A slight revision to the indoor nets schedule for this season with just 8 weeks this year instead of 10 starting on 18th February.

The Juniors return to the Newcastle Cricket Centre from 8-9pm and the Seniors 9-10pm

There are some significant alterations to the Saturday league rules for both the 1XI (A1) and 2XI (B1), these are listed below

League Rule Changes

1. Maximum overs per bowler to be 12 overs in Divisions A1 & A2 and 10 overs in Division B1 & B2 – with maximum reduced if weather interrupts the first innings of match.
2. If tea interval is taken during 1st innings of a match that interval is not counted as playing time lost.
3. Use 30 yard circle in all Division A1 and A2 League games (not used in Division B1 & B2).
4. No longer fine clubs who concede two or more League games – will still have points deducted.
5. Umpires car mileage expense rate to be set in same way as umpire fees.
6. Division ‘B’ cup to revert to knock out format – Division A1 & A2 Cups remain round robin (Tyneside Charity Bowl remains knock out).
7. Losing teams in Division ‘B’ Cup Preliminary Round enter Plate competition.
8. For all games using the 30 yard circle, maximum of 5 fielders may be outside circle, either umpire may call no ball for the infringement and use of discs is no longer compulsory.
9. The Executive shall determine dates of all Cup competitions.
10. Eligibility rule for 2nd team players in ‘B’ Cup competitions simplified.
11. Tyneside Charity Bowl to adopt same rules as Divisional Cups – length and duration of innings, 1 minute for new batsmen and ‘free’ hits.
12. Tyneside Charity Bowl Final can be 20 overs and in mid-week.

Management Committee Decisions

League fixtures will start on Saturday 26th April 2014 with last fixtures on Saturday 20th September 2014.

Dukes County International ‘A’ balls are to be used in all Division A1 & A2 games although clubs will be permitted to use their remaining stock of other balls left over from season 2013 – clubs will be required to notify the League of what stock remain.

Dukes Special Crown Match ‘A’ and Dukes Special Crown ‘A’ are to be used in Division B1 & B2 although clubs will be permitted to use their remaining stock of other balls left over from season 2013 – clubs will be required to notify the League of what stock remain.

There were also several rule changes for the Thursday night midweek league at the C Division AGM.

1. Bowler limits for all matches in the League and Ian Appleby Cup are now reduced to a maximum of 5 per bowler not 6

2. Player eligibility rules tightened up to prevent anyone who played over half a team's 1XI fixtures the previous season from being able to play the opening 3 weeks of the season in the 3XI until they make a 2XI league appearance during those weeks to become eligible.

3. Ian Appleby cup rules to come into line with the other knock-out cups of the league with a fielding circle and free-hits for front foot no-balls.

The AGM took place last night and was a well attended event, the temptation of a buffet and the addition of the presentation of the awards after the normal night had to be cancelled this year helping to swell the numbers, with several of the successful Under 15s team also in attendance.

The business was conducted first starting with the Chairman's report which highlighted the on-field success of the club. Andy Morgan also specifically thanked Tommy Oliver for his work on the construction of the electronic scoreboard and confirmed to the members that Tommy had been awarded the highest honour available to the club of Life Membership. Andy then also thanked the several club officers that are standing down from their posts with groundsman Geoff Appleby, Vice Chairman Mike Barlow and Sunday Captain Chris Barlow all relinquishing their posts after 10, 8 and 13 years respectively. Andy also referred to the strong involvement of juniors in the senior sides, highlighting our current strength in depth.

The Captain's then reviewed their seasons, albeit a written message from Second Eleven skipper Chris Morgan who was away competing on BBC tv show Pointless.

The committee was then reformed with the following changes

Max Taylor - Vice Chairman
Stuart Taylor - 1XI Vice Captain
Dave Waters - 2XI Vice Captain (also remains Eagles Vice Captain)
Ashley Parker - 3XI Vice Captain (also remains Eagles Captain)
Neil Pinnock - becomes Sole Captain of Sunday Team
Sam Wood - Sunday Vice Captain
Chris Morgan - League Representative
Tom Seymour - Additional Committee Member

The trophies were then presented by Phil Mustard of Durham County Cricket Club, a full list of winners are available here

Main awards
Jameson Cup for Contribution to the Club: Tommy Oliver
AW Morgan Cup: Dave Waters
Lawson Rosebowl 1XI Performance: John Gardner 6-34 vs Lanchester
Bowyer Memorial Trophy 2XI Performance: Jonny Appleby 67* v Shotley Bridge
Tom Barlow Cup 3XI Performance: Max Bell 3-4 v South Northumberland
Roy Storer Cup for Fielding: Ashley Parker

A new award for 2013 was the U15 player of the season that went to Joe Bell

Finally the chairman revealed two further awards of life membership, Geoff Appleby and Mike Barlow, two of the longest serving members of the club, Geoff debuting in 1966 with spells as 2XI captain and groundsman while Mike debuted in 1959, playing 54 consecutive seasons for the club to 2012 also fulfilling the roles of Vice Chairman, Club Vice Captain, 2XI Captain and Assistant Treasurer a role he has held since 1979.

The Club AGM takes place on Tuesday 19th November at the Ponteland Sports Centre starting at 7.00pm.

All club members should look to attend and help celebrate a successful season. Anyone who cannot attend needs to submit their apologies to the Secretary James Ealey.

Second XI skipper Chris Morgan made it an impressive 12 tosses lost in a row for the final game of the season at Swalwell. After the high of the title clinching victory against Consett last weekend the team were aiming to finish the second half of the season unbeaten and record victory against the only side they had yet to defeat this season. Injuries to Matt Darwood and unavailabilities for both the first and second teams saw a much changed side however with Jeff Oliver making his first appearance in the 2s of the season while Faizal Padikaran and Under 13s Thomas Reeman & Ryan Gerrard all returned to the side.

Put into bat Oliver went old school with an innings of graft and determination as he and Gerrard dug in to blunt the strong opening bowling attack of Clarke and Jackson to the extent that when Gerrard was first to fall for 7 there were only 13 runs on the board in the 11th over. Padikaran then dominated the next stand of 31, scoring 22 before his dismissal in the 21st over. Contributions of 18 from Ian Smart and 25 from Simon Edmondson kept the score moving as Oliver battled on. After Reeman (11) was also dismissed Oliver despatched the returning Jackson for a 4 and a six to rapidly accelerate his scoring but with just two overs remaining his 137 ball vigil ended on 43 as Ponteland finished on 149-7.

In reply John Gardner and Dave Waters proved equally hard to score off and it was a catch by Oliver off Gardner that got the early breakthrough. Waters (2-19) and Gardner (2-20) removed the top order before Andy Denyer took his season's tally to 35 with 3 for 16 and when Gardner took his third catch of the innings to give Ryan Gerrard (1-7) his first second eleven wicket the victory was in sight. After letting one through for a bye skipper Morgan was generously applauded by his team mates for bringing up his century for the season and then spread the bowling around and all 10 outfielders bowled with Nick Brown (1-4) claiming the ninth before, with the score on 73, Ian Smart bowling seam rather than spin took the final wicket of the year, caught by Morgan to complete a 77 run victory.

A hugely successful season completed and the league won by nearly sixty points in the end.

1XI defeated by the champions

After the early breakthrough Ian Pattison scored a rapid 34 before Turnbull (2-40) bowled him. Ponteland old boys Lloyd Anderson and Malcolm Clarke took the score up to 89 before both were dismissed on that score, Cosgrove (1-30) getting Clarke caught by Ashley Parker at extra cover for 6 before Parker took a skier off Ed Common (1-34) to get Anderson for 29. Whitfield and Smith steadily rebuilt the innings and the score had reached 143 before Parker struck to dismiss both, Whitfield to a good catch by Ed Common for 51. Parker (3-58) then took the final wicket to fall with Nicky Phillips caught behind by Jonny Appleby as the innings ended on 214-7.

In reply Wayne Ritzema fell for a duck and it fell to Ed Common and Jonny Appleby to battle hard against a very strong bowling attack. The score had crawled up to 41 with runs just starting to come for the pair when Ed (14) and Appleby (18) were both dismissed in quick succession followed by Anthony Quarrell second ball and when Seymour (9) fell soon after the innings was wobbling on 51. Rory Marr, promoted from the second team scored a quick 18 to fall to Saxton who then clinched the league record for wickets in a season by cleaning out Mark Turnbull first ball. Tom Common and Liam Cosgrove added 32 for the 8th wicket before Cosgrove was caught for 7 and Tom (26) followed shortly after. Duncan McGregor with an unbeaten 10 saw the team reach 117 before Parker became the last to fall in a 97 run defeat.

The torrential rain of Friday had put the game in doubt but several hours of work in the morning saw the ground tidied up and the covers removed and the team were able to take to the field knowing that victory would clinch the title irrespective of the performances of Lanchester and Swalwell.

Skipper Morgan made it 11 weeks since he last won a toss away at Consett and Ponteland were asked to bat first. The opening partnership of Matt Darwood and Rory Marr mixed graft from the former and boundaries for the latter as they took the score past 50 before Marr (34) was first to go and Parag Chauhan added a further 39 with Darwood before Chauhan (20) and Darwood (28) were both dismissed with the score on 89 in the 28th over. The dismissal of Simon Edmondson (9) boosted Consett's hopes in a game they needed to win to boost their hopes in the relegation battle but Nick Brown and Dave Waters added a further 51 as Waters recovered from his pre-innings set back of being clean bowled by 5 year old Charlie Darwood, a much enjoyed moment by all the spectators. Waters was first to go with 25 and after a further contibution of 11 by Ian Smart the final wicket to fall was off the last ball of the innings when Brown, in search of his fifty was bowled for 48 to set a target of 192.

Early nerves were settled by Duncan McGregor as he claimed two wickets in his opening two overs and both McGregor and John Gardner beat the bat regularly but Consett battled their way to 43 before the next fell, again to McGregor. Ducan (3-30) completed his 13 over spell straight through by claiming the crucial wicket of remaining opener Bainbridge bowled for 39 but Consett added a further 40 before Denyer (1-19) had Wilkinson caught by Edmondson after a couple of chances were spilled. The captain returned to seam as the score moved into the 130's and the returning Gardner's imploring lbw appeal saw Bridge depart for 38 then with Cox striking boundaries around the ground he tried to launch Waters over deep midwicket but picked out Gardner who did not have to move to take the catch off the last ball of the over to take the score to 146-7. Next ball it was Gardner to strike and Ponteland were closing in on the victory and Waters (2-27) claimed the ninth. It fell to Gardner (3-33) with another confident lbw shout to claim the final wicket in a 34 run win to spark the celebrations with our first ever win in the top Division.

Photos to follow

The First Eleven's end of season slump continued after they were bowled out for 118 by Consett and lost by 7 wickets. No further details available.

The Sunday team continued its drive towards youth with 6 juniors in the side for the match against Ovingham. Our opponents opted to bat first and Oli Parker (2-13) soon had them in trouble in the opening overs, the second to a good catch by Thomas Reeman while Sam Wood at the other end remains the unluckiest bowler this season as yet again he somehow remained wicketless. Thomas Oliver (2-13) maintained the clatter of wickets, with two smart slip catches by George Hunter. John Hill (1-8) chipped in with the next as the batsman clipped the ball straight to Parker the ball after the skipper had moved him to short cover. Ovingham then dug in and the runs dried up for a while, Ryan Gerrard troubling the batsman but remaining wicketless. In the closing overs Thomas Reeman (1-17) dismissed top scorer Hall for 33 and Ovingham finished with 100-6 off their 35 overs.

In reply the skipper sent out an Under 15 opening partnership and it was clear from the off that both Hunter and Luke Hudson were confident in their roles. Hudson's play all round the wicket left it very difficult for Ovingham to contain him and the left hander's strength off his legs was apparent as he flicked a couple of boundaries. With the score on 42 Hunter was dismissed but Hudson continued, picking the gaps through the covers expertly then an effortless strike by the 14 year old saw his first senior six straight down the ground. Another flick off his legs to the fence saw him reach his first senior fifty off just 57 balls and as with the agreed match rules he retired and Faizal Padikaran (19*) and Jeff Oliver (6*) completed a nine wicket win.

Luke is the first Under 15 to score a senior fifty for Ponteland since Jonathan Horrocks in 1988 against Metro Radio, a gap of 25 years !

The 1XI went down to a heavy 9 wicket defeat to Ryton. Batting first Ponteland briefly recovered from 9-4 to reach 117-5 before losing 5 for 19 to end on 136, Stuart Taylor's 59 along with Ed Common's 38 rescuing the innings. In reply Ryton put the innings into context, cantering to victory in just the 24th over after an opening century stand. Seventh bowler of the innings, Anthony Quarrell taking the only wicket.

The 2XI won in equally emphatic fashion against Ashington. Batting first Ashington were dismissed for just 103 with spinners Andy Denyer and Ian Smart both claiming 4 wickets. In reply Ponteland's openers were close to a 10 wicket win with Matt Darwood dismissed for 44 and Rory Marr unbeaten on 40 with Parag Chauhan 2*. The B1 title now stands just 19 points away, get down to support the team at home on Saturday against Consett with a 1pm start to see if we can clinch the B1 title for the first time ever.

The 1XI match against Lintz was called off early morning with Lintz flooded by the overnight storms.

Ponteland was dry enough to start on time and it was no surprise that on winning the toss Lintz asked Ponteland to bat first and struck in the opening over with Matt Darwood bowled early on. Wickets fell regularly with Nick Brown (2) and Andy Morgan (1) dismissed but Faizal Padikaran remained aggressive, launching an early six down the ground and taking three consecutive fours off Wilkinson and when he was dismissed for 38 the score was just 44. The low scores continued with Simon Edmondson (6), Thomas Reeman (0) and Chris Morgan (5) all out when rain saw the players leave the field at 74-8, Lintz's opener Young completing an outstanding spell of 13 overs 4 for 15. The rain saw two overs lost and Andy Denyer's patient knock of 8 off 34 balls was ended with just 4 more on the total. Last pair Ian Smart and Duncan McGregor though gave the score a boost once Edmonds (4 for 17) had completed his spell and added a crucial 34, Smart finishing on an unbeaten 31 (his best for Ponteland) when McGregor was bowled for 6.

Lintz's chase of 112 was immediately in trouble with the opener bowled in the second over by Dave Waters, then in his next was successful with two lbw appeals and at 2-3 Ponteland were back in the match. The score had crept up to 11 at the start of the 11th when the rain and darkness finally defeated the best efforts of the players and umpires and the game had to be abandoned at 5.15. Dave finishing with 3 for 7 while Duncan McGregor's 5 overs cost just two runs.

The strong wind and sunshine had dried out Blagdon sufficiently for the Sunday game to take place and winning the toss Blagdon were asked to bat. The opening overs proved tricky for the batsmen as the Parker brothers got some good bounce out of the wicket but the openers managed to survive, when the ball went in the air it failed to reach or just clear the fielders. John Hill got the first breakthrough with a drive to mid-off by S.Dick (25) comfortably caught by Ashley Parker and Max Bell then dismissed Eyres for a duck before Hill (2-17) had the remaining opener Clark caught by Oli Parker in the gully and Bell (2-17) followed up when a mis-hit saw the other Eyres also dismissed for a duck to leave the innings 49-4. Crucial chances went down as the next two batsmen got set and despite rotating the bowling with Sam Wood, Tom Oliver and Ryan Gerrard all having a go before Oli Parker returned as well and succeeded in slowing the scoring rate before Martin Tallentyre, on his SUnday debut against his former side, finally made the breakthrough dismissing Abercrombie for 53, then in the final over bowling Russell Hughes for 19. Matt Senior was unbeaten on 79, his second 70 score against us this year, as the innings ended on a challenging 202-6.

