Berwick go down to only second defeat

The Borderers suffered only their second defeat of the season last Saturday as they were beaten by eight wickets at Benwell & Walbottle in the west end of Newcastle.

They remain in second spot in the NTCL Third Division table just 46 points adrift of the top side.

Dominic Donaldson and Michael Hush both top scored with 39 in the Berwick total of 165/9 after being put in to bat.

Skipper James Patterson knocked 34 with Benwell bowler Arab Ullah taking 4/37 – including the captain’s wicket.

Ashraf Rahman was 98 not out and Dominic Smith 54 not out as the hosts made chalked up 168/2 by the 40th over with James Thompson taking both wickets.

Berwick seconds game against Alnmouth & Lesbury in Division Six (North) was cancelled due to bad weather, with Tillside’s game against Lintz in Division Two also falling foul of the persistent rain.

Wooler went down to a close-fought 20-run defeat at Backworth in Division Five (North).

The host’s Adam Moody’s knock of 104 not out and a 56 from wicket keeper Paul Robson put the pressure on Wooler as they made 221/5 with Tom Brown taking two wickets and Laurie Blackburn, Robert Matthewson and Andrew Aitchison one apiece.

Blackburn knocked 82 in response with ten boundaries and a six included in his total before he was finally caught while going for another big hit.

Thomas Burston scored 45 and Aitchison was 33 not out as Wooler just ran out overs, being 201/7 after the final ball.