Men's Over-35 Division One: Durham and Cleveland gained promotion for the first time to the Premier Division by winning the playoff group of the division one north recently in Pontefract.

The team defeated Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, and Yorkshire to dominate the group and make a little history for themselves. Captain Ian Williams and the most senior player Neil Harrison of the Nunthorpe club, and Guisborough's Peter Lonsdale have been regulars in the side for some time. They were joined by Norton's Andy Cross for the stage one contests last November; and for the first time by Tim Clarke of Yarm at Pontefract. It was hoped Manchester based Yawar Abbas would lead the side but he was unavailable; and Malcolm Leech became reserve.

Clarke and Lonsdale were each unbeaten in three matches, whilst Williams and Cross won twice each.

Results - Durham and Cleveland 4, Warwicks 1: A Cross beat Mr Robinson 3-1, N Harrison beat A Murray 3-2, I Williams lost to A Pallett 1-3, T Clarke beat G Robinson 3-0, P Lonsdale beat M Sarwar 3-0.

D and C 3, Yorkshire 2: A Cross lost to A Norisdh 1-3, N Harrison lost to S Martin 1-3, I Williams beat I Cawthorne 3-1, T Clarke beat K Hinds 3-0, P Lonsdale beat S Dogdson 3-0.

D and C 5, Cloucs 0: A Cross beat T Smith 3-0, I Williams beat L Carson 3-0, T Clarke beat I Bloomsfield 3-0, P Lonsdale beat R Hopkins 3-0, Mr Leen wo.

D and C had a comfortable victory in their opening fixture; and although the first two rubbers were shared, the team finished off in style with three in a row. As expected Yorkshire were stiffer opposition on their own courts, but Durham took a 2-0 lead thanks to Lonsdale and Clarke. The host county pulled one back before Williams clinched the third vital game playing third string. The third match in the group was a formality as D and C swept through their west country opponents in no time

Men's Over-55 Premier Division

The news from the 'oldies' was not as good, in that they lost their premier division status after three years. They finished fourth in the relegation playoff group.

The D and C team was not as good as expected but Tom Elves (Boldon), Dave Booth (Wensleydale), David McKenzie (Sedgefield), John Shaw (Chester-le-Street), and Brian Holliday (Nunthorpe) came close to beating two counties with 2-3 scorelines though.

Results - Durham and Cleveland 2, Hampshire 3: T Elves lost to J Perrott 0-3, D Booth beat J Clark 3-1, D McKenzie lost to M Page 1-3, J Shaw lost to G Williams 2-3, B Holliday beat L Kinder 3-2.

D and C 0, Surrey 5: T Elves lost to T Wilkinson 1-3, D Booth lost to I Stopps 0-3, D McKenzie lost to G Howes 1-3, J Shaw lost to P Brickwood 0-3, B Holliday lost to R Chalmers 0-3.

D and C 2, Cambs 3: T Elves beat T Wilson 3-2, D Booth lost to P Hand 1-3, J Shaw lost to J Hiner 1-3, B Holliday beat M Keogh 3-0, D McKenzie conc.

Whitfield's Building Services Durham and Cleveland League

Division One

Yarm-1 2 Nunthorpe-1 3; Sedgefield-1 3 Guisborough-1 2.

P W L D Pts

Norton-1 11 10 1 0 182

Sunderland H&RC-1 9 7 2 0 137

Guisborough-1 10 5 5 0 123

Yarm-1 11 4 7 0 111

Darlington-1 8 6 2 0 99

Nunthorpe-1 9 4 5 0 87

Sedgefield-1 11 2 9 0 83

Chester-le-Street-1 9 1 8 0 46

Division Two

Aykley Heads-1 5 Guisborough-2 0; Nunthorpe-2 2 Darlington-2 3.

P W L D Pts

Norton-2 11 10 1 0 184

Darlington-2 12 10 2 0 169

Aykley Heads-1 10 7 3 0 155

Nunthorpe-2 10 6 4 0 136

Redcar-1 12 5 7 0 121

Darlington-3 11 2 9 0 94

Guisborough-2 10 3 7 0 85

Redcar-2 12 1 11 0 63

Division Three

Durham University-1 2 Aycliffe-1 3; Bannatyne's HC-1 5 Sedgefield-2 0; Dolphin-1 1 Yarm-2 4.

