Blaydon keep up pressure in quest for title (From The Northern Echo)

Blaydon keep up pressure in quest for title

1:16pm Monday 11th July 2011 in Dukes ECB North-East Premier League By Chris West

BLAYDON kept up the pressure on leaders Chester-le- Street at the top, but the race for the title is starting to look decidedly two-horsed with the other major contenders losing further ground.

Meanwhile, the three bottom sides all suffered defeats in which they had very little to show for their efforts, an outcome which threatens to see them cut adrift with ten games to go.

Blaydon’s win over Tynemouth was more emphatic than the 46-run margin suggested as they lost just two wickets in piling on 240, and then had the visitors on the back foot for most of their innings.

Mark Stoneman and Allan Worthy came together for Blaydon when the score was 54, and it had moved on to 228 before they were parted with Worthy including five sixes in his 88 and Stoneman claiming his third century of the season with an unbeaten 103 scored from 164 balls.

Tynemouth then had to settle for a survival battle when Gary Stewart removed their two openers for ducks, but Nick Armstrong led a gallant rearguard action with an 86- ball 71 until he became the first of Graeme Race’s three victims.

All the while young leggie Chris Varley, who continues to impress in his debut season, was winkling his way from the visitors who eventually fell for 194 in one ball short of 52 overs.

Blaydon’s 28-point haul was impressive, but Chester’s demolition of rock bottom Gateshead Fell earned them the maximum 30.

Andrew Smith (137no) and Richard Waite (86no) enjoyed themselves in an unbroken double century partnership that took the game away from the Fell.

Chasing a formidable 261-2 Gateshead struggled from the off and with Quentin Hughes and Waite sharing six wickets they were bowled out for 129 in 50 overs.

A surprise hammering for Benwell Hill allowed South North to move clear in third place when they swamped Stockton by ten wickets, Johnny Wightman and Mark Wood sharing six wickets as the Teessiders were whipped out for 113.

John Graham (64no) and Adam Heather (43no) then made it an early finish as they rattled off the winning runs in 24.1 overs.

Five wickets for Ryan Pringle, and four for new man Kamran Shah, meant it was all downhill for Benwell (115) as they were mauled by the Lyons.

There was a glimmer of hope when Dave Rutherford had Hetton 14-2 in their reply, but then Pringle (44no from 35 balls) and Gary Scott (59no from 52 balls) put together an unbroken century partnership to seal an emphatic result.

Sunderland confirmed that South Shields’ worries are a long way from over as they easily overcame the Shieldsmen at Ashbrooke by eight wickets.

The visitors got off to a decent enough start through Phil Bell (41) and James Hill (35), but Jaspreet Singh’s introduction to the attack proved the turning point.

He took out both openers, and then went on to claim the first five wickets after which life was a struggle for Shields who eventually ended on 184-8, a total that Michael Turns (79no) and Danny Shurben (55) made light work of.

After starting the season with an undefeated run of ten games, Newcastle’s bubble has burst following a second consecutive defeat.

This time it was the youngsters of the Academy who were their undoing, a superlative innings of 136 from Ben Raine proving the difference.