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Saturday’s Ashington Rugby 2nd team was the derby game against neighbours Stobswood 1st team

On paper and league positions this looked like the visitors were favourites but with three victories on the bounce and the 2nds relentless spirit then a hard game was expected.

Stobswood elected to bat and they opened cautiously with only 11 runs on the board into the 5th over. Gradually they opened up and reached 38 before Ricky Gibson captured the first wicket. 

The Ashington lads seemed quiet in the field but this may have been because of the dance music that “bellowed” across the field from or from the aroma of the fish & chip van from the ongoing annual Rugby 7s day?

Ashington then seemed to get into a commanding position as the visitors dipped to 119 for 5 then took the initiative and got to 137 for 7

Then a fine partnership pushed the scoring onto 182 for 8 before Stobswood carded a final score of 187 for 9 which looked formidable.

Tops for Stobswood were:-

Dale Townsley 36

Michael Beverley 24 

David Colam 22

The seconds perhaps thinking that some untaken catch opportunities and the overall extras total might go against them?

Like the previous weeks the wickets were shared with Gary Mordey boogied his way to 4 for 29.

Pleasing for Kristen Patel to back up and support the bowling attack with 8 overs achieving a 4.63 economy rate!

After tea the 2nds replaced normal opener Colin Thornton with Thomas Luke — Colin having sustained a leg ailment.

Chris Harwood therefore kept one end tight as Thomas Luke adopted Ben Stokes theory of attack and a series of 4s got him to a quick & valuable 29 runs before he was out.

Ashington then lost out to another quick wicket loss which put the ascendancy in Stobswood’s favour. More so when batting hero of previous weeks saw Tommy More dismissed for nought. Stobswood looking on top now!

In came Jay Little who adopted Thomas’ s approach and on the very last ball before the drinks break he was dismissed on 22. A this point the 2nds were on only 97 and the anticipations being that if the Harwood & Little partnership got the team to a mark of a round 130 then the pressure might have been removed.

In came Owen Mason who had previously taken 2-wickets in the Stobswood innings and again he adopted the attack theory.

From just 15 deliveries he scored 31 runs which included a 6. He was replaced by Ricky Gibson who added another quick 16 from 18 deliveries which at 173 for 6 put victory insight.

Then in came the injured Colin Thornton who is a stalwart at the crease and he anchored himself to one end to protect against further losses and in turn to allow for Chris Harwood to add the finishing touches to seal victory.

Batting throughout the innings with an excellent unbeaten 70 he most likely warranted himself man of the match.  Again this was a solid resolute team performance against a quality Stobswood team who retained their number 2 spot in the league.

Next fixture is away to Blaydon 2nds who until yesterday hadn’t won a game but hammered Swalwell when scoring 327 (one player hitting 198) This shows you just how difficult and unpredictably tough League 4 is!

Keep your weekends free for Saturday 8th July when derby neighbours Bomarsund are the visitors. The first 11 are on an away day to sunny Berwick — providing again its not the only place in the UK effected by rain that day?

After last Saturdays grinding first win of the season away at Consett the lads were hoping that this would kick start results for future games, more so as three games had already lost to the weather!

Ponteland batting first soon saw new boy Thomas Luke taking the first wicket — this following on from his 4-wickets at Consett the previous week. This spurred on his mate Owen Mason who took the next 3-batsmen and with 40+ on the scoreboard a collapse was on the cards. However their middle order batted well and after early drinks due to the fine warm day, they pushed the score to over a 100 with 26 overs left.

Experienced campaigners Mordey and Paul Milburn took over the bowling attack and stifled the run rate with eventually Ponteland being all out for a creditable 163. The visitors top scorers :—

Harry Ash 28

Max Bell 58

The wickets were spread out across the bowlers as follows:-

Luke 2

Mason 5

Milburn 2

Mordey 1

Overall and in hindsight perhaps Ponteland might rue not using their middle order batsmen higher up the batting order as with them showing good form may have posted a greater target- who knows?

In reply Ashington Rugby CC started slowly with only 20 on the scoreboard after the first 10 overs. This however was a positive position as in recent games very early wickets have been lost in perhaps the adjustment to the increase to 50 overs?

