Darlington and District Cricket League
IT was a frustrating day for Raby Castle on Saturday when their game at Nunthorpe was the only match to fall victim to the heavy showers.
The game was nicely poised when the rains came, with Raby on 93-5 and Simon Lee going well on 46 not out.
To make matters worse, the weather denied Raby the chance to close the gap on leaders Haughton, who suffered their first defeat of the league campaign at the hands of Barton.
Missing several key players, Haughton posted 187-4 thanks to 89 from Michael Burton and 51no from Craig Edwards.
An unbeaten 52 from Tom Borthwick and Mark Tiplady’s 31no saw Barton over the line with five overs to spare.
Barningham’s dip in form continued with a poor performance against ten-man Aldbrough St John.
The hosts batted first and were indebted to Shane Hayes’ 62 as Aldbrough made 189. Only a good late spell by Steven Walker (4-18) and Richard Arnott's earlier 2-29 made up for some poor bowling.
Barningham’s batsmen were no better, with seven wickets lost before the 50 was posted and only Gary Walker’s unbeaten 40 was worthy of note in a total of 113.
Matthew Brown took 4-45 and Dave Matthias, rolling back the years with new ball in hand to take 3-26, were the pick of the Aldbrough bowlers.
It was a bad day at the office for Middleton-in-Teesdale, who were shot out for just 88 against West Park RA.
The top order had no answer to Rohan Sivajoti’s canny length and line as he took 5-45.
He was well backed up by Joshua Evans, who nipped in with 3-5 from five overs.
Anth Coatsworth and Oliver Wellsby took two wickets apiece as West Park were made to work for the runs, but the target was reached with almost five overs to spare.
If it was a bad day for Middleton, it was even worse for Cliffe, who could only muster 66 in reply to Richmondshire IV’s 204-5.
Clive Layfield and Jonathan Kellet both hit half centuries for Richmondshire, before Mark Walker spearheaded the bowling attack with 4-12.
Middleton St George had little trouble overcoming East Cowton, who were bowled out for 87. Joe Binks took 4-29, while Sam Binks took the other six. Middleton cruised home by seven wickets, taking just 15.5 overs to reach the target.
In the B Division, the top two both won.
Haughton II cruised to a seven wicket win against Barton II, who were bowled out for 105, while Cockerton dismissed Richmondshire V for only 37 with Gary Warr and Reece Hughes each taking five wickets.
The openers made light work of the small chase.
Spennymoor, in third place, also won, losing just one wicket in pursuit of Middleton St George II 128-6.
Raby Castle will take on West Park RA in the final of the A Division knockout cup.
In last week’s semi-finals, Raby had little trouble overcoming East Cowton.
James Forster took 4-26 as Cowton were held to 106-7 in their 20 overs before Andrew West (45) and Simon Lee (51no) made light work of the chase.
In something of an upset, West Park won against Haughton with just two wickets and three balls in hand.
Haughton made 107-6 with Danny McGuire's 32 the top score and West Park were thankful to a lower order recovery after the top five were removed for single figures.
Ben Carvey’s 38 proved invaluable as West Park got over the line.
The final is on Thursday, June 28, at Darlington RA’s Brinkburn Road ground.
