12 of the 22 runs he conceded coming in this fashion. Dave Waters with 8 of his 19 also requiring the umpire to stretch his arms. Fortunately both were able to strike in between the sundries, McKenzie-Crooks with a straight forward stumping off Hall as Dunn (12) went down the wicket and the dangerous Covell given out lbw to Waters before he got started. Jeff Oliver then produced a run out with a throw from near the scorebox before Hall took a skied caught and bowled and Waters finished the game when Dave Reay took the catch running back from point to dismiss Newcastle for 96, a total that included 21 wides (the most the team has ever conceded !)

Ponteland will face either South Northumberland or Humshaugh away in the semi final to be played by (and probably on) Wednesday 29th June.

Monday 13th June 2011

Rain wins out but 2s climb to the summit

The wet weather won the day over the weekend with the 1XI and Friendly games never getting started while the 2XI managed to bat against Ryton, posting an impressive 233 in their 35 overs with 46 from Andy Morgan and 43 from Jon Varley. Ryton were already 2 wickets down for 4 runs when the rain came with Wayne Denham claiming both. Ponteland's 6 bonus points plus the five for the rain off saw them leapfrog Swalwell and Whickham to top the table as the game between the two never got started.

The U15s lost on Friday, their 3rd in a row with Ashington scoring 123-2 Ponteland only managed 62 all out.

The 3XI lost to Benwell Hill on Thursday. Batting first Benwell Hill scored 122 but some very accurate bowling prevented one of our strongest batting line-ups of the season from getting going and Ponteland ended up with just 97 from their 20 overs.

Tuesday 7th June 2011

Fenham Hall Cook the Eagles

The Eagles were looking to bounce back from defeat at the Spitfires last week with a fixture against FHCC but with the injuries and unavailabilities mounting only one of the previous weeks top six remained in the side. Fenham won the toss and James Ottaway got the innings off to a flier with three fours in the opening over before throwing his wicket away. Jonny Appleby and Keith Crerar built a solid stand of 64 before Crerar was dismissed for 20 and Phil Barlow (1) and George Hunter (0) fell in quick succession before Appleby reached his fifty and Dave Waters (16*) with some late hitting pushed the score to 123-3, Appleby remaining unbeaten on 57 off 51 balls.

In reply after a tight opening over from Ashley Parker the Eagles seemed surprisingly flat in the field with some uncharacteristicly sloppy fielding early on. The batsmen for Fenham, Rory Cook in particular with some powerful shots as he raced to a 39 ball fifty. Ross Harrington (1-23) finally made the breakthrough with Lunn falling to a good low catch at backward point by Jonny Appleby. Keith Crerar then claimed two quick wickets again to good catches by George Hunter at cover then Cook on 59 to James Ottaway at mid wicket. F.H.C.C however were well within site of the target and coasted to victory with an over to spare.

The Eagles now have a week off before resuming the campaign on Wednesday 22nd against Procter & Gamble.

Saturday 4th June 2011

Taylor made innings provides perfect platform

Ponteland maintained there strong start to the season, coming out on top with yet another close-run affair at home to Greenside. Having won the toss and elected to bat first, Ponteland lost James Ritzema early, with Darwood and Seymour following at regular intervals across the first 20 overs. Ritzema senior remained defiant during this period, with a patient 34 until falling leg before to Tones.
 
The tortoise and hare partnership followed of 58 between Taylor and Ealey - the former playing a range of sweetly timed shots to reach his half century. Sadly for Pontleland both were lost within a four over period, with a cluster of three more wickets following rapidly. Lower order contributions from Appleby and Gardner got the final total up to 162.
 
In reply, despite an early wicket from Gardner, Greenside progressed steadily until 88-2 and the removal of Stephenson by Seymour. Sensing the opportunity to apply pressure wickets from Ritzema and Ealey then provided a platform for a retuen of the opening pair - Gardner and Wright more than answered the call with 2-25 and 3-25 to put Pont on the verge of victory. With one wicket remaining, slick work in the field between Appleby and Dan Wright secured an all important run out and 20 points.

Report by James Ealey

Thursday 2nd June 2011

Oliver and Chauhan set up 3rds win

Ponteland's 3XI took on Backworth tonight under the temporary leadership of our Captaincy answer to Red Adair, Chris Barlow (younger readers may need to visit google at this point!)

Winning the toss and batting first Ponteland charged out of the blocks as Parag Chauhan despatched the first ball of the game for 6 and by the end of the first over the score was on 17. The early dismissal of Ben Lott (6) barely slowed the rate as Chauhan and Jeff Oliver notched up a fifty partnership and the score raced to 83 in the 9th over before a mix-up saw Chauhan run out for 47 off 23 balls. The double bowling change worked for Backworth with both bowling a much tighter line and the runs began to dry up with Keith Crerar bowled for 2. Under 13 player George Hunter on his 3rd XI debut batted with increasing confidence reaching 11 before being caught behind. Oliver then reached his first fifty (51*) for Ponteland since his comeback this season and alongside Phil Barlow (6*) posted a score of 133-4.

In response Robert Hall, on seasonal debut, and Andy Denyer soon had the batsmen under control, Hall bowling the first enroute to outstanding figures of 6-0-16-1 and Denyer with 6-0-29-2 bowling Collins for 13 then having Davison (15) caught at extra cover by Chris Barlow. With only fifty coming off the first 12 overs Ponteland were now in control and Ben Lott (4-15-0) and Dave Waters (3-14-0) ended any hopes of a Backworth comeback before Hunter 0-9 bowled the final over to win by 38 runs.

Tuesday 31st May 2011

Spitfires gun down the Eagles

The Eagles made the long trek to Brandon today and despite leaving at 5pm it was 6.30 before the side had managed to all get there but Spitfires still insisted on a 16 over match. Batting first initially it was Ashley Parker who kept the Spitfires innings under wraps taking 2 for 22 in his 4 overs while Dave Waters was unlucky at the other end with an easy catch put down by Will Urwin. Ben Lott 2 for 37 and Dom Smith 3 for 36 helped restrict the target to 144.

In reply though the innings got off to a disasterous start with Lott run out for 4 and Urwin bowled for 0 to leave the innings on 6 for 2. Xavier Taylor on debut scored 10 and Dave Waters a rapid 30 as the Eagles continued to chase aggressively. Once both and Faizal Padikaran (13) had been dismissed with the score on 62, Neil Pinnock and Chris Morgan launched a counter attack with 27 coming from a single over as Morgan hit 3 sixes. Morgan though was caught in the next over for 25 before Pinnock (31) was undone by a fast straight delivery from the returning opening bowler. With 12 needed from the final three wickets the innings disintegrated as Ashley Parker (1) and Dom Smith (3) were both dismissed and off the final ball of the 15th over the final wicket fell when Oli Parker was bowled for 5 to leave the innings just 3 short on 141 with an over unused.