In reply Ponteland's task was made to look even steeper as holidays and unavailabilities had left us with only 3 recognised top order batsmen but two, Anthony Quarrell (12) and Faizal Padikaran (10) were both dismissed by the end of the sixth over. Tallentyre was the only remaining batsmen and initially it was a case of narrowing the margin of defeat with U13 Ryan Gerrard battling hard at the other end. The arrival of leg spinner Clark into the attack though ripped apart the middle order as Gerrard (5), Oli Parker (2) and Chris Barlow (3) were unable to keep out the turning ball as the innings slumped to 77 for 6. Sam Wood, batting at 7, provided some support for Tallentyre as he reached his fifty off 48 balls before Wood (11) was caught, quickly followed by Thomas Oliver. John Hill again gave Tally some support as he opened up at the other end to add 31 before Hill was caught for 2 and Max Bell was bowled for six. Ash Parker, batting 11 because of an arm injury went in with the score on 158 and provided the best support Tallentyre received in the innings and the two closed in on the target, Tallentyre reaching his first career hundred off 94 balls leaving 16 needed off 11 balls. Two balls later though he was caught on the fence at deep midwicket to end the innings, his 101 including 11 fours and 3 sixes.

Next week is the first ever visit to Beamish for a Ponteland side.

Its taken a while to get sorted out but the 3XI Family Day photos are now online. Thanks to Rebecca Hodgson for taking the photographs.

With the 1XI opting to use the Sunday wicket for their league match the Sunday team had the luxury of an unused pitch for their game against Genetics today. Looking a bit on the green side Genetics opted to field first on winning the toss and it was one of our own players, Nick Brown who plays for Genetics on Sundays, who soon had Pont in trouble with Jeff Oliver (1) and Rahul Vij (0) both bowled in his opening over. Skipper Neil Pinnock dropped anchor alongside Faizal Padikaran at the other end to see off the opening bowlers and the innings was just starting to recover when Pinnock was bowled for 10. Padikaran and George Hunter picked up the pace but with the score on 66 Hunter (13) was the next to depart. Padikaran continued to bat with increasing fluency and found a solid partner in Chris Barlow and the two steadily rebuilt the innings, Padikaran reaching his fifty off 48 balls while Barlow passed his season's best score of 24 as the partnership passed fifty. The two continued in their respective roles with Padikaran reaching the boundaries while Barlow collected twos and threes and the century partnership was posted with seven overs still remaining. Padikaran was showing signs of fatigue and was bowled by Tenniswood for 86, with 12 fours and 1 six and the innings went into freefall with Dan Carruthers (0) bowled next ball and John Hill (5) and Oli Parker (0) all falling in the same manner to Tenniswood. Thomas Oliver came to the wicket at number ten and held most of the strike in the next two overs as the openers returned and Barlow went into the final over bowled by Brown on 47. A push down to long-off produced a tight two as Oliver gambled on making his ground and after two dot balls then Barlow cleared the line straight down the ground for his third Sunday fifty and after a final single Oliver (6) was bowled by Brown off the last ball of the innings to leave Brown with figures of 3 for 14 off 5 overs and Barlow unbeaten on 56 with 4 fours and 1 six.

In reply Ponteland had two early successes from Oli Parker (2-21) while Thomas Oliver also bowled well without any reward as the third wicket put on sixty before John Hill broke the stand with two wickets (2-25) including the dismissal of Tenniswood who has consistently scored runs against us in the past while a tidy spell from Alan Varley (in his first Sunday game since 2001 at Eglingham) saw no wickets but meant the run rate continued to climb despite Brown reaching his fifty. The crucial spell came from Jeff Oliver with 4 wickets for 16 runs including the crucial dismissal of Brown for 72 and it was Rahul Vij (1-1) who ended the innings on 143 for a 68 run win.

Faizal Padikaran set a new record for the Sunday team, his fifty being his fifth in a row for the team to break the previous best of 4 by Mark Steven. He equalled two further records at the same time with five fifties in a season and three century stands matching the records of Will Urwin and Paul Higginbottom respectively. Chris Barlow's 56* takes him into the top ten run-scorers for the team, jumping ahead of Simon Raw and Jeff Oliver while it was Nick Brown's second fifty of the season against us for Genetics. All 18 wickets in the game were bowled.

Winning the toss and batting on an overcast morning and opting to use the wicket earmarked for the Sunday team the following day the 1XI got off to a slow start against Leadgate with last week's centurion Wayne Ritzema departing lbw for four runs early on. The wickets continued to tumble to Leadgate's opening bowler Fitzner with Anthony Quarrell (6) departing not long after and just as Dan Wright and Paul Lindsay were steadying the ship a terrible mix-up in the running saw Wright run out for 28. Lindsay (9), Nick Brown (6), Stuart Taylor (5) and Tom Common (2) all followed in quick succession before a second poor run out saw Ed Common depart for 19 and the score on 88 for 8. Liam Cosgrove (1) followed two runs later to leave the innings in crisis, with Fitzner taking 5 for 49. John Gardner and Mark Turnbull battled hard against the change bowlers to eke out a valuable 25 runs for the final wicket before the third calling mix-up of the innings saw Turnbull run out for 5 leaving Gardner unbeaten on 22 and a total of just 115 with 13 overs unused. The tea talk was dominated by discussions abpout being positive and never giving up.

In reply Ponteland got the early breakthrough they wanted with Mark Turnbull's lbw appeal answered in the affirmtive and then after Ed Common struggled in his opening three overs it was the first ball from John Gardner that breached the defenses of Fitzner (8). Burdon and Richardson slowly dragged the score up to 57 before Burdon (31) clipped Ed Common to Liam Cosgrove then Ed's next ball saw another lbw appeal answered positively. Gardner then took over with three quick wickets, Stuart Taylor with a backpedalling effort to take a skied edge from slip above his head, an edge behind to Dan Wright and another lbw to suddenly make the score 74 for 7. Number 4 Richardson was still in and once an attempted second run saw Dixon run out by Nick Brown he went on the attack launching two huge leg-side sixes off Gardner and following up with a third off Turnbull and the score suddenly had shot up to 106. With the momentum having switched back to Leadgate though Richardson (40) then tried to repeat the feat next ball and missed, the team's celebration at the wicket showing how crucial it was. Ed Common (3-42) then found the edge of the number 11's bat to secure a narrow 6 run win to leave Ponteland holding on to 2nd place in the table. John Gardner finished with 4 for 35 and Turnbull 2 for 27.

The 2XI maintained their position at the head of the B1 division with Rory Marr's first Ponteland fifty being supported by 30s from Jonny Appleby and Simon Edmondson as they completed a 3 wicket win at Newcastle City. Duncan McGregor and Ashley Parker both taking four wickets each.

In fantastic conditions the Eagles faced the Oceans in their final game of 2013 looking to finish off their title winning season in style. With the championship secure skipper Ash Parker sent his dad, John, in to open the batting to reveal after 5 years that he was definitely a right handed batsmen ! Unsurprisingly John dominated the strike and had reached 8 when he was run out to "take one for the team". Dan Wright (4) fell shortly after as the recurring them of no pace and tennis ball bounce in the Bullocksteads wicket surfaced for the first time in the innings. Faizal Padikaran and Anthony Quarrell accelerated the scoring in the next three overs, Padikaran launching one into the woodland before being bowled next ball with the score on 62. U15 bat Rahul Vij joined Quarrell in the middle and a series of quick singles followed with Quarrell passing 1,000 Pont runs for the season before being bowled next ball for 42. With Oli Parker (1) having a brief visit to the middle another U15 Dan Carruthers joined Vij and took the score into the 90s before the bounced saw defensive shots from both Carruthers (7) and Dave Waters (7) chipped back to the bowler. Chris Barlow went on the attack in the final 3 overs and the positive approach proved more successful than defence and the score headed into the 130s before off the penultimate ball Vij skied a catch for a career best 19. Barlow then hit the final ball too cleanly to long-off and only a single was possible as he finished unbeaten on 16 to set a target of 133 off 16 overs.

In reply Oceans started aggressively with Ashley Parker conceding 17 off his first five balls before the batsman was undone by an excellent slower ball and he followed up in his next over with a delivery that moved away from the batsman to clip the top of off-stump for 2-20. Waters (1-21) then claimed the third with Quarrell plucking the ball one handed in the covers as it looped over his head, fumbling it on the way down before snatching it one handed as he landed. The first bowling change brough on Oli Parker and the innings collapsed as first up the batsman chipped it straight back to the bowler before Parker removed off-stump then leg stump for three in the over and his Eagles best figures of 3-13. Dan Carruthers, in his first game as a keeper, managed to scramble out from behind the stumps to snatch a catch off Andy Denyer, Ash Parker's direct hit accounted for the next man before the final wicket of the season fell to Denyer (2-11) with the charging batsman missing a straight one and was bowled to leave Oceans 69 all out in 9.5 overs.

After the U15s played the U18s in a tied game on Sunday morning six of the combatants from that match (5 juniors and Chris Barlow !) continued on to their second game of the day as the Sunday team faced the Victorians. After losing the toss and being asked to field the Victorians launched into their usual agressive style of batting and the fours and sixes flew in the opening overs. The breakthrough came with a mix-up in the calling and the dangerous Bilal was run out for a rapid 18 by Patrick Holliday. The first bowling changes saw two wickets for Thomas Oliver (2-4) as he bowled the other opener for 14 and followed up on the number 4 before George Hunter, keeping for the first time in a senior game, took a catch of Neil Pinnock (2-22) and Jeff Oliver (1-21) put Ponteland in charge. Victorians regrouped though and no further wickets fell as they posted a total of 146-6.

In reply Ponteland's openers were patient and slowly accumulated the runs, Faizal Padikaran mixing flurries of boundaries with long spells of inactivity while Simon Raw accumulated more steadily without the same levels of aggression. The century stand between the two was reached as Padikaran completed his fourth fifty in a row for the side and retired. An injection of pace then followed from George Hunter and the score climbed to 131 before the arrival of a new bowler, Zayne, saw Hunter (13) and Holliday (0) despatched by arguably the most accurate 8th bowler ever encountered ! Chris Barlow somehow got a thick edge to his next delivery that raced away to the boundary but the accuracy continued and then accounted for Raw on 47. Jeff Oliver then received the only wayward ball in the form of a full toss for two runs and survived the next two that whistled past his outside edge before Barlow (12*) took on the spinner Asif clearing mid-off for a two and then despatching the next straight down the ground for four to clinch a 7 wicket win in the 23rd over.

The 2XI continued their challenge for the league title with a comprehensive victory over a Whickham side celebrating their league cup win on Friday night. batting first Whickham were soon in disarray as Duncan McGregor (1-17) claimed the first wicket before Ashley Parker ripped through the top order with two wickets with just 5 runs on the board. Parker (3-24) soon claimed his third with a catch by Rory Marr after a quick partnership of 30. Ruddick continued his personal run of form against Ponteland and found an ally in Ravi and the pair added 44 before Ian Smart's lbw appeal was successful against Ravi (17) and minutes later Andy Denyer had Ruddick caught at point by Matt Darwood for 36. Two balls later the pair repeated the feat to give Denyer another (2-16). Smart (4-16) then ran through the innings in double quick time as Whickham collapsed from 75-4 to 85 all out.

In reply Ponteland's latest opening combination of Matt Darwood and Nick Brown overcame some early challenges from the Whickham opening bowlers to then dominate, Darwood reaching his sixth fifty of the season finishing unbeaten on 51 while Brown scored an unbeaten 29 to complete the 10th wicket win in just the 19th over.

History Boys

The 3XI took on South North in their final fixture of the season in Gosforth last night with regular skipper Simon Raw returning after his holiday. South North won the toss and chose to bat and started strongly, particularly off Ryan Gerrard, whose opening over was a touch short. The third over though saw Ashley Parker draw a top edge from the batsman caught by keeper Neil Stanley before Stanley took a smart stumping off Gerrard (1-27). The bowling changes after 6 overs saw a collapse as first Andy Denyer (1-9) took a low caught and bowled before he combined with Max Bell to claim the next with a catch by Denyer at mid-off as Max claimed the rarity in 20 over cricket of a wicket maiden. Max's second over saw another catch behind to Stanley before 2 balls later he clean bowled the new man to leave the innings on 37 for 6. South North went defensive at this point and Max finished with outstanding figures of 3 for 4 off 4 overs. Neil Pinnock (0-7 off 2) and Ash Parker (1-22 off 5) bowled the final overs, with the innings finishing on 72-6, their skipper forgetting to inform his players the final game is only 18 overs a side.

In response Ponteland got off to what now seems to be a customary poor start with Faizal Padikaran (0) and James Ottaway (0) both bowled before the score reached 5, the former reclaiming the unwanted lead in the duck cup in the process. Simon Raw and Rory Marr settled in and saw off the openers before Marr in particular cut loose against the spinner as he raced to an unbeaten 44 off just 30 balls as an 8 wicket win was completed in the 15th over, Raw unbeaten on 20.

The 3XI took on Backworth in their final home game of the season last night with Chris Barlow in charge as both skipper Simon Raw and Vice Captain James Ottaway unavailable. Backworth batted first and started strongly, especially Shannon who had scored 25 of the opening 39 runs until Dave Waters (1-34) was successfully with an imploring lbw shout. Ash Parker bowled a good 6 over spell conceding 27 but was unable to claim any wickets. After an expensive opening over Alan Varley had Liddle caught at long off by Jonny Appleby before Max Bell produced the perfect answer to an attempted scoop shot by bowling the batsman Duncan for 37. Bell (2-30) claimed the next as well with a catch to Andy Graves before Graves claimed a second catch this time off Varley. The final wicket of the innings saw a looping delivery defeat the batsman's charge and provided Neil Stanley with a stumping to give Varley 3-33 as Backworth ended on 127-6.

In reply Ponteland got off to a disasterous start in the face of some accurate bowling with Appleby (0), Stanley (0) and Graves (6) all dismissed before the score reached double figures and as the overs ticked past sat at 12-3 off 8 overs ! Faizal Padikaran was next to go when he picked out the only man in the deep off the spin of Shannon. From 25-4 off 10 overs though Ponteland started to battle back as Rory Marr and Neil Pinnock built a stand with Pinnock in particular taking on the 4th bowler G.Robson in particular with his 2 overs conceding 29 and the score raced to 91 off 17 to leave 42 needed off 4 overs. Backworth though had an ace up their sleeve in the form of their 2nd team opening bowler Liddle and after his opening over cost just six Pinnock fell for 40 to a catch off spinner Shannon to end a team record 5th wicket partnership of 71. The next over from Liddle though proved decisive as he dismissed Waters first ball, Marr for 35 and Parker (1) while conceding just two runs so four wickets fell for just two runs leaving 29 required off the final over. Barlow hit two fours and Shannon struggled with the left hander and conceded 5 legside wides as well along with a couple of byes but the innings finished on 113-8 to lose by 14 runs.

The Eagles clinched the Division II title tonight without taking to the field tonight when scheduled opponents Shahe Paddlers conceded the game due to a lack of players. The eight points means that Three Tuns can now only match the Eagle's current points tally but by virtue of beating them twice Pont would still finish top. The Eagles finish their season against Oceans at Bullocksteads next Tuesday but the stated aim of reaching Division I with four successive promotions since joining the league has now been achieved and now have the opportunity to aim at becoming League champions in 2014.

The U15's faced Corbridge last night in a friendly and the team's development from the side dismissed for just 18 in their opening fixture to a confident, strong team continued. With the batting line-up altered and the batsmen to retire at 30 the boundaries flowed in the opening stand as George Hunter's resurgence in confidence continued as he reached the retirement mark in just 13 balls with 3 fours and a six. Ewan Forrest's 'see ball - hit ball' approach also yielded 4 fours before he was bowled. James Mole came within 2 feet of a six only to be bowled two balls later but Jack Dobbins batted nicely for his 32 while the technique and placement of skipper for the night Luke Hudson saw him calmly accumulate 33. Further contributions from Joe Bell (10), Dan Carruthers (16*) and Tom Reeman (11) as the team reached an U15 record 182-7 off 19.2 overs with the retired batsmen prevented from returning.