Colin Thornton and captain Harwood gradually pushed the score on until Colin went and replacement Michael “Midge”Adamson soon followed to a controversial LBW decision, The ball hitting his side but in the spirit of the game and to his credit he readily accepted the decision, if not confused by it?

With 2 wickets falling quickly Ponteland stepped up the pressure but Thomas Luke attacked the bowling with a glorious six that flew past the boundary fielder - 24 scored at Consett last week he set out to better that.

Harwood and partner Luke pushed the score on but then again two quick wickets fell which put Ponteland back in the ascendancy!  Then Jay Little went leaving  Paul Milburn and Tommy More to keep the home teams efforts ongoing,  knowing that once over the score hit the 100 mark a win was insight. When Paul went Owen Mason went in but he game back out oh so quickly - the delivery passing the stumps but looking to see where the ball had gone it hit the wicket keepers pads and bounced back onto the stumps — good wicket keeping  or a fluke and or a combination of both

With 7 down now young Matthew Adamson came in to join More with Ponteland eyeing victory. Matthew took the pressure well keeping the partnership ticking with the scoreboard slowing nearing the 164 runs required. With Ponteland bringing back their opening bowlers a number of late wides helping achieve towards the Ashington Rugby target and into the last few overs a four was required to seal victory.

Tommy gratefully delivered striking a boundary to be followed by a Dan Burn type jig as he held up his bat in his team’s delight — not quite the ASHES Tommy!

With a good catch to his credit and todays batting performance, after remaining at the crease last week as well, a creditable effort.

It would be difficult to award a “man of the  match” as this was an all round team display with individual player efforts at critical points of the game - resolve and team mental strength that was visible in many games last season that achieved promotion to League 4!

To Ponteland’s credit they have  a talented relatively young side who pushed the Ashington Rugby team - good luck to them in coming games!

This second consecutive win indicates that the team can consolidate their League 4 status this season

To note that the umpires gave thanks for providing a good test!

Ashington Rugby CC Midweek XI 110/8

Seaton Burn Midweek XI 111/5

Having made it to June not out, Jonny Richards was asked by Owen Mason to open the batting along with club legend Kev Hetherington. As they say though, all good things must come to and end and Richards was gone first ball of the game after edging onto his own off stump 🦆 0/1.

Skipper Mason was in at number 3 but that was also short lived. He had been looking to make a positive start, he and Tucker had taken 12 from the first 5 balls of the 2nd over, only to be bowled on the final delivery for 8.

Brads Smart who had actually made it to the game on time joined Tucker at the crease and after a quiet over fell the same way as the captain, bowled by Freya Rook for a 🦆.

Hetherington, in need of some support saw Tom More stride out at number 5. After an early 4 for More, things slowed down as the pair went about rebuilding the innings - taking the score from 22/3 after 5 to 41/4 after 10 overs. With the odd 4, most runs were made though actual leg work plus extras.

Having stemmed the fall of wickets, the midweek allstars were in a position to push on again moving into the final third of the innings. The batsmen had put on 42 for the 4th wicket but the stability didn’t last too long as Tommy was caught for a patient 13, 1 ball from the end of the 13th over. Matty Adamson was Tuckers 5th partner of the evening but only added 2 to the score before being bowled the following over and the team were 68/5.

In at 7 was wicket keeper James Slater on deboo for the club and after a few sighters was off the mark with a 4 between mid wicket and square leg. A single followed and Hetherington joined in with his first 4 in a number of overs. The 16th over started with a powerful 6 over extra cover from Slater, who then hit another 4 before getting off strike and allowing Hetherington to find the fence once more. 26 added in 2 eventful overs had moved the score onto 94/5 with 4 left.