Monday 30th May 2011

Pont pair answer emergency SOS in style

Ponteland continued their excellent start to the season at Benwell & Walbottle on Saturday with a convincing 8 wicket victory. Having answered the late call due to a last-minute injury withdrawal, John Gardner delivered a fine opening spell taking 1-16 from his opening nine overs. This was more than matched by Howard Wright who produced an outstanding spell of 6-19 from 15 overs as Benwell & Walbottle had no answer to the pair. Not to be outdone, Wayne Ritzema then span his usual tight web to deliver 3-18 from almost 10 overs reducing the opposition to 64 all out.
 
Despite the early loss of James Ritzema, the reply then progressed without undue alarm with Ritzema senior (28) and an unbeaten 24 from Matt Darwood enabling Ponteland to reach the target after 22 overs and secure a full 20 points.

Report by James Ealey

Sunday 29th May 2011

The 1XI charged to victory, dismissing Benwell & Walbottle for just 62 with Howard Wright returning outstanding figures of 15 overs 5 for 19. Ponteland lost 2 wickets scoring the runs.

The 2XI also completed a comfortable victory, Chopwell scoring 152-7 off their 42 overs, at one stage Ashley Parker had 2 wickets for 2 runs off 6 overs before finishing with 3 for 35 and Dave Waters 3 for 30. Ponteland charged to a 9 wicket victory with Matty Bell unbeaten on 52 and Andy Morgan 29*. Parag Chauhan also scoring 29. Unfortunately, while opening the batting with Bell, Andy Graves on 20 sustained a serious leg injury. Early reports are that he has ruptured his achilles. All at Ponteland wish him a successful and speedy recovery.

Also on the injury front the 1XI suffered a blow with the news on Saturday morning that opening bowler Craig Moffat had broken his hand in the 1XI cup match on Wednesday night and is out for 4 to 6 weeks. Chris Barlow takes over the captaincy of the Eagles until he is able to return.

The U15s took on Benwell Hill on Friday night looking to make it 4 wins in a row. Batting first Benwell Hill's opener was dropped first ball by Mark Waters off a caught and bowled chance and went on to make 45 before being excellently caught by Jack McHugh at deep long on off Marc Dixon. Benwell Hill finished on 125-3 with the other wickets to Oliver Parker (1-36) and Waters (1-14) again to an excellent catch one handed by Dixon. Ponteland mounted a spirited chase of the target with Dixon (40) and Jonny Forster (20) puttinng on 64 for the first wicket before Ponteland lost 4 for 19 in the middle of their innings. Parker (14) and Heslop 19* then battled back but fell 10 runs short on 115-5.

Friday 27th May 2011

The 3XI match against South North fell victim to the heavy rain showers last night denying stand-in skipper Chris Barlow the opportunity to captain 3 teams in a week. The curse that seems to have settled on the Sunday side has also struck again with for the second week in succession, the opposition has cried off. After Blagdon this week, Riding Mill have been unable to raise a team.

Thursday 26th May 2011

The 1XI travelled to Alnwick for the Wellstream A Division Cup match last night. Alnwick scored 170-3 and Ponteland fell just short on 165-2, James Ritzema 60, Wayne Ritzema 51, Stuart Taylor 28* and James Ealey 24*. Looking at the scorecard the difference between winning and losing would appear to be the seven wides (plus whatever runs came off the extra deliveries) we conceded against their none.

Monday 23rd May 2011

At 10 to 8 this morning the Eagles were in chaos ahead of their match with one of the main title rivals Kings Old Boys, when skipper Craig Moffat withdrew with a knee injury sustained in the field on Saturday and other cry-offs leaving the team down to just seven. Stand-in skipper Chris Barlow sent out the SOS and recruited Ben Lott, club chairman Andy Morgan and ever willing committee member John Parker to take to the field and Andy was able to secure the services of our highly rated U13 George Hunter for his senior debut to give us an 11 so by mid-day the two longest unbeaten streaks in the league were still to go head to head, 12 for the Eagles and 13 for Kings.

Losing the toss Kings opted to bat and the Eagles headed into the field with gale force winds gusting into the high 70s mph that Andy described as "the worst weather I have ever played in". They got off to a flier as Ashley Parker struggled to bowl in the huge crosswind. Jonny Appleby from the other end struck in his first over as he bowled Marcus Turner for 9. Morse and Fraser rattled the score along well in excess of 10 an over as Parker conceded 37 off his 3 overs. Dave Waters replaced him in and in his first over bowled Fraser for 28 before George Hunter, who fielded well throughout marked his first game with a good catch from a swirling delivery to give Appleby (4-41-2) his second wicket. Waters then finally got through left hander Morse's defences for 65 but C.Dunn maintained the momentum to the end of the 13th over as the score reached 148. Ben Lott bowling from the opposite end then played a crucial role in halting the Old Boys innings in its tracks as he bowled Dunn for 32 with the first ball. After a 2 he then bowled the next batsman and next ball fielded a defensive prod to find the non striker charging past him and was able to complete a comfortable run out a further single was scored before he bowled another batsman to take a fourth wicket in the over. Rather surprisingly with 1 ball left to go the Old Boys opted not send their final batsman to the crease, thereby unexpectedly giving Ponteland maximum bowling points as they were dismissed for 152.

In reply Ponteland's two under 18 batsmen, Will Urwin and Lott got Ponteland off to a storming start as they eclipsed the Old Boys start, Lott in particular taking the attack to the extent that when the fifty was posted in the 5th over he had 41 of them. Ben completed his fifty before being bowled for 56 with the score on 80 and then 14 runs later Urwin was caught behind for 25. Dave Waters and George Hunter then put on 10 before George (1) was run out following an optomistic call for 2 by Dave. An alteration to the batting order saw chairman Morgan send in Appleby to bat as for a couple of overs the innings regrouped. After 5 dot balls to start his innings Appleby burst into life and took 19 runs off 5 balls in the 13th over, Dave also getting six as 26 runs came and saw Ponteland needing 6 off the final over. With the field up Appleby lifted the second and fourth balls over the top for four to clinch an outstanding maximum point victory by 7 wickets.

Ben Lott unsurprisngly was voted man of the match. The Eagles now hold the longest winning run by any Ponteland side at 13 straight wins and face the other major title contenders, Stonebridge, away next Thursday.

Old Boys 152 (P.Morse 65, B.Lott 3-21) Ponteland 154-3 (B.Lott 56, D.Waters 34*, J.Appleby 28*, W.Urwin 25)
Points Ponteland 11, Old Boys 3

First XI Saturday match report now available below

Sunday 22nd May 2011

Pont cut it close against the Bank Boys

After the midweek loss of Ed Common to NEPL outfit Newcastle and fellow partners-in-sport Ponteland United winning the Northern Alliance on the same day, Ponteland looked to consolidate their position in the top 3 by beating Whickham at home in an(other!) close match.

Ponteland batted first, and after a relatively slow start, the brothers Ritzema soon blossomed into a strong partnership, with professional Parr played with relative ease, and well run singles and 2’s soon were the order of the day.

The opening pair put on 81 before James was caught at mid-off for 37, which meant Darwood entered the fray and continued his good run of form by quickly upping the pace with Ritzema, scoring boundaries either side of the wicket. When Darwood was run out, for 53, the score was 181 for 2, with still 5 overs remaining. Ritzema was then bowled six runs later for a dogged 77, leaving the big hitters of Tom Seymour (15*) and Stu Taylor to finish the innings a la the IPL. The final 2 overs yielded more runs, Taylor scoring 12* off 5 balls; Ponteland finished up with 204 for 3.

