Chester-le-Street welcomed Whitburn in the Dukes ECB North East Premier League and were asked to bat first. The Cestrians totalled 280-6, thanks to opener Kyle Davis who made 118 from 107 balls, which included 19 fours and a six. He put on 169 for the first wicket with George Harrison who scored 57, while Andrew Smith added 31. Mark Elliott took 3-73 from his 15 overs.

Whitburn lost early wickets, as Lee Henderson and Phillip Bell both made ducks to reduce them to 7-2. However, opener Jackson Edmondstone made 71 from 95 balls, which included 12 fours, but his teammates collapsed all around him, as Liam Burgess with 3-21 bowled Chester to a comprehensive 155-run win.

Durham Cricket Academy journeyed to Felling and were asked to bat first. They made just 152 all out, with Harry Adair top scoring with 50. On the bowling front, Matthew Whitty with 4-54 and Anthony Trotter 3-20, carved up the Academy batting.

When it was the home side’s turn to bat, they lost early wickets and were in trouble at 30-4. However, Josh Eaton and Graham Wright put on 50 for the fifth wicket, before Matthew Oswell with 3-11, reduced them to 81-7.

Further wickets fell and at 120-9, Felling were up against it, however, a last wicket stand of 23 between Paul Leonard (30no) and last man Anthony Trotter (15no), squeezed them home by one wicket.

Stockton made 218 all out, as they batted first at Hetton Lyons, with Tom Hewison scoring 47, Joe Hewison 56 and then Chris Hooker cracked 64 from 75 balls, which included 12 fours. Christopher Ralston took an excellent 5-42 from 13.4 overs, with the ball.

The home side lost regular wickets, as Haidar Shafiq took 4-22 and there were two each for James Ward and Chris Hooker, to give the Teessiders a crucial win.

Sacriston were at home to Eppleton and the visitors racked up 251-6, with Marcus Brown (67), Dean Musther (66) and Josh Coughlin (40), doing the business with the bat, while Graeme Bridge took 3-49.

Sacriston made 172 all out, as they came up 79 runs short. Reece Carr was the pick of the batting making 61 and late on Graeme Wrightson scored 30, but Joseph Coyne (3-41) and Craig Scurr (3-48), bowled their side to victory.

In the big game at the top of the Northumberland and Tyneside Cricket League, Shotley Bridge had their lead cut to just eight points as they lost heavily at Swalwell.

The home side won the toss, batted first and they made a good start, with opener James Welch batting well for 89 and Chris Hewison added 51, in a total of 230-7, while Joe Gibson returned 3-23.

Shotley Bridge collapsed to 83 all out, as Guy Saxton bowled brilliantly taking 7-25 in a 12 over spell, backed up by Ross Sinclair as he took 2-43, to earn their side a crucial win in the title chase and reducing the gap at the top, to just seven points.

Lanchester were at Newcastle City and they batted poorly, scoring just 114 all out. Graham Brinton was their highest scorer with 27, as Zohaib Khan returned a remarkable 6-10, from just 10.2 overs.

City lost early wickets, but man of the match Zohaib Khan made 63 not out, despite Greg Halliday taking 3-22, to guide his team home to victory.

In Division Two, Leadgate travelled to Annfield Plain and the home side racked up a massive 275 all out, mainly thanks to David Baxter (78) and Tyron White (65), scoring heavily, with the visitors conceding 55 extras.

Leadgate crumbled to 113 all out, with Andrew Weightman 4-49 and Michael Horden 3-32, doing the damage with the ball. Skipper Darren Benford was the only batsman to trouble the scorers, making 38.