In reply Corbridge batted confidently early on and chose to retire a few of their top order when they scored around 15 as no wickets fell until the 8th over when George Hunter, keeping wicket, took the catch of normal keeper Luke Hudson's (1-8) bowling ! Jack Dobbins (1-8) took the next before Rahul Vij (1-12) was successful with an lbw appeal. Max Bell (3-6) then claimed 3 quick wickets, 2 to catches by Hunter before off the last ball of the innings James Mole (1-7) gave Hunter his record breaking 4th catch behind as Corbridge finished on 101-7.

What was probably the youngest Sunday team ever, with 3 members of the Under 18s and 5 from the Under 15s in the side heading to Clara Vale to face Ovingham yesterday. Losing the toss Pont were asked to bat but Ovingham were unable to make the breakthrough with 14 year old Luke Hudson showing excellent composure in his first appearance at the top of the order alongside Faizal Padikaran. Hudson was strong off his legs, flicking a six over fine leg's head as he matched Padikaran in the opening stand of 52 before he was bowled for 22. Rahul Vij only scored 1 but showed off an improved defence over the last two weeks as Ovingham's change bowlers slowed the innings. Skipper Neil Pinnock joined Padikaran at the crease but not for long as Padikaran reached his third fifty in a row and retired. Tom Morgan (4), Dan Carruthers (5) and Chris Barlow (1) were all dismissed but Pinnock at the other end reached his fifty off 35 balls to also retire. Oli Parker (10) and 14 year old Max Bell scored freely after that and after James Mole (0) was dismissed Padikaran returned to the crease for the last over, launching his fourth six before being caught for 59 and the innings finished on 195-9 with Max Bell unbeaten for a well made 20.

In reply the junior bowling line-up made early inroads into the Ovingham top order with Oli Parker's (2-12) short bowling drawing two attempts to pull the ball and both were edged behind to Luke Hudson, the second a 1 handed catch after the ball came off the glove with the keeper already following it down the leg-side but able to adjust as the ball went back to the off. The next wicket fell in James Mole's opening over when the batsmen tried to scramble a leg-bye only for Hudson, without removing his glove, produced an accurate throw back to the bowler to complete the run out. The ever dangerous Ronnie Hall (22) was the next wicket to fall as he drove Mole (1-11) down the ground to be caught at mid-on by Mark Waters then Max Bell (1-15) claimed his first Sunday wicket with the next batsman clean bowled. Ovingham battled back with some clean hitting from Miller but his partner Bowey was dismissed after a stand of 31 with a third keeping catch for Hudson, this time giving Dan Carruthers (1-20) his first senior wicket. A tidy five over spell for just 12 runs from Vij kept the pressure on and the returning Mark Waters (1-19) claimed a well deserved wicket, bowling Miller for 37. The 8th wicket partnership held off the last few overs as Ovingham finished on 121-7 off their 35 overs, Ponteland's juniors showing that the future of the club looks increasingly strong as they get used to senior cricket.

The 1XI defeated Percy Main - no further details available.

The 2XI won against Percy Main after the opposition conceded.

At the 10th attempt Ponteland finally completed an Armin cup match this evening as a virtually full strength Swalwell first eleven took on a Ponteland side that only contained 3 first team regulars a handful of second teamers and three juniors who have only occasionally appear in our second eleven.

The bowlers though rose admirably to the challenge of containing Swalwell's free flowing batsmen who had already posted a 200 run score in this 15 over competition and it was Liam Cosgrove (1-13) with the first wicket with Bray caught by Anthony Quarrell then Ashley Parker produced an excellent pacy opening burst and dismissed Malcom Clarke (5) to a catch by Mark Waters and then nearly had Whitfield second ball bat the leading edge floated agonisingly wide of his follow through and not carrying to mid-off. Hewison at the other end was having no such problems and cruised to 38 before a good catch running in from deep midwicket from the scorebox gave Oli Parker his debut first team wicket and Mark Waters should have had Pattison in the next over, caught by Peter Nesbitt at point only for the umpires to realise there were only 3 players inside the fielding circle. Pattison failed to cash in on the reprieve though as he was caught out in the deep to an excellent running catch by Ashley to hand his brother Oli his second wicket. Ashley (1-22) return for his third over and George Hunter bowled the final two as Whitfield reached his fifty as the young bowling attack held Swalwell to 136-4. The oldest bowler on show was Dave Waters with four of the 7 used were 17 years old or under.

In reply Ponteland's top order though were ripped apart by Swalwell's opening bowlers. Dave Waters (0) had his stumps uprooted off the last ball of the first then Anthony Quarrell went to his first ball, caught at short third man and when Wayne Ritzema (1) was caught behind by former player Lloyd Anderson the score was only on six. Tom Common struck a couple of fours before he was bowled and Peter Nesbitt did likewise before Jonny Appleby was caught for five to leave six down with 29 on the board. George Hunter and Ashley Parker battled hard to put on 22 for the next wicket before Parker was caught for 5. Under 15 captain Hunter continued to battle hard before he was dismissed for a top score of 19 and Oli Parker (1) and Mark Waters (0) both fell quickly as the innings ended on 70, Cosgrove unbeaten on 8.

Although a comfortable 66 run victory to Swalwell the most promising aspect of the game must be the confidence the juniors must take from facing the best players in our league and performing with great credit, Oli Parker's two debut wickets were both former first class cricketers while Mark Waters and George Hunter also bowled and in Hunter's case batted well also.

The glourious weather continued last night and skipper Simon Raw called correctly to give Pont first knock at Benwell & Walbottle. Early on though Raw and u13 Ryan Gerrard found it hard going to say the least and the opening partnership of 25 took 7 overs before Gerrard (10) gambled on a third only to be run out from a direct hit. Andy Graves (1) played on trying to accelerate the run rate and when Raw (18) was caught in the 10th over the score sat on just 34 for 3. James Ottaway was the first to break the shackles with four 4s and a 6 as he added 52 in 6 overs with Faizal Padikaran before he was caught for a speedy 30. The 17th over saw just two runs as Chris Barlow found the pace of the spinner hard to get to grips with but in the next found the leg spinner more to his liking with a six over square leg. The next over then saw the spinner despatched down the ground for a four before Padikaran and Barlow ran 3 two's in the over as they pressurised the deep fielders each time to take 12 runs then in the final over Barlow despatched two more fours through midwicket to take 12 off the final over as well to boost the score to 122-4 off the 20 overs to score 34 off the last 3. Padikaran finished unbeaten on 24 with Barlow on the same score off 15 balls (having not scored off his first four of those).

In reply this season's luckless bowler, Under 15 Max Bell, ran into yet another batsman in form and both he and Alan Varley were batted out of the attack as runs flowed, the fifty partnership coming up in just the 7th over in stark contrast to the Ponteland innings. The opening overs from the new bowlers John Hill and Thomas Reeman were equally attacked with 18 more runs coming before Smith charged Reeman and gave U15 keeper Luke Hudson his first Ponteland dismissal. Hill's next two overs conceded just 11 and Thomas' 5 as Ponteland managed to slow down Brown as he reached his fifty and the crucial breakthrough came in the 13th over when Hill uprooted Brown's stumps to end a dominant knock of 59 to leave the score on 80. Hill's next over saw him repeat the dose, the stumps again spreadeagled, then with the very next ball Reeman dismissed Singh for 3 with an excellent 1 handed catch by Padikaran off a ball that looked like it was just going to clear him at mid-on. A chance at square leg to James Ottaway went down next ball before a good chase and direct hit through from Ryan Gerrard saw Abdsamed run out. Hill then struck again to give him 3-23 off his six overs before a maiden from his replacement Gerrard left Walbottle requiring 30 from the final over after they had earlier needed 33 runs from 7 overs. Reeman completed the day with two more wickets both caught by Raw at mid-off to finish with 4 for 27 off his six overs and a 24 run win to leave the dressing room in the unusual position of having 5 contenders to pick man of the match from !

Eagles take Tuns by narrowest of margins

The U18s played their final match in the cup group stage against Benwell & Walbottle who turned up to play the fixture despite having only 9 men and Ponteland loaned them two fielders. Batting first Ponteland lost an early wicket with Jonny Mole (0) before some confident striking of the ball by Tom Morgan and Dan Gallacher set the scoreboard ticking. Morgan (12) and Gallacher (28) were both bowled in quick succession with the score on 54. Courtney West though calmed any fears of a collapse, scoring the first six of the junior season with a clean strike down the ground. With confidence climbing West batted increasingly fluently, the outfield at Ponteland currently playing exceptionally quick by its usual standards. In partnership with Oli Parker, West took the innings well past 100, and reached his first Ponteland fifty with his 7th four, the retirement rules requiring him to then depart the crease to well deserved applause and a 90 run partnership. Parker tried to continue the acceleration and was bowled for 30 with a further contribution by Mark Waters (11) as a considerable target of 166 to win was set.

In reply the intensity in the bowling was unsurprisingly lacking following the batting high and the first 3 bowlers, Parker, Waters and Shoaib Ali were unable to make a breakthrough although Waters 5 over spell conceded only 12 runs. The breakthrough came with the score on 51 with James Mole (1-12) driven to mid-off where his brother Jonny was on hand to take the catch. Thomas Oliver (1-15) then bowled Cameron Bell for an entertaining 35 then the final wicket fell to Adam Lawson (1-8) after he was 'bullied' into bowling with another catch to Jonny Mole, to great celebration. Benwell finished on 107-3 off their 20 overs.

The team finish second in their group with 13 points and wait to see how group 3 pans out with Alnmouth & Lesbury and Ashington battling out for the top two positions in the group.

As Ponteland continues to bake under the sunshine the batsmen made merry on Sunday as the pacy bowling attack of Kings Old Boys proved to their liking. Anthony Quarrell and Faizal Padikaran took full advantage of the visiting skipper's unusual step of not opening the bowling with regular nemesis Ian Black by laying into the pace of the two openers on a pitch with pace and bounce seemingly encouraging short pitched bowling. Quarrell waited for the bad ball and ruthlessly despatched it, reaching his fifty first off 52 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes before he was first to fall for 56 to end the partnership on 110. Skipper Pinnock, having won the toss, had been forced to move himself from his intended number eight in the order with the late cry-off from Rahul Vij and made a steady start, accompanying Padikaran to consecutive Sunday fifties before after a 70 stand Padikaran (54) was dismissed with 10 fours in his innings. Under 15 Dan Carruthers on his Sunday debut was by this stage suffering from 'pad rash' having worn the gear for the longest in his life and was promptly undone by a decent delivery. Ian Smart then launched his first ball for 4 but was dismissed shortly after for 9 before Pinnock rapidly accelerated with a spell of 6 fours in 10 balls faced and reached his fifty off 62 balls before being caught moments later. Chris Barlow then made a decisive move - in the duck cup at least - closely followed by John Hill, as the returning opening bowlers ran through the middle order but Jeff Oliver (18*) saw the innings up to 243 off the 40 overs, a total boosted by an all time record of 54 extras including 31 byes.

In reply the Kings batsmen found the pitch equally to their liking with a 90 run opening stand before Ian Smart, returning to bowling from his wrist injury bowled Robson (42). Two balls later Jeff Oliver found the edge of Coyne's bat (44) and Quarrell held onto the catch to put two new batsmen at the crease. A run out following a batting mix-up that saw both batsmen at the same end soon followed and further wickets for Oliver (2-22) and Smart put Ponteland in control before Smart (3-23) claimed his third. The eighth wicket pair rebuilt the inning though and the match was getting tight again until Smart held a catch at long-off from Oli Parker's bowling (1-40) to dismiss Latimer (25). Adam Black continued to be positive before Sam Wood (1-54) breached his defences on 39 and Ponteland's bowlers closed the innings on 218-9 for a 27 run win.

Sunday 14th July 2013

Double delight over Shotley Bridge

The glorious weather continued as the Sunday team visited their most northern opponents up at Chatton, for what is always an enjoyable, friendly and relaxed game of cricket.

After the team demanded the skipper must win the toss a vote took place in the dressing room which saw the skippers usual call of tails outvoted - you all can already guess what then happened so we headed out into the field. As ever Sam Wood was the early star performer, claiming key batsman Raj, who had hammered a rapid fifty against us on the last visit, for just 3 with a one handed catch at square leg by Thomas Oliver and followed up with a delivery that left him, umpire, batsman and wicket-keeper all bemused as to how the ball failed to hit the stumps. At the other end James Mole settled in to a decent rythmn in his first Sunday team outing but no further wickets fell. The change bowlers, George Hunter and Thomas Oliver saw the batting accelerate as deliveries good and bad were despatched on the small ground and before long Dodds had reached his fifty and retired. With the small ground the boundaries continued to flow but eventually it was Jeff Oliver who made the breakthrough with Tebay caught behind by Chris Morgan as Jeff bowled his 7 overs for just 19 runs.

At the drinks break and with no spin options in the side Dave Waters after two unsuccessful overs of seam dusted the cobwebs off his leggies and eventually Munro attempted to launch him through 'cow corner' on the longest point of the ground only for skipper Chris Barlow to charge in off the fence and hold onto the catch, apparently gaining possession of Chris Morgan's house in the process as there was sufficient time while the ball was in the air to discuss the likelihood of the catch being taken ! Waters (2-39) then picked up Scott (26) bowled round his legs. As Chatton scrambled for quick runs Wood then picked up a run out at the non-strikers end off his boot in the follow through then Mole (1-43) got his first senior wicket, a stumping for Chris Morgan. The final wicket came again through a run out, Jeff Oliver's first attempt missing the stumps so the batsmen attempted an overthrow but Rahul Vij backing up got the ball back to the keeper as the innings ended on 198-7 off 35 overs.

In reply Ponteland lost 2 early wickets with Vij (2) and Ian Smart (4) both bowled by the mysteriously named AGP ! Faizal Padikaran and Chris Morgan though steadied the innings, both mixing defence with boundaries, Morgan despatching one bowler for four fours in a row through midwicket. Faizal reached his first Sunday fifty with a 4 to retire on 53 and moments later Morgan was caught behind for 44. George Hunter then took the lead scoring 25 in a stand of 33 with Jeff Oliver, including his first career six before he was bowled. Skipper Chris Barlow then narrowly avoided his fourth duck of the season as the ball just cleared mid-on then inside edged his next one for four before Oliver accelerated the innings despatching 3 balls in the next over for 4. AGP then returned to the attack and Barlow did likewise launching him down the ground as well. Oliver then finished it off in the 29th over with another boundary to win by 6 wickets with 6 overs to spare, Oliver unbeaten on 32 off 28 and Barlow 22 off 19.

Both sides then headed for the Percy Arms for a beer and a chat in the early evening sunshine.

The 1XI were beaten by Burnopfield, no further details available.

The 2XI defeated Backworth by 6 wickets. Backworth scored 173-8 with 4 wickets for John Gardner. In reply Nick Brown scored a Ponteland best unbeaten 75 and Parag Chauhan 49 in a 19 point victory.

The Eagles headed off on their Durham road trip to Belmont to face the third placed side in the Division II promotion race last night and with the 1XI originally playing a cup match at Ashington the same night the team featured 8 changes from the previous week, with Dan Carruthers and Simon Hirst making their senior debuts and Howard Wright tempted out of his retirement for his annual Pont match. Despite sunny skies all day the cup match was called off early on and Anthony Quarrell came back into the side for Andy Morgan.