Opening bowlers Alva and F.Rook had been brought back on to try and peg back the quick scoring. This seemed to work for them with Alva only conceding 4 and then Slater was smartly stumped off Rook at the start of the 18th over. Jarvis was next in and wasted no time in hitting his first ball for 4 but strike had dried up slightly for Tucker who was 40 not out at the other end. A 4 for him in the penultimate over got him to 44 - the lads on the sideline hoping he would be able to make it to his half century. Jarvis was bowled by the left arm spin of Rook to give her 4 wickets for the evening and Ashok came out for the final 4 deliveries. After a couple of dots he did manage a single, leaving Tucker needing 6 from the last ball to reach 50 but he himself could only muster a single as Ashok was ran out coming back for a second. The innings ending 110/8.

The Seaton Burn innings got off to a slow start. Jarvis and Jobson were the men with the new ball. The home side had 4 from the first over from Hotelier Jarvis but this was followed by a series of: maiden for Jobson, wicket maiden for Jarvis, maiden for Jobson, 1 off Jarv’s 3rd over and then a double wicket maiden for Jobson - who like at Percy Main was on a hat trick but could not complete the feat.

6 for 3 after 6, all wickets taken had been bowled.

The change bowlers introduced by Mason were Adamson and Richards who both started well. Jonny adding to his wickets from a couple of nights earlier with a caught and bowled at the end of an over of variations, swinging the ball both ways. At the half way stage, Seaton Burn found themselves 22/4.

Ashok Nagarajan was brought on after a couple of overs off Richards before Matty Adamson claimed the 5th wicket of the night, bowling the number 3 bat who had made a slow contribution of 8.

With 5 overs left and Seaton Burn 53/5, some complacency maybe set in and things started to go downhill in the bowling and fielding departments. Batsmen Sean Rook and Richie Kyle started to find boundaries and push 2s and 3s. Kev ‘Spook’ Haram had replaced Adamson and the next 2 overs from himself and Ashok went for 20 in total. Things went from bad to worse when Spook was removed from the attack by the umpire for dangerous bowling, one of the no balls being dispatched for 6, meaning Jobson was brought back on to complete that over but he could not stop the flow of runs with S.Rook adding a 2 and a 4 after a leg bye. The hosts had made it to within 15 of the required score.

9 from the returning Jarvis’ last over and then a 4 off the first ball of Jobson’s last over sealed our fate and an unlikely win for Seaton Burn considering their position earlier in the 2nd innings.

Ashington Rugby CC 1st XI 272/8

Warkworth CC 1st XI 161 all out

The first team welcomed Warkworth to The Rec in a bid to make it 4 wins on the bounce, following that opening day defeat at Blagdon.

Captain Mark Lawrence was back in the side and got the day off to a good start by winning the toss. He elected to bat due to the bright sun shining on what looked like a good wicket - giving himself the chance to hide in the shade to avoid early sun burn.

Matty Tanney and David Dent were at the top of the order again and had made a solid start against the opening bowlers. Tanney with a few 4s straight and through the covers, while Dent had clipped a lovely 6 off his legs over square leg.

At 40/0, Warkworth were prompted to make a change to their attack, introducing overseas player Tristan Parnell. Tanney took a single to the first ball he faced but Dent fell moments later attempting to hit his 2nd 6 of the day, only to be caught at long on.

Peacock joined Tanney at the crease and they rotated strike well to the spin bowlers, giving the lads waiting to bat some work to do on the sight screens, while also capitalising on anything loose to hit boundaries. Tanney with some nice sweep shots and Peacock picking up on anything slightly short.

The pair made it to drinks unbeaten and both made it to 50 shortly after, Tanney turning one into the legside for a single while Peacock got there with one of many big sixes, this time off opening bowler Adam Hall who had had a change of ends.

The chat in the middle between the batsmen had been about looking to get to 200 with 10 overs left having seen such a good start with the loss of only 1 wicket. At this point Peekers really stuck his foot down with many boundaries, including some big sixes off the spin bowlers and raced from 50 to his hundred in around 25 balls! He was out caught shortly after reaching the milestone for 107 (from 77 balls). The partnership had matched the pairs previous best of 156, albeit the other one was unbeaten.

This left M.Tan at the crease on 66 looking to continue the quick scoring and Sylvy Moore was the next man to join him. With the opening bowlers back on at each end, Tanney produced a flurry of boundaries off each, 4s through the covers once more and a slog sweep for 6, to score 24 of the next 31 runs and taking himself on to 90. He fell the same way as Peacock at this point however - caught following the reintroduction of spinner Sullivan.

