Mitford moved into second place in the Division One table, 25pts behind leaders Stamfordham, following victories over Matfen and Belsay at the weekend.

On Saturday, they bowled Matfen out for 125 after winning the toss and electing to field. The main contributors for Matfen were opener Ian Pilkington (19), Aaron Tiffin (21) and No.10 batsman Toby Pilkington who top-scored with 23 before being run out by Matt Ellinor.

Patrick Ford-Hutchinson was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets for 32 runs from his eight overs.

In reply, Mitford were always ahead of the run rate with Kieran Mole(25) and an unbeaten 53 from Matt Ellinor seeing them pass Matfen's total in the 31st over with six wickets in hand. Justin Dempsey took two of the four wickets to fall.

A great weekend for Mitford was completed on Sunday with another maximum 20pts haul against the league's basement team, Belsay, who were all out for 90. Mitford were never in any serious trouble despite losing five wickets before securing victory.

South Northumberland posted a challenging total of 168/8 in Saturday's match against Belsay. Coming in with the score on 7/1, Kush Agarwal remained undefeated on 93 when their innings closed.

He put on 47 for the second wicket with Alexander Charnley (30) and the only other player to reach double figures was Trudy Johnson, who made 14. Izzath Sheriff and Jack Fenwick both took two wickets.

In reply, Belsay were soon struggling on 8/2 before Izzath Sheriff (40) and Omar Mahmood (27) started their recovery. A useful 26 from Tom Common kept them in the hunt but a late flurry of wickets saw them slide from 134/6 to 140 all out.

All six South Northumberland bowlers picked up wickets with the best figures from Shahbaz, who took 3-27 from eight overs.

An exciting encounter at Wylam resulted in the first tied match of the season. Benwell Hill scored 163/6 from 40 overs and Wylam went into their final over still needing 12 for victory. Ross Helm hit a six but they could only scramble another five runs to finish on 163/8.

Haydon Bridge enjoyed a comfortable home win over Newton by 39 runs. Mark Elliott (41 not out) and Michael Cunningham (39) top-scored in their total of 180/5 with Brian Taylor taking three wickets for 32 runs.

Andrew Jeffery (37) and Andy Jones (35) helped Newton reach 141/7 in reply with Ian Watson taking three wickets for 16 runs.

After being put in to bat, Humshaugh were bowled out for 146 in 32.5 overs at Hexham Leazes. Andy Crawford (27), Rob Forster (30) and Stephen Thompson (24) starred for the visitors with Andrew McCormick (three wickets for 38 runs) and Ben Teasdale (four wickets for 30 runs) the pick of the home attack.

In reply, Hexham Leazes lost four early wickets but opener Alex Brown remained undefeated on 61 as crucial partnerships with Christy Fox, who made 47, and Harry Fitton (20 not out) saw them home with nine overs to spare. Will Forster took three wickets for the visitors.

In Division Two, Haltwhistle will be crowned champions if they win at Riding Mill this Saturday following a crushing 135 run victory over Medomsley at the weekend. The Durham side's decision to field backfired badly as Haltwhistle posted a season's best total of 267/1 from their 40 overs. Medomsley were then bowled out for 132.

In another high scoring match, Riding Mill beat Mitford 2nds by three wickets with five balls to spare. Chris Townson (34) and Tom McKenna (26) along with 32 extras were the main contributors in Mitford's total of 169/8 with Andy Watson taking three wickets for the loss of only 12 runs in eight overs.

An opening stand of 61 between Rob Willis, who went on to make 89, and Andy Watson (20) gave the home side early impetus with Willis and Charles Reid (25) eventually being the sixth and seventh wickets to fall before they reached their target in the final over. Luke McCurley (3-43) , Chris Townson (2-26) and Lawrence Park ((2-19) shared the wickets.

The division's surprise result saw bottom of the table side Hexham Leazes inflict only a third defeat of the season on Humshaugh, who had started the day in second place.

On a damp wicket, Matt Joyce (33) and Matt Barrick (31) helped Hexham Leazes reach 134/8 from their 40 overs, with Duncan Sewell (3-24), Mick Keady (2-17) and Josh Wallace (2-15) being the pick of the home side's attack.

In reply, Humshaugh were well placed on 68/3 after only 16 overs before slumping to 97 all out. Paul Armstrong (37) and Mick Keady (18) were the only batsmen to reach double figures.

They couldn't handle some excellent swing bowling from Stefan Yeatman, who took four wickets for 23 runs from eight overs and youngster Johnny King Lewis also chipped in with three wickets for 21 runs as well as earlier taking a great catch on the boundary to dismiss Paul Armstrong.

In the other scheduled Saturday fixture, Mitford Thirds conceded to Clara Vale.

Saturday, September 11 fixtures

Div One: Belsay v Stamfordham, Haltwhistle v Matfen, Hexham Leazes v Haydon Bridge, Mitford v Newton, Wylam v Humshaugh.

Div Two: Allendale v Hexham Leazes, Humshaugh v Stocksfield 4ths, Medomsley v Mitford 3rds, Riding Mill v Haltwhistle.

Sunday, September 12 fixtures

Div One: Benwell Hill v South Northumberland

Div Two: Riding Mill v Allendale