Winning the toss Dave Waters opted to bat first and when John Gardner played out a maiden for the opening (eight ball) over with a couple of balls keeping low it looked like it could be a challenging pitch to bat on. The second over saw Gardner off the mark - with a six - and the third saw him belt two fours before he was caught and bowled; off a no-ball. The next two balls were promptly despatched for six and the in the fourth over a further four and a six before with the score on 43 Gardner was caught on the boundary off Burnham for 40 off 23 balls with 4 sixes and 3 fours. If Belmonte were hoping for a respite it was quickly dispelled as Quarrell belted the next two deliveries for 4 although Howard Wright was then run out off the final ball to leave the score 51 for 2 off 4.

Quarrell continued his barrage with 28 coming from the next over by Smith (3 sixes and 2 fours) to leave him with figures of 3 overs including 1 maiden for 40 runs ! A first senior run for Carruthers then got Quarrell back on strike which he comfortably farmed for the next few overs, posting the fastest Eagles fifty off 18 balls with another six as the score raced past 100. Carruthers finally fell when he didn't quite middle a sweep and was well caught at deep midwicket for 1, the partnership of 75 a new record for the third wicket. The score continued to race along and the 140 was reached in the 10th over but also saw Quarrell caught for 89 off 41 with six sixes and 9 fours (the six sixes equalling the record for number of sixes in an innings). Another 20 were added by Neil Pinnock and Waters before the ball after collecting his own six Pinnock was caught for 15. Simon Hirst then 'dominated' his seven run stand with Waters, including a straight drive down the ground for four to get his first senior runs and after he was bowled for 5, Waters (18*) and Chris Morgan (4*) ended the innings on 181-6 off our 14 overs. The total just short of the record score for the Eagles against Oddfellows, also in a 14 over game with 14 fours and 11 sixes in the innings.

In reply Belmonte got off to a solid start, Sam Wood's 2 overs costing 20 while Waters was more economic with just 10 off his first two. The opening wicket came from Andy Denyer when opener Burnham tried to sweep, the ball lopping up down the leg-side for Quarrell, behind the stumps, to spring like a Kangaroo to catch it ! Denyer's second over then saw the next caught by Wright before Belmonte skipper and danger man Kerr came and went to a caught and bowled next delivery for his second duck of the season against us. Denyer (4-26) then picked up his fourth to leave the score on 44-4 as Howard Wright showed that retirement from playing hadn't lessened his bowling skills, his 3 overs costing just 11. With Denyer finished and catches being spilled left and right (by the same player !) Waters turned to a variety of slow bowling options to try to tempt Belmonte and it was Gardner (2-1) that claimed the next two wickets, both bowled. After an over from Chris Morgan (0-7) it was skipper Waters that bowled the final one, dusting off his leg-spin to claim an extra bowling point with the 7th wicket with two balls left when the ball bounced off Quarrell to stump the number 8 on 15. Belmonte finished on 85-7 with the opener Whitfield unbeaten on 31 and the beneficiary of at least two dropped catches. Both teams then retired to the pavilion for a beer and chat as the sun started to set at 9pm.

Eagles 10 points, Belmonte 2

Report by Dave Waters

Ponteland Under 15s travelled to Benwell Hill looking to make it a hat-trick of wins against Premier League opposition this season knowing that achieving this would put them right in amongst the League leaders.

Captain George Hunter won the toss and elected to have a bowl on what looked to be a cracking pitch, with a lightening outfield and the added challenge of a particularly short boundary on one side.

Max Bell opened the bowling for the visitors and settled into his usual miserly bowling regularly beating the bat and rarely conceding any runs. At the other end James Mole opened up and struggled with his line and length as the Benwell batsmen looked to target the short off-side boundary, his 2 overs costing an uncharacteristically expensive 24 runs all of them in boundary 4s. Due to a school match the teams significant RGS contingent were unavailable which meant the under 13's Thomas Reeman and Ryan Gerrard were called up and it was these two who operated during the middle overs both bowling their full compliment of overs straight through Reemans figures 1-22 and Gerrards 1-30. for the last few overs Skipper Hunter (0-26 off 3) brought himself on, and Max bell finished his spell with the penultimate over of the innings and went for just 2 to finalise his figures as the brilliant 5 overs 0 for 13! This meant Ponteland would have to chase 123, which would be there biggest score this season either batting first or second.

The atmosphere in the dressing room was very nervous and pessimistic at the halfway stage, but after the team was reminded of the speed of the outfield, quality of the pitch along with afew tweaks in the order and words of "inspiration" the lads were eventually boiling with determination to win this game.

Rahul Vij and Dan Carruthers opened the innings and it was plain to see the game plan early on was to get bat on ball and put the fielders under pressure which worked very well. Dan took the unfamiliar role of the aggressor slapping afew fours, but importantly not wasting dot balls by getting bat onto it and running hard. This strategy was prosperous and served its purpose but was also frought with danger and as it was Carruthers played one out to cover who picked it up and without hesitation threw the stumps down, by this stage however Dan had a Pont best of 29 and the team were started on the right track. With the departure of Carruthers, Vij decided to take up the mantle of aggressor and started to really get bat on ball, being especially keen to get the ball through the covers, he was joined at the crease by George Hunter who looked in good form as he made 6 before a calling mix-up led to the disappointed Hunter departing. This meant Ewan Forrest came to the wicket in one of the steepest promotions known in cricket, from 11 up to 4, it is a wonder he didn't arrive at the crease with a nosebleed as some of his teammates lightly reminded him, in fact the team all had agreed (without the coach's knowledge obviously!) to have a £1 a man whip round if he reached 30 runs. Forrest however either payed little heed to their sarcasm or was overly keen to bag himself a tenner of his mates money as from ball 1 he played his shots and treat very respectable (in one case county level) bowling with sheer contempt, slapping the ball hard and straight and demonstrating good hand-eye coordination if not refined technique. He made an entertaining (as the growing crowd confirmed) 25 from 19 balls, and whilst not being able to rightfully claim his purse, his team are certainly indebted to his breezy innings when the rate was sneaking up. This is not to suggest the job was done when Forrest departed after being bowled by a turning off break, as Vij had succumbed whilst this was going on, his favoured cover area being his downfall as is often the caser as he spooned a catch up. This meant Joe Bell and Ryan Gerrard arriving at the crease close to each other needing 23 off the last 3 overs only 4 was scored off the 18th meaning the tension built as 19 was needed off 12 balls, luckily for Pont the bowler over-stepped and sent the ball down the leg-side for 5 no-balls and did the same thing again, a 3 and 2 singles followed and 1 was needed with 7 balls to go, Ryan Gerrard scored a hit and run single to cover to win the game which was very fitting as it was this risk-taking mentality which put us in the position to win the game in the first place.

On reflextion this was a massive win for Ponteland and just re-inforces the strides the team has taken, it would be wrong to summise the season prematurely so we shall wait until after the last game against Percy Main at home next Monday night before making any conclusions of the season and it would also be wrong to bring bad luck or a "jinx" on the team so it would be inappropriate and reckless to mention that it is perfectly plausible that the team could WIN THE LEAGUE next week (depending and based on available results). I will leave it up to you to think of a reason to come down and watch other than that.

The 1XI were dismissed for 103 by unbeaten league leaders Swalwell with Anthony Quarrell top scoring with 53. In reply Ponteland managed to ruffle their free scoring top order taking 5 wickets by the time they reached halfway with 2 for Liam Cosgrove before Swalwell completed a 5 wicket win.

The 2XI again showed frailties in chasing targets after Andy Denyer (5-35) reduced the innings to 123-9 an unbroken 35 run last wicket partnership saw Ponteland chasing 156. Regular wickets fell early on but Rory Marr (45) and Dave Waters (21) left the team well set at 118 for 5 with 10 overs remaining before Marr fell to an excellent one handed caught and bowled by J.Dumighan and an array of wild shots followed to leave 20 needed by the last pair, who had reduced that to 11 before Thomas Reeman (4) was dismissed with 2.2 overs remaining as the league lead was conceded to our opponents.

The Sunday team put in a valiant performance against a strong Blagdon team who set a target of 200-5 with two early wickets from Oli Parker (2-25) in his most impressive bowling performance of the season so far. As with many games this season a 100+ partnership then followed, before Mani Ragbir (2-39) claimed two and Luke Hudson completed a smart run out from Jeff Oliver's throw. Under 15 Ben Roberts in his first senior game also bowled a tidy spell conceding 27 off 5 overs after a nervy opening over cost 11. In reply after two early wickets Neil Stanley (28) and Mani Ragbir put together a fifty stand, but another two wickets set us back again before Ragbir and Jeff Oliver started the charge. Once Ragbir (49) was dismissed the wickets fell around Jeff leaving it all down to him and after reaching 63 he was well caught in the deep as Ponteland were dismissed for 178.

The U13s also suffered a defeat to league leaders Corbridge. The U13s scored 88-5 off their 20 overs and Corbridge just made it home by 3 wickets

At the risk of tempting fate !

2012 up to the 27th June - Matches 70 - Played 32 - Cancelled 38
2013 up to the 27th June - Matches 69 - Played 58 - Cancelled 8 - Abandoned 3

After the opening game of the season where Genetics defeated the Eagles we headed into the second half of the year aiming to maintain the title challenge and handed Eagles debuts to Martin Tallentyre and Under 15 James Mole taking it to 37 players who have turned out in just 7 games.

It was Tallentyre who made the breakthrough in the second over bowling Bennett for 4 then Greenwood cut skipper Dave Waters to Anthony Quarrell at point for 4. Mole was next into the action with a good catch off Waters (2-14) and when Tallentyre (2-10) struck again the innings stood at 24-4. Mole's first bowling spell for the team was a learning curve for the junior as Nick Brown and Andy Goulding counter attacked and in the space of 4 overs the score lept to 65 before Under 18 Mark Waters continued his bowling resurgence after his unavailabilities earlier in the season with Goulding caught behind by Dan Wright and Tarbuck bowled for 0 in the same over as Mark recorded a double wicket maiden. Quarrell (2-13) as the next bowler used picked up his first two Eagles wickets as he dismissed the 9 and 10 but Brown completed his fifty before the 10 was dismissed by Mark (3-18) as Genetics finished on 89-9.

John Gardner and 19 year old Ben Lott opened the batting and amassed a rapid 52 run stand for the first wicket before Gardner (24) was caught off Tarbuck. With another Under 15, Rahul Vij getting his first bat for the Eagles it fell to Lott to provide the fireworks as he completed a 28 ball fifty, finishing unbeaten on 55 with 10 fours and a six while Vij scored an unbeaten 6 to win inside the required 9 overs to get the maximum batting points.

Next up is a trip to third placed Belmonte a week today, another victory should all bar mathematically clinch a promotion spot to Divsion I with 4 games remaining.

Report by Dave Waters

Ponteland under 15s were looking to build on an impressive win against Newcastle on Monday night, when they played South North at home, they certainly didn't disappoint in providing an entertaining game for both sets of spectators.

Hunter lost the toss and was asked to Bat first, and it was Rahul Vij who opened up with Carruthers whom profited with a promotion back to the top thanks to regular opener Luke Hudson being slightly late due to a school game immediately before. The pair faced some relatively accurate bowling early on and Carruthers (2) succumbed to an in swinger after watching four balls swing away, this left James Mole, also boosted up the order, and Vij to steadily accumulate until the bowler Scott removed both within 5 runs Vij's 24 balls reaping 13 runs and Mole's 15 bearing 11. At this stage the innings stood at 42-3 and it was imperative the runs kept ticking over whilst leaving wickets in hand. Luckily George Hunter and the middle order maestro Joe Bell got their heads down and steadily amassed runs (the extras column also played its part), bringing the score up to 71 when Hunter's stumps were rattled and he departed for a well made 17. Bell continued on with James Croney but alas both were to fall seeking to bump up the scoring rate, Bell caught out for 22 and Croney, who had responded to the challenge of strike rotation well, for 7. Luke Hudson came next in the unfamiliar role of late innings biffer but was bowled for 4 attempting an uncharacteristic but perfectly appropriate leg side heave. Max Bell and Ben Roberts came together for the last few balls and were 2 not out and 0 not out respectively as the innings closed on 114-7 with Extras contributing 36.

In reply South North found the going pretty tough as opening bowlers James Mole and Max Bell, ably supported by their fielders, built constant pressure until it finally told in the 4th ball of Moles first over when the Batsman scooped a catch up to the man increasingly being dubbed "Safe Hands" Dan Carruthers. In the following Over Bell claimed a scalp of his own as the number 3 mistimed a leg glance and the leading edge skier was pouched by 'Keeper Hudson, Bell bowled a maiden in his third over but skipper Hunter decided his remaining overs may be more useful at the other end of the innings and he was asked to take a breather to be replaced by Ben Roberts, with Mole getting pace and bounce out of the wicket at one end Roberts bowled a wonderfully consistent line with skilful swing and guile, his first 4 overs conceding 12 runs and he had also picked up a wicket, Mole continued into his 4th and bagged himself another victim owing to an important catch under pressure from Ewan Forrest at point, which sent the dangerous remaining opener back to the hutch. In the middle overs the change bowlers struggled for line and consistency with Hunter (1-12) getting a wicket to a borderline no-ball which dipped sharply onto the top of middle stump. Harrison (0-20) and Forrest (0-15) also struggled and with 5 overs to go South North needed 25 with C.Scott looking dangerously poised, Max Bell returned for a second spell of 2 overs which cost the asking rate of 5 apiece to finish with the impressive figures of 5-1-16-1. Mole also returned and his 1 over went for 4 (2-22 off 5). the scene was set...2 overs 18 needed. Ben Roberts stepped back into the fray and immediately made it an uphill struggle for 'The Bulls', his tight line proving impossible to hit and with just 1 run coming from the over, his figures were brilliant at 1-13 off 5. this left Rahul Vij 17 to play with going into the last and despite a few hearts in mouths after a couple of wides he got the job done going for just 7.

This victory is a significant one. It means 2 victories over Premier League opposition this season and especially coming against a team with some of the best facilities in the North East and a much admired Junior set-up, the players should feel justly proud of themselves. The team they played tonight are top of the table and beat Tynemouth , who so convincingly beat us at the start of the season, It clearly marks the teams improvement, technically and mentally and should inspire the lads into believing that a win against Benwell Hill at Denton Bank next Monday is possible !

With the weather forecast having predicted doom and gloom and despite some overnight rain the teams were presented with a good pitch and probably the quickest outfield at home so far this season and as Ponteland's innings started any shot that beat the infield rocketed to the boundary. After a stand of 34 Paul Lindsay (15) was run out then the score had moved to 70 in the 17th over when Anthony Quarrell (19) was LBW. Consett's spinners started to slow proceedings down and Wayne Ritzema mistimed a shot down the ground to be out on 43 and when James Ritzema fell for 29 the innings sat on 120 for 4 off 30 overs. Any hopes the visitors had of taking control of the game though were dispelled by Stuart Taylor and Tom Seymour, the latter mixing defense with attack, bringing his second fifty of the season up off 44 balls with his fourth six. Taylor after what he described himself as a scratchy start battled his way back into form and started to play much more fluently and reached his first fifty of the year in the same manner with a six down the ground. The 119 run stand was finally broken with Seymour bowled for 66 and it was left to Dan Wright (10*) with a 4 ball cameo to boost the score to 249 for 5, launching a low full toss high over long on off the final delivery, Taylor finishing unbeaten on 59.

Ponteland's bowlers started solidly and the breakthrough came on 30 when Mark Turnbull enduced an edge from Waters (23) well taken at slip by Wayne Ritzema. A second Turnbull wicket followed on 53 with a successful LBW appeal but Ponteland seemed to go surprisingly flat in the field for 12 overs as Consett doubled their score and 100-2 at the halfway point left the game wide open. The next two overs though gave Ponteland the lift they needed as first Paul Elliott (1-43) produced a mishit from Barnes (19) that was brilliantly caught by a diving James Ritzema running into the midwicket area then new batsman Winn called his partner for a quick single to Quarrell in the covers, whose clean pick up and throw hit the only stump he could see to dismiss Huntsman for 38. Two overs later Duncan McGregor's self confessed 'Consett nemesis' Chapman despatched the aforesaid bowler for a four and a six past the sports centre before McGregor's (1-40) empassioned appeal for LBW was acknowledged by the umpire.