Cal Milburn, having a good week with the bat, was next in with the score 228/3 and around 7 overs remaining. Moore was somewhat unfortunately given out ‘run out’ following a direct hit of the stumps at the bowlers end before Milburn fell to a great catch on the boundary and another wicket for Sullivan.

Lewis Tanney and Cory Milburn had replaced those 2 recently out men but Cory was bowled by Hall for 1 and the home side had lost 4 wickets for 11 runs. Would they score as many as they had hoped following this loss of momentum?

A decent partnership of 32 between L.Tan and Lawrence, with a 4 each and some good running got us to 271 before our captain became Sullivans 4th victim of the day, caught again. This left expectant father Scotty Maddison to face the last ball and he ran as though he was carrying it himself, almost lapped by Lewy and was ran out at the keepers end coming back for a 2nd.

Lewis Tanney ending not out on a run a ball 12. 

With a good score on the board and everyone raving about Greaves’ sprinkles cake at tea the home side set about things early with the ball and in the field, reducing Warkworth to 8/3.

A bit of a mix up and subsequent run out for Lewy was sandwiched in between 2 wickets for Cory - who had snicked off opener Smith to be caught by Moore behind the stumps, before bowling number 3 Kusuma for nought and one respectively.

Matty Hall and Tristan Parnell were 4 & 5 and the home side knew this was an important partnership to break. The bowlers were on top and getting the better of Hall, however Parnell playing in his usual fashion had made a quick 25. Following some good pressure, Richards got his first wicket by trapping Hall LBW for 11, after another close shout moments before.

He added his 2nd, bowling the away team’s captain Dargue for 7 and they found themselves 60/5 and in trouble.

Parnell continued to hit boundaries in his tussle with change bowlers Greaves and Lawrence, taking his side past 100 along with support from Haque. The latter was next to go, bowled by our skipper Lawrence on 11.

Having moved into the 90s and hoping one or two of the remaining wickets would stick around with him to make things interesting, Parnell was expertly ran out by Callum with a one handed pick up and underarm at the stumps from the covers - hitting with the batsman short of his ground! Dean Greaves had finished his spell with a rare non-for this week.

Keith Douglas, who had hung around for a while, saw Adam Hall dismissed by Maddison when caught at mid off by Lew Tan for 10 - and he himself was then the next wicket to follow when caught behind off Lawrence. Our captain also finished the job off a couple of overs later, with opposition spinner Sullivan adjudged LBW and he ended the day with 3 for 37 along with another 30 points!

Consett 2nds V Ashington Rugby 2nds - 27 May 2023 - Blackfyne

Team news – we were able to field a much stronger side this week with the additions of Thomas Luke, Andy Raine and the Adamson’s as well as the (semi) retired Paul Milburn and strike bowler Owen Mason returning from 1^st team duties.

Upon arrival at the ground the lads marvelled at the double decker stand and huge scoreboard as well as the pleasant looking wicket and groomed outfield and along with the comfortable temperature and bright sun it finally felt like the cricket season had arrived.

For the 2^nd week in a row the skipper lost the toss and unsurprisingly Consett decided to take 1st knock. Owing to his so far sketchy availability Harwood decided that bribing Thomas Luke with the new ball was his best course of action and this paid dividends as he charged in and picked up the first 3 wickets to leave Consett reeling at 25 for 3.

From here O’Sullivan and McCabe consolidated and moved the score along playing some pleasing shots and youthful duo Luke & Mason made way, being replaced by not so youthful duo Gary Mordey and Milburn. Having taken the sting out of the new ball Consett looked to build on their start but both wily veterans picked up a wicket each and another for Luke left Consett reeling at 80 for 6.

At this point once again a rebuild started and it was noticeable that the pitch had become very easy paced and our best course of action would be to stick to disciplined lines and length. To be fair this we did and despite a good knock of 27 not out from Forster we dismissed Consett for 153 in 40.3 overs.

