Saltburn took the first step towards what they hope will be a league and cup

treble when they defeated Darlington RA in the Final of the Kerridge Cup at Thornaby on Sunday, writes MALCOLM PRATT.

Once again, the Rashid brothers were prominent. Tony Bell and Phil Ramage gave the Saltburn innings a good start but for a time the RA attack strangled the batsmen before Mauhtashim partnerd Richard Storr in a partnership which propelled the Seasiders to 191 for the loss of seven wickets.

"The good thing was that when we were being prevented from scoring, we did not lose wickets which gave us the opportunity to go on the attack towards the end of the innings.

"Richie contributed 43 and Mauhtashim made the game's top score of 47. We thought our near-200 total would be enough and once Umar and his brother went to work RA never really threatened," said Saltburn secretary John Bond who was unable to play through injury.

"The pair bowled really well and we restricted them to just 108-8 leaving us clear winners by a margin of 83 runs."

Despite losing, RA captain David Eckels was delighted his side reached the final. "It was the first final we have played in for some time so to get there was a real achievement," he said.

Saltburn have another important weekend coming up. Tomorrow, they again meet Darlington RA at Brinkburn Road as they attempt to close a 12-point gap on leaders Guisborough.

On Sunday, they host the final of the MacMillan Cup when Middlesbrough are their opponents