Once again though Consett regrouped and another stand of 50 put them in the hunt again and saw them needing 90 from the final 15 overs. The next wicket fell to Tom Seymour who had Winn (34) caught by Taylor then Stewart (3) fell to an excellent one handed reaction catch by bowler Turnbull and Ponteland could finally feel they were back on top when the 8th wicket fell with the score on 200 when Ringer on 32 was bowled by a Seymour (2-32) yorker. Turnbull (4-45) then picked up his fourth of the innings and despite the best efforts of Bainbridge he was dismissed for 19 when a decent hit out to deep midwicket was well caught by Quarrell to finish the innings with a wicket for Liam Cosgrove (1-24) and a 33 run win.

The 1XI have now recorded three wins in a row in the A1 division for the first time ever and sit comfortably in the top half of the table heading into the trip to Swalwell next Saturday to face the run-away unbeaten league leaders.

Wayne Ritzema's dismissal for 99 gave the excuse to delve into the Club History and it is the second dismissal for 99 in the club's history - the first came just last year when Stuart Taylor was dismissed for 99 in the Sunday game against Riding Mill. The highest previous dismissal in the 90s for the 1XI was 98 by Mike Watts against Backworth in 1972 and Luke Stewart with the same against Bates Cottages while there have been 5 dismissals on 97, all in the 1XI. Phil Ottaway's 96 for the 2XI is the highest 'near-miss' on a ton for the seconds and the only 95 is Lloyd Anderson's effort in a 20 over cup match.

Score	Name	Team	Opposition	Venue	Date
99	W.Ritzema	1XI League	Ryton	Away	15/06/2013
99	S.Taylor	Sunday XI	Riding Mill	Home	27/05/2012
98	M.Watts	1XI League	Backworth	Away	26/08/1972
98	L.Stewart	1XI League	Bates Cottages	Home	28/05/1994
98	J.Jessop	Sunday XI	Windermere	Home	01/05/1985
97	A.Morgan	1XI League	Ashington Workshops	Away	19/05/1984
97	M.Darwood	1XI League	Benwell & Walbottle	Away	04/06/2005
97	M.Clarke	1XI League	Greenside	Away	08/07/2006
97	L.Anderson	1XI League	Ashington	Away	05/08/2006
97	J.Ritzema	1XI League	Consett	Home	30/04/2011
96	P.Ottaway	2XI League	Percy Main	Home	22/06/2002
95	L.Anderson	1XI 20/20	Lintz	Home	12/07/2006

There are a further 15 dismissals between 90 & 94 (9 of which were in the 1XI).

Getting out in the 90s is bad enough, being 99 not out at the end of a successful run chase must be even more annoying. James Sayers achieved that for the 2XI against Whitley Bay in 1990 although he does have the consolation of reaching 3 figures twice for Ponteland. In 2005 Matt Darwood was out for 97 trying to hit a boundary to win the game and reach his 100 against Benwell & Walbottle and was also unbeaten on 96 against Whickham both for the 1XI but does have a 2XI century to his name.

John Gardner managed 98* in a 20 over cup match for the second eleven while Stuart Taylor in the 3rds also scored 98* in a 20/20 against Hebburn in 1998.

Report by Dave Waters

Ponteland Under 15's looked to bounce back after a close defeat to rivals Blagdon Park, travelling to the Heaton Medicals ground to face Newcastle.

Skipper George Hunter lost the toss and Ponteland were inserted into what must be said resembled (probably because it is) a rugby pitch with a square cut in the middle.

Rahul Vij and Luke Hudson reprised their roles of opening the batting for a second week, and a relatively steady start was made until Vij was punished for playing across the line to a straight one and was bowled for 10, Hudson quickly followed for 3 and the all too familiar smell of a textbook Ponteland collapse was swirling in the air, Hunter managed 10 before playing on and the in-form Joe Bell was sent packing lasting 3 balls before becoming F. Pearce's third victim. This brought Dan Carruthers and Luke Karat to the crease and whilst some signs of defiance were showing themselves Karat was unfortunately run-out for 3 owing to a combination of late calling and hesitant running. Carruthers admitted partial responsibility for the loss of his partner and was resolute in his insistence to "dig in". Patrick Holliday, who had arrived just after the innings started and as a result batted at seven, was the man to replace Karat, and at this point it must be noted that Greg Pearce (by far the bowler of the innings, if not the match) was extracting outrageous amounts of turn with his leggies' while commanding a disciplined line. So tight was the bowling and so perilous was Pont's position that Holliday only managed 1 from his first 14 deliveries this makes it even more impressive the way he ambushed the other bowlers during the later overs of the match, smashing an unbeaten 43 from 44 balls (considering 30 of those were dot balls this is no mean feat). Carruthers willingly provided support at the other end and his 34 ball 15 included just 5 scoring shots before being bowled in the 19th. James Croney did well to finish 2* while providing Halliday with the strike. This recovery meant that the County Club would require exactly 100 to win.

The chase got off to the worst possible start with James Mole bowling a wicket maiden with the wicket coming from the last ball, and in truth Newcastles effort never really recovered as Mole tore the heart of their response out with the excellent figures of 3-9 off 5 (despite trying to con the captain and coach into believing he had only bowled 4!). Once the result seemed to be an inevitability Skipper Hunter used the opportunity to have a look at some of his other bowling options with Ben Roberts swinging the ball beautifully to record the miserly figures of 3-3 off 3 including his own wicket maiden. Joe Bell and Luke Karat each picked up a wicket and with 9 bowlers used in total no one can use the excuse of being left out in the cold. Also a mention goes to Carruthers who held on to 3 catches. There were few highlights of the Newcastle inniongs with extras comfortably outscoring the Batsmen's totals but another word for Greg Pearce who was stoic in his defence, scoring 14 off 42 balls. James Croney claiming the last wicket off the penultimate ball to end the innings on 54.

This victory means its 2 losses and 2 wins for the Under 15 team this season and it would be great to have a winning season. With two stern tests coming up though the side will have to be at its best to achieve this, playing South Northumberland next Monday at home followed by a trip to Denton Bank to take on Benwell Hill.

The 3XI Cup match will be played on Tuesday 2nd July at Home to Tynemouth. Please let Simon Raw know your availability.

The 2XI are out of the cup on net run rate, finishing level on points with Ashington & Percy Main in the group but third overall after our defeat to Ashington.

The 1XI Armin Cup match against Blaydon may have to be re-arranged but no date is yet available.

The 1XI Bobby Smithson Northumberland County Cup match is still awaiting the winner of the preliminary round match between Ashington & Morpeth which is played on Tuesday.

After two weeks of missed chances and luckless bowling the Sunday team raced out of the blocks in the opening four overs against Victorians as Oli Parker (2-5) dismissed both openers to catches by Faizal Padikaran at square leg and Jeff Oliver at mid-off then moments later the number three played a shot to gully which debutant Greg Dover picked up on the roll and delivered the ball back to slip Ify Fazal who couldn't miss with the run out to leave the innings 3 down with just 4 on the board. Rahul Vij then picked up a catch in the covers to give Sam Wood (1-6) a deserved wicket then Thomas Oliver claimed the fifth in his opening over to a good catch by Neil Pinnock fielding close on the drive for 12 for 5. After 12 overs Dave Waters decided keeping wasn't for him and swapped with Fazal and moments later the sixth wicket fell as Parag at gully collected the edge to give Thomas Oliver (2-4) his second to leave the innings in tatters at 29 for 6. Numbers 7 & 8 launched a counter attack before Amir was bowled by Jeff Oliver for 27. Sami kept on attacking and took the score past 100 before he launched one out to deep midwicket where Wood took an excellent catch right on the bounday. Jeff (3-26) then followed up with his third, an lbw and Waters (1-1) took the last with a catch by Thomas Oliver to set a chase of 105.

In reply Rahul Vij battled his way to 9 off 27 balls before he was caught but any fears of a clatter of wickets were quickly dispelled by Parag Chauhan who settled quickly into his usual approach to batting with the unorthodox aggression of Ifty Fazal at the other end and the pair rapidly took the side to the brink of victory when Chauhan reached his fifty off 62 balls and as per the agreed rules retired with the score on 98. Fazal with a boundary brought the 100 up and Faizal Padikaran (3*) struck the winning runs with 15 overs to spare, Fazal finishing unbeaten on 31.

Match Photos

Sunday 16th June 2013

U13s win big and U11s make it a Sunday triple

The 1XI followed up their win against bottom side Lintz last week with another strong performance, this time against second bottom Ryton. Batting first Ponteland posted a formidable 275-7, the top three setting the tone with Wayne Ritzema 99, Paul Lindsay 51 and Anthony Quarrell 55. In reply Ryton were dismissed for around 120 with 3 wickets for Paul Elliott and 2 each for Duncan McGregor and Liam Cosgrove, with Tom Seymour and Mark Turnbull with 1.

After last nights rain the pitch recovered sufficiently for today's game to take place and Ashington chose to bat first. Ash Parker and Dave Waters quickly reduced the innings to 11-3 after just four overs, Parker with a successful lbw appeal and Waters bowling Potts (4) then taking a caught and bowled next ball to dismiss Collins. Ashington regrouped and the score reached 69 before Parker took an excellent catch in the deep of Tom Reeman (1-30). Thewlis and Dunn though battled through steadily accumulating off the spinners before cutting loose on the returning seamers as Parker (1-59) proved expensive. Waters (3-42) eventually got the breakthrough with Thewlis bowled for 70 to end the 120 run partnership. 10 more runs were added before Dunn was caught behind off the final delivery by Simon Edmondson (1-30).

In reply Ponteland started strongly with Ealey (21) finding the boundary early on before he picked out the only fielder in the deep with the score on 40. Matt Darwood and Jonny Appleby kept the scoreboard ticking over and when Darwood reached his 4th consecutive fifty and the score passed 110 it appeared to be Ponteland's game to lose. Darwood's dismissal for 60 was shortly followed by Appleby for 39 and when Nick Brown (6) and Faizal Padikaran (0) went in quick succession the innings fell apart and with the score on 170-5 the crucial wicket of Edmondson (27) was picked up by Ashington and the last five wickets tumbled for 5 runs as the tail desparately tried to pick up the runs in the final four overs.

Match Photos

After last year's total washout in the Armin Cup, this year's tournament did at least start with Ponteland's first ever trip to Premier League Blaydon for the 15 over match. Batting first Ponteland scored 92-7, with 21 from Stuart Taylor. Dave Waters (1-4 off 2 overs) got an early wicket but with 4 fours off the first four balls of Taylor's over taking Blaydon to 38-1 in the fifth the skies opened and the torrential rain saw the game abandoned.

Alan Varley's selection of The Sun as his pub of choice on the way home proved a good one - the chips and beer was the highlight of the day. Thanks to Andy Graves and Faizal Padikaran for buying the chips.

As for the match : "If you can't say something nice don't say anything at all" - Thumper (1942)

As the glorious weather of the last few weeks continues to recede the 2XI headed to Percy Main for the final group stage of the cup only to discover a 6pm start was not on the cards due to a seniors match using the ground that saw the game start 40 minutes late and it was not long after the start when the clouds rolled in to hide the sun for the evening.

Undaunted an understrength seconds set about the task in the field and in the opening overs kept the Main's openers underpressure and the scoring was limited to the extent only 38 were on the board after 8 overs and the pressure counted with John Gardner (1-14) claiming the first wicket, caught by Neil Pinnock (no that's not a mistake !!). The track though was a good one and despite the best efforts of Dave Waters (0-22), Thomas Reeman (0-16) and Mark Waters (0-29) the only further wicket to fall was a caught and bowled for James Ealey (1-41) as a score of 124 was posted. The pace of the innings was such that we managed to bowl the full 20 overs in just 62 minutes which the umpires believed was one of the quickest ever.

In reply James Ealey dominated the opening stand, scoring 28 of the opening 44 with Chris Morgan on just 6, with Dave Waters in at number three and the onset of darkness as if someone had turned off the lights the completion of the game was looking in doubt but the decision was made to continue and it appeared that Morgan was having no issues seeing the ball as from his quiet start of 19 off 32 balls he burst into life and with Waters (9) dismissed the score was on 84 in the 13th over. The 15th over saw Morgan score a four and a six over deep midwicket then John Gardner in usual style then set about the bowler of the 16th over with another four and six to make it 26 runs scored off the two overs. A single took the scores level before Morgan clipped the next delivery past square leg for four to complete an 8 wicket win.

Although we didn't know it at the time the four actually took Morgan to his fifty, the scorers only giving him one run, but given that they didn't run the single and the ball crossed the line the four counts so Chris finished on an unbeaten 52, his highest 20 over score and also beating his previous 2XI cup best of 7 not out !

The Eagles faced Oceans last night at Ponteland looking to put further pressure on the sides just below them in the Division II promotion race.

Putting Oceans into bat skipper Dave Waters (1-12) opened the bowling himself and claimed the first wicket with the score on 14 with a successful lbw appeal. the following over saw Sam Wood (1-31) breach the defences of the other opener but the Oceans number 3 launched a strong counter attack to hit Wood out of the attack and the score started to race along and the fifty was posted in just the 6th over before Mark Waters dislodged the number 4 for 19 with the score on 55. Two further wickets fell without another run being added with a direct hit run out from Faizal Padikaran and a good catch at mid-off by Ryan Gerrard off Thomas Reeman. The number 3 (we have no names as they chose to not come to the scorebox to score) continued to counter with fours and sixes and the score reached 89 in the 9th over before the next wicket fell, caught by Wood off Waters. To say the wheels then came off is almost an understatement as the set batsman struggled to retain the strike as the bottom order folded around him as a 1st ball catch to Ben Lott gave mark his third wicket, Dave Waters caught the next man 2nd ball to give Reeman (2-25) his second wicket, Wood produced the second direct hit run out of the innings before Mark (4-29) cleaned up the last man to end the innings in a hurry on 99, with Number 3 unbeaten on 54 off 36 balls.

In reply the Eagles innings was emphatic with Anthony Quarrell dominating from the start while Matty Bell played himself into form in only his third match of the season. Quarrell raced to a 26 ball fifty, finally finishing on an unbeaten 65 while Bell reached 31 not out for a maximum 11 point, ten wicket win. The Eagles move 18 points clear of second placed Belmonte (who have two games in hand) as we reach the halfway point of the season on time with no games so far to rearrange.

The cloud of the morning burnt off to give the Sunday team some warm sunny conditions to face Bamburgh at home. Batting first Andy Graves, in his first Sunday match since 2008, started positively and after the early loss of Vij (5), alongside Anthony Quarrell the runs came freely until the first change bowlers entered the fray and both Graves (43) and Quarrell (23) were dismissed in quick succession as the bowlers took control. Faizal Padikaran was forced to temper his natural style as the bowlers gave nothing to hit and after Oli Parker (1) was bowled the score was 107-4 off 20 overs. The next 7 overs saw just 15 runs scored as neither Padikaran or Chris Barlow could get the ball away as the spinners exerted control until Padikaran (19 off 52) ran himself out. The next six overs saw George Hunter and Barlow gain some fluency as the scoring rate slowly increased and the total pushed past 150 before both fell in quick succession in two runless overs with the opening bowlers returning just as the attempt to accelerate came with Hunter bowled for 11 and Barlow 23 off 49 balls. In the end the final four overs only produced 14 runs, boosted by some byes as Sam Wood finished unbeaten on 7 but both Neil Pinnock (1) and Max Bell (0), run out when the ball deflected off the bowler onto the stumps were dismissed to set a target of 168.

