Swalwell extend lead at the top (From The Northern Echo)

Swalwell extend lead at the top

9:00am Monday 11th July 2011 in Wellstream Northumberland & Tyneside Senior League

Championship-chasing Sacriston became the biggest losers without even getting on to the pitch, while leaders Swalwell beat the weather to extend their lead at the top.

Just two points behind before the weekend, Sacriston are now 17 points adrift and down to third place after their match at Lanchester was abandoned without a ball being bowled, while Swalwell were also able to peg back another of their rivals, Percy Main.

Their victory, by an emphatic 82 runs, came as they hammered 202, with Kyle Coetzer hitting 80 and Ian Pattison 58, Richard Walker (5-26) and Anirudh Singh (3-30) fighting back.

But Main's ability to confine Swalwell to a reachable total was shattered by Coetzer (4-29) and Nicky Phillips (3-27) who demolished their opponents for 120.

Only Singh, who made 44, showed any real resistance.

With Sacriston unable to help themselves, Shotley Bridge moved into second place after a nail biting finish with Morpeth.

Bridge had to be satisfied with a tied finish after losing a wicket on the last ball of the game.

Both teams followed remarkably similar patterns when they batted, losing early wickets and then producing spirited recoveries.

Morpeth set the trend as they lost their first four batsmen for 18 runs before Ben Maxted came to the rescue with a half-century as they posted 145-9.

But if the Bridge were expecting their reply to be a stroll they couldn't have been more wrong.

They lost their first four wickets for 20 and it needed the collective efforts of Andrew Stokoe (43) and Ian Heslop (31) to drive the fightback.

With victory seemingly on the way, the Bridge needed one run from the final ball of their innings, but Gary Christie (4-39) kept his nerve to leave the game tied as he cleaned up.

Six wickets for Neil Killeen masterminded an eight-wicket win for Annfield Plain against Ashington.

Killeen conceded only 31 runs in an outstanding display which saw their rivals finish on 146-9, despite a half-century from Greg Williams.

The home side then showed their batting power with Andrew Donnelly (70no) and Michael Allen (45no) rattling up the runs with the minimum of fuss.

Newcastle City won for the first time in 12 games, although they stayed bottom despite Mohtashim Ali's individual brilliance.

He was unbeaten on 94 as he batted throughout the City reply of 205-5 to take the full rewards. Kamran Mansoor hit a half-century for Chopwell.

Burnopfield suffered defeat by 48 runs as Tynedale moved away from the danger zone following a splendid partnership between Mark Drake (89) and Gary Hunter (72).