Newton take title, but it is A close one!

NEWTON A clinched an unbearably close Northumbria League Division One title as they beat Mount B in a head-to-head countback.

Both teams finished on 126 points by winning 126 sets and losing just 54 - so the league winner was worked out by looking at the two teams’ matches against each other.

In the end, the division was decided by just one match as Mount lost 8-2 at Newton.

Newton’s Graeme Bell took Player of the Match as he and John Russell sealed the game with hat-tricks.

Craig Fryer chipped in with a win over Alan Livingstone but lost out to David Cutler and Rodney Roberts.

The closest competitors to the top two were Mount’s third team with 92 sets won - and Matfen Centurions.

Newton will have no teams in Division One next season as their B team propped up the bottom of the table with 68 sets won.

They will be relegated alongside Byker B, who won just three more sets despite former Premier Division player Mark Kimberley triumphing in nearly two thirds of all the games he played.

Newton’s John Russell finished the season as the division’s star player, winning 48 matches out of 54 played.

Cutler enjoyed a win percentage of 78.43% as he won 40 matches out of 51 played.

In Division Two, the two teams promoted are Ouston A and Old England Crocks.

Ouston ended up winning 114 sets to the Crocks’ 113.

Matfen Senators were not far from going up with 108 sets won.

Two teams will drop down to Division Three - Matfen Tribunes and Old England Fatts.

The Fatts were not able to make an impression on the division and found themselves bottom by more than 20 sets’ difference to the Tribunes.

The Matfen team, however, were were only three sets short of saving themselves from relegation with 77 sets won in comparison to Birtley’s 80.

Neil Wilkinson found himself top of the averages for Division Two, taking 93% of his games.

Wilkinson, playing for Ouston B, won more than 40% of his team’s sets, being successful in 39 out of 42 played.