In reply Ponteland got off to the dream start as opener Parmley was bowled by Wood in the opening over but despite Ponteland's best efforts and constantly beating the bat no more real chances were forthcoming, a couple of edges wide of slip off Wood (1-27) not being near enough the fielder to catch it. The junior bowling attack of Tom Oliver, Max Bell, George Hunter, Oli Parker and Rahul Vij worked hard and gave up very few four balls but just like the week before it wasn't to be our day and the partnership passed 150 before Lakey launched the first ball after reaching his fifty down the ground to be caught after a juggle by Oli Parker at deep mid-on of Pinnock (1-22). Lobb though ensured there would be no late drama finishing unbeaten on 79 as Bamburgh won with 8 wickets and 4 overs to spare.

The 1XI took on Lintz at a bright and sunny Ponteland looking to open up a gap between themselves and their bottom placed opponents. The team featured several changes from the last match with Matty Hynd and John Callaghan leaving the club and Will Urwin injured, replaced by the returning James Ritzema, Paul Elliott and Duncan McGregor.

Batting first some accurate bowling tied down Wayne Ritzema at one end while his latest opening partner, Paul Lindsay managed to score a few runs. Slowly the rate picked up as the opening bowlers were held at bay before Ritzema (20) was bowled. Lindsay reached his fifty but alongside Anthony Quarrell run scoring slowed to a crawl as both batsmen struggled for timing and the partnership had reached 81 when Lindsay was caught for a Ponteland best 91. James Ritzema on his return from a year in France and Quarrell tried to up the rate but with the score on 164, Quarrell was caught for 34 and Stuart Taylor followed 1 ball later and Tom Seymour not long after for 5. Ritzema batted with increasing fluency and Dan Wright chipped in with 11 to take the score past 200 before both were dismissed in the closing over, Ritzema run out off the final ball for 38 to set a target of 208.

In reply the Lintz openers started solidly against Mark Turnbull and Paul Lindsay and the fifty stand was passed before Liam Cosgrove produced a beauty to bowl Foster for 24 then in his next over James Ritzema at point took the catch for the second wicket. At this point I had to leave so no further detail is currently available.

N.B Ponteland went on to bowl Lintz out for 194 in a tight finish with Turnbull 3-36, Cosgrove 2-22, Elliott 2-42, W.Ritzema 3-10

Match Photos

2XI stay top with Lintz win

The 3rds faced Benwell Hill at Ponteland last night, just in time for the only cloud of the week to cross over the ground and hide the sun. Batting first Ponteland had an early setback without a run on the board as skipper Simon Raw was bowled. Martin Tallentyre (15) and Andy Graves (9) kept the scoreboard moving in the first 8 overs but the pitch was proving hard to score runs on. Once both were dismissed Faizal Padikaran (1), Jon Varley (5) also followed, but James Ottaway and Chris Morgan (11) kept the score moving aided by some unusually wayward bowling from the Hill with 3 lots of five wides. Ottaway finally fell for 29 to an outstanding catch in the deep, the hang time on the ball out to long on was immense and gave long off the time to cover a huge amount of ground to reach it as the batsmen were completing a second run. With Ottaway's dismissal Ponteland struggled through to 111-9 off their 20 overs - aided by 35 extras.

As Benwell replied cricket proved once again that it can be the worst game in the world for 'being in form' as just two days after his Eagles heroics Ash Parker struggled for rythm and at the end of just the third over withdrew from the attack. Benwell had moved serenely onto 18 in the fourth over when the opener ran himself out, Simon Raw with the simplest of lobs to the keeper from point. Three balls later in the same over from Denyer, the remaining opener tried to launch down the ground and was caught by Padikaran off Denyer. A couple of maidens from Denyer and Sam Wood then followed as the runs dried up and it was Wood who struck next bowling Ladd for 1 before two more wickets for Denyer, the first a caught and bowled the second as Ottaway returned the favour with an outstanding catch of his own at deep cover for 41 for 6 off 12 overs. Wood (2-19) struck again and 2 further wickets for John Hill (2-14) saw the Hill finish on 65 for a 46 run Ponteland victory, our biggest ever victory against them.

Andy Denyer finished with figures of 6 overs 1 maiden 3 for 10 to make it 9 for 19 in 19 overs this week.

The final three weeks before the league split will determine if we head to the championship play-offs. We currently sit in 6th with 3 teams currently in the top 6 still to play. Next week is Morpeth away.

Eagles team photo from Tuesday night

The rearranged fixture for the Eagles against Three Tuns took place in warm sunny conditions this evening, with both sides level on points at the top of Division II. The Tuns won the toss and asked the Eagles to bat and their opening bowlers produced an accurate opening burst claiming the wickets of Dan Wright (0), Anthony Quarrell (9) and Stu Taylor (11) as the innings crept to just 34 off the opening eight overs, at which point John Parker on the boundary edge predicted a score of 114 would be defendable. Jonny Appleby and Dave Waters rebuilt the innings before Appleby (28) was caught behind in the 12th over with the score on 65. Ben Lott back from University in America showed that his tennis skills could overcome a lack of any cricket practice for a year, his second ball racing back down the ground for four and in the remaining 4 overs added 49 runs with Waters to exactly match the 114 JP had predicted earlier ! Dave finished on 37* off 35 balls and Ben 20* off 17 deliveries.

Unbeaten Three Tuns had posted some big scores this season and the Eagles needed to get off to a good start and skipper Ash Parker was keen to see if the work he had done on correcting the issues with his run-up were having an effect. From the boundary edge it certainly seemed as though the rhythm was back and he went on to produce the fastest Ponteland bowling spell so far this season. Opener Dodds was completely undone by a straight fast ball that clipped the top of his stumps on the third ball of the opening over, then off the seventh he pinned the number three in front lbw after he had played and missed at the previous three without a run yet to be scored. The next three overs saw the Tuns battle back putting on 35 runs but Ash's third over completely changed the innings. The crucial wicket of Aslam (who has scored a double century in this league !) came as Parker induced an edge well taken by a diving Dan Wright, a dismissal that was repeated two balls later, then followed up by an lbw first ball then the last ball saw the stumps uprooted for the fourth of the over and Parker's sixth and the scoreboard now read 35-6. Parker's final over was wicketless but the eighth over of the innings from debutant Francis Winfield (2-20), bowling only just slightly slower than Parker saw numbers 8 and 9 clean bowled while a leg side wide was well reached and parried by Dan Wright but when Tuns tried to sneak an extra run Jonny Appleby picked up the ball from next to the keeper and his accurate throw saw the stumps at the bowlers end hit direct. With 9 down the end was near and it fell to Thomas Reeman (1-3), replacing Parker to claim the final wicket with the number four who had witnessed the majority of the innings from the none strikers end was caught behind for 14 for a 59 run victory as Tuns were all out for 55.

Eagles take 9 points and Three Tuns 1

Ashley Parker's 4 overs 6 for 20 are the best figures for the Eagles and Dan Wright's 3 dismissals behind the stumps is also a new best.

Report by Dave Waters

In near perfect cricket conditions at Backworth, Pontelands Under 15 contingent set out to avenge the comprehensive defeat of two weeks previous. They lost the toss and were inserted by the opposing skipper and Dan Carruthers was once again on opening duties with Rahul Vij, a steady start was made before Carruthers succumbed to a relatively simple catch for 8, Vij smashed a couple of boundries before being clean bowled and James Croney could only manage 2 before he offered a chance back to the bowler who duly obliged. Skipper Hunter added a typically breezy 14 but then found his stumps asunder. This however brought Patrick Halliday and Joe Bell together who put on an impressive 60 plus run partnership with Halliday the main aggressor with 4 boundries in his 33. Bell was undefeated in a knock of 20 which saw him manoeuvre the ball and rotate strike comfortably. This power finish left Backworth needing 116 to take the spoils.

In the dressing room before fielding, the Pont lads were all keen to right the mistakes made against Tynemouth and they did not disappoint. Sharp fielding, tight bowling and safe catching were the key features of this display and once the result looked safe Hunter shuffled his pack in Paul Daniels-esque proportion and all 10 outfielders bowled, sharing the six wickets to fall evenly including a superb run out for Hunter himself. Backworth eventually managed 82 from the 20 and Ponteland celebrate a long overdue victory (July 2011 with only 1 game since !)

As predicted here 2 weeks ago This is the sort of game Ponteland will be more competitive in and the improvement in just 1 week is obvious, if the lads can continue to improve they will be a credit to Ponteland. Next Monday is at home to Blagdon Park and all are welcome to see the most improving team in the club!!!

A youthful Sunday team containing five juniors from the U15 ranks (or below) took on one of our toughest assignments every year in the Kings' Old Boys. Winning the toss Ponteland opted to field and early on it seemed like a chance was coming every over but the catches, run outs & stumpings were all missed, Sam Wood bowling one of the unluckiest spells of recent history, his 8 overs costing 20 runs (11 coming off 2 overs) but failing to claim the wicket he deserved, while Max Bell at the other end also had missed opportunities. The batsmen made the most of their reprieve's and the partnership climbed over 100 at the drinks break. A wicket keeping change at the half way stage freed up Anthony Quarrell to have a bowl but the breakthrough came when U15 Thomas Harrison, who recovered from conceding 17 in his opening over, induced an edge to new keeper Chris Morgan to dismiss Robson for 40. Ponteland continued to battle hard, Jeff Oliver's 8 over spell (1-25) finally being rewarded with a wicket in his final over then Quarrell (3-26) then claimed his first Ponteland wicket, bowling the next two batsmen before finally dismissing Kings opener Warwick on 97 when he went round the wicket and defeated him with the angle to rattle the stumps once more. Thomas Reeman bowled well in the closing overs without reward as did Max Bell, before Ryan Gerrard (2-15) claimed the next two wickets to fall, bowling Walker then following up with a neat caught and bowled for his first senior wickets. The final dismissal came off the last ball with a run out by Jeff Oliver as Kings finished on 202-8.

The size of the task was put into perspective as the ever accurate Ian Black once again strangled the top order, dismissing Chris Morgan (3) and Quarrell (15) on his way to figures of 2 for 9 off 7 overs. U13 batsman Gerrard, opened the batting and again showed excellent technique to battle his way to eleven, with further contributions of 16 from Faizal Padikaran, 15 from junior Rahul Vij and 18 from Jeff Oliver as all the top order got starts but were unable to push on against the accurate attack. With the game one Kings rotated their bowling, Thomas Reeman with a composed, unbeaten 22 helping guide the team to a respectable 138-7, a total boosted by 30 extras including a penalty five when the ball struck the helmet. The team were left to rue the missed chances in the opening 5 overs as it could have been a much lower score to chase but the future of the club looks bright with all the juniors contributing in the match.

Several games took place while the website manager was on holiday.

The 1XI were defeated by five wickets by one of the top sides in the division in Annfield Plain who have former Durham players Neil Killeen and Melvyn Betts in their ranks.

The 2XI pulled off a remarkable victory in the battle of the top two. Annfield Plain were restricted to just 88, Andy Denyer's return from injury producing the stunning figures of 13 overs 8 maidens while taking six wickets for just 9 runs. In a spin bowling partnership with U13 debutant Thomas Reeman who took a creditable 1 for 33 in his 11 overs. As can often be the case with a small chase it turned out to be a nailbiter as Ponteland collapsed to 59 for 9 despite 23 from Simon Edmondson. It fell to the aforementioned spinners to resuce the game and Andy Denyer (who has in fact opened the batting in the first eleven in the past) found Thomas a nerveless partner and they managed to knock off the runs for an outstanding win by the one wicket 'Denz' finishing unbeaten on 19 and 'Remo' 9. The 30 stand was the highest for the 10th wicket since 2000 and the highest since Ponteland changed leagues in 2002.

Andy Denyer's first wicket (caught by John Gardner) was his 100th for the Second Eleven, the 16th player to achieve this.

The 1XI exited two cups with defeats in the Tyneside Charity Bowl to Alnmouth and Lesbury and the A1 League Cup to Tynedale
The Eagles were victorious over Shahe Paddlers

The heavy overnight rain unfortunately soaked the ground again and the groundsman was unable to get on the wicket first thing to prepare a pitch so sadly there was no alternative but to call the game off early morning as there was no oppportunity for one to be prepared later in the day if it dried out.

Further bad news for the Sunday team as opponents Wallace Arms have cancelled the game as they do not have enough players making it 3 games off in a row now and only 1 played.

Report by Dave Waters

The u15's managed to complete their first fixture in almost two years on a muggy and generally dark evening at Ponteland tonight.

Winning the toss versus his Tynemouth counterpart, skipper George Hunter elected to field first, this however was to be one of the very few successes of the evening as Pont soon came under real pressure when the opening bowling pair of Max Bell and Hunter himself where put to the sword, an LBW shout from Bell was answered in the affirmative but the batsmen at this stage had already amassed 40 odd runs and the surviving opener was finding the going a lot easier than in his usual standard of first team in the Premier League. He retired after raising his bat for his half century and thanks to a combination of powerful hitting and some fielding that betrayed the sides lack of cricket a score of 148 for 4 was posted by Tynemouth. There was a wicket apiece for Mole, Bell, Carruthers and Harrison.

In response the home side never really got going and the weight of the scoreboard pressure told. Only the very bad light could have spared Pont from the inevitable defeat but with Tynemouth's skipper opting to replace the quicks with spin after they tore through the top order, it was deemed that it would be unfair to deny the visitors a win they so clearly deserved and Ponteland were bowled out in the 10th over for 18.

Despite the comprehensive nature of the defeat, it was a relief for the lads to simply get on the field and play, and with some hard work in the nets and polishing of the fielding it can be expected that Pont will be more competitive as the season progresses.

It would be fair to put this one down to experience!

The relatively dry start to the season came to an abrupt halt today as extremely heavy rain accounted for the league fixtures early on this morning. It seems highly unlikely there will be any chance of the junior fixtures taking place on Sunday and the implications for Monday's U15 and Tuesday's Eagles fixtures at Ponteland at the start of this weekend will be assessed on Monday morning.

The 3rd XI team photograph from Thursday is now on the website

After the rains of Wednesday it was a relief to all that a dry, sunny and windy day greeted everyone this morning and the 3XI were able to face Percy Main on the same wicket that the Eagles faced Sage on as scheduled. The current strength in depth at Ponteland illustrated by the fact there wasn't a single player turning out for the 3XI that played for the Eagles on Monday night.

Losing the toss Ponteland were asked to field first but were soon amongst the wickets as Neil Stanley claimed his first Ponteland dismissal with an edge behind off Dave Waters (1-31). A second quickly followed as Alan Varley lured the batsman down the wicket for a stumping to Stanley. Stanley then claimed his third dismissal, and Alan's 300th Ponteland midweek team wicket when the batsman skied one and Neil came charging out from behind the stumps to take the catch midway down the wicket. Varley's third came with a mishit into the covers for a catch for James Ottaway as he finished with 3-21 off 5 overs. Martin Tallentyre replaced Waters in the attack and picked up his first Ponteland wicket when he was cut to Dave Waters at point and quickly claimed two more with a clean bowled and a smart return catch as his 5 overs only conceded 17 runs. At the other end John Hill (2-26) rattled the stumps twice as Percy Main were restricted to 96-9 off their 20 overs.

Percy Main's bowlers came out determined to make a game of it and initially Neil Stanley and Andy Graves looked a liitle shaky as they battled through the opening 4 overs with just 2 runs on the board. The fifth though saw the momentum shift as Graves flicked two consecutive deliveries into the leg side for six. He then repeated the dose with two more in the bowlers next over and looked like he had scored a fifth out to the longest point on the leg side only for the fielder to pull off a truly outstanding catch to be dismissed for 28 with the score on 53. Any hopes that Percy Main may have had to put Ponteland under pressure were soon dispelled by Faizal Padikaran who launched his second ball down the ground for four and batted fluently to score 22 before calling for an extremely risky single. The fielder picked up the ball and much to Stanley's relief opted not to lob the ball to the keeper for a straight forward run out but launched the ball at the bowlers end to dismiss Padikaran with a direct hit with the score on 88. Stanley had settled well though by this point and despite the loss of Jon Varley (1) guided the team to a 7 wicket win with more than 3 overs to spare with an unbeaten 40.

