Westoe are hit by Muchall’s wedding

11:25am Friday 7th November 2008

WESTOE will be without lineout expert Matthew Muchall for tomorrow’s North One match at home to Darlington, and probably for the rest of the season.

He is to act as best man at the Seaham Hall wedding of his brother Gordon, the Durham batsman, and Matthew will then fly to Perth on Sunday to take up an offer to play cricket for the Kalgoorlie club.

The athletic 6ft 6in lock has helped Westoe into second place with six wins from seven games, but he is also a useful fast bowler. He took 44 wickets at 12.59 for South Shields in the North East Premier League last summer.

Gordon, who has also spent several winters playing in the Perth area, also has centre Graeme Haswell, a former Darlington player, at his wedding.

John Younghusband will come into Westoe’s second row tomorrow, with Ryan Foster deputising for unavailable flanker Jonathon Okwe-Pearson.

Teenage back row player Oliver Stedman, an England schoolboy international recruited by Leeds Carnegie for their Academy side, will be on the bench. He is also a cricketer, having opened the batting for South Shields.

Darlington, who recorded their first win of the season last week at home to West Park St Helens, lost three times to Westoe last season.

But they reduced the margin each time, culminating in a 36-33 defeat in the Durham Cup final.

Middlesbrough have skipper Richard Horton back for the visit of Beverley, who are next to the bottom with one win from seven games.

Horton’s return allows Isa Warsama to switch back to prop from hooker at the expense of Mohammad Mustafa, who will be joined on the bench by Paul Lee.

The player-coach filled in at centre last week, but Paul Norris returns, along with winger Peter Homan, a member of Newcastle’s junior academy. He replaces Ben Wood, who is unlucky to stand down after scoring a try last week.

After four successive wins, Stockton visit third-placed Horden in Durham and Northumberland One and will hand 18-year-old Dan Phinn his league debut at full back. Simon Crozier, who took the No 15 shirt last week in the absence of five regular full backs, is unavailable.

Winger Ritchie Brown expects to be fit and edges out teenager Shaun McLaren,who took his debut try well last week. The pack is unchanged but experienced lock Keith Etherington returns on the bench.