--

It was Whickhams turn to bat, and with the wind behind him, Moffat soon dismissed one of the openers caught behind by Wright. Parr soon followed, bowled by a ball keeping low. McGregor soon had the other opener, with a diving catch at cover by Wayne Ritzema. 32 for 3. Regardless of their position, runs were still flowing for Whickham, with Tony Ainey compiling runs at one end, and partners quietly scoring at the other. Howard Wright was unlucky to have 2 dropped catches and a near miss via the fielders knee…

The return of Moffat soon heralded another wicket, and with Wright soon dismissing Ainey (51) with an excellent leg side stumping off Seymour, once again Pont were in control. Another superb piece of keeping from Wright, a diving catch to his left, gave Moffat his 5-fer, but Whickham were still in the hunt. With 12 needed of the last over, Ritzema’s significant turn kept the batsmen at bay, and with 6 required off the last ball, a single was achieved and Pont were yet again involved in another tight match.

Ponteland 204-3 (W.Ritzema 77, M.Darwood 53, J.Ritzema 37) Whickham 200-8 (S.Davidson 55*, A.Ainley 51, C.Moffat 5-44)
Points Ponteland 19, Whickham 6

Report by Craig Moffat

2XI take pole position

Ponteland Second XI raced to the top of Division B2 after an excellent win and performance against Whickham – the team who previously shared top spot with them before the match.

Ponteland skipper Chris Morgan won the toss and elected to bat and despite a slow first few overs from opening pair Steve Edwards and Matty Bell, they soon got into their stride, with Edwards hitting some huge blows in his 86 while Bell showed elegance with some excellent cover drives before he was bowled for 28. Jon Varley was next at the crease and himself played some brilliant shots, particularly in the extra cover region before he was stumped for 43. With such an excellent foundation laid, the middle order had licence to hit with Andy Morgan, Ben Lott and Richard Moller all adding double figure scores to a formidable total of 255-8 from 45 overs.

In reply, having been beaten at the same ground last season having posted a similar score, Pont knew they would have to work hard to claim the victory. Whickham went about it in their usual style, with some robust blows from opener McIntyre, well supported by Nunn, before the latter was caught at slip by Andy Morgan from John Gardner.

Ruddick joined McIntyre at the crease and the pair continued the early good run rate. After dropping a fairly straight forward chance earlier in the innings, skipper Morgan was able to make amends for his earlier misdemeanour when McIntyre edged behind from Jack Schofield for 57. Schofield at this point, despite getting some tap, had bowled an excellent spell uphill into the wind, so the wicket was just reward for his efforts. With the removal of the key man, Whickham began to lose wickets at regular intervals, as Gardner removed Davison and then the two Waters, Dave (7-0-34-3) and Mark ripped through the Whickham middle order taking three wickets a piece, with Mark bowling his best spell yet for the side (6-2-14-3).

With the light fading and the dark clouds looming, John Gardner took the final Whickham wicket to claim a 20 point victory for Ponteland and move us clear at the top of the table.

Report by Chris Morgan

The Sunday side's frustrating season continued as Blagdon cried off late on Saturday night with only 6 players. Needless to say the forecasted rain never then arrived and a sunny day went to waste.

Saturday 21st May 2011

On a sunny evening at Ponteland the U15s faced Bckworth last night. Batting first Backworth struggled early on as Mark Waters and Oli Parker bowled tight spells and most of the runs came from extras. Waters took two wickets, both lbw, in his third over before Marc Dixon bowled two consecutive batsmen but his hat-trick delivery was a wide. Jonny Forster, Tom Oliver and Shoaib Ali all took wickets as the innings subsided to 57-7 before 11 came off the final over from Parker to set a target of 69 to win.

In reply Ponteland got off to a poor start as Mark Waters was bowled early on then Marc Dixon ran out his partner Jonny Forster and shortly after himself ! Following the dismissal of Jonny Mole, Parker became becalmed and the innings crawled along as Parker, Courteney West and Tom Oliver rebuilt the innings. When all three were dismissed in quick succession it fell to the last three batsmen to score 6 off the last 8 balls and the bowlers foot came to the Backworth rescue as Callum Cree's powerful straight drive was blocked. The final over saw 5 required and Ali was caught off the second ball but the last and youngest Ponteland pair, Cree and Simon Hirst, scrambled 3 off the next three balls to secure the tie with 1 ball to go and when the keeper fumbled the final ball the non striker was able to make his ground to clinch a thrilling one wicket win to leave the side unbeaten.

Friday 20th May 2011

The 2011 photographs are now online from 1XI South North, 1XI Leadgate, 3XI Newcastle & 3XI Percy Main Cup

Thursday 19th May 2011

The 3XI returned to Percy Main last night for the league fixture, with returning skipper opting to allow vice-captain James Ottaway to take the toss in the hope of changing the fortunes - he didn't ! Put into bat Pont were unable to match the start from two days earlier as skipper Raw (19) outscored Dave Reay early on (admittedly with a significant proportion of the strike). After Raw's dismissal Reay (40) and Ottaway (23) upped the tempo before both were dismissed. Jeff Oliver (18*) and Faisal Padikaran (11*) helped lift the score to a competitive 122-3.

With Ashley Parker behind the stumps after 'retiring from bowling at Percy Main' once again it was Andy Denyer who kept the early scoring under control and claimed the wicket of Boyd bowled for 17. Backed up by an excellent catch by Dave Waters at long on and an lbw when the opener bizarrly attempted a reverse sweep Andy claimed his 4th consecutive 3 wicket haul. Percy Main did however manage to keep up with the run rate and despite a wicket for Waters (4-24-1) well caught at square leg by Jeff Oliver the game was in the balance with two overs to go. Keith Crerar then managed a direct hit run out at the non strikers end then next ball Jack Schofield (6-39-1) bowled Wood. With 8 needed of the final over Cramman managed 2s of the first 3 balls before trying to launch Denyer out of the ground only for Schofield to hold onto the catch at long on for Denyer's fourth wicket. However the new batsmen despatched his first ball for four and Percy Main won by 3 wickets.

Tuesday 17th May 2011

The games continue to come thick and fast with the 3XI Ian Appleby cup match this evening at Percy Main. Ashley Parker, captaining his first senior game for the club in the absence of Simon Raw won the toss and opted to bat and Will Urwin and Dave Reay got Ponteland off to a flier, Urwin in particular being very severe early on with some powerful driving. The score raced up to 80 before Urwin (44) missed a straight one from Blyth Duncan Jnr and was bowled. Faisal Padikaran (0) quickly followed before Jon Varley, returning from injury joined Reay in a 30 run partnership before Reay was dismissed for 45. Waters (4) departed quickly but Varley (24*) and some late hitting from Jeff Oliver (19*) including a six boosted the score up to 147-4 off the 20 overs.