Alan Varley now has 301 wickets for the midweek team, 98 ahead of Ron Fairweather, his next landmark to aim for is to be Ponteland's first player to reach 150 wickets since we changed leagues in 2002 - he currently has 146 well clear of Andy Denyer who is second with 96

With a bitterly cold wind sweeping across the North East the Eagles looked to build on their victory over Belmonte last time out in their match against Sage at Percy Main last night. Batting first Anthony Quarrell and Dan Wright started strongly with boundaries coming regularly in a stand of 85 before Quarrell (42) was bowled. Tom Common (21) helped Wright maintain the pace as Wright reached his first Eagles fifty before he was caught for 51. James Ealey then tried very hard to run Will Urwin out first ball but the bowler broke the stumps with his knee then failed to pull the stump out of the ground to complete the job - lesson to Will - NEVER give up on the run no matter how hopeless it looks. Ealey (8*) then despatched the next ball for six to finish the innings on 133-3 off the 14 overs.

In reply Sage got off to a 'rolicking' start as skipper Ash Parker produced a truly wayward spell of 3 overs for 49 runs. Parker still took two wickets with a catch to Urwin followed by a fantastic catches by Dan Wright out at deep extra cover. His third over saw Andy Denyer fail to hold on to one at backward point and split his hand forcing him to head for hospital while Chris Barlow nearly lost his finger ends trying to prevent a six off a hook shot at deep square leg from a no-ball but was able to stay on (albeit from a 'quieter' location on the field !). At the other end Mark Waters in his first game of the season was a bit rusty but after six overs the score sat on 80-2. James Ealey was the next bowler on and the batsmen struggled with the slower bowlers and with Denyer out of action Parker had to turn to Wright as his fourth bowler. Parker with a good catch at wide long on and then Wright himself with a caught and bowled helped to slow the run rate and in the crucial 13th over Rathbone despatched Ealey for six over square leg to bring up his fifty and take the score to 122 for 5 leaving 14 balls to score 12, however next ball he tried to repeat the feat, got a top edge and was caught at short fine leg by Mark Waters. Only two more runs came off Ealey's remaining deliveries leaving 10 required off the final 8 balls. After a single off the second ball Underwood chipped Wright to Ealey at mid-off and Sage were only able to get 3 more singles as the Eagles pulled off a dramatic 4 run victory.

James Ealey finished with 1 for 20 off his four overs while Dan Wright took 3 for 28 in his four. Further good news came in later in the evening with Andy Denyer having avoided any serious injury and is only likely to miss two weeks of cricket.

Next up is the undefeated Division II leaders the Three Tuns at Ponteland on Tuesday night.

Saturday saw a cold blustery wind for the trip to Lanchester, Ponteland's side with two changes from the week before, John Callaghan returning for the absent Mark Turnbull and keeper Dan Wright in for his first game of the season with Stuart Taylor working.

Lanchester won the toss and elected to bat and opening bowlers Duncan McGregor with 3 wickets and Callaghan with 1 soon had them in trouble with 4 quick wickets reducing the innings to 53-4. A century stand followed as Lanchester re-built and it took the returning Callaghan to dismiss Lukci in the 40s to break the stand and with 10 overs remaining Ponteland were well placed to restrict the total. Lanchester's number 7 Tweedy had other ideas, attacking from his first delivery and raced to a stunning 17 ball half century with some huge sixes, Tom Seymour's last two overs going for 34 runs. Paul Lindsay replaced him and his over went for 20, before Callaghan struck again to dismiss Taylor on 93. Tweedy though kept going right to the end, never once producing a chance until he was bowled off the last ball of the innings by Callaghan (4-85) for a 35 ball 89. The innings finishing on 288-7 with McGregor (3-38) the other wicket taker.

In reply Ponteland were quickly in trouble, Matty Hynd (0), Wayne Ritzema (19) and Anthony Quarrell (0) all dismissed by the time the score reached 35. Paul Lindsay and Tom Seymour batted solidly and prevented the required run-rate from climbing further. Lindsay reached his first Ponteland fifty but just as there was a glimmer of hope emerging and the century stand reached he was bowled by the spinner for 68. Seymour also passed fifty and went on to a Ponteland best 80 before clipping a low catch back to the other spinner. Will Urwin (15) and Dan Wright (14) tried to keep the momentum going but Ponteland eventually ended on 222-8, taking 8 points from the defeat.

Monday 13th May 2013

2XI defeat the champions

Ponteland's unique microclimate somehow resulted in a rain free zone around the ground and the match went ahead last night against Premier League Newcastle. Newcastle won the toss and batted under leaden grey skies on a pitch producing some significant bounce at times. Their opening batsmen were aggressive from the outset and one reached 30 before missing a straight one from Alan Varley. The other reached 29 before mishitting a delivery off Max Bell and Phil Barlow clung onto the 'swirler' in the covers to give Max his first senior wicket. The number three proved to be an extremely clean hitter of a cricket ball and launched into Bell's (1-44) next over, his figures not reflecting how well he bowled again this week as he reached his fifty off just 26 balls. Skipper Raw switched to a dual spin attack in the second half of the innings and was rewarded with Andy Denyer (2-23) and Neil Pinnock (2-25) pulling back the run rate as Newcastle finished on 148 for 6.

A new opening partnership of Neil Stanley and Martin Tallentyre started off but after a few boundaries between them they were both dismissed, quickly followed by Parag Chauhan (0) and Phil Barlow (1). James Ottaway and Simon Raw started positively and from 60-4 off 10 overs the score started to accelerate, only for James Ottaway (31) to be dismissed the ball after a throw in from long off and hit him on the back. Raw and Pinnock continued the charge until Raw fell stumped for 35, Pinnock with a six that bounced away under the covers saw Ponteland needing 40 off 4 overs but was dismissed for 25 shortly afterwards and Denyer (12*) and John Hill were left with needing 22 off the final over and eventually the innings fell 16 runs short.

A tight cup match against Shotley Bridge last night saw the 1XI slip to a 3 wicket defeat with a ball to spare as our opponents passed Ponteland's total of 115-7. Wayne Ritzema top scored for Ponteland with 30 while Tom Seymour took 4 for 25.

This second defeat in the group phase means that we cannot qualify for the Semi-Finals

The weather finally remembered that winter is meant to be over and the sun emerged for the Bank Holiday.

Ponteland's players responded and the 1XI, 2XI, Sunday Team and U13s were all victorious.

1XI beat Percy Main by 37 with a first league fifty for the club from Paul Elliott, 36 from Will Urwin and 33 from debuting Anthony Quarrell setting up a total of 209, with the side bowled out with 6 overs unused. In reply Percy Main were dismissed for 172, Duncan McGregor with 4 for 28 and Mark Turnbull picking up a further 3 wickets.

The 2XI also beat Percy Main, this time by the comfortable margin of 111 runs. Parag Chauhan 52*, Simon Edmondson 33, Nick Brown 33, Rory Marr 29 and Matt Darwood 28 in a score of 205-6. The Main's innings was derailed by opening bowlers Dave Waters 3-33 and Ash Parker 3-37 before Ian Smart 4-11 finished off the innings.

Then on Sunday morning the U13s defeated Stocksfield, Ponteland scored 107 for 4 off their 20 overs (no batting details available) then restricted Stocksfield to 88 for 3. Thomas Reeman taking 2 for 4 off his 4 overs.

Finally the Sunday team started their season up at Bamburgh. The innings was anchored by Anthony Quarrell, who found himself in to face the second ball of the innings after Faizal Padikaran's stumps were uprooted by ball one. Andy Denyer produced a good innings opening off and the two were able to see off the openers, after a stand of 73 Denyer was dismissed for 28. Jeff Oliver (2) and Oli Parker (0) soon followed before Rahul Vij, a debutant from the U15s scored 11 in a partnership of 48 as Quarrell reached fifty before a direct hit saw him run out. Neil Pinnock (5) saw Quarrell through to his century before Chris Barlow (0) and George Hunter (0) were both dismissed to make it 3 first ballers in the innings, ending on 183-8 off 35 overs. An early catch behind by Oli Parker off Ross Harrington (1-22) helped stem an early rush of runs before George Hunter claimed two quick wickets. Andy Denyer and Jeff Oliver continued to restrict the scoring opportunities without claiming any wickets before Hunter (3-22) claimed career best figures only to be upstaged by skipper Pinnock who picked up his first ever 5 wicket return with 5 for 23 as Bamburgh fell 18 runs short.

With the sunny day turning to a cloudy evening just in time for the start the Eagles looked for their opening win of the season against Belmonte, who we faced at Ponteland in a high scoring match last season. Bowling first the Eagles efforts exactly matched that game as a wicket fell in the opening over when skipper Dave Waters bowled the opener for 0. As with the last game no further wickets fell until the final over when Chris Morgan completed a stumping off the final delivery to give Ryan Gerrard his first senior wicket as Belmonte posted 130-2.

In reply Stuart Taylor got the innings off to an agressive start, scoring 20 of the first 34 before chasing one down the leg side he top edged a skier that the wicket keeper just managed to hold onto. Fresh from his maiden fifty in the 3XI last week new batsman Faizal Padikaran was at his aggressive best and he dominated the stand of 62 with Tom Common and as the light faded launched 2 sixes and a four down the ground in the 10th over to get the Eagles into control of the innings. Padikaran was bowled for 41 in the same over but Common now found his fluency and raced to his first Eagles fifty while Neil Pinnock was caught at long off for 1 as he also tried to keep the scoreboard ticking. Common (56*) and Phil Barlow (4*) scored the remaining 26 in the next three overs to win with 4 balls remaining.

2013: Belmonte 130-2 off 14, Eagles 131-3 off 13.4 overs
2012: Belmonte 128-2 off 14, Eagles 129-3 off 13.3 overs

The visa has finally arrived and our overseas amateur for 2013, Anthony Quarrell, is on his way from Melbourne, Australia, arriving on Friday morning.

This Saturday there will be beers etc. in the Sports Centre bar after the 1st XI game v Percy Main. All the club are invited to come along whether playing in either the 1st or 2nd XI games or not, to support the 1st XI after their excellent victory against Shotley Bridge and also a chance for the newer members of the club to meet everyone.

Fantasy cricket is now underway. The opening week's league table is here. Each team is allowed 11 transfers during the season and the latest group of new players are now available for selection including Anthony Quarrell, Nick Brown, Neil Stanley, Thomas Reeman and Ryan Gerrard. Download Updated spreadsheet

After the narrow defeat to Burnopfield last week the 1XI travelled to perennial title contenders Shotley Bridge on a cold, breezy day. There was an enforced change to the side with youngster Liam Cosgrove suffering an arm injury on county duty during the week so Paul Lindsay returned to the side.

Ponteland lost the toss and were put into bat and were soon in trouble as the outstanding Stuart Graham dismissed Will Urwin (7), Matt Hynd (8) and Tom Seymour (14) on his way to figures of 3 for 22 off 15 overs. Martin Hubber at the other end was equally economic without success but his replacement, Graeme Angus claimed the fourth wicket, Paul Lindsay, for a duck and when Brinton then bowled Nick Brown (5) and Paul Elliott (7) the innings was in disarray on 90 for 6 at the end of the 40th over. Skipper Wayne Ritzema, having battled his way to 18 off 78 deliveries and had watched all the other dismissals from the other end though found an ally in Jonny Appleby and against Angus and Brinton started to be more aggressive in the final ten overs and scored a further 56 in his next 41 balls before being finally dismissed caught and bowled by Hubber for 76 in the penultimate over, with the partnership an outstanding 71, just short of the team record for the 7th wicket. Appleby who was fluent from the outset as Angus' (1-70) bowling in particular was attacked and he finished unbeaten on 34 off 40 balls as the innings ended on 163 for 8.

In reply Shotley made a steady start as Mark Turnbull and John Callaghan opened up well and the score progressed to 22 before Turnbull trapped Brown LBW in the 9th over. The bowling continued to be tight and only three runs were scored in the next 4 overs before Peter Collingwood edged behind to Ritzema standing up to Turnbull. In the very next over Callaghan claimed his first wicket for Ponteland with the rarest form of stumping as Greenwell played and missed, made no attempt at a run, but failed to return to his ground and Ritzema, standing back rather than up to the wicket threw down the stumps for 28 for 3 in the 14th over. The change bowlers were unable to keep the same level of pressure on, although Ponteland did spill a catch and the score moved on by 42 in the next six overs before Hubber left a delivery from Tom Seymour that clipped his pads and the appeal for LBW was answered by the umpire. Hall and Brinton though proceeded to double the score in the next eight overs, before the returning Turnbull had Hall (38) caught by Lindsay for 36 to leave the game in the balance at 125 for 5 after 30 overs.

Callaghan in the next over dismissed Brinton, whose innings included 3 sixes caught at long off by Rory Marr for 36 then in the 33rd over, by all accounts produced a 'jaffa' to dismiss the dangerous Graham for just two as Ponteland made it 3 for 3 in the middle of the innings and 128 for 7. The two bowlers continued to pressurise the batsmen and with just 4 runs added Turnbull was successful with another LBW appeal for the eighth wicket at 132. Shotley though bounced back as their 9th wicket added 24 and the game entered the 40th over with just 8 runs required. With the fifth ball of what would have been his final over Turnbull's huge lbw appeal against Angus was upheld and the very next ball the number 11 suffered a similar fate and Turnbull was engulfed by an ecstatic Ponteland side with the victory margin just 7 runs and a first ever win at Shotley Bridge for the club.

Turnbull finished with 6 for 43 off his 15 overs for back to back personal bests for Ponteland while Callaghan took 3 for 36 off his 13 overs.

The morning rain cleared to sunshine early enough to enable the 3rds to take on Benwell & Walbottle last night. Benwell won the toss and chose to bat on an unsurprisingly green track and after a wayward start to the over by Ashley Parker they were soon in trouble - mainly of their own creation. A clip through point came within inches of going for four and the batsmen chose to turn for a fourth run, under-estimating the speed of Jon Varley in catching up with the ball. JV's was collected by Dave Waters who relayed the ball the remaining short distance to Chris Morgan for the dismissal. In the next over Alan Varley (1-23) beat the defence of the remaining opener to leave them on 8 for 2. Parker continued to struggle for rythmn and was replaced by 13 year old debutant Thomas Reeman who alongside Alan helped to slow the run rate but the partnership climbed to 63 before John Hill replacing Varley struck in his opening over ith the other 13 year old debutant, Ryan Gerrard, taking a good catch at point looking into the sun to dismiss Denehey for 23.

In the next over Thomas then claimed his first senior wicket, beating the defences of Singh (32) and the innings from this point collapsed as two stumpings for Chris Morgan off John Hill followed, along with a caught and bowled for Reeman. Hill took the last wicket to fall as the innings eventually ended on 91-8, John Hill taking a 3XI career best of 4 for 14 while Reeman ended with excellent figures of 6 overs 2 for 24.

In reply Ponteland's running in the opening overs was erratic as this season's new opening partnership of Simon Raw and Faizal Padikaran started to settle in. Padikaran in particular hit some fluency, getting the ball through the infield for several fours to settle any nerves. The partnership steadily climbed to 60 before Raw (19) was bowled but Padikaran continued and reached his maiden Ponteland fifty off 40 deliveries with 8 fours and a six. Shortly after he was out LBW for 51 but James Ottaway (5*) and Jon Varley (3*) saw the side home in the 17th over as the 8th bowler of the innings cleared the wicket keeper with his third ball for 2 no-balls for an 8 wicket win.

