Dukes North East Premier League
Sep 12 2009 by Chris West, The Journal
THE final day of the Dukes NEPL season dawns with Newcastle requiring 123 points from their home game against South Shields to guarantee they finish above Norton and avoid relegation.
But that calculation assumes the Teessiders take a maximum haul from their game – something they have only done once all year.
And their task has been made more difficult by the fact their opponents, the Durham Academy, are at full strength for one of the few times this season.
Conversely, the Shieldsmen have a number of absentees for the match at Newcastle with Mike Fishwick unavailable, Matthew Muchall playing rugby and Dan Shurben sidelined by a finger injury. Ross McLaren is back at the helm for the Jesmond outfit, and Nick Harrison replaces James Irvine-Fortescue.
Left-arm quickies Callum Harding and Jamie Harrison are now injury-free and will be given their head by the Academy, while leading batsman Ben Stokes will start against Norton, who bring in Kenny Gresham and Andy Shepherd for the last throw of the dice.
Benwell Hill finish their programme at Denton Bank with a game against a vastly-improved Stockton side who, having danced around the danger zone all summer, have recently shot up the table with four consecutive victories.
The Hill, unchanged from the interesting little encounter at Blaydon last week, need just five points to be sure of finishing fourth which, after being 11th in 2008, is a big improvement and a reflection of the excellent cricket they have played.
And they have some silverware in the cabinet following the decision that the Justsport Trophy, the final of which has suffered two abandonments, will be shared by themselves and the Academy.
The Smithson Northumberland County Cup could also be theirs as they play host to Cowgate tomorrow in the final, the match starting at 2pm.
South Northumberland travel across the Tyne this morning bearing the championship trophy – and the engravers could be forgiven if they make a mistake in updating the inscriptions as a new name has to go on it for the first time in seven years.
Bulls skipper John Graham was the first to send his congratulations to Chester-le-Street, but he’s hoping to give them a tough game today and put down a marker for 2010 when he expects his side to come back stronger as they seek to regain the crown.
Alan Mustard looks set to miss the rest of the season for the Cestrians, his badly twisted ankle unlikely to have healed fully until October.
But other than that, Chester have a full squad to choose from, although they will no doubt have one eye on their match in Derbyshire tomorrow when they take on Ockbrook & Borrowash.
That game is the regional final of the Cockspur Club Twenty20 Cup – a victory would take them through to their second national finals day, both to be played at the County Ground, Derby within the next fortnight.
In today’s other games, Tynemouth have Scott Borthwick back for their home match with unchanged Blaydon, and Gateshead Fell entertain Sunderland.