Opening the bowling with a combination of pace and spin it was Andy Denyer who caused chaos in the Main top order, his three dismissals all caught and bowled. Jack Schofield replaced Denyer and maintained the pressure but Boyd was particularly severe on the bowlers from the other end as first Parker with 30 off his 3 overs and Jeff Oliver 17 off his one were battered out of the attack. Parker then turned to another spin option, giving Dave Reay his first over for the club and Boyd on 70 picked out Denyer at deep midwicket to give Denyer his fourth catch in the 19th over. Boyd's dismissal was quickly followed by a run out from Parker and Percy Main finally ended 14 runs short.

Andy Denyer's 4 catches breaks the midweek team record and he is in all likelihood the first person for all senior teams to take three caught and bowled dismissals in the same match as well.

The side now faces Newcastle at home in the next round. Date to be decided.

Monday 16th May 2011

The under 18s almost got off to a flyer away at Benwell and Walbottle in the cup tonight. Winning the toss Urwin had no hesitation in choosing to bowl first on a dry, cracked pitch with a very overcast sky. Mark Waters (2-19) and Oli Parker (1-27) bowled great opening spells keeping B&W to less than 50 after their 5 over spells. Urwin (1-19) and Smith (4-36) offered a slower option turning to spin to finish the innings off with Smith taking some great wickets with the assistance of star fielder Tom Hutchinson taking two blinders at cover. Benwell and Walbottle being restricted to 113 off their 20 overs.

Urwin and Smith got ponteland off to a solid start ahead of the rate before Smith (8) was dismissed bowled round his legs. Urwin raced to a 38 ball 50 with 8 fours and a six before being forced to retire at fifty as per the under 18 league rules. Ponteland looked set on 100-4 requiring only 13 to win from 7 overs before an almighty collapse took place, the last 5 wickets falling for only 1 run within 8 balls seeing Ponteland crumble to a cup knock out by 6 runs.

Credit must go to a very young side though, consisting of 9 U15 players, who took on a much older Benwell & Walbottle team and almost defeated them. With lessons learned, next time they are in this position they know to take a much calmer approach to try to finish off the game, you are allowed to use a defensive shot in a 20 over match !

Based on a report by Will Urwin

Sunday 15th May 2011

The Sunday side finally took to the field today for the first time in 2011 to take on Genetics at Swalwell. Losing the toss and fielding the lack of matches for some was immediately evident with some poor fielding, dropped catches and plenty of good deliveries interspersed with numerous 'four-balls'. Andy Denyer 2 for 30 bowled well as did Oli Parker, his first 5 over spell costing just 9 runs. Parker returned to claim a second wicket late on to finish with 2 for 32. Earlier Sam Wood marked an impressive debut with his eight overs costing just 17 runs and a first Ponteland wicket. Perhaps the crucial moment came when number 3 Stewart was bowled by Ross Harrington on 23 but despite off stump taking a heafty hit the bail somehow failed to drop. Stewart went on to reach 52 before being dismissed. The final wicket to fall fell to Dom Smith lbw as Genetics posted 181-7 off their 40 overs.

After the early dismissal of Chris Morgan for 2, lbw on the second bounce Andy Denyer and Keith Crerar batted Ponteland into contention before Denyer (28) was caught off the glove down the leg side. This unfortunately started a procession as Dave Loxham (4), Faisal Padikaran (2), Neil Pinnock and Chris Barlow (both 0) were all quickly back in the pavilion. Dominic Smith combined with Keith in a partnership of 30 to maintain an outside chance of still chasing the target and Keith reached only his second fifty for the side. Once Smith (8) was bowled however the chance was gone as Sam Wood (4) and Oli Parker (4) also departed quickly. Crerar hitting out reached 74 before being the last wicket to fall as Ponteland were dismissed on 148 with nearly 7 overs remaining. A little longevity at the crease from some of the others would have resulted in victory.

Back to the nets and plenty of practice needed !

Saturday 14th May 2011

After the defeat to Lintz the 1XI were looking to bounce back against the other relegated side and early season pace setters Leadgate. After being put into bat the game was then delayed for 40 minutes by a heavy rain shower so the game was reduced to 43 overs. Ponteland had a steady start as the Ritzema brothers put on 62 for the first wicket before a powerful drive by James deflected off the bowler onto the stumps and found Wayne (32) stranded short of the crease. Matt Darwood was then lbw first ball and the Leadgate spinners took control. Tom Seymour struggled with the spin and was dismissed for a 21 ball duck and Stuart Taylor on his return to the 1XI fared little better with 2 runs. James Ealey put his early season batting woes behind him in a stand of 59 to drag Ponteland up towards 140 before three wickets fell in the final 3 overs with Ealey (33), Ed Common (4) and Jonny Appleby (0) dismissed as Ponteland reached 142-7.

In reply the opening bowlers struggled early on before Tom Seymour (1 for 20) took the first wicket well caught by James Ritzema. First change bowler Duncan McGregor took the next wicket as his six overs cost just seven runs. Before a stand of 30 took Leadgate up to 60. Wayne Ritzema's off-spin was then brought into the attack as Ponteland looked to take the pace off the ball and shortly afterwards was bowling in partnership with Ealey. Ponteland's fielders then backed up their bowlers as Howard Wright took an outstanding running catch at long-on off Ealey, then Dan Wright behind the stumps took an excellent reaction catch after the batsman played the ball onto his foot off Ritzema. Ealey then took a second when Stuart Taylor topped the previous two dismissals with a catch diving forwards from mid-off, again off Ealey. With both bowlers extracting significant turn Ealey and Ritzema breached the batsman's defences to bowl the next batsmen to reduce the innings to 110-9. Some big hitting in Ealey's final over pushed the score up to 127 before Ritzema got through to bowl the last man and claim a fifteen run win. Ealey finishing with 3 for 27 and Ritzema, his first 5 wicket match for the club with 5 for 27 as Ponteland forced their way back into the early season leaders in the league.

Ponteland 142-7 (J.Ritzema 66*, J.Ealey 33) Leadgate 127 (W.Ritzema 5-17, J.Ealey 3-27)
Points Ponteland 20, Leadgate 5

The 2XI remain undefeated after beating Leadgate's seconds. Bowling first Ponteland recovered from a blistering start by Leadgate who raced to 80 off the first ten overs before being dismissed for 146, Jack Schofield 4 for 50, John Gardner 3-55 and Under 15 Mark Waters 2 for 14.

Ponteland then reached 120-2 before losing five wickets for four runs before skipper Chris Morgan (16*) and Jack Schofield (15*) saw the team to a maximum point victory.

Friday 13th May 2011

The Under 15s travelled to Seaton Burn in the unusual position in recent years of trying to win two games in a row with a team showing 8 changes. Batting first Ponteland's Mark Waters was an early wicket before Marc Dixon (27) and Jonny Forster (29) put Pont in a strong position and Tom Hutchinson with 10 then helped the innings creep up to 100 as wickets tumbled following their dismissals.

In reply Ponteland's captain Mark Waters bowled his five overs for just fifteen and claimed a wicket as he put Seaton Burn behind the run rate. Forster (5-24-2) and Damien Cooke (5-23-2) then helped restrict Seaton Burn to 96 and a four run victory.

