Alnmouth and Lesbury CC and Alnwick CC both fall to heavy defeats in disappointing weekend

Alnmouth and Lesbury CC men’s first team found themselves on the wrong end of a heavy defeat at the hands of Morpeth CC on Saturday afternoon.

With the hosts unbeaten during the early stages of the campaign, this was always likely to be a tough task for Ed Brunton’s visitors, and so it proved, with Alnmouth and Lesbury eventually succumbing to a 149-run loss.

After Morpeth won the toss and elected to bat, the away side made a bright start by dismissing home skipper Adam Lawn for a single run. His replacement, Paul Johnston, would prove much harder to remove from the crease, however. The Morpeth man would produce a stellar 86 - including a dozen boundaries - to send his side on their way to a final tally of 195.

Alongside Johnston, Alex Senior fell just shy of his half-century, racking up 48 before he was run out by Chalana De Silva. Brian Brooks was Alnmouth and Lesbury’s most dangerous man with the ball in hand, claiming three wickets.

For their part, the away side eventually crumbled for just 46 inside 28 overs. Harry Sutherland was the only visiting player to reach double figures, scoring 29 not out, but really this was an innings dominated by bowler Michael Craigs. The Morpeth man conceded just five runs and recorded seven maidens on his way to a six-wicket haul, with the aforementioned Senior also enjoying a fine afternoon, with three wickets to his name. Jack Concannon would round things off for Morpeth, who picked up a 149-run win.

Elsewhere, Alnwick CC were beaten by 130 runs in their meeting with Tillside CC. A fearsome batting display from the hosts, built around a 62 from Joe Bickerton and a half-century from Ben Brassall, left Alnwick chasing a target of 210, but despite the best efforts of Laurence Reeves, who led his side with a total of 28, the visitors could only must 80 before they were bowled out in the 32nd over.

And finally, Warkworth CC made short work of their outing against Cowgate Sports CC, limiting the away side to 79 runs before surpassing them inside 15 overs for an eight-wicket win. Adam Hall took five wickets for the hosts, with Christopher Smith notching 39 not out.