Wicket takers were Luke 4 for 37 Mordey 2 for 26 Mason 2 for 34 and Milburn 2 for 46

Tea – very good including a fine chilli con carne

Openers Harwood (who was going through a lean spell by his recent standards) and ‘Mr Reliable’ Colin Thornton strode out to the middle after Harwood himself had giving a pre-innings speech emphasising how much easier batting conditions had been in the 2^nd half of the innings and how important it was to keep wickets in hand.

With this in mind we were 12 for 0 after the 1^st over with Harwood ignoring his own advice attempting to take the game to the opposition and that continued in over 3 until he was caught well at square leg attempting another attacking stroke and we were 16 for 1… well done skip. Adamson Senior was next in and out for 1 (bowled by a grubber) and once again we had opened the door for the opposition with most of our previously reliable top order now sat in the pavilion.

Man of the moment Luke was next in and he and Colin consolidated moving the score along to 60 before Luke was well caught at slip for 14 then Milburn went lbw for 15 after hitting some pleasing boundaries that gave us a bit of momentum.

Colin was joined by More who dropped anchor and we advanced the score without alarm to 104 when disaster struck and Colin who had moved serenely to 46 was bowled and Raine was soon to follow which left us 111 for 6 and behind the game.

Enter the street fighter Owen Mason never one to shy away from a difficult situation who relishes such scenarios and who has proved himself to be a man/boy for this type of scenario in his fledgling career so far. Consett also sensed that this was a key wicket and it was noticeable that the noise level rose at this point from the fielding side with some heated exchanges needing interventions from players and umpire at times.

With the pressure on both batsmen progress was slow but we kept chipping away at the total through strong defence and positive running and eventually we neared our target. With 3 to win opening bowler Fletcher fired one down the leg side which evaded everyone and went away for 4 byes getting us over the line to win by 4 wickets. Mason let out a huge roar which was understandable under the circumstances and both sides shook hands and shared a drink despite how competitive the game had been in particular the final hour.

A big win for the Ruggaz their first of the season in the league which was badly needed following a difficult start to the season. Luke the pick of the bowlers and another solid knock from Colin and More & Mason were outstanding under pressure at the death.

Ashington Rugby 2s (28 Points) beat Consett 2s (6 points) by 4 wickets

Big thanks to match sponsor G & B Property Maintenance Limited

#UPTHERUGGAZ

Tillside CC 1st XI 146/9 (with man retired hurt) Ashington Rugby CC 1st XI 147/3

The first team made the long journey up to Tillside looking to build on their previous 2 wins in 2 games.

Captaining his first game for the 1st XI, Matty Tanney did lose the toss however got the result he wanted as the home captain elected to bat.

After a no ball, it seemed the day had got off to a dream start with Cory Milburn producing a great delivery nipping back through the defences of opener Liam Hindmarsh, only for a no ball to be called again. The same man was dropped soon after and continued to capitalise on anything too short or too full, with Tillside going along at around 5 an over for the first 10. At this point it was looking like luck was not on our side and it could prove to be a long day in the field — the introduction of the evergreen Dean Greaves in the 11th over turned the game in our favour.

With James Richards continuing to toil away in the sun at the other end to no avail (any edges or false shots were going into space rather than to hand), Greaves dismissed Tillside’s top 3 - all bowled. This was followed up with the wicket of their captain and number 4, Ross Hindmarsh who was dismissed by an excellent catch from Peacock, diving forward with his now trademark tuck and roll. The hosts had gone from 52 without loss to 75/4.

Owen Mason, granted a call up following his good form in the 2nd X1 (a 4fer and a 5fer to his name) was given the ball after Richards at the opposite end to Greaves. Even after losing those wickets the batsmen were still looking to play some shots and were finding boundaries. Mason had his first wicket - with Wales bowled playing all round one, trying to hit into the space on the leg side. New batsman Hill played the same vein when he arrived at the crease only to hole out to Adam Peacock who took his 2nd catch of the day, giving Mason his 2nd wicket and the hosts were now 115/6.