Thursday 12th May 2011

After the 1 run defeat to Humshaugh last week Ponteland faced Newcastle. Ponteland won the toss and bowled first and Ashley Parker took his first wickets of the season bowling two of the top order in his opening two overs and Andy Denyer dismissed the other opener caught behind who refused to walk despite a blatant edge but the umpire gave him no reprieve. Sinclair launched a counter attack charging to 35, but Denyer (3 for 19) and Schofield (2 for 11) helped restrict the innings once he was dismissed. Jeff Oliver kept the innings under control with 1 for 5 off his 3 overs as the innings limped to 80-9 off the 20 overs.

Ponteland's innings initially started slowly with Simon Raw still struggling for timing. His dismissal for 5 brought in James Ottaway who hit 3 fours in quick succession in his 9 ball knock to alter the tempo. Once Stuart Taylor had been dropped at mid wicket he also increased the pace of his innings and Ponteland raced to victory in the 11th over as Taylor (49*) and Bell (10*) completed an eight wicket victory. This was Ponteland's first win against Newcastle since 2004.

Wednesday 11th May 2011

At Last ! After 10 years in the NTSL the 2XI finally broke their duck tonight - by winning a cup match ! Since Jun 2001 against Belsay the 2XI have been knocked out of the cup everytime they took to the field (a concession the only time they have progressed). Winning the toss and batting first against Alnwick Steve Edwards (23) and Stuart Taylor (19) put on 51 for the first wicket before Holist (4-36) and Hollingworth (4-13) ran through the batting line-up. Only Dave Waters (16) contributing down the order before Chris Morgan (4*) and Andy Denyer (7*) put on a vital 12 runs at the end of the innings.

The first Alnwick wicket fell when Jack Schofield (2-29) deflected a straight drive back onto the stumps, then went on to claim the next two wickets as Alnwicks innings stuttered before their skipper Stewart launched a counter attack, taking 13 off Howard Wright's first over. Andy Morgan broke the partnership with an accurate throw from by the scorebox before Andy Denyer (2-22) claimed two lbws in an over to peg the innings back and they finished on 98-6, Stewart unbeaten on 27 as Ponteland won by 22 runs. The team travels to the winners of Swalwell and Consett in the quater-finals (we had a first round bye)

The team against Belsay in that last win 11 seasons ago was: Richard Jennings, Andy Roberts, Neil Pinnock, Alex Newman, John Ferrier, Jonny Appleby, Daniel Duggan, Phil Barlow, Chris Barlow, Alan Varley and Geoff Appleby.
Ponteland 130-4 Roberts 35, J.Appleby 33*, J.Ferrier 23* and Belsay 119-6, C.Barlow 5-0-20-2, A.Varley 5-0-23-1, J.Appleby 5-0-30-1 who also had two run outs.

Tuesday 10th May 2011

With the forecast showers never appearing the Eagles faced Merz & McLellan in their second fixture of the season. Losing the toss and fielding first the Eagles took control in the opening over as Ashley Parker claimed his first two wickets of the season, with nos 1 and 3 both bowled. Ash (3-5-3) then took the 3rd wicket as Craig Moffat held onto a one hander at mid off to leave the innings in disarray. Dominic Smith, replacing Oli Parker (2-14-0) then promptly bowled the remaining opener before the fifth wicket fell to a direct hit run out, again from Moffat. Chris Morgan then completed a comfortable stumping off Smith (3-1-8-2) and Moffat (3-15-2) bowled two consecutive batsmen. Some spirited hitting from the number 9 dragged the total up before Dave Waters (2-8-1) bowled him for 9 and the innings ended after 14 overs on 62-9.

In reply the Pont Eagles innings quickly subsided to 32-5 with Steve Edwards (12), Ed Common (1), Dave Waters (8), Phil Barlow (2) and Keith Crerar (2) all dismissed as the opening bowlers took control. With their over allocation completed however Moffat (22*) and Morgan (9*) were able to score the 31 runs required to complete the victory, albeit with Morgan giving ample opportunities to be caught, all of which went down.

The win means the Eagles have now won 12 matches in a row, equalling the Club's all time record set by the 2XI in 1981 (they need a further 12 to match the unbeaten streak by the same side!). They next game sees the Eagles face Kings Old Boys who beat them last season and were the Division V champions.

Saturday 7th May 2011

Rain brought an early end to the 2XI's home fixture against Swalwell with our opponents 48-0 off 14 overs, John Gardner with figures of 7 overs for 10 runs.

The 1XI in a rain reduced contest were beaten by Lintz by 7 wickets.

Friday 6th May 2011

The U15s opened their season with a fixture at Percy Main. Batting first they quickly put last years dismal batting form behind them as they scored 110-9, Jonny Forster top scoring with 29, supported by Oli Parker with 22, Mark Waters 14 and Marc Dixon 13. In reply it was 2nd XI squad member Waters who put Ponteland in control taking 3 for 5 in his five over spell. Further wickets from Dixon 2-9 and Jonny Mole 1-9 saw Percy Main restricted to 70-7 and a first victory for the side in 3 seasons.

Thursday 5th May 2011

The 3XI travelled to Humshaugh looking for their first ever victory against them. Simon Raw lost the toss and they elected to bat so Ponteland took to the field with 10 men (Andy Denyer having gone to Haltwhistle!). Jack Schofield (4-13-0) and Alan Varley (5-1-31-0) kept the scoring down but the first wicket fell off Chris Barlow's first delivery, a low full toss brilliantly caught by James Ottaway one handed at backward point. Chris (2-15-1) had to be withdrawn from the attack ill after two overs and the double bowling change initially saw their numbers 2 & 3 intersperse some playing and missing with big sixes before Andy Denyer bowled the opener for 36. From that point on wickets fell steadily and the run rate dropped as Andy Denyer (5-28-3) and Jeff Oliver (4-27-2) bowled well at the end although their number 3 with 46* steered the score to 128-6.

In reply Ponteland started steadily, with Raw (22) and Mark MacKenzie-Crooks, on debut for the club, putting on fifty for the 1st wicket. Following Raw's dismissal James Ottaway (1) Faizal Padikaran (11 off 7 balls) and Dave Reay, who was forced to retire hurt having injured his shoulder fielding, were all back in the pavilion with the score on 71. An enforced batting change then followed with Jeff Oliver stuck in the toilet when the lock broke and Chris Morgan (9) and Jack Schofield kept Ponteland up with the run-rate. Jack launching a six over extra cover with the shot of the day before being bowled in the 19th over. Mark then brought up his fifty at the end of the 19th over and Ponteland went into the final over needing 9 runs. Jeff Oliver, now rescued, scrambled 1 off the first ball and Mark a further two before he was stumped for 53 off the third ball. Andy Denyer then managed two off each of the next two delivieries before with the field brought up he was stumped off the final ball to lose by 1 run.

