Tudhoe strengthened their grip at the top of the table with a weekend double, following up Saturday's win over Langley Park by defeating Etherley in yesterday's programme.

Chris Renshaw (51), Michael Crane and Colin Barker enabled Etherley to make a respectable 177 but Tudhoe were not worried. Shahid Anwar, who took four wickets, opened the reply scoring 42 which together with 34 from Tim Smalley and 46 by David Ronson earned Tudhoe a three-wickets win. Yassas Tillakaratne sent down 12 overs in the Etherley attack, taking five for 44, but could not prevent Tudhoe claiming 20 crucial points.

Willington maintained winning form and they also took 40 points from their two matches. Although Shildon improved on recent performances by making 123 they were no match for Karl Brown (56 not out) and David Brown (53 not out) who swept Willington to victory and into second position.

Evenwood, who had a free day on Saturday, won for the first time in three and are third. After John Maughan made a good 38, Deighton Butler with 47 not out and an unbeaten 30 from Darren Wallace secured a seven-wickets win over Crook Town.

Esh Winning had mixed fortunes. After losing to Mainsforth they hit back defeating Shildon by more than 100 runs. Mark Davison and John Carmedy both claimed four wickets as the visitors were dismissed for only 139.

Kimblesworth made it two wins out of two at home to Ushaw Moor. Captain Michael Hayton (59) was the only batsman to seriously trouble the home attack and when Brian Clancey carried his bat for 53 and Riley contributed 41, the home side won by six wickets.

Tim Smalley scored his first-ever century leading Tudhoe to victory over Langley Park in Saturday's programme. His unbeaten 114 included three sixes and nine fours which together with 76 from Simon Davies propelled Tudhoe to almost 250.

Langley's reply featured 58 by Grant Falk but the innings fell well short of the target as Smalley completed a good day by taking three wickets.

Sanjay Raul was in tremendous form for Ushaw Moor recording four sixes and 21 boundaries out of a total of 158. Stephen Milbur added an unbeaten half-century and Ushaw finished with 260. Shildon managed just 43 in 20.2 overs with four bowlers sharing the wickets.

Karl Brown opened the Willington innings and was still there unbeaten on 86 45 overs later when his side posted 179-7 in the home game with Brandon. Peter Crossling top scored with 37, including one six and five fours but the visitors were all out in 42.4 overs with just 149 runs on the board.

Esh Winning are blowing hot and cold. After defeating Tudhoe in the previous game, they lost by 10 wickets to Mainsforth where their total of 148 evaporated when Robert Chismon carried his bat for 91.