Northumberland county teams had mixed fortunes in the third division of the County Championships. The first team of Andrew Wilkinson, Ryan Richardson, Jim Stamas, Christine Burke and Kit Robinson defeated Shropshire and Northumberland second string but went down to South Yorkshire, Warwickshire seconds and Northampton. The second team of Andrew Dryden, Adam Curran, Iain Wood, Lynsey Storey and Diane Cartmell had only one success, beating Shropshire.

Gary Sangster was the man of the match in the all Cramlington match in the Premier Division of the Northumbria League between the Stingers and the Reivers which saw the Reivers take a 5 - 1 lead before being pegged back to 6 - 4.

First division Trojans roared ahead 4 - 1 when they entertained Byker B but the visitors had Mark Kimberley in fine form and hit back to win 6 - 4. Old England Jacks and Tyne Dock ended up all square with Tony Gelder and Lynne Herrington getting two each for the home side and Micky Grimes and Steve Wiberg doing likewise for the visitors, Grimes forcing the draw in the final match with victory over Gelder.

Jim Robertson helped to keep up the winning ways of YMCA North Tyneside B in division two with a hat-trick against Ouston  as  they ran out 8 - 2 victors. Rob Lawson and Chas Robertson were both unbeaten as Newton B came away from Ouston A with a 7 - 3 victory and a hat-trick by Brian Bateman saw Old England Crocks defeat Cobras by the same score.

Whitley Chapel gained a surprise draw against second placed Old England FATTS in division three thanks mainly  to an unbeaten performance by Stefan Sobell.

Newcastle Communities B are now a force to be reckoned with in the fourth division as they are fielding two Chinese students who are  of a far better standard. Their latest victims were Ouston D who were beaten 8 - 2.  Sacriston Comets,however, remain unbeaten at the moment and are top of the division after a 10 - 0 win away to Cramlington Knights.

 

Aubrey Drapkin