Wednesday 4th May 2011

The Eagles opened their season with an emphatic win at a cold but sunny Ponteland last night. Losing the toss the Eagles fielded first and Belmont made a steady start in the first 4 overs and reached 22 before the first bowling change for the 5th over. The next 7 overs from skipper Moffat and Jonny Appleby however saw the runs dry up and the wickets tumble, Moffat recording the best bowling figures so far since joining the league with 4-15 and Appleby 1-9 off 3. Appleby then switched ends for the penultimate over and claimed another wicket to finish with 2-17 and Dave Waters (1-27) hit the stumps with the final delivery of the innings to claim the 2nd bowling point as the 7th wicket fell.

In reply with 10 an over required to gain the extra batting point Ponteland kept near the rate for the first four overs before Will Urwin (32*) and Stuart Taylor (37*) opened up as the target of 79 was reached off the last ball of the 7th over to claim an opening 10 point and 10 wicket win.

Tuesday 3rd May 2011

Quick recap on the two weeks so far.

The 1XI have won 2 out of 2, defeating Alnwick by 5 wickets and Consett by 2 runs. The Alnwick victory saw a club record equalled and a new 6th wicket record stand. Dan Wright with his 3 stumpings equalled the 1XI record for league matches (and is the most stumpings in an NTSL match by a Ponteland keeper). After slumping to 80-5 Ed Common (54*) and Jonny Appleby (52*) put together a stand of 104 to claim the victory. The second game saw an opening stand of 166 between the Ritzema brothers with James (97) and Wayne (65) see Ponteland poised for a huge total against Consett. Gareth Breese of Durham County though pulled Ponteland back conceding just 30 off his 15 overs and claiming 3 wickets as Ponteland reached 197-6. In reply with Breese dismissed to a catch by Jonny Appleby Consett always appeared behind the run rate but an excellent innings of 78* by Andrew Forster kept them in the hunt. Following an excellent stumping from Dan Wright who then combined with Jonny Appleby for the 9th wicket via run out Ponteland seemed well set for victory with 60 still required. Some lusty hitting from Remmer and Forster off Moffat and Common though left them requiring 4 from the final delivery. A flick by Remmer (26)to the scorebox saw them attempt 2 runs and James Ritzema's bullet throw left Dan the simplest of tasks to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat. It is certainly the first occasion where two brothers have shared a century stand for the 1XI. Unless the Shuttleworth's know otherwise they are the only other brothers who could have a century partnership for the club

The 2XI in contrast have coasted through their opening fixtures taking maximum points. Stuart Taylor (43) Parag Chauhan (49) and Dave Waters (55*) set Ponteland up for a 190 run victory over Alnwick with Howard Wright's 5-7 off 5 overs finishing them off for just 55. Against Consett John Hill, John Gardner and Howard took 3 wickets each as Ponteland cantered to the 100 target in just the 20th over, Stuart Taylor (66*)

The 3XI were defeated at fog bound Tynemouth in their opening game as Marcus Turners 43 off 19 balls resulted in a target of 151. Simon Raw (44) and debutant Dave Reay (41) gave chase and James Ottaway (22*) chipped in but Ponteland could only manage 118-3 in their 18 overs. The second game against Benwell & Walbottle saw the opposition dismissed for just 62, 3 wickets for Alan Varley, Jack Schofield and Dominic Smith. Despite the early wickets of Raw (0) and Reay (11), Matty Bell (16*) and some lusty hitting from Faizal Padikaran (24*) saw Pont to an 8 wicket win.

Thursday 21st April 2011

Stuart Taylor himself spotted this useless stat. After his back injury this Saturday (bar rain) will mark his first appearance in the 2XI since 1999. His current 2XI batting average of 6.79 from 25 innings puts him second last of all active players at the club ! (U15 Mark Waters averages 1 but has only batted twice). The difference betwen his 1XI and 2XI batting averages (16.14) is also the biggest margin.

There will be no further website updates until May 2nd. Results for 1XI, 2XI and Midweek sides will appear on the play cricket website. Play Cricket.com

Wednesday 20th April 2011

The 1XI completed their pre season preparation with an 8 ball over fixture against South Northumberland's 2XI. Ponteland won the toss and put them into bat at Ponteland and Ed Common struck in the second over and after 4 overs Ed and Craig Moffat had restricted the score to just 10 runs, Craig bowling a maiden, rare enough in short games without the extra 2 deliveries. South North's second wicket however were able to increase the tempo with the bowling changes before Duncan McGregor (1-28) struck, followed by 2 in an over as Jonny Appleby (2-9), bowling again following his shoulder injury, claimed his first wickets since September 2009. Craig (1-4) returned for his 3rd over and bowled opener Harbottle for 36 and the next ball Duncan McGregor's first ever Ponteland run out saw Ponteland take a 6th wicket. With 16 coming from Common's final over Ponteland were set 108 to win.

Matt Darwood despatched the first ball of the innings for 4 but was dismissed 2 balls later. Tom Seymour (6) put on 34 with James Ritzema before being bowled, as Ritzema batted with increasing fluency. A further partnership of 30 followed with Stephen Edwards (11) and James brought up his second Ponteland fifty with an enormous six that went heading off down to the car park. After the delay in retrieving it he was lbw to the next delivery but Will Urwin (16*) and Dan Wright (12*) saw Ponteland to victory with 1 ball to spare.

Sunday 17th April 2011

The 2011 season started yesterday with a 1XI friendly away at Percy Main. Batting first Ponteland lost Darwood (5) early on but the Ritzema's steadied the ship with Wayne dismissed for 45 and James 34. 3 further wickets tumbled with the duck cup getting off to a flier with skipper James Ealey, vice skipper Jonny Appleby and Ponteland debutant Tom Seymour all dismissed for 0. Ed Common led a revival with 33 before the final partnership of Dave Waters (24*) and Criag Moffat (14) boosting the score to 181. Those final few runs proved crucial as Moffat (11-2-33-4) and Seymour (12-5-20-3) put Pont in control. Ealey (1-8) chipped in before Waters (2-3) finished the innings off to win by 37 runs.

Next up is the preseason home fixture against South Northumberland this Wednesday starting at 6pm.

Thursday 14th April 2011

Indoor nets are now finished, senior outdoor nets will commence at the ground every Wednesday from 20th April at 6pm. The 1XI have a preseason friendly at home that night but the outdoor nets are now repaired so anyone wanting to come down and have a practice we will open the container to give access to the kit.

Wednesday 13th April 2011

An availability email has been sent out to all senior players if you have not replied or received it please email Chris Barlow (you all have his address) with your availability for the fixtures listed below. If you do not let us know you are available to play then do not complain if you are not picked.

3XI Thursday 21st April – away v Tynemouth 6pm (18 overs)
1XI /2XI Saturday 23rd April – away / home v Alnwick, 1.30pm
3XI Thursday 28th April – home v Benwell & Walbottle, 6pm
1XI / 2XI Saturday 30th April – home / away v Consett, 1.30pm
Sunday 1st May – Sunday / Eagles Team outdoor net session, 2pm
Eagles Tuesday 3rd May – home v Belmont, 6pm
3XI Thursday 5th May – away v Humshaugh, 6pm
1XI / 2XI Saturday 7th May – away / home v Lintz, 1.30pm
Friendly Sunday 8th May – away v Bamburgh, 2pm

Wednesday 13th April 2011

This past Saturday saw a group of volunteers from the club complete the ground preparation for the start of the season as the club took part in the Nat West Cricket Force weekend. In the bright sunshine the sitescreens and outdoor nets were prepared and the wickets rolled and outfields cut. With such a glorious day no doubt everyone wished there was a game to play as well.

