In a disastrous weekend for the 1sts they suffered defeat in both cup and league.
On Saturday playing at home they put Barnard Castle in to bat and with a modest total of 139 to face things looked promising. Spin was the order of the day with Craig Marshall taking 5 for 33 and Alston Bobb 2 for 28.
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Unfortunately, Richmondshire found life even more difficult and with four down for 20 it was going to need something special from the middle order. Despite some text book cover drives from Sam Winter, who top scored with 27 it proved too much.
A chance for revenge presented itself on Sunday at the Macmillan cup finals day at Stokesley. Without captain Gary Platt on Minor Counties duty with Cumbria they managed to register a fairly straight forward victory against Hartlepool.
Craig Marshall again was the pick of the bowlers taking 5 for 14 in his four overs as Hartlepool were finished on 102 for 9 after twenty overs. 40 from Mike Layfield and 38 from Alston Bobb saw Richmondshire home in 12 overs. This lined up a final against Barny, who had defeated hosts Stokesley earlier.
Put in to bat Richmondshire got off to a decent start with another 40 from Mike Layfield but the innings fell away and they were eventually bowled out in the last over for 142. This didn’t pose much of a problem for Barny and they knocked the runs off for the loss of two wickets.
The selection committee might have been looking for some reinforcements to the batting but it doesn’t look as it is coming from the second in the near future, as they had an even more disastrous day at Bishop Auckland on Saturday. Replying to Bishops 179 they were rattled out for 32 in twelve overs.
The only good news on Saturday came from the 4ths who had a comfortable 120 run victory against East Cowton, while the 5ths lost by 63 at Catterick Village.
On Sunday the 3rds continued their impressive progress at the top of Sunday League Division 1. A superb 145 not out from veteran Clive Layfield supported by 50 from young George Spink and 58 not out from Joe Shields gave them a total of 245 for 2.
Opponents Hartlepool could only manage 163 all out. It had been a good week for the 3rds having already progressed to the Ray Bell cup final with a 41 run victory over Thornaby.
It was a better week in the Junior section with the Under 17s registering two victories. On Monday in the league they defeated old rivals Darlington by 100 thanks to 51 not out from both Sam Winter and James Kelly. Then on Friday they won the Junior Cup final North against Hartlepool. A tight bowling performance kept their opponents to 78 all out and despite a rare duck for opener Sam Winter 34 from Matty Price, 20 from Tom Dowson and 16 not out from James Kelly got the home in 17 overs. They now play a final against the South section winners at Hurgill Road a week on Friday.
On Wednesday the Under 9s continued their unbeaten season winning against Thorton Watlass winning by 29 runs in an excellent all round team performance. The Under 13s also had a victory against Stockton with openers Tom Ward and Ben Dale retiring on 30 and 33 respectively in a total of 125 for 4. Tight bowling restricted Stockton to 94 for 2. A result which keeps Richmondshire top of the table. The Under11s also had a victory against Hartlepool which keeps the second just three points behind leaders Sedgefield.
