ANGUS SOUTHERN CENTURY BUT BULLS HAVE TO SETTLE FOR WINNING DRAW. Sat 4 July 2026: NEPL Division 2: SNCC v Tynemouth (h) 110o win/lose/draw.

4th Jul 2026

SNCC 213ao (52.3o) Angus Southern 104, Will Phillips 15, Ru Fletcher 38, Hamish Barrie 12, James Lunn 10*: Noah Rea 0-27, Richard Hay 2-41, Neil Bennett 5-40, Andrew Davison 2-52, Adam Williams 1-35.

Tynemouth 168-7 (57o) Jack Roys  27, George Stewart 38, Zach Larner 35, Andrew Davison 43: Ben Hobbs 0-9, Will Young 0-17, Ru Fletcher 2-20, Nicky Phillips 1-40, Hamish Barrie 2-35, Will Phillips 1-10.

SNCC winning draw 17 points, Tynemouth losing draw 9.

A cloudy day with a stiff westerly breeze blowng across Roseworth Terrace, the visitors won the toss & chose to field. Angus Southern & Olly Alexander faced the right arm seam of Noah Rae & left arm seam of Richard Hay.

A maiden to begin & then Olly (0) seemed unlucky to be adjudged caught behind down the legside off Hay, 0-1. Another 2 maidens & a little movement off the wicket as the ball squirted to third man. Will Carr (8) struck 4x2 to extra cover & gully but in the 10^th with a fielder positioned close to the bowler Hay on the offside, Will drove straight & Stewart took a good catch, low down, 14-2; Will Phillips entered at 4.

Bennett (rm) replaced Rae at the Grove end but Hay wheeled away bowling his full 15 overs in one spell for only 41 with two wickets. At drinks after 60 minutes the total had reached 47, Angus cutting for 4 & glancing nicely for another. Timing was not easy & there was movement off the pitch.

Will Phillips (15) was bowled by Bennett in the 21^st over, the ball seaming away to hit off stump, 49-3. In the next over Angus edged for 4 but then convincingly cover drove for another reaching 30*. 

An important partnership between Angus & Ru Fletcher ensued as Bennett & Hay continued. Angus reached 50* (87b 5x4) in the 30^th over steering to third man for 2. Rae had returned in over 29 & Davison (ob) began a spell in over 32. At lunch after 36 overs the total was 116-3.

Williams (rm) entered the attack & the tempo increased as Angus drove through mid wicket & steered to backward square leg for 4.  Ru had already pulled to mid wicket twice for 4 & he swept Davison for 2 in the 40th to make the score 140.

A concerted appeal for a catch down the legside off Williams was not upheld,  Angus moving on to 81* with a single to long on. Three overs later Ru launched Williams for 6 to square leg, Ru 35*. But in the 45^th Ru (38, 70b 2x4 1x6) was lbw to Williams as he missed a sweep, ending a vital partnership of 115, 164-4.

Angus reached a deserved 100* (143b, 10x4) in the 48^th but at 104 in the next, his back foot force edged to w/k Roys off Bennett ,198-5. It had been hard work but his patience & skill on a wicket doing a bit were rewarded on a day when no other batter got beyond 43 on a drying wicket.

Somewhat surprisingly, this was the first wicket of 6 to fall for 15 runs in 26 balls as  the innings fell away in search of a declaration. !!

Hamish (12) struck 2,4,2 off Davison but then advanced & was bowled. Ben Sid (2) seemed unlucky to be adjudged lbw as he advanced to Davison, 202-7. Ben Hobbs (0) was bowled by Bennett, 203 -8. Then in what turned out to be the last over Will Young (3) was caught by w/k Roys & next ball Nicky P (0) chipped back to the bowler to give Bennett a 5 fer. 213 all out in 52.3 overs, Lunny 10* including a glorious 6 to mid wicket. Therefore Tynemouth having 57 overs to chase.

In reply Roys & Stewart were largely untroubled in reaching 28 without loss after 10 overs as Ben H & Will Y strove for a breakthrough without any real alarms. Ben Sid saved what would have been 8 legside 'byes' athletically. At drinks after 17 overs Tynemouth had reached 58 without loss, Nicky's 5 overs yielding 21, Ru just 3 overs into a spell, conceding 11- Stewart 31*, Roys 26*.

In the 19^th success as Roys (27, 51b 4x4) drove a catch back to the bowler which Ru took with aplomb, 59-1. The thirteen overs from 18-30 saw the total rise by only 22 as Nicky, Ru & Hamish bowled nice lines & lengths. At 75 in the 25^th a second wicket for Ru as Turner (6) was lbw missing a pull. Three overs later Stewart (38, 84b, 6x4) mistimed a pull off Barrie, the catch taken by a retreating Lunny at mid off, 77-3.

Ru finished a 10 over spell with a commendable 10-2-20-2 keeping the pressure on. James Lunn (ob) entered from the Grove in over 33 & bowled Hallam (6) with his fourth ball, 85-4. 

At 1700 tea the total had reached 99-4 as Larner & Fairley pushed 15 runs in 8 overs. Will Phillips (ob) began a spell in the 40^th & in his first Fairley (6) top edged a pull to fine leg where Will Carr made good ground towards the sight-screen to take a tumbling catch, 103-5.

The slow bowlers completed the innings as Larner & Davison mixed aggression with defence. The field was well set for Larner who found the backward square leg & mid wicket areas well patrolled by Will Young & Olly Alexander. Davison was more positive & fashioned 4,2,4 off Lunny in the 47th.

When Nicky returned thoughts of a draw seemed uppermost in the batters minds & the total rose slowly to 142 after 50 overs. Hamish re-entered in over 53 but Davison struck 6 then 4 & in his next 4.4 to cover & fine leg. Then in the last two overs of the innings Larner 35 (51b 3x4) was bowled by Nicky swinging but missing & in the last Davidson 43 (73b 7x4 1x6) going back, was bowled by Barrie, one that seemed to keep a little low. 168-7.

Frustrating but a fair result, a winning draw for the Bulls, 17 points, a losing draw to Tynemouth 9 points. This result leaves the Bulls in third place in NEPL Div 2 on 224 points behind Newcastle on 255 & leaders CLS on 278.

Onward to Sat 11 July SNCC v Whitburn (h) from 1100, 110o win/lose/draw. We hope you can be there. 

Duncan.