Foster's North East Premier League - NORTON II scored almost 200 but still lost in Division Two when they met Benwell Hill. Chris Thomas top scored with 79 and Geoff Kean added 57 as Norton compiled 193 for five.

Replying, Benwell Hill had six wickets to spare when they met the target, thanks to Gordon Harrison (54), Ben Ramsey (34) and Simon Lunn (33 no).

Norton III also lost visiting Chester-le-Street where they were dismissed for 67 as Peter Roddam claimed three for 15 and Liam Simpson had 47.

Chester-le-Street romped home, losing one wicket.

Blaydon had 57 runs to spare, defeating Tynemouth and the game between Gateshead Fell and South Northumberland was drawn. Brian Arkle contributed 77 and Jonathan Foster scored 38 when Gateshead Fell, batting first, ended with 178 for five on the board before South Northumberland responded with 148 for seven.

Stockton had two wickets left when they overtook Newcastle's 180 all out. Grant Worrell was the match winner with the bat hitting 72 of Stockton's 185 for eight while for Newcastle Nick Humble took three for 65.

Batting first, Newcastle were indebted to Paul Jacques for his 56 and to Michael Cowens (47). Peter Groark and Stuart Robson both took three wickets in the Stockton attack.

Federation Special Durham Senior League Under-18s

AN unbeaten 40 by Brian Potts was a feature of Durham City's match-winning total of 85 for five at Whitburn who replied with 64 for six.

Horden had 11 runs to spare when they entertained Eppleton who replied with 81 for seven which included 44 not out by Andrew Beston. Carl Watson claimed four for 15 in six overs, Ian Blevins had two for 30 and Ian Johnson one for eight in the Horden attack.

Batting first, Horden posted 92 for three which included 25 by Blevins, 29 from Watson and John Atkinson (26).

Mark Moore finished unbeaten on 36 in Philadelphia's eight wicket victory over neighbours Burnmoor who, batting first, finished with 62 for four which included 37 by Ben Embleton. Robbie Day had a good day with the ball for Phili, capturing three for 18 and Stuart Haywood took two wickets in one over and ended with two for ten in six overs.

Graham Race hit an undefeated 80 and Liam Simpson finished unbeaten on 44 when Chester-le-Street posted 148 for one against Sunderland who made 61 for six and South Shields easily defeated Hetton Lyons after totalling 114. The Lyons were all out for 45.

Gateshead Fell reduced Felling to 32 all out as Avery returned three for three, Arkle two for nine and Philip Hudson two for 16. An unbeaten 17 by Forster earned the Fell a nine-wickets victory.

In the George Peacock Memorial Cup, South Shields surged into the next round, defeating Durham City by 67 runs. David Maughan led the way for Shields, hitting 72 not out and David Coulson (26) and Roy McRae (20) added vital contributions to a total of 134 for six.

Jonathan McReddy and Stuart Melville both claimed a couple of wickets for Durham City who managed 67 for seven which included 29 by McReddy. Chris Lowes, Saikat Sarkar and David Arrowsmith all picked up two wickets for South Shields.

Gateshead Fell also made it into round two with a comfortable defeat over neighbours Felling who were restricted to 56 for eight by the bowling of Paul Avery (3-10) and Richard Smith (3-4).

Batting first the Fell realised 93 for two of which Johnny Foster contributed 45 not out and Richard Smith 34.

Federation Special Durham Senior League Under-15s

BOLDON romped to a ten-wickets victory over Horden in the Under-15 League Cup after bowling out their opponents for 46 when Robert Scorer and Chris Simpson both claimed two wickets. An unbeaten 27 by Philip Randell earned Boldon an emphatic victory.

Philadelphia went out of the competition, losing by eight wickets to Gateshead Fell for whom Richie Smith scored an unbeaten 35 in his side's reply of 54 for two after Phili had been restricted to 51 for nine.

South Shields made it into round two, defeating neighbours Whitburn by five runs. Paul Craig top performed, making 27 as Shields ended on 77 for eight with three of the wickets falling to Greg Siddell for 13 runs.

Whitburn responded with 72 all out which included a top-scoring 26 from Phil Neesham but the star of the match was Shields bowler Michael Jude who claimed five for nine.

In the league, Horden made the biggest score of the night when they totalled 103 for six against Hetton Lyons. Andrew Dixon scored 40 and replying Hetton Lyons were restricted to 52 for seven as Stuart Little took three wickets for only 18 runs.

Scott Logan made more than half his side's runs, scoring 30 of Philadelphia's 58 for four and for Eppleton Matthew Hooper was their best bowler taking two wickets for just seven runs.