Tuesday 5th April 2011

The playing ranks continue to grow with two more new seniors registering for the club in the last week making it now six new recruits this winter. Mark Scudder joins us from Kirkley and Dave Reay from Blagdon Park.

Monday 4th April 2011

As with the 1XI the number of centurions has increased since the imposition of over limits; 7 of our 26 second eleven centuries have been scored in the last 9 years (27%) and the number of 7 wicket bowling performances decreased (1 of 27) since the arrival of over limits. Lowering the mark to 6 wicket performances there have still only been 5 since 2003.

2XI Records in the NTSL

Only 4 players have reached 1,000 runs in the NTSL with Alex McLean's 1,862 the top Phil Ottaway 1,411, Keith Crerar 1,159 and Parag Chauhan 1,108 the others with Howard Wright 37 runs away from joining them and the 7 centuries shared between 7 players.

Keith is also the leading wicket taker with 120 and only two others, Phil Hall 118 and John Hill 106 have reached 100 wickets. Dave Waters and Andy Denyer each have a hat-trick. John Gardner as well as sharing the record for most 5 wicket matches in the first eleven also holds the 2XI one with 5, all taken in the 2010 season. The best figures in the NTSL belong to Tom Common with 7-39 against Cowgate in 2008 but the best figures since over limits belong to Mark Wheldon who took 7-24 against Stobswood in 2000

Richard Jackson's 29 catches lead the way in the NTSL with Alex McLean 27 and Keith Crerar 25. Chris Morgan heads the way for keepers with 47 catches and 17 stumpings. Richard Jackson also leads the way with 4 run outs.

Thursday 17th March 2011

Three new senior players have now registered to play for Ponteland in 2011 we welcome Mark MacKenzie-Crooks and David Loxham alongside the returning former 1XI captain Jeff Oliver who last played in 2004. Jeff is undisputed as the top all-rounder the club has produced sitting 3rd all time for wickets, 4th for runs and 2nd for catches. He is the only non-professional with both a 7 wicket match and a century for the 1XI (Richard Dreyer) and one of only two alongside Mike Barlow to take 5 wickets and score a fifty in the same match for the 1XI on two occasions.

Wednesday 16th March 2011

Some have already noticed on their updated player pages the appearance of some new records. As our time in the NTSL reaches 10 years this season there is enough to create league records for both the Northumberland League (1978-2001) and NTSL (2002-) for the 1st, 2nd & 3rd XIs as well as the all time records. Similarly the implementation of bowling limits has effectively resulted in records and achievements being less likely to be matched. Bar the first season (2002) the NTSL has had bowler over limits whereas up to 2000 bowlers could bowl throughout an innings making the records for both batting and bowling effectively incomparable.

It surely comes as no coincidence that the number of centurions has increased; 14 of our 46 first eleven centuries have been scored in the last 9 years (30%) and the number of 7 wicket bowling performances decreased (2 of 52) since the arrival of over limits. Lowering the mark to 6 wicket performances there have still only been 7 since 2003.

1XI

7 players have reached 1,000 runs in the NTSL with Lloyd Anderson's 3,499 leading the way with Stuart Taylor second with 2,552. Malcolm Clarke (1,903); Andy Morgan (1,835), James Ealey (1,548), Matt Darwood (1,282) and John Gardner (1,052) are the others with Wayne Ritzema and Jonny Appleby in the high 800s both poised to join them in 2011.

Lloyd also has the most centuries with 5 while Stuart, Malcolm, James Ealey and Wayne Ritzema all have 2.

4 bowlers have 100 wickets so far with Duncan McGregor (209) the only past 200, John Gardner 196, Jonny Appleby 166 and Howard Wright 114 the others with Ed Common and Craig Moffat with just over 60 each the next two. Duncan has the only hat-trick to date against Consett and shares the most number of 5 wicket matches, eight, with John. Duncan also moved second in the all-time 1XI list in 2010, his 481 wickets leaving him 416 behind Ron Fairweather. Duncan also has the best figures for the first eleven with 8-78 against Whickham, before the over limits were implemented, Craig Moffat's 7-29 in 2010 against Greenside the best return since the 15 over limit was implemented.

Andy Morgan took his total 1XI league catches total to 200 in one of his appearances for the team in 2010 while Stuart Taylor leads the way in the NTSL with 45 (Andy is second with 36). Lloyd Anderson with 51 catches and 20 stumpings leads the way for keepers while a good season for Dan Wright (39 & 7) in 2011 could see him overtake Lloyd for catches. Jonny Appleby's 8 run outs puts him 4 ahead of Ed & Tom Common and John Gardner.

Tuesday 15th March 2011

The repairs to the outdoor nets damaged by the snow have begun. The nets will be available in time for the build up to the start of the season.

Wednesday 9th March 2011

Review of our time in the NTSL - part four - Sundays

Although not directly affected by the change of leagues in terms of opponents there has been a knock on benefit to the friendly side. During the 9 years as the club's playing strength increases despite 141 players turning out for the side in 132 games there have been 76 wins and only 45 defeats scoring 3,000 more runs (21,224) than our opponents and taking 116 more wickets (977) and only in the first season, 2002 (when the club as a whole struggled for numbers) and 2008 have there been losing seasons.

The nature of the side results in numerous drop outs due to Saturday call ups but on most occasions 11 have been able to take to the field, testament to the Captains during the period, Chris & Phil Barlow and Neil Pinnock as it can become disheartening when call after call fails to produce another player. 11 centuries have been scored since 2002 and in 2009 four different players achieved the landmark (in all cases their maiden Ponteland hundreds) 100* Parag Chauhan, 109 Paul Higginbottom, 101* Craig Moffat and 128* Gav Hamill. Stuart Taylor has twice passed 150.

In contrast with 8 over bowling limits the chance to take five wickets comes along only rarely with just 5 in the nine year period. Jon Varley 5-40, Jonny Appleby 5-9, Andy Denyer 5-26, Dan Wright 5-20 and Charlie Machell 5-21.

As a starting point many juniors get their first experience of senior cricket in the side playing alongside 1XI & 2XI players an oppportunity that entering the team into a league rather than sticking with friendlies would otherwise deny.

