George Mann Cup: Eastgate Cross Keys unlocked the door to the knock out stages of the competition after recording a victory over Stanhope All Stars.

The All Stars batted first and made an excellent start with John Woodhall knocking up 22 and David Coates 23. However a batting collapse followed with only Gary Bowes reaching doubles figures when he made a confident 17 before being last out with the total at 87.

The Cross Keys reply was even more positive as Ian McDonald made 23 and Raymond Snaith and Colin Perry 20 each. They passed the Stanhope total but batted on to complete the overs as the qualifying table will depend on runs scored if the number of wins are equal. George Wearmouth knocked up a confident late 23 to take the Cross keys through to 130 for 7 when the overs ran out.

Tow Law Black Horse made their first appearance this season in the match against Wolsingham Club. The Horse batted first and lost cheap wickets but relied on David Craggs, who plodded along holding up one end, eventually making 20. Only Adam Orton offered any other resistance with a hurricane 16 but the innings ended on 63. However a feature of the innings was that John Ellison, the Black Horse wicket keeper, scored his first run in seven innings. In the previous six outings he had been dismissed first ball but this time walked out proudly saying, "I'll be played as a batsman-wicketkeeper next time because of that one run".

Wolsingham Club were well served by Nigel Pericval and Stephen Peart with 20 each and Alan Crinnion with 22. They passed the Black Horse total and continued to bat out the overs with Malcolm Anderson knocking up 20 to take the score to 121.

League A

P W L F A

Wolsingham Club 3 3 0 373 248

Wolsingham Mill Race 2 1 1 244 166

Wolsingham Sixth Form 2 1 1 200 157

Tow Law Black Horse 1 0 1 63 121

Sunniside Comedian 2 0 2 71 259

League B

P W L F A

Eastgate Cross Keys 2 2 0 227 181

Weardale Steel 2 2 0 226 157

Wolsingham Teachers 2 1 1 171 171

Wolsingham All Stars 2 0 2 194 247

Stanhope All Stars 2 0 2 182 244

Next weeks fixtures - Monday: Sunniside Comedian v Wolsingham Club.

Tuesday: Wolsingham All Stars v Stanhope All Stars.

Wednesday: Wolsingham Mill Race v Tow Law Black Horse.

Thursday: Eastgate Cross Keys v Weardale Steel.