It had remained tight at Greaves end but he could not add another wicket to claim his 5fer, finishing with figures of 4 for 24 from his allotted 12 overs, including 4 maidens. Cory returned to the attack at that end in the hope of finishing the job quickly and getting some of the highly rated Tillside tea. Mason had also been replaced at the other end by Andy Matthews and his left arm spin. Matthews bowled with nice flight and thought he had a wicket with home wicket keeper Pick nicking off to Moore, only for it to be adjudged not out by the standing umpire at his end. Justice was served soon after from the other end, with Pick edging a short ball from Milburn which was travelling at a rate of knots and likely for 6, only for Sylvester Moore to channel his inner Air Jordan to take an outstanding one handed catch high above his head, with Dent at slip already looking to the boundary behind for the ball.

Unfortunately for him, new man Cameron McGregor had to retire hurt after only 5 balls as he pulled his calf attempting a quick single.

Matthews did manage to get himself a well deserved wicket - with the number 10 chipping up to Peacock, completing a hat trick of catches for the day.

8 down but needing just 1 wicket due to the injury, Mason returned at the death. The 2nd delivery of the over was a no ball and the 2 batsmen tried to take a quick single as well, only for the younger McGregor to be ran out with Moore whipping the bails off after an accurate throw in from Richards and the hosts ‘all out’ for 146.

With 147 to win, skipper M. Tanney took his usual place at number 1 along with David Dent, who he has shared big partnerships in the past and hoping for more of the same today. It wasn’t to be, with Dent chopping on attempting a cut shot off Rory McGregor - 6 for 1.

Peacock, who recently joined Tanney in the 5000 run club had joined him at the crease. With some good running and a couple of nice drives for 4 each, they pushed the score into the 30s before the home side made their first bowling change with the introduction of Hill. Looking to attack some full bowling wide of the off stump was eventually the downfall of captain Tanney, when he was caught at point on 19 to a ball which was not quite there compared to others. Moore then came and went first ball to a plum LBW leaving us 40/3.

Callum Milburn came out to bat at number 5, looking to steady the ship with Peacock and the pair took a bit of time to do just that. Callum was bowled by Hill when attempting a pull shot to a short ball which didn’t really get up any higher than the middle of the stumps, only to be the 2nd man of the day to be given a reprieve due to a no ball!

He nearly wasted this chance when dropped by the substitute fielder at midwicket but was encouraged to start again and see it through by his team mates on the other side of the boundary line. He also got cramp taking a single but soldiered on one leg, calling off the need for a runner who had kindly got dressed and was ready to go. His arms still worked though, hitting a 6 to go along with a number of 4s. Callum had moved into the 40s and was the dominant scorer at this point in the partnership.

Not to be outdone, Peekers, who had been solid throughout, hit 2 6s of his own in the same over - straight and over long on. Milburn on 49 and Peacock on 47, who would reach 50 first?

After picking a few fielders and seemingly being stuck, Callum hobbled a single to reach the milestone first. Peacock joined him with 50 for the day and added another 6, this time a great shot over extra cover with the result well beyond doubt now. The pair finished the job by running a 2 and it was to be a happy drive home for the 1st team with 30 points in the bag!

Adam Peacock 58* (74 balls)

Calium Milburn 54* (90 balls)

We are running the All Stars and Dynamos cricket sessions again this year.

Our sessions start on Friday 19^th May; however, we are once again doing a 2-week free taster session starting on Friday 5^th and 12^th May, bring your child along to have some great fun and if they enjoy it they can sign up.

All Stars for 5 to 8-year olds

Dynamos for 8 to 11-year olds.

See our club link’s below for registering your child.

All Stars: https://ecb.clubspark.uk/AllStars/BookCourse/258cba0e-bce9-4635-a5c1-63a856509879

Dynamos: https://ecb.clubspark.uk/Dynamos/BookCourse/d74af336-2d1a-4570-95a0-687ed4a491ff

Congratulations goes Matty Tanney who has just completed and passed his CORE Coaching Badges (the old Level 2).

Things are starting to fall in place with our Junior section which bodes well for the club. Our very first ever junior team our under 11’s will play in the junior league structure in the 2023 season and we need members like Matty to stand up and support the club.

Great effort Matty.