Battle to beat the drop (From The Northern Echo)

Battle to beat the drop

12:00am Saturday 23rd July 2011 in Wellstream Northumberland & Tyneside Senior League

The two teams at the bottom hog the limelight today as Ashington lock horns with Newcastle City in a game that will provide hope for the winner and despair for the loser.

The cellar dwellers are well adrift of the safety zone and a defeat at this stage of the season would almost certainly condemn the losers to relegation.

Both have selection problems ahead of the match at Langwell Crescent, with Newcastle having to defer selection until the last minute because they have so many players unavailable.

Given the form of their overseas man, City's plight is somewhat baffling. Mohtashim Ali's contribution to their cause has been immense - he heads the league batting rankings with 415 runs at an average of 52, and is also third in the bowling list with 27 wickets at 18 apiece - and they'll need every ounce of his skills today in their makeshift line-up.

The Colliers have their own problems. They are without Greg Williams and Scott Thornton, while bowler Craig Wood is injured and there are fitness doubts over Andrew Gray and James Richards. Surya Rathore and Stephen Boyd return to action.

At the top, Swawell lead Shotley Bridge by 11 points, with Sacriston six points further back in third.

Sacriston were disappointed to lose one of their key players, Graham Hubber, to the Bridge a few weeks ago and they have moved to fill the gap by signing all-rounder Chris Winn from County League side Langley Park. He starts at unchanged Burnopfield.

This week's downpours were particularly heavy in the Hexham region, but Swalwell should get their game in at Tynedale. They hand George Neaven a place in the starting line-up with Andrew Hughes unavailable, while Tynedale have Richard Darling returning.

Shotley Bridge are at full strength for their home match against Lanchester, but the visitors' chance to parade the free scoring Luke Blackaby passed with last week's rain as he is unavailable for this match. Youngster Kieran Taylor is handed an opportunity.

Shane Oliver replaces Sam Blake in the Annfield Plain side which entertains an unchanged Percy Main, while Chopwell take on a Morpeth team who were denied their chance of cup glory last week by the weather.

The League Cup final between Morpeth and Tynedale went down river with all the other fixtures last Sunday. Both A and B division finals will take place on Sunday, August 21, again the venue will be Consett.