Most Games - Chris Barlow 106, James Ottaway 70, Neil Pinnock 65
Most Runs - Stuart Taylor 1,644 @ 74.73, James Ottaway 1,074 @ 17.05, Gav Hamill 601 @ 101.67
Most Wickets - Chris Barlow 94 @ 18.01, Andy Denyer 75 @ 14.27, Jonny Appleby 50 @ 11.08
Most Catches - Chris Barlow 39, Andy Denyer 19, Neil Pinnock 18
Keeper Dismissals - Chris Morgan 19, Jonny Appleby 16, Peter Nesbitt 10
Keeper Catches - Chris Morgan 13
Stumpings - Jonny Appleby 9
Most Run Outs - Chris Barlow 12, Andy Denyer & Phil Barlow 4

Monday 7th February 2011

Review of our time in the NTSL - part three - Midweek 3XI

The Midweek 3XI also transferred leagues at the same time, initially under the continued leadership of Andy Lawson, with the Chris's Barlow and Morgan sharing a season before Simon Raw took up te reins. The transient nature of the side and inconsistent availabilities make the record of Won 47 Lost 73 unsurprising and 96 different players have turned out for the side in 9 years. Two of the 3 winning seasons have come since the league format was altered so that the top 6 play each other again and the bottom six likewise rather than the previous format whereby you replayed your first 5 fixtures again. With the league using the same fixture list every year this always meant 4 of these were against the North East Premier League sides. The other winning season came before player rules were changed and several of our younger 1XI players were allowed to take to the field against these opponents.

In 20 over matches batting highlights are much harder to achieve. Simon Raw and George Hall combined for the highest stand of 159 against Percy Main (3rd all time) while there have been fifties scored in under 30 deliveries from the bats of Chris Walton and Carl Bevan. For the bowlers Robert Hall's 5 for against Backworth in 2010 was only the fifth. Andy Denyer had 2 consecutive 5 fors against Benwell Hill and on two occasions seven fors were achieved. Steve Eglintine recorded the best ever figures for the team with 7-11 against a Morpeth side consisting of mainly under fifteens but arguably part time bowler Phil Barlow's 7-36 against Backworth must rank as the top return for the team, making him the fourth Barlow to take five wickets in a match for Ponteland after Grandfather Tom (at least 8), Father Mike (8) and brother Chris (3). Jonny Appleby has the only hat-trick to date against South North.

One other performance worthy of note is a home fixture against Backworth in 2002. Chasing 102 to win Backworth were sat comfortably on 94-3 with 3 overs remaining before one of the key Ponteland strike forces of the last 9 years combined as John Gardner and Duncan McGregor took 3 quick wickets, but going into the final over Backworth required 2 runs with 4 wickets remaining. John then took his 2nd and affected a run out before with the scores tied Chris Barlow ran the last two batsmen out with direct hits from mid wicket off the last two balls. With a run out earlier in the innings Chris is the only known player for the club to have 3 run outs in the same game.

Midweek Leading runscorer: Simon Raw 1,311 and best avge 25.21 (min 20 inns)
2XI Leading wicket taker: 115 Alan Varley best avge Andy Denyer 53 @ 14.86
Keeper: Chris Morgan 25 catches 14 stmps
Catches: 24 Jon Varley
Run Outs: 9 Chris Barlow

Monday 31st January 2011

Review of our time in the NTSL - part two

Personal highlights have to be headed by Lloyd Anderson's leaue best 1,200 runs in 2006 (we still got relegated). Duncan McGregor has the only 1XI league hat-trick during this time while Andy Denyer has two, one in the 1XI Foster's Cup and one for the 2XI. Dave Waters took the other hat-trick to date in the 2XI.

2010 saw Wayne Ritzema set a new 1XI highest individual score against Ryton with 180* a game that included the highest ever Ponteland partnership of 258 with Matt Darwood (88) a week later Stuart Taylor hit 149*, the second highest score in the NTSL for Ponteland again against Ryton as for the first time ever the Ponteland 1XI recorded back to back victories by more than 150 runs. More wickets have been taken in a single match by bowlers but Duncan McGregor's 5-1 against unbeaten league leaders Chopwell in 2009 must rank as the top performance to date while Duncan and John Gardner combined to skittle Greenside for 14 in 2007.

Leading runscorer: 3,499 Lloyd Anderson and best average 43.92 (min 20 inns)
Leading Wicket taker: 209 Duncan McGregor, best avge Craig Moffat 63 @ 15.08 min 40 wkts
Keeper: Lloyd Anderson 51 ctch 20 stmps
Catches: 45 Stuart Taylor
Run Outs: 8 Jonny Appleby

2XI Leading runscorer: 1,862 Alex McLean, best avge Phil Ottaway 50.39 (min 20 inns)
2XI Leading wicket taker: 120 Keith Crerar, best avge John Gardner 48 @ 14.73
Keeper: Chris Morgan 47 catches 17 stmps
Catches: 29 Richard Jackson
Run Outs: 4 Richard Jackson

Thurday 27th January 2011

Pie & Pea Sportsman's Dinner, Friday 18th March at the Vermont Hotel starting at 7.30pm. Billy Hardy is the guest speaker and tickets are £15.

A joint fundraising event for the Toma fund and the cricket club, with a raffle and an auction.

Monday 24th January 2011

2011 will be our 10th season in the NTSL one of the alterations currently underway on the website is the division of the club records to provide separate records for the 1XI, 2XI and 3rds for both the Northumberland League (1978-2001) and the NTSL (2002 onwards) as well as the all time records

Over the next few weeks a review of all three sides in the NTSL will be appearing on the website with the expanded records section back online by April.

Since 2002 both teams have had 7 seasons in their respective second divisions and the same 2 seasons (2005, 2006) in Division One.

1XI Record
Division A1 Won 8 Lost 29 Abandoned 3

Division A2 Won 59 Lost 47 Drawn 1 Abandoned 10

2XI Record
Division B1 Won 15 Lost 21 Abandoned 3

Division B2 Won 55 Lost 59 Abandoned 4

The 1XI have 4 winning seasons and 4 losing ones (one with 8 wins and losses) while the 2XI have 5 winning ones and 4 losing ones. The 1XI have been up and down through the period with their worst losing seasons the two in the top flight to a combines won 8 lost 29 which mirrors the 2XI’s opening two seasons in B2 where the step up in standard from the lower 2XI divisions of the old league to the NTSL was massive for the mid-table side we had at the time. The third season saw both sides promoted to the top division as runners-up with 10 wins. The irony for the 2009 & 2010 seconds being they have won 13 the last two seasons but still remain in B2.

Undoubted team highlight must be the 2005 Foster's Cup win at Ashington in Ashington, the day after the 1XI were comprehensively defeated there in the league. The 1XI have also appeared in 2 other cup finals with comprehensive defeats by Leadgate and Shotley Bridge. In contrast the 2XI have won just one cup match in 9 years and that was when Alnwick conceded!

Thursday 20th January 2011

This week saw the re-arranged Chinese dinner following the snow before Christmas with a well supported event. Thanks and congratulations to Jonny Appleby who on his first time running the event effectively ended up arranging it twice.

Tuesday 11th January 2011

Midweek and Eagles (draft) fixtures are now in. Simon's 3XI are the first team to take to the field in 2011 at Tynemouth two days before the Saturdays start then host Benwell & Walbottle the following week while the Eagles, despite promotion face a bevy of familiar faces. As well as Kings Old Boys and Stonebridge who were promoted alongside us Procter & Gamble and Belmont both join us in Division IV after withdrawls from the league by Ryton and Kingstonians. New opposition comes in the form of Civil Service, Merz & McLellan and FHCC.

Friendly fixtures are also being arranged and will be posted as soon as possible.