Roseberry Group North East Durham League: East Rainton are in a strong position to retain the championship of Division One after they defeated Wearmouth and second top Newton Aycliffe had their game against Plawsworth timed out.

East Rainton though made no mistake when they hosted Wearmouth dismissing their opponents for 121 before winning by nine wickets. Neil Matthews opened the reply scoring 24 before Steel carried his bat for 55 and Henderson remained unbeaten on 39 in the total of 124 for one.

When they batted first, Wearmouth ended on 121 which included 60 by Matthew Dench. Ian Kitching, John Roberts and John all took two wickets in the East Rainton attack.

Newton Aycliffe played their game against Plawsworth at Durham City's ground on Sunday. Stephen Peel was in excellent form scoring 89 and Michael Fletcher added 33 to the formidable total of 217 for six. Replying, Aycliffe managed only 138 for six before time was up. Their total included 56 by Stuart Mitchie and 39 from Davison.

The two results mean that East Rainton now lead Newton Aycliffe by 23 points with 40 points up for grabs from the remaining two fixtures.

Father and son Nick and Matthew Thompson starred for Washington against Sunderland Hospitals. Nick hit one six and 15 boundaries in 126 not out as Washington totalled 191 for seven.

Matthew then went to work with the ball and the 15-year-old earned three wickets to get 14 runs in 6.3 overs as Hospital were reduced to 136 in 41.3 overs. Another 15-year-old in the Washington attack, Mark Lee was also among the wickets with the three for 18 from the five overs he delivered while for Hospitals, their top scorer was Gregory Shaw with 49, including five boundaries.

Littletown made the useful total of 159 for five but still lost by four wickets to Simonside whose match winner with the bat was Thompson with an unbeaten 69.

When they made first use of the wicket, Littletown were indebted to Nelson for his contribution of 46 while for Simonside Thompson was also in form with the ball claiming three of the five wickets to fall for 37 runs.

Coxhoe were all out for just 47 at home to Coundon who won by nine wickets. Murray was man of the match and after taking four wickets for just 20 runs he ended unbeaten with 37 in the Coundon reply of 49 for one.

Harvey also had a good day with the ball for Coundon, claiming four for 17 runs.

After making just 88 all out, Hunwick lost by seven wickets to visitors Medomsley. Pratt with 31 top performer for Hunwick and for Medomsley Shaw captured four of the wickets for just 19 runs. When they went into bat, Medomsley lost three wickets but were never in danger as Dixon finished undefeated on 38.

Belmont continue to lead Division Two and they had just one wickets to spare overtaking the East Rainton total of 105. Peacock , Noble and Choudry all took three wickets for Belmont who responding were indebted to Ian Steel for his valuable contribution of 22 and to Errington, who added 24 to the total of 107 for nine. Defty took four for 18 and Reay three for 34 for East Rainton.

Kelloe remain second even though they were dismissed for just 26 by Littletown for whom Nixon captured five for a mere six runs and Chaplow took three for 15.

When they went into bat first Littletown also found run-making difficult but eventually posted 76 as Pratt took three for 20 and Hughes three for 21 for Kelloe.

In contrast, runs were plentiful in the game between Bearpark and Burnhope when no fewer than 431 were scored for the loss of ten wickets.

Batting first, Bearpark ended on 213 for seven which included 73 by Snook and 45 by Langford while in the Burnhope attack Reynoldson took four of the seven wickets to fall for 72 runs,.

Replying to the formidable challenge the Burnhope batsmen rose to the occasion and half centuries by Gray and Omar led the chase for runs. Johnson contributed a useful 30 and Morrison carried his bat for 36 in an unbroken partnership for the fourth wicket with Omar as Burnhope won with seven wickets remaining.

Plawsworth were all out for 137 and went down by six wickets to Wearmouth for whom Paul Lewis top score with 58 in a total of 139 for four. Karl Pring claimed three of the four wickets to go down for just 26 runs.

Batting first Plawsworth were indebted to Burrell for his contribution of 44 and to P McMahon (30) while man of the match Lewis captured five wickets for a mere 27 runs.

Benwell were dismissed for just 93 in their home game with Washington who won by 94 runs. Brown captured three wickets for just 14 runs and McMahon had two wickets without conceding a run for Washington.

When they batted first the visitors ended with 187 for six on the board and McElvanney carried his bat for 75.

Tantobie had 81 runs in hand of North Bitchburn who they dismissed for 105 as Craig claimed four wickets for just 29 runs. Allott top scored with 33 in the visitor's innings.

Tantobie, batting first, reached 186 for five of which Oliver scored 61 and Bellamy an unbeaten 40