Chris Gayle today posted a stunning score of 175* in the IPL. Never one to shirk from a challenge Pont's resident statto has got stuck into the task and can reveal that Ponteland as an entire team have only bettered this total 4 times in the club's 133 year history (and matched it once).

First up is a score of 194-1 against Kirkley in 1994 a score centred on 102* from Australian Luke Stewart. The second is a game several players remember as Ponteland scored an impressive 198-6 against Warkworth with Graham Irvin's 139 the highest 20 over individual score in Pont 20 over cricket - only to lose by 9 wickets with an over to spare !

The final two scores came in the 1XI's cup runs during the relegation season of 2006 and in both occasions the same player was the top scorer as Chris Walton posted an unbeaten 94 against Backworth (185-4) and in the highest 20 over score by Ponteland to date scored 67 pit of 210-7 against Greenside, a match only won by 9 runs as they replied with 201-4.

For every big score by the opposition there has to be a bowler that suffers and Tom Common's 5 overs for 79 in the Greenside match are only 'bettered' on economy rate by Andy Lawson's figures from the Warkworth fixture of 4 overs for 75 !

A sunny, slightly cool April afternoon saw the 1XI taking to the field for the first time since 2006 in the A1 division against Burnopfield. With Stuart Taylor, Paul Lindsay and Dan Wright unavailable, Ifty Fazal and James Ritzema at University and Tom Common having moved to play for Newcastle this season Ponteland's line-up had a very unfamiliar look with Matthew Hynd, Nick Brown, Rory Marr, Paul Elliott, John Callaghan and Liam Cosgrove all making their debuts.

Batting first Ponteland's batsmen managed to get off to a solid start aided by some early wides and an early chance to the slips from Will Urwin was spilled. Soon after, with the score on 21, Urwin's (7) edge was found and the catch taken by the keeper. Opening bowler Dean Owens continued to beat the bat and cause problems but Wayne Ritzema and Matt Hynd battled hard until the score reached 39 when Owens this time drew the edge from Hynd (13) and soon followed up with the same dismissal for Tom Seymour (0). Ritzema (14) was the fourth to fall to an edge behind off Owens to leave the innings on 47 for 4. Nick Brown and Jonny Appleby dug in and battled against the bowling attack and put on a fifty stand before Brown (37) was bowled by Burnopfield's pro Hafeez then the second of the Owens twins pulled off an outstanding one handed catch at mid-on to remove Appleby (12). Paul Elliott batted positively and alongside Rory Marr to 48, before Marr (15) was bowled to leave the score 161-7. Elliott (38) followed shortly after and in the end the final 4 wickets fell for just 5 runs, leaving 2 overs unused.

In reply Ponteland's opening bowlers, matched the efforts of Burnopfield's with one key difference - the bat was regularly beaten but the edge never found. Two catches went down, one off each opener and the score climbed steadily to 98 before, Paul Elliott (2-32) made the breakthrough, bowling Hafeez for 41. Fellow opener Hughes fell two overs later the same way and then with the score on 120, Tom Seymour (2-48) bowled the next two batsmen to give Ponteland a glimmer of hope. Opening bowler Mark Turnbull returned to the attack and claimed Allan lbw for 7 to leave the score on 138-5. A counter attack saw a stand of 13 before Elliott pulled of an excellent slip catch off Turnbull who then claimed his second wicket of the over. In the next two overs though some aggressive shots saw the scores levelled before another slip catch by Elliott was followed next ball by the ninth, and Turnbull's 5th wicket. The number 11 survived the remaining 4 balls of the over and then after Elliott almost drew the batsman out of his ground for a stumping with the next ball they scored the winning run.

Mark Turnbull finished with 5 for 32 off 14 overs, his best figures for Ponteland.

1XI Team Photo

The 2XI defeated Backworth by 7 wickets with Ian Smart taking 6 for 14 while Simon Edmundson 33* and James Ealey 33 controlled the run chase.

2XI Team Photo

The opening Thursday night match saw cold winds, grey clouds and drizzle roll in an hour before the start so it came as some surprise to the first players to arrive at the ground to find two scantily clad young ladies on the outfield - needless to say they disappeared rapidly !! Unfortunately the clouds were not so quick in leaving and the majority of the game was played under grey skies.

Tonight also saw the debut of the new electronic scorebox, the installation of which the club owes a huge amount of thanks to Peter Sowler and in particular Tommy Oliver for their work during the winter, especially given the cold conditions endured in the last few weeks. The refurbishment has also seen the fitting of an electronically controlled shutter, a completely new face to the board, a new window and door, a step to make getting into the box and the floor painted to try to keep the dust down. The final stage will be to fix the leak in the roof.

Not the best of starts for Pont !

Ponteland won the toss and elected to bat, the players again wanting to record their thanks to the hard work of Geoff Appleby and team in managing to produce a wicket under such trying conditions in the last few weeks and the outfield was the shortest anyone could remember for the opening game in recent history. Despite the green tinge the pitch was consistent, albeit the expected low bounce of April. Faizal Padikaran found the transition from indoor to outdoor conditions tricky though and a thick leading edge to mid-off made him 2013's opening entrant in the duck cup. James Ottaway narrowly avoided following him, dismissed for a single, before skipper Raw in his first appearance since August 2011 after injury and Parag Chauhan battled hard in the face of some accurate opening bowling.

Fluency gradually improved for both and the partnership had just reached fifty with a confident driven four down the ground by Raw before he was bowled for 25. Chauhan followed soon after for 22, one of the rare times where Simon could claim to have batted faster than Parag. Jon Varley then proved that practice is over rated as he picked up a bat for the first time since July and clipped his second ball through square leg for 4 and then drove down the ground for six in a 10 ball unbeaten innings of 16. Neil Pinnock with 7 before being run out off the final ball helped take the score to 80 off the allocated 18 overs.

In reply Ashington survived some early scares as Ashley Parker missed a chance off John Hill's bowling. The first wicket came with Ashley Parker bowling the opener with the score on 43 as part of an impressive spell of 5 overs for 15 runs. The score was unchanged when the remaining opener drove hard at Alan Varley (1-22) but straight back to Alan for the caught and bowled. With darkness rapidly descending it looked like Ashington needed to win the game in the 16th over and keeper Chris Morgan spilled one off Parker. With Oli Parker's bowling a bit rusty after the winter layoff Raw then turned to Pinnock for some spin and the batsman tried to go big second ball, missed it and Neil had his first ever midweek wicket but two balls later a four down the ground clinched a 7 wicket win for Ashington.

Since the publication of the player spreadsheet the following players are now known to be unavailable for the majority of the season or have moved to new clubs for 2013. James Ritzema, Peter Nesbitt, Tom Common. Anyone who wishes to replace them in their side please contact Neil before Saturday.

The preliminaries are over after the 1XI took on Tynedale in a 20 over match last night. Batting first with a very short boundary on one side Ponteland lost a wicket in their opening over when Stuart Taylor, having despatched a short ball for six the previous ball missed a full straight delivery. Tom Seymour (10) and Paul Lindsay (20) kept the runs coming at a good pace but wickets kept falling whenever a partnership was developing. Nick Brown (2), Ponteland debutee Martin Tallentyre (13) helped skipper Ritzema keep the scoreboard moving before a cameo 14 ball unbeaten 29 from Paul Elliott with 3 sixes provided a real burst of acceleration with Ritzy falling to the penultimate ball for 47 as Tynedale were set a target of 134.

In reply there was an early wicket for Paul Lindsay (1 for 7) but the Tynedale number 3 showed no issues with early season form as he reached his fifty off just 27 deliveries, eventually retiring on 61. Further wickets fell to Ian Smart (1 for 18) and Paul Elliott (1 for 27) but Tynedale got over the line with a ball to spare to win by 7 wickets.

The 1XI took to the field to start the season with a friendly at South Northumberland to take on their second team with the backdrop of the Tyne / Wear derby and the police helicopter hanging to the south. Ponteland batted first and skipper Wayne Ritzema had to face an extended opening over as the bowler overstepped six times to end up with a 12 ball over. In the next over Jonny Appleby's season started with a solid defence and a shattered bat from his second ball. There was no sign of improvement from the opening bowler though as he sent down a further 5 no balls in his next two overs while in the sixth over Appleby moved onto his third bat of the season ! Appleby was the first wicket to fall with the score on 30 as he was bowled for 5. Ritzema (14) and guest player Doig (5) followed in quick succession but Tom Seymour and debutant Rory Marr added 18 before Seymour (22) was bowled with the score on 66. Mark Turnbull's eleven ball cameo boosted the score, his 20 runs included despatching his first two balls for four and the first six of the season before he was bowled. Marr (13), and fellow Pont debutant Paul Elliott (9) were the remaining batsmen to be dismissed as two further debutees Nick Brown (20*) and John Callaghan (2*) set up a score of 127-7 off 30 overs.

In reply the youngest of the debutants on show, Liam Cosgrove, started with an impressive spell, taking the first three wickets to finish with 3 for 16 off 6 overs. Tom Seymour with 4 for 13 put Ponteland in control as South North's young top order struggled to get underway, slipping to 49 for 7 with an excellent catch by Brown diving at mid-off and another for Marr at third man. Brown (2-13) then picked up two more, Mark Turnbull with a catch for the second. The final wicket pair chanced their arms and took the score from 65 to 92 before Mark Turnbull (1-14) bowled the final man for a 35 run win.

The club bids farewell to Mark MacKenzie-Crookes as he heads out of the area ahead of 2013. James Ritzema & Dominic Smith's university courses see them spending the majority, if not all, of the season overseas while Peter Nesbitt has moved to Leeds.

The club has also been fortunate during the close season to see a good number of seniors joining the club with Nick Brown, John Callaghan, Liam Cosgrove, Greg Dover, Paul Elliott, Matthew Hynd, Rory Marr, Neil Stanley and Martin Tallentyre all coming in at various levels. With the continued development of some promising juniors in addition to Will Urwin hoping to have increased availability and the return of Simon Raw and Faizal Padikaran from injury ruined 2012 seasons we appear to have plenty of options for the various sides.

Unfortunately though Paul Higginbottom has been ruled out for the season following a serious hand injury sustained at indoor nets, all at the club wish him a speedy recovery.

With the season just a week away it is time to get your fantasy teams entered. Only six entries have been received so far. Its a bit of fun please join in.

With the wet weather as usual there is a lot of work needs to be done to prepare the ground to ensure everything is ready for the start of the new season.
 
To this end, we are having the annual ground clear-up on the morning of Sat 30th March - starting at 10am prompt.
 
We need at least 15-20 people to come along, it makes a real difference in getting everything done quickly - and maybe a beer afterwards!!
 

Players and Supporters of Ponteland CC

With pre-season nets in full swing now, and just over a month to the start of the 2013 cricket season, it’s time for the return of Ponteland Fantasy Cricket!!

While updating the club history to include the 2012 season the excuse to research the 1XI's cup final appearances came about as Andy Denyer took three wickets in this years game. Given that in the 2005 season we reached 2 finals and he took 3 wickets in the Foster's Cup triumph at Ashington and 5 for 28 in the defeat to Leadgate it gave the opportunity to see where he ranked in cup final only wickets for the club. Andy has taken 11 wickets in just 13 overs at an average of 5.27 runs per wicket. The three in the County Cup moved him out of a tie for most wickets with Duncan McGregor on 8 in 3 matches with a finals best 7 for 34 against Clara Vale in 1998 while Ron Fairweather was 1 wicket further back on 7 in his 3 finals. The only other 5 wicket performance came from John Kirton in the 1991 victory over Bomarsund while John Gardner and Dennis Gibson are the other two bowlers with 5 wickets in finals appearances in 4 and 2 games respectively.

The 1XI's appearance in the Northumberland County Cup in 2012 was their 8th Cup Final appearance, all since 1980 and Ponteland were victorious in 1991, 1998 & 2005. Andy Morgan has unsurprisingly made the most appearances, appearing in 7 of the 8 games. John Gardner and Stuart Taylor with 4 each are the only other players to have appeared in half the finals.

As far as the batsmen are concerned Lloyd Anderson's 142 runs in 3 finals and his unbeaten 135 in the victory over Ashington give him both the highest score and most number of runs. After that Brett Elliott's unbeaten 41 in 1991 is the next highest score while Andy Morgan (67 from 4 innings) and Ron Shuttleworth (50 from 2) are the only other batsmen to have reached 50 runs in finals.

There are still tickets available for our Sportsman's dinner at the Ponteland Memorial Hall organised by Stuart Taylor. We are pleased to announce that we have secured a speaker and comedian for the night.

The speaker is John Beresford ex newcastle full back and the comedian is Brendan Healy well known geordie actor and stand up comedian. The night will inc Pie and pea supper or a vegetarian alternative.

The cost will be £20 per head with tables of 10 being available the doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start finishing at 12 and dress code is smart casual. There will be a fully stocked bar which will have selection of beer wine spirits etc.

There will be a raffle and an auction

This is an exciting time for the cricket club both on and off the field and your continued support and help is much needed. Please contact us if you want a ticket or tickets or to book a table of 10.

Please email dinner'at'ponteland-cricket.co.uk (replacing 'at' with @) to contact Stuart

All the Junior fixtures are now published and available on the website. U18s, U15s, U13s and U11s.

The 1XI will travel to league newcomers Alnmouth & Lesbury for the Preliminary round of the Tyneside Charity Bowl on 15th May, winners to host Backworth in Round 1 on 5th June.

The 3XI have a bye in the opening round of the Appleby Cup, hosting the winners of Tynemouth v Tynedale before the end of June.

The 3XI thursday night fixtures are now available, the Cup details were not included. 1XI and 2XI league cup draws have also been made with the competition revamped to start with group phases so both the 1XI and 2XI have 3 guaranteed matches in the cup instead of the previous knockout system. Any games cancelled have to be rearranged, potentially adding further fixture congestion if 2013 is similar to 2012. Cup draws for the Tyneside Charity Bowl and Northumberland Cup have yet to be made. The Eagles have again opted not to enter their cup competition and currently the Sunday team will not start matches before the first Sunday in May.

The U18's only fixtures are in the Lingarde Cup. These games have no fixed night and the home team will choose a date in the week nominated.

w/b 1st July Home v South Northumberland
w/b 8th July Away v Backworth
w/b 15th July Home v Seaton Burn

The Under 15 structure in Northumberland is being altered as well and the various leagues are merging into a single one played on a Monday night. The Northumberland board have yet to release fixtures for the U15s, U13s or U11s

The 1XI and 2XI fixtures have now been released. The 1XI start life in A1 with a home fixture against Burnopfield followed by a trip to Shotley Bridge while the 2XI travel to Backworth before hosting Shotley. The Eagles provisional fixtures are also available and they start with a game against Genetics while the Sunday season is currently being arranged and will closely mirror the regular fixture order.

Chris Morgan attended the league's agm last night and returned with rather unexpected news

Morpeth requested to the league that both their 1st XI and 2nd XI be relegated to Divisions A2 and B2 respectively. This meant that as Sacriston had already gone to the Premier League, 2 teams had left A1 and B1 so the 2 sides that finished bottom would not be relegated. In this case, Leadgate will remain in A1 and technically Benwell and Walbottle will remain in B1. However, Benwell and Walbottle 2nd XI did say that they are against this, so were also consequently relegated to B2. The place in B1 therefore went to Consett.

Chopwell also requested the same as Morpeth which was again passed unanimously. Seeing as their 1st XI are going to be relegated to A2, this left a gap in A1, so it was decided that the team that finished 3rd would go up - Ponteland.

Club AGM

Having been unable to attend the AGM it is not possible to provide a huge amount of detail. The majority of post holders remained unchanged.

Tom Seymour is the new 1XI vice captain
Neil Pinnock is the new Fixture secretary

After years of service on the committee to the club in various roles both Mike Storer and John Kirton stood down and were thanked by all present for their years of service. Jonny Appleby becomes an additional committee member after standing down as 1XI vice captain.