Newton Aycliffe’s 1st team, sponsored by Franks the Flooring Store, were comfortably beaten by seven wickets away at Whitby 2nd XI on Saturday 5th July and the following week, on 12th July, lost by seven wickets at home to Maltby 1st XI,
At Whitby, Aycliffe were asked to bat first and were bowled out for 159, but were thankful to the two young Dearden brothers for giving their innings some substance. Sixteen year old Will top scored with his highest first team score of 45 from 51 balls faced and he hit seven boundaries. Eighteen year old opener, Tom, (sponsored by Kevin Burton), also batted well, scoring 37 off 57 balls, reaching the boundary on seven occasions and captain Chris Palmer chipped in with a useful 27 off 57 balls. In reply, the homeside reached their winning target after 31.3 overs with Tom Dearden (2 for 30) and Matty Greaves (1 for 40) taking the only three wickets to fall.
On Saturday 12th July, Aycliffe’s first team, who pre-match were sitting in third place in the table, lost at home to second in the table Maltby firsts, by seven wickets. Asked to bat first, Aycliffe were bowled out for just 106 with all of the Aycliffe batsmen struggling to score runs on a tricky wicket. However, Shashank Garg managed to find some form when he top scored with 20 off 34 balls, reaching the boundary on four occasions. Makeshift opener Jai Sander also deserved credit for scoring 14 runs from 50 balls faced against two very lively Maltby opening bowlers. In reply, the visitors coasted to victory with more than 31 overs in hand, despite a wicket each for Matty Greaves (sponsored by Britannia Fire), Tom Dearden and his younger brother Will. The defeat drops Aycliffe down a place from third to fourth in the NYSD third division table with 185 points from 13 games played.
The young Aycliffe second team have endured a difficult couple of weeks, on Saturday 5th July they were beaten by ten wickets at home to promotion hopefuls Darlington RA 2nd XI and the following Saturday were beaten by 166 runs away at runaway NYSD fourth division leaders Billingham Synthonia 2nd team.
On Tuesday 8th July, the U13’s team had an excellent 16 run victory away at Rockcliffe Park in the NYACC league. Aycliffe were asked to bat first and totalled 75 for 5 in their allotted 20 overs thanks to good innings by both Jonah Harrop (12 off 18 balls) and recent new recruit Lucas Faulkner (10 off 16 balls). In reply, Aycliffe opening bowler Miles Telford was in superb form taking four wickets for 6 runs from 2.1 overs. Acting captain Carys Myers was also in brilliant form with the ball, taking two wickets for just two runs as the visitors bowled out Rockcliffe for 59 after 16.1 overs.
Photo of the victorious U13’s team after their excellent win away at Rockcliffe Park.