Newton Aycliffe’s below strength 1st team, sponsored by Franks the Flooring Store, were easily defeated by 131 runs away to Marton 2nd XI in the NYSD second division. The home side elected to bat first and scored 205 for 9 in their allotted 50 overs. Matty Greaves (3 for 33) was the pick of the Aycliffe bowlers and Luke Telford (sponsored by Dean and Tina Greaves), who took 2 for 38 and James Layfield-Carroll (2 for 68) also bowled well. In reply, the visitors batted poorly and were dismissed for just 74 off just 27.4 overs with only opening batsman Luke Telford (45 off 85 balls) and James Layfield-Carroll (11 off 9 balls) reaching double figures.
The club’s 2nd XI had an excellent nine wicket victory at home to Skelton Castle 1st XI in the NYSD 4th division. The visitors chose to bat first and were restricted to 157 for 9 in their allotted 40 overs. Ramzan Hussain and Tom Dearden (sponsored by Kevin Burton) both bowled superbly picking up three wickets apiece. In reply, all rounder Tom Dearden then top scored with a fluent 73 off 68 balls and his innings contained nine boundaries and two sixes. His fellow opener, Patrick Howe, also batted well as he reached his first senior half century, eventually finishing with 54 not out off 92 balls. The pair set a new 2nd team club record of 147 runs for the 1st wicket partnership as they set up a comfortable win for their side with 12.4 overs in hand.
However, the following day, the 2nds were brought back to earth when they lost a tight game at home to Bedale 2nd XI by three wickets in the NYSD 4th division. Aycliffe were asked to bat first and were bowled out for a below par 162 after 35.5 overs, but were thankful to 16 year old pair Dan Heaton (60 from 47 balls) and Tom Dearden (53 from 56 balls) for giving the innings some substance. In reply, the visitors were made to fight for every run but they still managed to secure victory after 39.1 overs despite some good bowling from Ramzan Hussain (2 for 15) and Leo Stout (2 for 31).
The U13’s lost by 38 runs away at Darlington RA in their penultimate game in NYACC League. The homeside elected to bat first and scored 114 for 2 in their 20 overs with Addison Jones and Tom Norman each taking a wicket for Aycliffe. In reply, the visitors were dismissed for 78 after 18 overs with only captain Trent Telford reaching double figures, scoring 26 runs off 37 balls and he reached the boundary on three occasions.
The club’s U11’s team lost by 25 runs at home to Darlington RA in the NYACC League. There were good performances with the ball by Aycliffe’s Addison Jones (2 for 17), Harvey Palmer (1 for 14) and Dylan Facinelli (1 for 15). When Aycliffe replied, captain Miles Telford batted well, top scoring with an unbeaten 19 off 14 balls faced. Two days later, the U11’s team lost their final game of the season by just five runs at home to Barnard Castle in the NYACC League. Addison Jones was the pick of the Aycliffe bowlers taking 2 for 17, but they lost too many wickets when they batted, resulting in a very close defeat. The U13’s won five games out of the 11 league games played and they finished in a very respectable 5th place in the final league table.
Photo: Second team batsman Tom Dearden in action.