BOLDON held on to their lead in the Warmseal Durham Senior League despite losing points in Saturday’s top test against last season’s champions Burnmoor.

But they will be wary of more slip-ups, after their advantage over secondplaced Whitburn was whittled down to six points.

Unbeaten Burnmoor, although back in fifth place, might have felt they had done enough to beat their hosts after setting them a target of 223-9 with late runs from their No 8 batsman Gary Brown (61 not out).

Earlier Barry Dews (46) kept his concentration as wickets fell all around him with Phil Shakespeare (4-34) and Jonny Wightman (3-51) doing most of the damage.

Boldon’s reply ended on 156-6 with Geoff Houmark carrying his bat for 59, and Chris Ellison leading the innings with 42.

Whitburn’s defeat of Philadelphia (156-7) by eight wickets was a triumph for batsmen Lindsay Cullen (63 not out) and Peter Marshall (42 not out).

Third-placed Hetton Lyons (204-9) recovered from the loss of four wickets for 15 runs with David Lowther hitting 79 against Marsden (136 all out).

Sura Malinga (5-29) showed his value even though Mike Gandy (93) gave the visitors a lifeline.

In the 3D Durham Coast League, Bill Quay took advantage of Castle Eden sitting out a game by trimming their lead to 16 points.

Quay, three points ahead of third-placed Washington, beat Silksworth by seven wickets after Joe Dodd (8-32) became the day’s star bowler.

Wickets fell regularly on other grounds with Keith Chapman (6-95 for Easington against Murton), Ian Bellerby (5-60 for Boldon CA against Seaham Park) and Mike Thorpe (5-51 for Ryhope against Dawdon).

Thorpe, a new signing from the County League also hit an unbeaten century.

Another hundred added relish to Washington’s visit by Peterlee when Ryan Nicholson batted through the home innings in some style.

Four teams share the same number of points in the Wellstream Northumberland and Tyneside Senior League where Swalwell and Shotley Bridge, the main contenders for the championship, find Morpeth, Percy Main, Ashington and Tynedale all in joint third place.

Morpeth defeated Percy Main to get into the pack, while Ashington beat Annfield Plain thanks to a superb undefeated 135 from Simon Prudhoe.

Tynedale got one of the highest scores of the summer – 304 – when they beat Ryton, the league’s bottom club.

Willington drew first blood in the double weekend of Readers Durham County League fixtures when they defeated one of their main rivals for honours in convincing fashion on Saturday.

Crook struggled as they took first knock with only John Lee (34) able to cope with the twin threat of Gary Cummings and Kiwi Sam Wells.

The pair bowled 23 of the 38 overs the innings lasted, both ending with four for 22 as Town folded for 109.

The result was never in doubt when Karl Brown cracked eight fours in his 43, with Cummings seeing the job through with seven of his own boundaries in an unbeaten 36.

Shildon continued to power on at the top as they defeated Etherley, and champions Kimblesworth overran fellow challengers Esh Winning by 102 runs.

In yesterday’s programme rain provided a frustrating outcome for several of the title hopefuls with Esh Winning 140 for three against Willington when the heavens opened, which was a great shame for David Lawler who was 76 not out.

Crook also fell foul of the weather after John Lee (65) had given them a decent start against Ushaw Moor, Town on 161 for five at the close.

Leaders Shildon got more of a game although Brandon were handling themselves well with 158 for four on the board in reply to the Railwaymen’s 197 for six.

Champions Kimblesworth were the major beneficiaries when they managed to knock off Tudhoe’s all out score of 167, and they did this after an early scare saw them four wickets down with only 25 on the board.

Lee Wright (50) and Kevin Dixon (55no) were the match winners as they joined together in a fifth wicket stand that took Kimblesworth to within sight of a victory that took them three points shy of the league leaders.

Evenwood were the other winners even though they only posted 131 against Mainsforth.

Pramuka Liyanage (4-23) and Matt McConnell (4-13) proved a potent combination as the visitors crumbled for 62 in reply.