Tillside and Warkworth chase Ashington in Premier title race

The result means Tillside remain second in the table on 276 points, with Ashington Rugby leading the way on 305. Warkworth are currently third on 250.

Tillside batted first and they put on a score of 211 all out in just over 42 overs, with opener Jack Bagness top scoring on 51.

There were also valuable contributions from Gareth Hill (36), Jake Birkett (35) and Liam Hindmarsh (34).

Ahmed Javed was gateshead’s most successful bowler with figures of 4-23.

In reply, Gateshead saw Zhoaib Shahid hit 11 boundaries on his way to 89, and with Jawed Qureshi on 33 they managed to push the score along.

However, Luke Dickson was again in fine form with the ball, and his 5-50 off 11 overs swung the match the Etal side’s way as the home team were restricted to 201-8.

Warkworth had a big nine wicket away win over Blue Flames in the Premier League.

Blue Flames were all out for 101 with Amjad Khan on 29 and Mohsin Iqbal on 24. Tom Burnett and Adam Hall both claimed three wickets apiece as the home side were dismissed by the 42nd over.

In reply, Warkworth saw Scott Gibson hit 43 not out and Mike Sewell 29 not out as they passed their target with only 22 overs gone

Ulgham 1sts went down by eight wickets in their home match against Backworth.

Ulgham were all out for only 67, with Colin tait on 20. In reply Backworth hit 68-2.

Warenford held the upper hand when they faced Berwick 2nds at the Pier Field in Division 1 and won by 11 runs.

In a low-scoring game, Warenford batted first and were all out for only 86 with Tony Potts on 19 and Gordon Stephenson on 17. Mark Woodcock took 3-2 and David Currie. 3-15.

It seemed a relatively easy target for the Berwick batsmen, but Iain Thompson (19) and Niall Jones (12) were the only home bats in double figures, and with Tom Smith claiming 5-25 they were all out for only 75 in 31 overs.

In Division 2 Tillside 2nds saw their home game against Ashington Rugby cancelled when the visitors were unable to raise a team.

Embleton had a narrow rour run defeat at the hands of Tynemouth 3rds.

Tynemouth were all out for 91 with Richard Warwick their top scorer on 23, Cameron Thorpe claiming 5-5 off his nine overs.

In reply, Barrie Dunn hit 27 for Embleton, but they were all out for 87 in less than 32 overs with Don Catley taking 6-8 in his eight overs.

In Division 3 Alnmouth and Lesbury had a five wicket home win over Hebburn.

Hebburn were all out for only 44, 17 of which were extras, with Patrick Ford-Hutchinson taking a fine 7-14 off seven overs.

It was an easy target for Alnmouth, who despite losing five wickets, eased past their target with opener George Lindley on 28 not out.

Ulgham 2nds went down by 62 runs on their visit to Kirkley 2nds.

Kirkley put on 186-9 in 38 overs with Andrew North on 45 and Alan Thompson and Craig Moore both on 32.

Richard Lee took 3-42 with three others taking two apiece.

In reply, Ulgham managed 124-7 in their 40 overs with Alan Hynd top scoring on 31. Kieran Douse took 3-22 for the home side.

Warkworth 2nds had a narrow four run home win over Blyth 2nds.

Ben Briggs hit 47 and Mark Spoors 33 as Warkworth put on 171 all out in 40 overs.

Fran Carrigan was Blyth’s most successful bowler with figures of 4-22, but in reply they fell just short of their target at 167-6 with Richard Glass on 50 and Carrigan on 35. John Briggs and Adam Jobson each claimed two wickets.

* Tillside won through to the final of the T20 Cup with an eight run victory over Berwick 1sts in the semi-finals last week.

Tillside got off to a poor start with Berwick’s opening Bowlers doing a fantastic job. Jack Bagness departed without troubling the scorers and Liam and Jake Birkett quickly followed leaving TIllside on 16-3.

Ronan Atkinson and Gareth Hill started to turn things around but Atkinson departed for 12.

Berwick skipper Steven Emery took 3-14 in his five over spell. Gareth Hill scored 31 before he dragged on. It was then left to Cameron McGregor to score the runs. McGregor was out for 27 as Tillside finished on 106-8.

TIllside kept the first six overs tight and picked up two wickets. McGregor was then introduced to the attack and produced a superb display of spin bowling. He took 3-14 off five overs and dismissed Sean Wales, which was the key wicket.

Berwick were always in the game and it went down to the last over, but Calum Bickerton showed great bottle and bowled a fantastic final over to get Tillside over the line.