Eppleton secured victory losing three wickets as Lowther scored 24 while for Phili, Craig Lampton captured two wickets without conceding a run.

Paul Craig's 33 earned South Shields a nine-wickets win at home to Durham City who totalled 62 for seven including 23 by Reid. Chris Nichol had figures of four for 17 and James Gill took two for nine in the Shields attack.

Steven Lamb was another player to take a couple of wickets at a cost of three runs when Boldon defeated Burnmoor by six wickets. Burnmoor were pegged to 72 for five and in reply Boldon won comfortably as Craig Hayes carried his bat for 29. Ludlow bowled a good end for Burnmoor in picking up a couple of wickets for 13 runs.

The game between Whitburn and Gateshead Fell ended in a tie. Mujib returned four for 16 and Andrew Porter had three for 21 when Whitburn finnished with 80 for seven, but although they conceded one wicket, Gateshead Fell could manage to score just 80 of which Andrew Porter contributed 29.

In the remaining match Chester-le-Street had eight wickets to spare overtaking Sunderland's 51 all out.

Roseberry Group North East Durham League

WEARMOUTH had eight wickets to spare visiting Simonside in Division One. They bowled out the home team in 45 overs for only 110 as Saab Dhillon returned five for 39 in 19 overs, four of which were maidens.

Wearmouth made light of their task, securing the necessary runs in 30 overs as opener Colin Davison remained unbeaten with 48, including one six and four boundaries, while Mattie Dench added 31 with three fours.

Littletown totalled 91 of which Nelson contributed 47 but the modest total was still sufficient as Benwell Hill were dismissed for 76. Phil Haves took six for 42 and Wright four for 43 in the Benwell Hill attack but it was John Ricketts who had the best analysis, claiming seven for 31 for Littletown.

East Rainton defeated Medomsley by eight wickets after bowling out the visitors for 79 which included 33 by Dixon. Roberts claimed four for 22 and Fleming three for seven before East Rainton won easily with runs from their first four batsmen.

Washington passed the 200 mark and dismissed Coxhoe for 171, leaving the home side winners by 34 runs. Thompson top scored with 76 in the Washington total of 205 for nine while Coxhoe's Bloomfield and Maddison both took three wickets.

In response, Coxhoe were given an excellent start by Metcalfe (45) and later Bloomfield added 54, but the bowling of Plender (5-42) and Bowes (3-41) proved decisive.

Plawsworth sent Sunderland Hospitals crashing to 90 for nine with Whitfield taking three for 15. The target proved easy and opener Ian Pratt finished undefeated on 44 in his team's seven-wickets victory.

In Division Two, Burnhope were all out in 30 overs for 69 at home to East Rainton for whom Daniel Defty had four for 32 in 15 overs, including three maidens. East Rainton won losing four wickets as Stephen Iley top scored with 28 recording four fours.

Kelloe found Patrick Welsh in tremendous form for Belmont and he captured eight wickets for a miserly 18 runs as the visitors were dismissed for 76. Ian Steel carried his bat for 28 and Brooks was 27 not out as Belmont won losing one wickets.

Coundon had 26 runs to spare defeating Washington after totalling 139 which included a half-century by Hutchinson. Brown was in excellent form in the Washington attack and he took six wickets for 18 runs, but when Hardy and Askew each picked up four wickets for Coundon, Washington were restricted to 113 for nine of which Fallon made 41.

Eurocell Marshall-Tufflex Darlington and District League

THE entire Division A programme was cancelled because of the foot-and-mouth epidemic, but two games went ahead in division B.

Lands entertained Witton-le-Wear and won by 23 runs after realising 125 all out in 35 overs. Opener Robert Little recorded five boundaries in 44 and for Witton-le-Wear Danny Evans had the creditable figures of six for 30 from nine overs including one maiden. Nick Jones, introduced as second change, was also successful and in five overs he returned three for seven.

In reply, Witton-le-Wear were restricted to 102 for nine as Robert Saunders picked up four for 28 in an excellent spell of 14 overs, three of which were maidens. Little and Talbot also took a couple of wickets.

The game between Ingleton and Haughton also went ahead with victory going to Haughton by 20 runs.

When they made first use of the wicket, Haughton ended on 148 for five which included half centuries by Vipond and Spark. Four of the wickets to fall went to Osborne for 34 runs, but replying Ingleton were all out for 128. Stuart Dawson, the former Dawdon batsman, contributed more than half his team's total by scoring 66 and for Haughton, Gill claimed three for 28.