P W L D Pts

Aycliffe-1 11 11 0 0 183

Yarm-2 13 9 4 0 174

Bannatyne's HC-1 11 7 4 0 147

Norton-3 11 6 5 0 137

Bedale-1 11 6 5 0 121

Durham University-1 11 3 8 0 105

Sedgefield-2 12 3 9 0 93

Dolphin-1 12 1 11 0 71

Division Four A

P W L D Pts

Sunderland H&RC-2 10 8 2 0 149

Nunthorpe-3 8 8 0 0 133

Darlington-4 11 6 5 0 127

Yarm-3 9 4 5 0 99

Wensleydale-1 9 4 5 0 95

Aycliffe-2 9 3 6 0 85

Norton-4 10 0 10 0 63

Division Four B

Sunderland-1 2 Nunthorpe-4 3; Sunderland-1 3 Aykley Heads-2 2; Guisborough-3 1 Thornaby Pavilion-1 4.

P W L D Pts

Nunthorpe-4 12 8 4 0 168

Aykley Heads-2 11 7 4 0 155

Guisborough-3 12 6 6 0 145

Thornaby Pavilion-1 11 7 4 0 136

Sunderland-1 9 7 2 0 123

Aycliffe-3 12 3 9 0 113

Yarm-4 9 4 5 0 100

Redcar-3 10 1 9 0 59

Division Five A

Norton-5 3 Dolphin-2 2

P W L D Pts

Chester-le-Street-2 12 12 0 0 213

Sedgefield-3 11 6 5 0 135

Dolphin-2 11 8 3 0 131

Mill House-1 12 4 8 0 121

Darlington-6 11 5 6 0 112

Norton-5 11 5 6 0 111

Aycliffe-4 11 4 7 0 104

David Lloyd HC-1 11 1 10 0 70

Division Five B

Wensleydale-2 1 Chester-le-Street-3 4; Norton Hall-1 3 Sunderland H&RC-3 2; Guisborough-4 2 Durham University-2 3; Darlington-5 5 Redcar-4 0.

P W L D Pts

Chester-le-Street-3 11 11 0 0 186

Darlington-5 11 9 2 0 172

Sunderland H&RC-3 12 4 8 0 123

Durham University-2 10 6 4 0 120

Norton Hall-1 10 6 4 0 115

Wensleydale-2 10 2 8 0 81

Guisborough-4 10 2 8 0 77

Redcar-4 10 2 8 0 71

Division Six

Nunthorpe-5 5 Glaxo-1 0

P W L D Pts

Nunthorpe-5 10 10 0 0 186

Glaxo-1 9 5 4 0 102

Sedgefield-4 9 4 5 0 100

Norton Hall-2 8 4 4 0 81

Hild & Bede-1 8 2 6 0 53

Clairville-1 7 1 6 0 39

Eston Grange-1 3 1 2 0 20

Division L1

Sunderland H&RC-L1 1 Chester-le-Street-L1 3

P W L D Pts

Darlington-L1 9 8 0 1 133

Durham Ladies-L1 10 5 2 3 110

Chester-le-Street-L1 9 4 2 3 103

Bedale-L1 9 3 4 2 79

Sunderland H&RC-L1 7 3 3 1 64

Sunderland-L1 9 0 8 1 22

Norton-L1 5 0 4 1 13

Division L2

Aycliffe-L1 3 Darlington-L3 1; Nunthorpe-L1 2 Bedale-L2 2; Sedgefield-L1 2 Durham University-L1 3.

P W L D Pts

Darlington-L2 11 9 0 2 156

Darlington-L3 11 7 3 1 128

Nunthorpe-L1 11 5 1 5 116

Aycliffe-L1 9 3 3 3 83

Sedgefield-L1 10 1 7 2 65

Bedale-L2 9 1 5 3 57

Durham University-L1 9 1 8 0 3